Studio JBL 530's sounding OK

[Lukeinlondon]

Hi guys,

Big fan of Audioholics and grateful for the money they have saved me!!

New to home stereo systems. Picked up my dream speakers last week, tested them at pick up and was REALLY impressed.

After speaking to Emotiva they said they're A100 would work as my room is 200 square foot. Found a used one online and purchased it.

Picked up some QED QUDOS cables w Banana cables for cheap (used as well)

My source is my Android phone w HF player and Lossless files or Spotify Premium with my Oppo Ha2 and a Bluetooth Receiver.

The Jack to Jack cable is Oppo's (came with Oppo) the 3.5mm to RCA is a generic cable that I found in my cupboard, (probably one of those ones that come with electronic devices.)

The tests done-

Android direct to Oppo to Amp
Android to Amp (headphone output)
Bluetooth receive to Oppo to Amp

The results-

They all sound OK, no noticeable difference between them which does not make sense to me as with headphones I can tell the difference between Spotify and headphone VS Lossless and Oppo.

My conclusion-

Amp is underpowered
The 3.5mm to RCA is crap (I have a new cable on order from BlueJeans)

Look forward to hearing from the experienced users.

Thank you

 

[sterling shoote]

My experience may be somewhat like yours. I can listen to iTunes Library via 1. usb to S/PDIF, 2. usb to analog, 3. Airplay to S/PDIF, 4. Airplay to analog, and 5. usb to usb DAC. All sound pretty much the same and all sound similar to CD, SACD, and LPs of same material. In other words it's all great and therefore my tendency is for convenience, usually listening to iTunes from whatever device I have at hand via Airport Express to pre/pro S/PDIF. BTW, I can't imagine you are underpowered. I have not heard those JBLs but I have heard good things said about them. I would think in the room you described you would get effortless performance to a realitively high volume. My JBL L100t3's can get effortless to an extent; but, if you want volume without sounding loud, you might want to save for a pair of JBL 4367's.

 

[everettT]

Highly doubt your underpowered. Depending on the music genre, I doubt you hit more than max 30w a loud levels and that's at a peak not constant. Most of the time we use less than a watt or 2.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Something tells me there might be too many “reflections” in the room.

 

[zieglj01]

Something tells me there might be too many “reflections” in the room.

That ^ and double check wire hook-up -- positive to positive and negative to negative

 

[slipperybidness]

Something tells me there might be too many “reflections” in the room.

Good Point.

But .....

@Lukeinlondon

From the pics, it looks like those speakers are waaaaay too close together!

How far apart are the speakers? I think you need to get better separation on them.

And, how close is the listening position to the speaker position?

 

[speakerman39]

Oh how I miss my JBL 530's. They are not the best I have ever owned, but certainly the most fun. Made a BIG mistake when I sold them off. It does help that my 530's went to a good home. Nice find! Congrats! Lucky you.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Swerd]

First of all, I'm glad to read that Lukeinlondon is happy with his new speakers.

The results-

They all sound OK, no noticeable difference between them which does not make sense to me as with headphones I can tell the difference between Spotify and headphone VS Lossless and Oppo.

My conclusion-

Amp is underpowered
The 3.5mm to RCA is crap (I have a new cable on order from BlueJeans)

But I question his conclusions about why the various ways he hooked up his sound sources sounded different by headphones but fail to sound different with the JBL 530 speakers.

I don't think I've ever heard loudspeakers that sound identical to headphones. I certainly haven't tried every combination possible, but I think it is highly unlikely to find speakers and headphones that do sound indistinguishable. Unless the OP has some compelling evidence for this, he cannot conclude anything about his various cable connections.

Concluding that the amp is underpowered, based on the information he provided, makes no sense.

 

[zieglj01]

My conclusion-

Amp is underpowered
The 3.5mm to RCA is crap (I have a new cable on order from BlueJeans)

Look forward to hearing from the experienced users.

You have plenty of power for a 200 square foot room

Emotiva A100
50 watts / channel RMS; 8 Ohms; 20 Hz – 20 kHz; <0.05% THD.
80 watts / channel RMS; continuous; into 4 ohms.

 

[MrBoat]

I think the amp could be a bit more powerful for those speakers. My buddy owns the 530's and the 590's and has a 120W AVR powering the 530's. They sound good enough to where I almost owned a pair of them.

If you're going to want to compare to a critical listening, headphone experience, you should at least set the JBL's in a true, near field, triangular arrangement. While the constant directivity designs are somewhat immune to these tactics, it does make a difference.

 

[Lukeinlondon]

Hi guys sorry for the confusion about headphones I was just referring to when I listen to music with my DAC prior to owning an amp and the audible difference between those arrangements.

I had someone from Sevenoaks Sounds come by this afternoon and looked at my setup and said EVERYTHING was fine, I said why doesn't it sound as good as when I heard them at the Sellers house, he said what was the setup and I explained he had 2x power amps and he said that's the difference!

The guy was using Nord Acoustic custom power amps which is ruled out for price point.

Are there any power amps that can be picked up for cheap on eBay? I could get two of those maybe

 

[everettT]

Hi guys sorry for the confusion about headphones I was just referring to when I listen to music with my DAC prior to owning an amp and the audible difference between those arrangements.

I had someone from Sevenoaks Sounds come by this afternoon and looked at my setup and said EVERYTHING was fine, I said why doesn't it sound as good as when I heard them at the Sellers house, he said what was the setup and I explained he had 2x power amps and he said that's the difference!

The guy was using Nord Acoustic custom power amps which is ruled out for price point.

Are there any power amps that can be picked up for cheap on eBay? I could get two of those maybe

Different rooms, period.

 

[slipperybidness]

Hi guys sorry for the confusion about headphones I was just referring to when I listen to music with my DAC prior to owning an amp and the audible difference between those arrangements.

I had someone from Sevenoaks Sounds come by this afternoon and looked at my setup and said EVERYTHING was fine, I said why doesn't it sound as good as when I heard them at the Sellers house, he said what was the setup and I explained he had 2x power amps and he said that's the difference!

The guy was using Nord Acoustic custom power amps which is ruled out for price point.

Are there any power amps that can be picked up for cheap on eBay? I could get two of those maybe

That guy just told you what you wanted to hear!

What about those questions I asked in post #6

 

[lovinthehd]

The 530s aren't the highest sensitivity but should get fairly loud with 50wpc (for example much less sensitive than Sterling's L100s). Did the seller have them in a similar room and setup similarly? The room and placement are a huge part of how they're going to sound rather than your connections etc (let alone a completely different experience like speakers clamped to your ears). I definitely would spread those guys out (use an equilateral triangle with your seat as one point as a starting point).

BTW I am the home of Phil's sale of 530s altho I use mine as rear surrounds since I have the rest of the set (590s up front, with 580s as surrounds, 520 center)

 

[zieglj01]

50 watts per channel is enough for your room -- they are not made for nearfield and placed close together -- they need more space between them and toed in about 15 degrees -- they are one of the best that I have owned.

Question is -- is someone in your house upset that you bought some big bookshelf speakers, and they would prefer something smaller like Bose or one of the sound-dock systems?

 

[sterling shoote]

The 530s aren't the highest sensitivity but should get fairly loud with 50wpc (for example much less sensitive than Sterling's L100s). Did the seller have them in a similar room and setup similarly? The room and placement are a huge part of how they're going to sound rather than your connections etc (let alone a completely different experience like speakers clamped to your ears). I definitely would spread those guys out (use an equilateral triangle with your seat as one point as a starting point).

BTW I am the home of Phil's sale of 530s altho I use mine as rear surrounds since I have the rest of the set (590s up front, with 580s as surrounds, 520 center)

WOW! You got the whole enchilada. I bet every time you put on some dance music it makes you want to do some shuffle dancing.

 

[lovinthehd]

WOW! You got the whole enchilada. I bet every time you put on some dance music it makes you want to do some shuffle dancing.

Shuffle dancing I wasn't particularly aware of until I looked it up (thought you were just calling me old LOL)

 

[shadyJ]

Those speakers look too closely spaced together. Also, placed on a desk and so close to a backwall is not the greatest acoustic condition. Your amp is fine. The placement and acoustic conditions are the problem here. You might also want to supplement them with a subwoofer.

 

[Lukeinlondon]

Ok, a lot of the feedback is about placement so I take it on board. These speakers are reviewed positively as near field so I am surprised to hear that feedback although I am not sitting at that table I am 3 feet away on the couch.

I can't do anything about placement right now so I will have to leave it as it until we move.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[Papking]

I just found a set of the Jbl studio 530s at thrift store! I hooked them up to my HK 3480 with 125rms. These are truly wonderful speakers. The best I have owned. I saw the studio 550p on sale at Jbl for $189 so I ordered it. It is now back to $599. It is sealed sub and should at the tight low end below 60hz.