Tonight I was at my local dealers home, which I’ve known for over 10 years now. Had the opportunity to hear his theater room. Went through a bunch of harman speakers that he has showing off. It was his normal surrounds and atmos which are monitor audio, with 3 different sets of front 3 speakers he switched out.
First was Jbl 698 with 665 center, next was Jbl hdi 3800 with 4500 center and last was revel 228be and 426be center. You can definitely hear and see how great the studio 6 line is compared to the others. Hard to beat for the money. With that being said the hdi were definitely better, more top end detail, whilst staying neutral. Bass impact was deeper and speaker just felt larger. I know the 4500 isn’t well liked by some, but it was so impactful and chesty. Made voices clear and had a huge presence. 665c did 80-90% of what the hdi4500 did. One interesting thing 665c does is it turns the horn or waveguide vertically. Doesn’t match any other studio 6 speakers. I was told Jbl did that for a reason from Mark, my dealer. Gives it a wider dispersion pattern, but still gives you enough vertical dispersion while sitting. I wonder if the hdi 4500 would benefit from that? That was the biggest gripe of the 4500 was off angle listening.
Then we have the revel be line. What a speaker and shares many similarities as my newly acquired f208 and c208. Detail at low to mid volume is maybe the best I’ve ever heard. Only thing that surprised me about 228be and my f208 is the bass. It has texture and you clearly hear distinct bass notes but it lacks that slam or spl until you really push them. The details in the tweeter is top notch, definitely the star of the speaker. Mids are also good but not a stand out over f208. The c426be is huge and it sounds the part. Dynamic and detailed with a rich presence, it’s almost 13” tall stature screams look at me. Overall an improvement over c208 but not leaps and bounds. The white drivers aren’t attractive to me but the rest of the speaker is beautiful.
Overall for the money I’d do the hdi line, has me reconsidering my revel choice. For music revel are better but movies I think the Jbl might win. He’s bringing me this weekend these same hdi we just heard to test in my house. He’s also bringing me my new in wall speakers. Surrounds and surround backs are Jbl studio 6 88lcr. Incredible 96db and has that same compression tweeter. I just need to find replacement in ceiling, studio 6 needs to make some or I’ll be using the 88lcr up there too.
Sorry got sidetracked in your 698 thread. Your thread made me really want to hear them and I left feeling extremely impressed. I felt similarly to your experience and can’t imagine a reason not to own these. In fact I’ll help my son buy the 698 and 665 for his room, when the wood option is available. All my dealer can get is dark wood. 698 dynamics and neutrality is amazing, it is a nice replacement for his Jbl l890 in cherry wood.
Never thought I’d be going back to harman speakers after buying all my canton speakers, but here I am. Back to the brand I started with in 1995. First speakers I bought myself were Jbl arc1000. Still have them almost 30 years later.
