Advice wanted on bright speakers/bookshelf placement

S

SR_Theater

Audiophyte
Hey everyone,

I am a bit new to this hobby and I need help with some speakers i bought. I was previously using a Klipsch R41Ms as front left and right and a JBL Studio 520c that I loved. I was looking for new front three speakers because we are getting an entertainment center and my wife wants them on the bookshelf because she doesn't like the look of speaker stands (I can't say i disagree with her on that) so i was looking for speakers with bass ports in the front rather than the back. I just bought my first set of Jamo speakers, I got the S 803 bookshelves with the S 83 center because there was a lot of popularity surrounding these. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with the performance of the speakers and am wondering if moving up to the concert series would be better? The voices seem a bit nasally and the overall treble seems rather bright with a mid-range that is very stepped back. I'm not really a fan of this v-shaped sound. Any other suggestions welcome.

On a side note, would it really be that bad to put a back-ported speaker in the bookshelf? could I put some noise treatment foam in the back of the bookshelf to help?
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Jamo speakers have all measured poorly from what I have seen, so I am not surprised that you don't like them. I would suggest some alternate speakers, but I don't think it will make a difference if you put them in an entertainment center.

Putting acoustic treatments in an entertainment center is not going to help the sound. Entertainment centers are mostly a disaster for sound quality. Here is a recent article on how they destroy good audio.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Hey everyone,

I am a bit new to this hobby and I need help with some speakers i bought. I was previously using a Klipsch R41Ms as front left and right and a JBL Studio 520c that I loved. I was looking for new front three speakers because we are getting an entertainment center and my wife wants them on the bookshelf because she doesn't like the look of speaker stands (I can't say i disagree with her on that) so i was looking for speakers with bass ports in the front rather than the back. I just bought my first set of Jamo speakers, I got the S 803 bookshelves with the S 83 center because there was a lot of popularity surrounding these. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with the performance of the speakers and am wondering if moving up to the concert series would be better? The voices seem a bit nasally and the overall treble seems rather bright with a mid-range that is very stepped back. I'm not really a fan of this v-shaped sound. Any other suggestions welcome.

On a side note, would it really be that bad to put a back-ported speaker in the bookshelf? could I put some noise treatment foam in the back of the bookshelf to help?
You need to talk to your wife. Bookshelf speakers are not resigned to put on bookshelves! If you want to do what your wife wants, then you will have to design and build speakers custom to that location, if you want good results.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Jamo speakers tend to be voiced bright ... aim for a different brand
 
CajunLB

CajunLB

Senior Audioholic
To bad the studio 5 series is rear ported. You already have the match center.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
Hey everyone,

I am a bit new to this hobby and I need help with some speakers i bought. I was previously using a Klipsch R41Ms as front left and right and a JBL Studio 520c that I loved. I was looking for new front three speakers because we are getting an entertainment center and my wife wants them on the bookshelf because she doesn't like the look of speaker stands (I can't say i disagree with her on that) so i was looking for speakers with bass ports in the front rather than the back. I just bought my first set of Jamo speakers, I got the S 803 bookshelves with the S 83 center because there was a lot of popularity surrounding these. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with the performance of the speakers and am wondering if moving up to the concert series would be better? The voices seem a bit nasally and the overall treble seems rather bright with a mid-range that is very stepped back. I'm not really a fan of this v-shaped sound. Any other suggestions welcome.

On a side note, would it really be that bad to put a back-ported speaker in the bookshelf? could I put some noise treatment foam in the back of the bookshelf to help?
If possible get tower speakers or bookshelve stands. Telll her to read that article on link above ... once you get used to towers or proper placement it would sound good enough you won’t notice them .
 
H

head_unit

Audioholic Intern
would it really be that bad to put a back-ported speaker in the bookshelf?
I asked a fellow loudspeaker engineer who worked at Harman/JBL about this, however they had never done formal research. Our feeling is if you have a couple of port diameters of clear space it will be fine, i.e. 3" clearance for a 1.5" port. Many speakers are not as deep as a bookshelf so don't rule out rear-ported models without a dimension check. Rear ports also have a bit of advantage in that it will be harder to hear any port noise or "organ pipe" port resonance. Just be sure the speakers aren't recessed on the shelves, I'd have them stick out over the shelf edge like 1/4" or such.
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
The new Jamo is not the old Jamo. Once a semi-premium European brand, now they are just Klipsch's budget brand, and designed primarily to look good in living rooms.

Their response curves suffer from "showroom sparkle" which means the high frequencies are elevated in order to sound "crisp" and "clean" when listened to in Best Buy with a ton of ambient background noise.

On a budget, these JBL A130's are pretty smooth:


These ELAC's are good for a bit more $$, if they're still in production:


The JBL 530's have excellent response curves, which is probably why you loved the center cannel from the same line. Highly recommended.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I would keep using stands myself, but that's because I like good sound. As far as entertainment centers and speaker placement in general goes...

 
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