JBL Studio 530. Available and half price! ($299.95)

[Pogre]

Yeah, All of the Studio 5 series and the Infinity Reference have been selling on "clearance" for years now! I think as long as they are selling at the discounted price and until there is a major expense (such as worn out tooling for components), they will just continue to crank them out!
They recouped their design/development/tooling costs long ago, so now they are just milking it as long as they can (and I'm not complaining!).

I'm especially interested in your impressions because I know you've heard the Ultras. The JBL studio 5 series is one of those that I might have gotten instead if these sales were going on when I got my Ultras.

 

[lovinthehd]

Pretty killer deals on the 5 series....nice time to get a set.

 

[MTSound]

I caved. So for my first setup I ordered 590’s, 530’s and a 520c

Rakuten also had 7% cash back. Don’t know if I could find anything to compete with that setup for that price


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[lovinthehd]

I caved. So for my first setup I ordered 590’s, 530’s and a 520c

Rakuten also had 7% cash back. Don’t know if I could find anything to compete with that setup for that price


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I think you'll be happy with that....I have the 530s as rear surrounds, tho, and 580s for surrounds All of which I got good prices on, but not quite as good as this sale has....

 

[MTSound]

I think you'll be happy with that....I have the 530s as rear surrounds, tho, and 580s for surrounds All of which I got good prices on, but not quite as good as this sale has....

Looks like the 590’s are sold out. 530’s still available.


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[lovinthehd]

Looks like the 590’s are sold out. 530’s still available.


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Dang, that's the best part.

 

[MTSound]

Dang, that's the best part.

Yes I feel sympathy for those that missed it. My order is confirmed though

Now it’s waiting to find the right deal on a receiver.


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[Shanman]

I was hawkin' those 590's hard. Probably for the best....

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes I feel sympathy for those that missed it. My order is confirmed though

Now it’s waiting to find the right deal on a receiver.


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I thought you meant you didn't get the 590 part of your order. Accessories4less.com is a good place to look. What featureS/connectivity do you need in the avr?

 

[MTSound]

I thought you meant you didn't get the 590 part of your order. Accessories4less.com is a good place to look. What featureS/connectivity do you need in the avr?

I was lucky on the 590’s. My order was confirmed a few hours before they were sold out. As for the avr it obviously needs enough power to drive this set up. I’m starting with a 5.0 setup and expanding to 5.2.2 at minimum. The hybrid theater room I’m building is bare walls currently so planning on wiring for 7.2.4 but doubt I’d ever use it. Wiring it for a projector and tv so the room can have multiple uses. It would be nice to have a second zone as well. Current options I’m looking at are:

Denon x3500h or x4500h
Yamaha a1080 or a2080
Or a Marantz 6013 or 6014 (even though I can’t find a reason to justify cost over the denon)

Onkyo and pioneer seem to get poor reviews in several areas
Separates don’t seem to justify the cost unless you are just driving the fronts.

Trying to find the best value not necessarily the cheapest. A4L seems to have decent prices but the refurb price isn’t much different than the new ones. I missed the white whale yesterday. A flash deal on a 2080 for $899. A little over what I had budgeted but would have been justifiable to go over budget a little on that one.


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[lovinthehd]

I was lucky on the 590’s. My order was confirmed a few hours before they were sold out. As for the avr it obviously needs enough power to drive this set up. I’m starting with a 5.0 setup and expanding to 5.2.2 at minimum. The hybrid theater room I’m building is bare walls currently so planning on wiring for 7.2.4 but doubt I’d ever use it. Wiring it for a projector and tv so the room can have multiple uses. It would be nice to have a second zone as well. Current options I’m looking at are:

Denon x3500h or x4500h
Yamaha a1080 or a2080
Or a Marantz 6013 or 6014 (even though I can’t find a reason to justify cost over the denon)

Onkyo and pioneer seem to get poor reviews in several areas
Separates don’t seem to justify the cost unless you are just driving the fronts.

Trying to find the best value not necessarily the cheapest. A4L seems to have decent prices but the refurb price isn’t much different than the new ones. I missed the white whale yesterday. A flash deal on a 2080 for $899. A little over what I had budgeted but would have been justifiable to go over budget a little on that one.


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Cool. The 590s are of reasonable sensitivity and don't need a ton of power; the 520/530s less so. I'd stick with the Denon for value as well. I like the Denon 3500 deal for $549 on Amazon now.....

 

[MTSound]

Cool. The 590s are of reasonable sensitivity and don't need a ton of power; the 520/530s less so. I'd stick with the Denon for value as well. I like the Denon 3500 deal for $549 on Amazon now.....

Yeah saw that one. I’m leaning that direction but I’ve also read that the Yamaha is a little better in reliability. I think it will come down to what the best value is.


Thank you for the assistance. I have a thread that I started that I hope to keep updated through the whole build of the theater. I can’t say how helpful this sight is and people like yourself are


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[lovinthehd]

Yeah saw that one. I’m leaning that direction but I’ve also read that the Yamaha is a little better in reliability. I think it will come down to what the best value is.


Thank you for the assistance. I have a thread that I started that I hope to keep updated through the whole build of the theater. I can’t say how helpful this sight is and people like yourself are


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Good luck with your system, lots of good advice on this site I think. Yamaha may be very slightly more reliable per certain surveys IMO but my Denons, one a 12 year old model, are just fine. One key is making sure they're well ventilated....

 

[KEW]

I caved. So for my first setup I ordered 590’s, 530’s and a 520c

Rakuten also had 7% cash back. Don’t know if I could find anything to compete with that setup for that price


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Nice!

Just in case you didn't check dimensions, those 590's will truly have a presence in your room!
They are HUGE! Not that that is a bad thing.
I just figured I would warn you so you can be "fitting" them while they are in transit!

B&W are not small speakers and here they are side-by-side:

Here is another photo. I think most would expect the 590 be about the size of the 580!
This photo shows (from left to right) - 530, 580, 590, and 570 (which seem to be extinct at this point).

I don't know if you can see this photo!
It shows fine in my edit window, but doesn't work when I save it, but here is the link:

http://www.hifi.com.cn/uploadfile/2012/0425/20120425101440854.jpg

 

[Pogre]

Nice!

Just in case you didn't check dimensions, those 590's will truly have a presence in your room!
They are HUGE! Not that that is a bad thing.
I just figured I would warn you so you can be "fitting" them while they are in transit!

B&W are not small speakers and here they are side-by-side:

Here is another photo. I think most would expect the 590 be about the size of the 580!
This photo shows (from left to right) - 530, 580, 590, and 570 (which seem to be extinct at this point).

I don't know if you can see this photo!
It shows fine in my edit window, but doesn't work when I save it, but here is the link:

http://www.hifi.com.cn/uploadfile/2012/0425/20120425101440854.jpg

Definitely a better looking speaker with the grilles on, these are. I didn't realize how big the 590s are! They look bigger than my Ultra towers!

 

[lovinthehd]

They're pretty close....Ultra Towers are 45.6" x 13.8" x 16.8" and the 590s are 49-3/4" x 12-11/16" x 16-1/4"

 

[KEW]

Definitely a better looking speaker with the grilles on...

I agree. Harman makes some fine drivers that perform well for their price-point, but they do not spend much on trying to make them pretty. I think this is a mistake, because "pride of ownership" is important and "looking the part" definitely assists in sales!
You can't really tell it, but in the photo of the Studio 5 series - the 590 where the grill is removed, has a snap in plastic insert to replace the bottom horn surface made up by the grill.
But the good news is that while, for most speakers, the grill screws up the FR, that happens primarily at the upper frequencies. In the case of these speakers there is never grill over the tweeter, so these are better suited for using the grills!
I'm still trying to figure out how much I like the look! However, someone here made the astute observation that they reminded him of a muscle car from the '80s, and that perspective makes them work pretty well, especially in the larger size!

 

[bigkrazy155]

I agree. Harman makes some fine drivers that perform well for their price-point, but they do not spend much on trying to make them pretty. I think this is a mistake, because "pride of ownership" is important and "looking the part" definitely assists in sales!
You can't really tell it, but in the photo of the Studio 5 series - the 590 where the grill is removed, has a snap in plastic insert to replace the bottom horn surface made up by the grill.
But the good news is that while, for most speakers, the grill screws up the FR, that happens primarily at the upper frequencies. In the case of these speakers there is never grill over the tweeter, so these are better suited for using the grills!
I'm still trying to figure out how much I like the look! However, someone here made the astute observation that they reminded him of a muscle car from the '80s, and that perspective makes them work pretty well, especially in the larger size!

I always think of the dark Knight trilogy. I may decorate accordingly!

 

[Pogre]

I agree. Harman makes some fine drivers that perform well for their price-point, but they do not spend much on trying to make them pretty. I think this is a mistake, because "pride of ownership" is important and "looking the part" definitely assists in sales!
You can't really tell it, but in the photo of the Studio 5 series - the 590 where the grill is removed, has a snap in plastic insert to replace the bottom horn surface made up by the grill.
But the good news is that while, for most speakers, the grill screws up the FR, that happens primarily at the upper frequencies. In the case of these speakers there is never grill over the tweeter, so these are better suited for using the grills!
I'm still trying to figure out how much I like the look! However, someone here made the astute observation that they reminded him of a muscle car from the '80s, and that perspective makes them work pretty well, especially in the larger size!

I like the way they look with the grilles on. Not so much off. I sometimes look at the 590/530s as "the ones that got away" after I purchased all my Ultras and these kept popping up on sale. I also made the same observation about the grilles not having an effect on sq since they don't cover the horns or tweeters.

I always think of the dark Knight trilogy. I may decorate accordingly!

Me too! Specifically the Batmobile, right? I read a review of my Ultra towers where the reviewer said that they'd "look right at home in the Batcave". The Ultras are pretty imposing speakers also.

 

[Shanman]

The cherry versions were the lookers for sure.