JBL L880 Floorstanding Speakers Review

[admin]

JBL has been making big speakers for decades. I can remember entering my freshman college dorm for the first time and hearing rock music shaking the door of a guy's room at the end of a hall - it was like he had a small concert PA in there! Actually, he had some beefy JBL speakers being powered by a big Pioneer amp. Those speakers provided all of us on the hall with great music, night and day, whether we wanted it or not. One thing I remember - they always sounded great.

Discuss "JBL L880 Floorstanding Speakers Review" here. Read the article.

 

[FIqbal]

Thanks for the review. I was looking for a review of these speakers for some time.

 

[birdonthebeach]

I wish I had more time with them - but hopefully this gives you a snapshot of what to expect from these big boys. I was pleasantly surprised!

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I wish I had more time with them - but hopefully this gives you a snapshot of what to expect from these big boys. I was pleasantly surprised!

When Tomorrow wakes up he'll be doing cartwheels!

SBF1

 

[6kids&adog]

These speakers look impressive. I was looking at them for a while. However, Soundstage (www.soundstage.com - under the "equipment" tab, then pick "equipment archives" at the bottom of the screen, then in the drop down box choose "loudspeakers (home audio), then look for speakers with "NRC" after their names) reviewed them and did NRC measurements of their frequency response. In truth, they reviewed and measured the Studio 890 - which appears to be the same speaker as the 880, only with 8 inch woofers instead of 6 inch woofers. The on and off axis frequency response was not the best that I have seen. Since I am a believer in the objective side of speaker evaluation (which says speakers with flatter on and off axis responses are more often chosen in blinded tests as sounding "better"), I would pass on these and look for similiarly priced (or cheaper) speakers with better measured responses. Some examples would include the Axiom M80v2, the Revel Concerta F12, the Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v3.

 

[JJMP50]

Having owned a pair of old L1's for many years, I am glad to see that JBL is getting back into the consumer market with a serious product line again even though they seem to be a bit pricey.

 

[avliner]

Nice review indeed!


The only missing point, IMO, is the scoring card though.

BTW, I did hear the 890 and they sound really impressive, but they're that big!

Well, a bit off topíc, but still about JBL new Studio L range, what really impressed me was a demo on a friends house, with the following config:

L / C / R = LC - 2 (center speaker)
Surr. / SB = L - 830

That setup is definetely on my wish list though.

Cheers!

 

[Seafang]

JBL floor "towers"

I was recently visiting a local Electronics store, and they were playing some fancy music (with video) and I believe the speakers were these JBL tower speakers. Can't say it was just the speaker's fault but the sound quality was just awful. No real bass (the piece they were playing was supposed to have a full organ playing and I couldn't even hear it), and the mid range was screechy and distorted.

Not what I expect from JBL (whom I don't really blame) Now I have a pair of JBL Lancer 77s; and I doubt that you can find anybody at JBL who even recognizes that number; but those are real speakers. A couple of years ago, I accidently blew out the edge of one of the speaker cones; ripped the whole rim out with an accidental power overload; but I pasted it back together laboriously with finger nail polish (really), and now they sound as good as they ever did.

I'm sorry, but when I see a six inch speaker cone, I do not instinctively think "woofer"; well unless it is a dachshund, and that seems to be borne out by the 30 to 40KHz frequency range of these L880s; no way you are going to play organ music through those, and I doubt that too many people spend a lot of time listening to the 40 KHz. Now if they shifted the whole thing down a full ocatve it might be better.

The home theatre market seems to be happy with less emphasis on sound quality; just so long as they make a lot of noise; probably if you gave them good hi fi sound, it might distract them from the movies, and that could be a plus.

 

[gene]

Since I am a believer in the objective side of speaker evaluation (which says speakers with flatter on and off axis responses are more often chosen in blinded tests as sounding "better"),

Be careful with considering this an absolute truth. I have found many speakers claiming to be flat anechoically on/off axis tend to be too bright in real rooms and measure bright accordingly.

Also, this mantra doesn't apply to all loudspeaker designs such as line array type speakers which project mostly direct sound to the listening area and control / limit off axis response.

Oddly, I have found many speakers that do well at the NRC sound unpalatable to me, but thats another topic which I may eventually write about in an article.

As for these JBLs, I have doubts on the design b/c of the 2 different tweeters they utilized. Based on the NRC measurements at Soundstage website, the JBLs look deliberatly voiced for elevated boom and sizzle which many who listen to rock music will love. I suspect they will sound a bit too hot in the top end for my liking, but others may love that sound.

Hence why there are so many different product types and brands for consumers

 

[Tomorrow]

When Tomorrow wakes up he'll be doing cartwheels!

SBF1

LOL, I finally woke up, SBF1. But I'm WAY too old for cartwheels...I'd hurt something.....

I am glad to see JBL getting back to it's roots. That cheapo Northridge or E Series just didn't cut it. I have reverence for JBL's new Everest system which I'm sure, without ever hearing it, ranks amongst the world's best. But to put out a new consumer class series that actually takes a step back into quality is exactly what JBL needed to do.

To be honest, these L880s look on paper like little brothers of my S312's. The reviewer described them much as I would my Studios. Remember, I've compared these things to dozens of different speaker brands. Stepping up for me would require a 5 grand investment in Aerials or Sonus Fabers.

Sad, but true.

Thanks for the review, BOTB.

 

[Tomorrow]

I found these L890's on ebay. Nice price...$685.

No connection to me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-JBL-Studio-L890-4-Way-Dual-8-Tower-Speakers-Black_W0QQitemZ120115369280QQihZ002QQcategoryZ14993QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[mrjbolsen]

Umm...

Okay so this was a really good review. I was really respecting everything you were saying up until you made the, silly comment about JBL being based out of New York.

Um Northridge California is on a Fault Line. where there are earthquakes... ALSO that is where JBL is based out of. So your entire Review was shot to heck when I read that. I am sorry, when you review. make sure you are really knowing what it is that you are commenting on. cause in fact they put that sticker after they heard about another speaker companies product fell in an earthquake and killed a 4 year old. so even though you are in new york, the rest of the world is not.

 

[birdonthebeach]

Okay so this was a really good review. I was really respecting everything you were saying up until you made the, silly comment about JBL being based out of New York.

Um Northridge California is on a Fault Line. where there are earthquakes... ALSO that is where JBL is based out of. So your entire Review was shot to heck when I read that. I am sorry, when you review. make sure you are really knowing what it is that you are commenting on. cause in fact they put that sticker after they heard about another speaker companies product fell in an earthquake and killed a 4 year old. so even though you are in new york, the rest of the world is not.

Hmmmm. Okay, so you may be right that JBL is not based in NY. (For the record, I am not in NY - not even close. So YOU are wrong there, but I will not suggest that your comments are "shot to heck" because you made that mistake.) But I stand by my opinion on the sticker, which is just that - an opinion. Feel free to disagree with it. Not sure that your argument about the earthquakes justifying a sticker make sense, but whatever floats your boat. (Using this logic, it seems most everything in CA would need a sticker)

I'm sorry that you feel that the entire review "was shot to heck" because I may have gotten the company location wrong. I can assure you that my observations on the performance and build quality were not tainted by my feelings about the sticker....

 

[Tom Andry]

NEW YORK CITY!?!?!?!










Git a rope!

 

[avliner]

NEW YORK CITY!?!?!?!

Tom,

that's the good'n old western sound moving east, my friend

Regards, Chuck

 

[DD66000]

JBL, consumer division, has been headquartered in Woodbury, NY for quite some time.
The main plant is in Northridge, CA, where the top end JBLs, Revels, Infinity speakers are made.
Here is a news release from earlier this year.

STAMFORD, CT – Harman International Industries, Incorporated (NYSE: HAR) announced today that it will be consolidating most functions now based in its Woodbury, New York offices into Harman’s existing facility in Northridge, California, including sales, marketing, and administration. As a result, Harman will be closing its Consumer Audio facility in Woodbury by June 30, 2009. The action, which will affect about 130 employees and some 47,500 sq. ft. of leased office space, supports an ongoing strategy to strengthen the Company’s key businesses through resource consolidations. A limited number of employees will be offered relocation.

“This action continues our long-term strategy to strengthen our core businesses and optimize our resource footprint for a sustainable and profitable future,” said Dinesh C. Paliwal, Harman’s Chairman and CEO. “We remain committed to the needs of our Consumer Audio customers and look forward to serving them from an integrated Harman International facility in Northridge, California which has hosted elements of our Automotive and Professional businesses for many years.”

Harman International (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. The Company maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia and employs about 12,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands spans some 15 leading names including AKG, Audioaccess, Becker, BSS, Crown, dbx, DigiTech, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Revel, QNX, Soundcraft and Studer. The Company’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the Symbol HAR.