JBL Studio L890/880 or Infinity Beta 50/40 or Boston Accoustic VR3/VR2?

[DavidG]

I am looking for any opinions of these 3 brands and models of speakers. Believe it or not, but in the north Houston area I don't have many places nearby to audition them, besides BB and CC, since Tweeter closed.

I currently have a 5.2 system set up and I am interested in upgrading the front 3 speakers to match. I have already purchased the JBL LC1 center speaker, (too good of a value to pass up) but my front speakers are Advent towers that I will replace. I have 2 JBL subs running that are ok, but will be upgraded at a later time. My room is 22X16X8 and is carpeted. I have a Yamaha RX-V659 receiver. These will be used 75% for HT and 25% for music. My budget is around $750-800 and I will make the purchase online most likely (for quite a bit less than retail).

My original thought was to purchase the Studio L890's or L880's and keep my Studio L center. If I choose one of the other manufacturers I will sell my center and put that money towards a new one, so the $700-800 is really for the front 2 speakers.

I haven't been able to find the Studio L's or the Beta's anywhere to audition. I have heard the Boston VR2's, but the VR3's weren't set up. The VR2's had a wonderful sound to them. They seemed to create a wide soundstage that almost enveloped me without any surrounds. If the VR3's sound similar but with more bass, they could be a winner.

A late speaker by infinity, the Primus P362 and C350 center may also be contender. They are closer in size to the towers I already have, although the size is not a dealbreaker.

Please let me know what you think of these models and the type of sound they have. Also, which speakers would you recommend. Thanks

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I am looking for any opinions of these 3 brands and models of speakers. Believe it or not, but in the north Houston area I don't have many places nearby to audition them, besides BB and CC, since Tweeter closed.

I currently have a 5.2 system set up and I am interested in upgrading the front 3 speakers to match. I have already purchased the JBL LC1 center speaker, (too good of a value to pass up) but my front speakers are Advent towers that I will replace. I have 2 JBL subs running that are ok, but will be upgraded at a later time. My room is 22X16X8 and is carpeted. I have a Yamaha RX-V659 receiver. These will be used 75% for HT and 25% for music. My budget is around $750-800 and I will make the purchase online most likely (for quite a bit less than retail).

My original thought was to purchase the Studio L890's or L880's and keep my Studio L center. If I choose one of the other manufacturers I will sell my center and put that money towards a new one, so the $700-800 is really for the front 2 speakers.

I haven't been able to find the Studio L's or the Beta's anywhere to audition. I have heard the Boston VR2's, but the VR3's weren't set up. The VR2's had a wonderful sound to them. They seemed to create a wide soundstage that almost enveloped me without any surrounds. If the VR3's sound similar but with more bass, they could be a winner.

A late speaker by infinity, the Primus P362 and C350 center may also be contender. They are closer in size to the towers I already have, although the size is not a dealbreaker.

Please let me know what you think of these models and the type of sound they have. Also, which speakers would you recommend. Thanks

Welcome DavidG,

All are reputable companies. Try to find speakers and listen and decide the sound that's best for you. Don't let the center you already have affect your decision. You'll just waste money in the long run. It might take a while and some traveling or return shipping on internet only brands but I would rather have mismatched speakers until I can match them and be happier in the end.

SBF1

 

[mike c]

the Primus series will be great for HT ... no reason really to spend more unless you need the 8" woofers on the beta 50.

my HT:music ratio is 95% HT 5% music, but I bought the beta because they sounded better than the primus with music ... but alas, I never listen to music on the HT system.

right after buying my beta system, the studio L series arrived at the store. I asked the salesman his opinion on which sounds better ... he preferred the beta. we really don't believe in the concept of the ultra tweeter.

 

[sholling]

The Bostons are out of production and getting harder to come by. OneCall had run out of VR3s the last time I checked.

 

[DavidG]

Thanks for your responses, I appreciate the advise. Unfortunately, it is going to be near impossible to audition all of these speakers. I would like to hear from people who have experience with any of these and their thoughts as to whether or not they would recommend them.

 

[gcmarshall]

i have owned the boston VR3 for a few years. i LOVE them. they are powerful, clear and at a good price (i run them with a dedicated 2 channel amp with 225 watts/channel, so that helps). i comparison shopped for a long time, both before i bought them and after i owned them for a while. i am sticking with my VR3's for music.

the problem is that they are harder to find now. i think boston may have discontinued them. if you can find them new, they should be at a great price.

the other issue i had is that i could not find a sonically/tonally matched boston center speaker that made me happy. i used to use a polk center with my VR3's, but once i bought a klipsch setup for my theater room, i learned to appreciate having tonally matched speakers across the front. it really does make the soundstage more seamless and delivers a better movie performance.

thus, my VR3's are for 2 channel music only. they excel at that job. they were great for movies too, if you can find a center channel that can match them, which was hard for me. the center channel that boston says is a good match (the VRC, i think), is tinny-sounding and weak.

 

[darien87]

I also really like my VR 2's. They have been discontinued by Boston, but if you can find them, they are HEAVILY discounted. I also wasn't impressed by the VRC. Luckily though my Cambridge Soundworks center matches them closely enough that I'm not really looking for another center.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for your responses, I appreciate the advise. Unfortunately, it is going to be near impossible to audition all of these speakers. I would like to hear from people who have experience with any of these and their thoughts as to whether or not they would recommend them.

Is it really impossible to audition just 3 speakers? One is at CC, and the other might be at a Tweeter? Infinity shouldn't be too hard to find either. I dunno.

Anyways, my impressions of the JBL Studio line, going by distant memory, is that I was surprised at how detailed and neutral it was for the money, and especially considering they are not a "hot-item" of late, or a fashionable brand that people goad over all the time. The main issue I had was that it right rather hot at the very upper-most frequencies. Someone might call that bright or harsh, but, mmmm... The VR2 seemed more veiled to me, but not as hot at the upper end. Grain of salt, different rooms, different electronics, and different time periods (VR2s I heard after MUCH more auditioning experience under my belt, as well as simply being spoiled rotten by my own system).

There is absolutely no substitution for hearing for yourself. If you can't do that, just write down the three names in pieces of paper, and throw them into a hat. Seriously. They are all well-liked, at least by some, and honestly any of them will probably afford you at least enough quality that you would be happy with any pick.

Ok, I just read your first post again, sorry, no Tweeter. Same thing here in CA. I agree with you about the very wide soundstage that the VR series seem to offer. I think that was the most impressive trait for me with this line.
Ok, I see you already own the Studio line. That should give you a very decent idea about wanting more of those or not.

Lastly, I personally find OneCAll shipping to be a complete rip-off. I rather take that extra $100 more ($140 for me in CA) into better speakers.

So $700-800?.... I know someone who got some Monitor Audio Silver RS6 towers for right around that price. He lives in Dallas (how far is that from Houston?). I can ask him exactly which store and price for you, if you are curious. He did multiple revisits, and head-to-head auditioning with Paradigms and BWs at the same price, he chose the MAs. He found them to be as detailed, while more forgiving at the upper end, and by far the best looker of the bunch... cheers. If I come up with other ideas, I might holler...

 

[DavidG]

Thanks again for your responses everyone. I agree with you that the Boston Acoustic's sound very good, being the only ones that I have actually auditioned out of my choices. As you have also mentioned, it is getting harder to find them since they have been discontinued. I was surprised that neither of you liked the VRC center speaker. I heard it and didn't notice a weak, tinny sound.

The Beta's have received great reviews from almost everyone that has them according to other sites I have been to, but I know very little about them. I still have not heard from Studio L owners.

Thanks jostenmeat, for the information about the Monitor Audio RS6's. I am not very familiar with them, but did find some online info. It seems that those are excellent speakers, but harder to audition than the others I have been researching. Unfortunately, with the recent addition of our new baby boy, it has become almost impossible to get to the other side of Houston to audition speakers. Dallas, at over 250 miles away, is not really an option for me.

Any other Beta or Studio L reviews would still be appreciated.

 

[alexsound]

Thanks again for your responses everyone. I agree with you that the Boston Acoustic's sound very good, being the only ones that I have actually auditioned out of my choices. As you have also mentioned, it is getting harder to find them since they have been discontinued. I was surprised that neither of you liked the VRC center speaker. I heard it and didn't notice a weak, tinny sound.

The Beta's have received great reviews from almost everyone that has them according to other sites I have been to, but I know very little about them. I still have not heard from Studio L owners.

Thanks jostenmeat, for the information about the Monitor Audio RS6's. I am not very familiar with them, but did find some online info. It seems that those are excellent speakers, but harder to audition than the others I have been researching. Unfortunately, with the recent addition of our new baby boy, it has become almost impossible to get to the other side of Houston to audition speakers. Dallas, at over 250 miles away, is not really an option for me.

Any other Beta or Studio L reviews would still be appreciated.

I have a full BETA suite (50's front, c360center, 20'srear, 250's side surround) and absolutely love them. Very detailed sounding speakers and in stereo, the fronts (50's) have great imaging. I'm also partial to JBL since I used to have a few different models in the past, most recently L80t3's. I have heard the L890's and they also sound very good. I've only heard the VR2's from Boston and thought they also sounded very good, but didn't get to listen to them in a very optimal setup. You can get the Beta's pretty easily online as well as the JBL's, but good luck in finding the Boston's. In all honesty, I don't think you could go wrong with any of these choices.