JBL Studio 698! I just had to do it fellas!!!

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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
So Danzilla31, you say that the 698's bass is not quite as deep as the T6's. Meaning that the T6 sub-bass has a little more impact over the 698's.
Yes so far that's what I'm hearing subjectively when I listen to movies. Needs to be confirmed with measurements tho
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
Honestly if I'd gotten my hands on these first I mean it I never would have even gotten curious to see what else is out they're. The 698's are that good. I would have been so happy with what I had I never would have known what I was missing
Pair those with this 880 Array center and you’ll never look back . I use this center and intend on pairing it with HDI 3800’s in my later this year . Great review by the way !
 

Attachments

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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
Pair those with this 880 Array center and you’ll never look back . I use this center and intend on pairing it with HDI 3800’s in my later this year . Great review by the way !
I just looked that up that looks like a bad a$$ center channel option. Dang JBL has some nice stuff
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
None right now I'm waiting for the RSL 12s once Shady posts that review I'm snapping one of those up just want to see some measurements first
Why was I thinking you had an SVS or 2 just chillin in there? LOL :)
 
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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
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.
Hey do you know or can you ask your dealer how the feet go on the bottom of the 698? I just have them sitting on the base. I know how to put in the spikes but I'm not sure without the spikes if they just sit on the base the instructions don't make it very clear in the manual

Thank you!
 
Timforhifi

Timforhifi

Full Audioholic
He said he’s not sure about anything but the spikes. I’ll take a look at them this weekend though. The f208 didn’t come with feet for hard floors either. Was just felt pads to stick to the bottom. I bought some rubber anti vibration feet meant for washing machines. I believe it’s a m8 screw and works incredibly well.
 
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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
He said he’s not sure about anything but the spikes. I’ll take a look at them this weekend though. The f208 didn’t come with feet for hard floors either. Was just felt pads to stick to the bottom. I bought some rubber anti vibration feet meant for washing machines. I believe it’s a m8 screw and works incredibly well.
I think that's how it works with the 698's just felt pads to stick on the bottom thank you for checking!
 
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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
Any updates on these speakers?
Yes. I went ahead and experimented with different toe in and position.

I like them both toed out and toed in for different reasons. Toed out widens up that Soundstage

Toed in slightly better imaging but even more detail. Imaging is good with toed out though and like I said the Soundstage is so much more spacious.

Right now I ended up toeing them in just for the incredible detail you get.

But it's a testament to how good they're wave guide is that you can be that flexible with positioning. Hopefully this is also an indicator of good on and off axis response but that needs to be confirmed with objective measurements.

Toed in they are not bright those highs are crisp and clean and very very dynamic. To the point that they are on the edge but they never cross over to sibilance or ear fatigue. Very detailed and revealing and dynamic but not to the point of bright. They remind me of my RBH with they're giant Arum Cantus tweeter in that regard.

Voices are just so they are right they're in the room. Like a live performance. The 590's did that great as well. But not to this level.

On movies they are awesome but they don't extend as deep as the Encore T6. They have the same frequency response but the Encore are designed to have a rolloff that goes deep in the room. I don't think JBL was going for that what you do get is that midbass slam around 40 or 50 hz though they will punch your guts out. I think paired with subs at 60 to 80 hz these will just be beyond awesome. I know crossovers are room dependent but a lower crossover at say 60 to 80 would be best in my opinion let the subs hit the deep deep stuff let the 698 towers shine where they really hit hard. And they do hit hard. The Encores have more extension the 698 have way way more slam.

Once again clarity clarity clarity they are so clean and detailed a very neutral sound with dynamics for days. You can get a lot of speakers that play clean and neutral but sound a Lil bit boring because it costs them dynamics but not the 698's. Not at all.

I know it was risky to cross them over where they did with that midrange driver but I think the higher crossover point for the tweeter works well because they can go much louder and smoother then the 590's with a lot less distortion

They are awesome for movies and music but they need subs with movies for the low end low end range on the bass. But for music you won't notice it and for movies with that midbass slam it's not like you won't be having fun.
 
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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
Any updates on these speakers?
So in conclusion I will be keeping the 698's as my new reference speakers for the bedroom. All others will get sold except for the encore t6 that's too good of a speaker for the money not to get used somewhere in this house.

I plan on contacting Crutchfield today and working out a deal with them on the speaker that took cosmetic damage. I think a nice 3.2 with 3 JBL 698's beneath that screen and 2 of the new RSL 12s subs would be divine in that room.

I still plan on auditioning speakers in that bedroom from time to time. Just the 698 will be what I compare them against
 
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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
Oh one more thing that I noticed you can drive them just fine with an AVR but they really open up with an amp at higher volume levels. I bought an amp to drive them and they like that power when you want to really push them
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
Awesome review. If I get the 698's, I will probably look for a good Class D Purifi power amp to drive them.
 
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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
Update Crutchfield gave me a super sweet deal on the last tower that took some aesthetic damage so I just bought it instead of compromising with a center speaker. :D Okay just level matching the center channel and everything is hooked up and ready to go! Here's some pics of the final room setup really came out better then I thought it would I'll let you guys know what 3 of these sound like in the front stage. I didn't have much speaker wire left for the center channel so I couldn't hide it along the base board like the other 2 wires but I'll fix that later. But other then that I'm happy with how the room turned out!

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Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
With 3 of em running Fuggin wow man just woe. Everything mentioned X 11.

Funny thing is they image so well I forgot to switch my Marantz out of stereo and they image so well I thought for awhile the 3rd one was playing! :D

They create a phantom center so well man
 
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