PHYSICAL HARDWARE (not sound) opinions of JBL/etc

[maytagman]

Small bizzare room w/ temporary treatments (think omnisats)

Greetings guys, newbie to the forum but I'd like to think I'm not completely clueless. I'm here to ask for some knowledge that I cant get by auditioning systems in stores. That is, physical assembly including solder joints, crossover resiliency, etc. I'm not asking for impressions or listening experiences, because frankly I don't value peoples sonic opinions anymore. Call it insensitive, but people are too ecclectic in their tastes to ask 'What's your favorite cab'. Its like wine, but worse.

I'm 21 and just moved into my first house. The listening area for my HT setup is dreadful but im working out the acoustics now. Besides having to completely deaden one wall to prevent it reaching the neighbors, I am forced to work in an L-shaped room. Onto the question though.

Im looking at a set of JBL E-series (I know, I know, hush.). Probably the dual 6" towers for the FOH, the 10" sub, blah blah. My concern as I said earlier is not peoples opinions on sound, but on the physical construction of the cabs and drivers. I used to run a cerwin vega club rig back in the day, and I've used some high end stuff form Mackie and EV enough to know how important the crossovers are. You guys have ripped open speakers before, have there been any particularly noteworthy examples of good/bad construction?

I need to assemble a full system, piece by piece is okay. My immediate budget is $1000, although of course I'd love to skate out for 600. I'm not a golden-eared moron. I'm looking for full sound that can handle music and movies adequately. I've always had good fortune with JBL, but I've heard rumors reguarding QC and build quality. Other considerations are the Athena Micra system, but I don't feel it will provide the big sound I like. I prefer flat response, but you know what I mean.. 'big' sound. I'm used to doing most of my work on alesis reference studio monitors, so anything stupidly bassy is not relevant to my interests.


Also if anyone wants to take a pot shot at this one: due to the strange room I'm thinking of using some omnisats from mirage since I'm unable to find any dipole setups in the ~100 pricerange omni's run in. Is it harem to pair relatively fullsize FOH cabs with micros in the rear?
Cheers in advance.

 

[Tomorrow]

Greetings guys, newbie to the forum but I'd like to think I'm not completely clueless. I'm here to ask for some knowledge that I cant get by auditioning systems in stores. That is, physical assembly including solder joints, crossover resiliency, etc. I'm not asking for impressions or listening experiences, because frankly I don't value peoples sonic opinions anymore. Call it insensitive, but people are too ecclectic in their tastes to ask 'What's your favorite cab'. Its like wine, but worse.

I'm 21 and just moved into my first house. The listening area for my HT setup is dreadful but im working out the acoustics now. Besides having to completely deaden one wall to prevent it reaching the neighbors, I am forced to work in an L-shaped room. Onto the question though.

Im looking at a set of JBL E-series (I know, I know, hush.). Probably the dual 6" towers for the FOH, the 10" sub, blah blah. My concern as I said earlier is not peoples opinions on sound, but on the physical construction of the cabs and drivers. I used to run a cerwin vega club rig back in the day, and I've used some high end stuff form Mackie and EV enough to know how important the crossovers are. You guys have ripped open speakers before, have there been any particularly noteworthy examples of good/bad construction?

I need to assemble a full system, piece by piece is okay. My immediate budget is $1000, although of course I'd love to skate out for 600. I'm not a golden-eared moron. I'm looking for full sound that can handle music and movies adequately. I've always had good fortune with JBL, but I've heard rumors reguarding QC and build quality. Other considerations are the Athena Micra system, but I don't feel it will provide the big sound I like. I prefer flat response, but you know what I mean.. 'big' sound. I'm used to doing most of my work on alesis reference studio monitors, so anything stupidly bassy is not relevant to my interests.


Also if anyone wants to take a pot shot at this one: due to the strange room I'm thinking of using some omnisats from mirage since I'm unable to find any dipole setups in the ~100 pricerange omni's run in. Is it harem to pair relatively fullsize FOH cabs with micros in the rear?
Cheers in advance.

I'll beat the rush, lol, and give you my opinion. I've seen the inside of MANY JBL speakers. They are built with the same quality as most other manufactured speakers. Some boutique, hand-crafted, or expensive speakers will surely raise the Q-bar, but those are rather pricey, you'll find. Many of today's fine speaker drivers still used motors designed 25 years ago by JBL (and of course, JBL still uses them).

I have never had an issue with cabinet ringing, faulty wiring, inadequate soldering, or any such thing from the L, N, E, and Studio Series speakers I've owned. (By the way, their customer service is phenomenal. Just don't ever buy a JBL subwoofer.)

I know you don't want listening reports, everyone's ears are different.... but here's one anyway. I've auditioned my $1,000/pair JBL Studio S312 Monitors against some very fine speakers (I was looking to upgrade) and have sent the 'upgrades' back.

You'll likely get a negative feedback on this forum regarding JBL speakers, but I doubt many have actually auditioned some of the finer ones. The E series has taken its lumps because it's made off-shore and is sold, deeply discounted, by the big box stores. Nevertheless, I think they offer outstanding value for the price.

 

[furrycute]

I like the JBL speakers I have heard. Very reasonably priced for the sound and the craftsmanship.

 

[billnchristy]

I always liked the return policy with JBL car subs, you just had to cut a square out of the cone instead of shipping the whole heavy woofer back...kinda cool.

If their subs are crap for home I would suggest HSU or Outlaw for their smaller sub @299 would probably give you all the bass you need.

And of course, I cannot go a post without reccommending the Onix XL-S from AV123.com

Happy hunting.

 

[maytagman]

Hey guys, thanks for the posts. I just ran over to Nebraska Furniture Mart (decent listening spaces and stuffs) and did a little sampling. I ran a pair of E80s against something I had never seen before... JBL 'Rock Monitors'. Despite the cheesey name, I really think the E80s mids and highs sounded muffled compared to them. I was just worred if like so many other things, the craftsmanship quality has gone down over the years.
I didn't mean to come off like a jerk in my first post either, I do value opinions and stories, but I'm sure you guys are tired of 'What sounds the best' threads. What's so wrong about their subs? I'm not too versed in the subs, just the cabs, what's the popular notion that makes people cringe about them? I wonder what would make a good match to these 'rock monitor' dealies.

The model number is RM10 I believe.. They seemed to have all the low-end of the E80s with additional brighter mids and more defined crisp highs. I guess this is the JBL I know, the light airy yet authoritative sound of their PA monitors. Anyone know the skinny on these things?

 

[billnchristy]

They appear to be stage monitors.

 

[maytagman]

Yeah, thats what they looked like at first... yet JBL has them in the home theater/consumer category.. weird..

The only problem I see, since I liked the sound, is the fact that their power handling is WAYYY above what I am going to push with a recevier. Hmmm.. decisions!

Edit: Actually not really, nominal power handling being 50w, thats not bad. Also.. they claim 40hz-20k, but we all know how accurate those little figures are ;P

listed as a '3-speaker, 2-way 10" vocal monitor'..
curious!

 

[Tomorrow]

What's so wrong about their subs? I'm not too versed in the subs, just the cabs, what's the popular notion that makes people cringe about them? I wonder what would make a good match to these 'rock monitor' dealies.

The JBL subs (I had their 400 watt RMS S120PII) are built like tanks and make about as much music as one. No punch. Lots of muddy rumble. If you can afford it, Hsu and SVS subs come highly recommended for lots of positive reasons.

 

[maytagman]

Yeah I sampled the 350 and 500 watt models today... nothing really impressive.. Sadly they didnt have the athena set for me to check out. Ah well.

 

[B5I8]

Anyone know what JBL stands for? Junk But Loud. Sorry I just had to throw that out there .

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker build quality

Some of the AH bookshelf reviews should give you an idea of the build quality from various manufactuers.
http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/loudspeakers/SpeakerFaceOffVIp1.php
http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/loudspeakers/Onixxlsp1.php

Axiom, Klipsh (reference), and Onix X-LS rated vary well in this category.

 

[maytagman]

Thanks for the reply! I love reviews done by people who can afford to rip apart 3 or 4 pairs of speakers so I don't have to

Anyway, I've decided to take the advice of some wise people here and simply a la carte it as I go along, affording myself some quality components that might last a bit.

In this spirit I'm just going to grab myself a nice receiver as the root of the unit and use my Alesis monitors in the mean time in a 2.0 setup, whilst field testing a few other setups.

Im considering swapping out the Alesis' with a pair of Axiom M2 Bookshelves now that I have an idea as to the excellence of their build quality. I'm trying to find a place to demo them, but Omaha isn't exactly a hi-fi mecca :/
It will come down to the Axiom M2s or a set of Onyx X-LS I think. The sound of the Alesis is very directional and won't be really suitable for more than a mere substitue surround until I can afford some bipolar cabinets.

As for a recevier I'm trying to find a lightly used Yamaha 2500, or one of the nicer pioneer or H/K units. All I really want is a 5.1 system, although if I choose the H/K or Yamaha I will have to bastardize it from 7.1. I dont need a lot of power since as I said I have a rack full of Carvin reference amps to bi-amp with... so I'm looking for quality initial amplification in this purchase.

 

[maytagman]

Here's a very detailed CAD model of the living/dining room setup I currently enjoy here in luxorious military housing. To draft this extremely complex sketch I used my favorite multi-million dollar CAD solution, MSP. (or to those of us in the biz, Microsoft Paint)

Well, it's nothing fancy but it expresses the nightmare I'm going to have with stereo imaging, reflection, and placement of satellites.

Obviously perfect stereo imaging is impossible with both the room shape and the seating arrangement, but I figure with a nice set of FOH and a pair of omnisats or bipolar speakers in the rear I can at least create decent sonic envelopment with a fair amount of positional distinction. Oh yes, and the gray wall is going to be covered with two laters of foam board and a layer of foam wedgies, as it is to be a completely dead 3-air gap between me and the neighbors (adjoining wall).

Any suggestions would be appreciated... or maybe I should start a different thread o.o

I'll throw up some photos as soon as my camera gets a little juice.

Green = Omnisat
Red = FOH cabinet
Blue = Center
Yellow(ish) = Sub
Gray = Acoustically dead.

 

[maytagman]

As promised, heres a few shots of the actual room. I apologize for the poor quality. The TV, too is on the chopping block. And gimmie a break! Just movied in so its a bit messy





Hopefully people can tell where the POV correlates to.