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I need some advice, JBL DD66000,Beolab 50 or KEF Blade One Meta?

sarumbear

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Hello everyone, I am from China; please accept my sincere greetings.
I am considering acquiring a pair of HIFI speakers as the left and right main speakers for my home theatre and need an excellent off-axis response to ensure sound articulation from the front.
The JBL 66000, KEF blade one meta, and beolab 50 are similar in price in China, and all three seem to offer good off-axis response with their waveguide design.
I checked some relevant reviews on the internet, and only the dd66000 has credible, appropriate measurements; the other two I have auditioned, but given the different acoustic environment of the room, I don't trust my ears.
JBL seems to have the best speaker units and cabinet design, but the model is perhaps too old. The Blade has the latest UniQ technology and appears to be a good choice. beolab50 has plenty of power at 2100w and comes with its DSP technology

My English is not very good, and I hope you don't mind that some of the technical words may be poorly expressed.:)
I hope you will not see this as an off-topic reply but what are you considering for the centre channel?

You are considering very high calibre speakers for left and right, I urge you consider that in films soundtracks centre channel is s major contributor to the overall front sound. That is why all movie theatres and vast majority of home theatre installations use the same speakers for LCR. If you use a different model for the centre speaker you will hear the sound change drastically when the voices are panned.

Edit: I just saw your post that you will not use a centre speaker. Be very careful on your choice. Make sure you tested it. There’s a reason why there’s been a centre speaker at every movie theatre.
 
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dickman

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As usual B&O is slighted by us , audiophiles... Please look at the measurements of the Beolab 90 and those of its older brother the Beolab 5.... If the Beolab 50 is cut from the same cloth and I tend to think that it is, it deserves to be audition. B&O speakers are no joke. They are also active, complete systems with extremely well thought-off DSP and room correction.
You just need a streamer... They're Airplay 2 compliant too...so...

From their website:
Frequency Range
< 15 to > 43,000 Hz

Maximum Sound Pressure Level @1m
120 dB SPL

Bass Capability
116 dB SPL


I would like to se those speakers reviewed here.. I know it is unlikely but the knee-jerk reaction to B&O is unfortunate... they deserve serious consideration.


Peace
I have read the beolab 50 manual carefully and it mentions that 15hz-40Khz is the measurement obtained at -10db, so the lab 50 is not so strongly excellent
From experience, I reckon that if 15hz-40Khz at -10db is possible, then I might expect 25hz-35Khz ±3db, which should also be considered excellent

Note: Total System measurements performed with Active Room Compensation disabled.
Frequency Range < 15 Hz to > 43 kHz (-10 dB, ref. 200 Hz - 2 kHz, unsmoothed)
Peak SPL 117 dB SPL (unweighted) @ 1 m, on-axis in a free field Sensitivity see Section 8.1
 
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dickman

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I hope you will not see this as an off-topic reply but what are you considering for the centre channel?

You are considering very high calibre speakers for left and right, I urge you consider that in films soundtracks centre channel is s major contributor to the overall front sound. That is why all movie theatres and vast majority of home theatre installations use the same speakers for LCR. If you use a different model for the centre speaker you will hear the sound change drastically when the voices are panned.

Edit: I just saw your post that you will not use a centre speaker. Be very careful on your choice. Make sure you tested it. There’s a reason why there’s been a centre speaker at every movie theatre.
Well, I should try to acquire the LR first and then see how it works in practice, and if it doesn't meet expectations, then acquiring a matching centre speaker is an option:)
 

sarumbear

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Well, I should try to acquire the LR first and then see how it works in practice, and if it doesn't meet expectations, then acquiring a matching centre speaker is an option:)
You may have to plan ahead and don’t chose a tall speaker though. It’s not realistic to place a Blade below the TV…

Also, you will be spending a good deal of money. A dealer should be able to demo you the difference between a phantom centre and a physical one.
 
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dickman

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You may have to plan ahead and don’t chose a tall speaker though. It’s not realistic to place a Blade below the TV…

Also, you will be spending a good deal of money. A dealer should be able to demo you the difference between a phantom centre and a physical one.
You're right, I don't know the exact logic of how the DSP works when processing the audio signal, and whether there is a dedicated "centre channel" in the original source of the movie that needs to be delivered specifically to the centre speaker for playback. I prefer to think of the centre speaker as more of a widening between the left and right main speakers, just like the front widening speakers, so I think a pair of HIFI speakers with good off-axis response should be able to cover the original work of the centre speaker.

I am temporarily living in the Scotland and there are some dealers here that I can go to for auditions, but I don't speak English very well and auditions require a different form of appointment than in China, so I haven't bothered with them
 

sarumbear

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You're right, I don't know the exact logic of how the DSP works when processing the audio signal, and whether there is a dedicated "centre channel" in the original source of the movie that needs to be delivered specifically to the centre speaker for playback. I prefer to think of the centre speaker as more of a widening between the left and right main speakers, just like the front widening speakers, so I think a pair of HIFI speakers with good off-axis response should be able to cover the original work of the centre speaker.
Film soundtrack and stereo music playback are very different things. A stereo track is a unified signal to create a stereo soundstage, which is in general, static. Whereas a film soundtrack is a multichannel signal where the location of the sounds follow the actions on the screen.

Every film soundtrack, either movie theatre or TV release has 3 separate front channels. It is expected that those front channels (LCR) are fed to their respective speakers. If you don’t have a centre speaker the AVP/AVR mixes the centre channel equally to left and right channels to create a phantom centre channel. A phantom centre channel is a non-standard process and it has problems. For instance, it only works if you sit dead centre between LR speakers.

But, don’t trust me. Trust your own ears.

I am temporarily living in the Scotland and there are some dealers here that I can go to for auditions, but I don't speak English very well and auditions require a different form of appointment than in China, so I haven't bothered with them
Your English is excellent. Don’t be scared. Scotts are a friendly lot. :)
 
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Vacceo

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I hope you will not see this as an off-topic reply but what are you considering for the centre channel?

You are considering very high calibre speakers for left and right, I urge you consider that in films soundtracks centre channel is s major contributor to the overall front sound. That is why all movie theatres and vast majority of home theatre installations use the same speakers for LCR. If you use a different model for the centre speaker you will hear the sound change drastically when the voices are panned.

Edit: I just saw your post that you will not use a centre speaker. Be very careful on your choice. Make sure you tested it. There’s a reason why there’s been a centre speaker at every movie theatre.
I have listened to the Blades and they are incredible speakers, but I agree on your thoughts: what would be the center? Because I´m not even sure a Reference center will fit them as well as it would suit a pair of Reference 7´s.
 

sarumbear

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I have listened to the Blades and they are incredible speakers, but I agree on your thoughts: what would be the center? Because I´m not even sure a Reference center will fit them as well as it would suit a pair of Reference 7´s.
That is why I’m using KEF Reference in-wall speakers.

 

Ciobi69

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I would be curious to hear both of the JBL and the metà, they should be very different,i got a feeling that the blade could be a little better
 

sarumbear

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And what about the JBL M2 have you considered them?
When I auditioned them DD66000 won over M2 by a wide margin. The extra benefit is DD66000 is shorter than M2, hence can be used as a centre speaker under a TV.
 

sarumbear

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sprellemannen

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You really have to be ridiculously rich (and have no sense) in order to use 66000s for surround speakers!
Maybe it could make sense in a really huge room which was carefully acoustically treated... ? but I am not (in contrast to you who also have a very relevant academic background) a surround expert, so I guess you are right.
 

sarumbear

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Maybe it could make sense in a really huge room which was carefully acoustically treated... ? but I am not (in contrast to you who also have a very relevant academic background) a surround expert, so I guess you are right.
First of all it would make sense if the layout is correct. There should be two speakers on the sides if there are two speakers at the back (7.1 setup). Otherwise (5.1 setup), those speakers should be on the sides.

This person is simply throwing money away and/or being abused by a dealer.
 

GXAlan

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4 meters = go for the JBLs. The JBLs are bad because they are expensive to manufacture and large but the reason they are in continuous production is that they perform very well as long as you have budget and room.

I would rethink the electrocompaniet from the standpoint that they historically go for low feedback (more distortion) and half of what you are paying for with the DD67000 is low distortion where it’s arguable if you can even hear the benefits of the lower distortion. The M2 and Salon2 are splitting hairs with trade offs, but the DD67000 is better than the M2 which puts things into perspective when comparing speakers.

Accuphase has some high power, clean monoblocks to consider. The McIntosh quad balanced amps also have some good measurements.

If at all possible, even though shipping might be very expensive, it would be great if you could ship something like an Electrocompaniet or Accuphase modern monoblock to Amir for testing and then have it go to China later :)
 

Vacceo

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First of all it would make sense if the layout is correct. There should be two speakers on the sides if there are two speakers at the back (7.1 setup). Otherwise (5.1 setup), those speakers should be on the sides.

This person is simply throwing money away and/or being abused by a dealer.
For a surround set, I'd go for R series and good room EQ. And spend the saved money on a great OLED. :D
 

sarumbear

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The M2 and Salon2 are splitting hairs with trade offs, but the DD67000 is better than the M2 which puts things into perspective when comparing speakers.
What trade-offs you will see with Salon2?
 

Absolute

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Personally I would choose JBL every day of the week for sheer cool-factor alone. They look so big, mad and bad that I would fall in love every day.

While I haven't heard the DD6600 or the new Meta Blade, I have the M2 and have listened extensively to the first generation Blade. Fabulous speakers the Blades, but with a big room and movies on the menu there's no touching a horn/compression driver and large woofer combo.

I'd also be concerned about resale value on the Kefs and Beolabs compared to the JBLs.

Would I spend that much money, though? Nah, I'd go with something smaller and go for more speakers and a processor instead. Less awesome, but likely better for the most part. Especially with a great center speaker and a sane bass system.
 

sarumbear

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Would I spend that much money, though? Nah, I'd go with something smaller and go for more speakers and a processor instead. Less awesome, but likely better for the most part. Especially with a great center speaker and a sane bass system.
There is nothing wrong with insane bass? :D:p
 

GXAlan

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What trade-offs you will see with Salon2?
Objectively? Sensitivity.

Subjectively, people have described the bass of the M2 as having faster attack and impact with the Salon2 being a cleaner sound (narrower baffle-> less diffraction).


Can also see Amir’s comments about the 4367 which is a passive version of the M2 with a smaller horn.
 
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