JBL has been making big speakers for decades. I can remember entering my freshman college dorm for the first time and hearing rock music shaking the door of a guy's room at the end of a hall - it was like he had a small concert PA in there! Actually, he had some beefy JBL speakers being powered by a big Pioneer amp. Those speakers provided all of us on the hall with great music, night and day, whether we wanted it or not. One thing I remember - they always sounded great.
Discuss "JBL L880 Floorstanding Speakers Review" here. Read the article.
These speakers look impressive. I was looking at them for a while. However, Soundstage (www.soundstage.com - under the "equipment" tab, then pick "equipment archives" at the bottom of the screen, then in the drop down box choose "loudspeakers (home audio), then look for speakers with "NRC" after their names) reviewed them and did NRC measurements of their frequency response. In truth, they reviewed and measured the Studio 890 - which appears to be the same speaker as the 880, only with 8 inch woofers instead of 6 inch woofers. The on and off axis frequency response was not the best that I have seen. Since I am a believer in the objective side of speaker evaluation (which says speakers with flatter on and off axis responses are more often chosen in blinded tests as sounding "better"), I would pass on these and look for similiarly priced (or cheaper) speakers with better measured responses. Some examples would include the Axiom M80v2, the Revel Concerta F12, the Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v3.
__________________ Wade
Speakers: Axiom M60v2(Main)/VP150v2(Center)/QS8v2(Surround and Rear)/ SVS PB10-NSD(Sub)
Receiver: Denon 3808CI
DVD Player: Panasonic DVD-F87
Projector: Panasonic PT-AE900
Screen: CineTenion 2, 120" Diagonal
Remote: Harmony 890
Interconnects: Blue Jeans Cables
Speaker Wire: Blue Jeans In-Wall 14 gauge - without cable lifters!
Having owned a pair of old L1's for many years, I am glad to see that JBL is getting back into the consumer market with a serious product line again even though they seem to be a bit pricey.
The only missing point, IMO, is the scoring card though.
BTW, I did hear the 890 and they sound really impressive, but they're that big!
Well, a bit off topíc, but still about JBL new Studio L range, what really impressed me was a demo on a friends house, with the following config:
L / C / R = LC - 2 (center speaker)
Surr. / SB = L - 830
That setup is definetely on my wish list though.
Cheers!
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Regards, Chuck
AVR - Denon 2809CI POWER AMP - Emotiva UPA-7 ( for 7.0 channels )
SOURCES - Panny BD - 30, Oppo 983H & Oppo 981HD
PJ - LG AN 110B ( HD ) SCREEN - Carada 106" widescreen manual
SPEAKERS - 7.0 SYSTEM, BEING:
SVS SCS - 01 for the L / C / R front array
SVS SBS - 01 for S / SB duties
SW - SVS PB - 10 ISD
... & some other stuff
I was recently visiting a local Electronics store, and they were playing some fancy music (with video) and I believe the speakers were these JBL tower speakers. Can't say it was just the speaker's fault but the sound quality was just awful. No real bass (the piece they were playing was supposed to have a full organ playing and I couldn't even hear it), and the mid range was screechy and distorted.
Not what I expect from JBL (whom I don't really blame) Now I have a pair of JBL Lancer 77s; and I doubt that you can find anybody at JBL who even recognizes that number; but those are real speakers. A couple of years ago, I accidently blew out the edge of one of the speaker cones; ripped the whole rim out with an accidental power overload; but I pasted it back together laboriously with finger nail polish (really), and now they sound as good as they ever did.
I'm sorry, but when I see a six inch speaker cone, I do not instinctively think "woofer"; well unless it is a dachshund, and that seems to be borne out by the 30 to 40KHz frequency range of these L880s; no way you are going to play organ music through those, and I doubt that too many people spend a lot of time listening to the 40 KHz. Now if they shifted the whole thing down a full ocatve it might be better.
The home theatre market seems to be happy with less emphasis on sound quality; just so long as they make a lot of noise; probably if you gave them good hi fi sound, it might distract them from the movies, and that could be a plus.
Since I am a believer in the objective side of speaker evaluation (which says speakers with flatter on and off axis responses are more often chosen in blinded tests as sounding "better"),
Be careful with considering this an absolute truth. I have found many speakers claiming to be flat anechoically on/off axis tend to be too bright in real rooms and measure bright accordingly.
Also, this mantra doesn't apply to all loudspeaker designs such as line array type speakers which project mostly direct sound to the listening area and control / limit off axis response.
Oddly, I have found many speakers that do well at the NRC sound unpalatable to me, but thats another topic which I may eventually write about in an article.
As for these JBLs, I have doubts on the design b/c of the 2 different tweeters they utilized. Based on the NRC measurements at Soundstage website, the JBLs look deliberatly voiced for elevated boom and sizzle which many who listen to rock music will love. I suspect they will sound a bit too hot in the top end for my liking, but others may love that sound.
Hence why there are so many different product types and brands for consumers
__________________
Gene DellaSala
President, Audioholics Pursuing the truth in audio & video...
LOL, I finally woke up, SBF1. But I'm WAY too old for cartwheels...I'd hurt something.....
I am glad to see JBL getting back to it's roots. That cheapo Northridge or E Series just didn't cut it. I have reverence for JBL's new Everest system which I'm sure, without ever hearing it, ranks amongst the world's best. But to put out a new consumer class series that actually takes a step back into quality is exactly what JBL needed to do.
To be honest, these L880s look on paper like little brothers of my S312's. The reviewer described them much as I would my Studios. Remember, I've compared these things to dozens of different speaker brands. Stepping up for me would require a 5 grand investment in Aerials or Sonus Fabers.
Sad, but true.
Thanks for the review, BOTB.
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Be yourself! Everyone else is taken.
JBL L880 Floorstanding Speakers Review
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