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JBL SDR-35 AVR Review

Rate this AVR

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 183 63.8%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 90 31.4%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 10 3.5%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 4 1.4%

  • Total voters
    287
OP
amirm

amirm

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Those switches are terrible. When you set them to "4 ohm," you are actually telling the unit to severely limit power! They do that to pass UL testing for heat generation. Such switches should always be set to 8 ohm.
 

DrStranger

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Yeah they really botched this one as far as I’m concerned. If I was going AVR right now I’d pick one of the Denons, and someone could use it as is for awhile and upgrade to outboard amplifiers later on.
I still biting my lips and wait for “next gens”. I really want the full 2.1 spectra of at least 48Gbps. But I need a cooler AVR than Denon and Marantz. Crossing my fingers for Pioneer or Onkyo ( I never will see one here where I live, I guess HDMI 3.0 will come by the time the supply issues and availability will be solved….I am crying inside, pressing F5 on this forum and all other pages … entire internet, for rumors, a hint or any new test)…

I know … I need help… I am strange….o_O
 

lc6

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I still biting my lips and wait for “next gens”. I really want the full 2.1 spectra of at least 48Gbps. But I need a cooler AVR than Denon and Marantz. Crossing my fingers for Pioneer or Onkyo ( I never will see one here where I live, I guess HDMI 3.0 will come by the time the supply issues and availability will be solved….I am crying inside, pressing F5 on this forum and all other pages … entire internet, for rumors, a hint or any new test)…

I know … I need help… I am strange….o_O

Back in April, Yamaha Aventage RX-AxA AVRs finally got a firmware update that enabled 4k120 and 8k60 across all HDMI 2.1 ports. There is supposed to be another update coming this month that will enable ALLM (Auto Low Latency mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), but there is no date for the support of QMS (Quick Media Switching) and QFT (Quick Frame Transport) yet. These AVRs are said to run cooler than those from Denon and Marantz.
 

DanTheMan

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There are so many of us, I can just feel it lol… Waiting for a good mid priced AVP that’s bug free and breaks the SINAD of 100. It doesn’t make sense to buy an AVR for me because I have all outboard amplification, and it has to be XLR.

The Anthem AVM 70 looks like the one to buy for under $4000. I know there’s the Trinnov but I’m not paying that kind of money.

Someone is going to break out of the pack, and I would like if Marantz would get their act together and dump those hdam’s. Because they have a very stable platform, and I’ve used one for years and it just works day in and day out. But I know what’s going to happen if they upgrade, the price is going to go from $5000 to $7500. I never upgraded to 4K, I have the last line of plasma TV’s that Panasonic made, and I never did Dolby Atmos yet. It’s almost time, but I can be patient.
We are in the same boat and we have the same equipment. Chances are you a tall, good-looking, intelligent guy from the sounds of it.
 

tmtomh

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IMHO this is one of the best-looking AVRs I've seen - love that front panel display and design.

But sooooo not worth it given the performance and what's available at a fraction of the price.
 

lc6

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According to page EN-18 of the JBL SDR-35 Quick Start Guide:
"Extended front panel menu - Protection sensitivity
This option allows adjustment of the protection sensitivity
of the power amplifier (not SDP-55). Caution should be used
with this setting as it is deliberately configured for maximum
protection and should only be adjusted when using speakers
that are “complex loads”!


So perhaps there is a way to disable the "nannies" that too aggressively switch off the unit during power amp tests? The backplate of the model shows a max. 1.5 kW power consumption which, together with Class G, suggests that it could generate well over a kW of output. In fact, manufacturer's specs say:
"7 channels driven, 1kHz, 0.2% THD
100W/180W"

which works out to 1.26 kW. So, it might be helpful if @amirm tested all 7 channels driven.

The weight of this model is specified as 10.6 kg (= 23.35 lb), which is quite light for its size and compared to other powerful AVRs. Therefore, it likely has an SMPS with dynamically adjustable rail voltage per class G that can support all channels driven at close to full tilt.

Regarding the trouble with getting the line outs to 2 V RMS, the spec says
"Nominal output level
1V RMS (max. 5V RMS)"
So, is there a setting that enable a higher voltage? Perhaps it is this one, seemingly controlling the gain of the power amp?
"Nominal sensitivity
1V, 2V, 4V (user adjustable)"
 

Kishore

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Can you please confirm something? Where they 48Gbps or 40Gbps?
Don't think Amir could test that. Spec sheet states following : Supports ultra high video resolutions of up to 8K@60fps and 4K@120fps. High Dynamic Range
including Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, as well as 3D video are supported. All HDCP versions up to & inc HDCP 2.3. HDMI eARC and CEC supported.
 

Kishore

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@amirm anyway to verify 20W ClassA as per spec " Class G implements multiple power supplies to deliver the first 20W per channel in pure Class A,
with no crossover distortion. The second power supply drives the amplifier up to maximum output for dynamic output with a peak total power consumption of 1.5kW"
 

Kevinfc

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Why would anyone buy this for $8000? Even without the bad test reviews it seems incredibly expensive.
 

AndreaT

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Waste of money, huge waste of time, not optimized for external amps, poor digital filter. Personally I stay away from multichannel, and I am perfectly happy to watch movies with 2.1 setup. There is not any single AVR worth listening to, as they are a mismatch of DAC/pre/power amps with no engineering to smoothly integrate the components. I was not happy when I used a NAD T163, or an Emotiva UMC-200: audible distortion, poor UI, decreased movies enjoyment compared to 2.1.
 

Dj7675

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Waste of money, huge waste of time, not optimized for external amps, poor digital filter. Personally I stay away from multichannel, and I am perfectly happy to watch movies with 2.1 setup. There is not any single AVR worth listening to, as they are a mismatch of DAC/pre/power amps with no engineering to smoothly integrate the components. I was not happy when I used a NAD T163, or an Emotiva UMC-200: audible distortion, poor UI, decreased movies enjoyment compared to 2.1.
To each their own of course. If I had to choose I would choose a poor performing multi channel movies (currently 9.4.7) setup 100 times out of 100 than a perfect 2.1 system. This doesn’t even count listening to multichannel music (5.1, atmos, etc). A good system is quite an experience IMO.
 

beagleman

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Waste of money, huge waste of time, not optimized for external amps, poor digital filter. Personally I stay away from multichannel, and I am perfectly happy to watch movies with 2.1 setup. There is not any single AVR worth listening to, as they are a mismatch of DAC/pre/power amps with no engineering to smoothly integrate the components. I was not happy when I used a NAD T163, or an Emotiva UMC-200: audible distortion, poor UI, decreased movies enjoyment compared to 2.1.
You realize your comment Wreaks of hyperbole.

MANY audiophiles have 2 systems.
Many Audiophiles have Theater setups that use commonly found AVRs
Not bragging, but I have more stuff than I ever use. Two systems for 2 channel and 2 set ups WITH AVRs for mostly Tv and movie watching, but tend to use the AVRs for music quite often due to the multiple features and inputs, and remotes, and Sub out, Eq, YPAO and on and on.
They are just far more flexible in actual use.

Never ONCE, have I thought...."OMG My 2 Yamaha AVRs really suck when used for music.
For most intents it is a NON issue.

Not saying you are wrong, but......
 

GXAlan

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@amirm, you have already spent two days measuring this but if you haven’t packed it up, it would be interesting to see how bad the headphone out is.
 
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It would be nice to see better performance from this because I’d really like to get one of the JBL processors or receivers in my next HT upgrade. Harman’s Logic7 is far and away the best multichannel upscaling algorithm I’ve heard.
 

dlaloum

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It would be nice to see better performance from this because I’d really like to get one of the JBL processors or receivers in my next HT upgrade. Harman’s Logic7 is far and away the best multichannel upscaling algorithm I’ve heard.
That is exactly why the JBL's have always sat on my wishlist...

But Logic7 in exchange for paying 8x the price for the AVR?! - Nope, just Nope.

I am getting used to Dolby Surround with Center Spread turned on...

Also many people have pointed to Auro3D as being an excellent upmixer... and possibly the best of the current generation.

As a vintage fan of Logic7 (from Lexicon DC1, and MC1 days) - I look forward to my next AVR having a superior "Mixer" - probably Auro3D
 

Vovgan

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Those switches are terrible. When you set them to "4 ohm," you are actually telling the unit to severely limit power! They do that to pass UL testing for heat generation. Such switches should always be set to 8 ohm.
Oh, nice! Then I guess it’s a good idea to set it to 4 ohms on my Denon 6500 (no amp disconnect feature) to limit how hot the amps get (I use external NAD m28 amp)
 

jhaider

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It would be nice to see better performance from this because I’d really like to get one of the JBL processors or receivers in my next HT upgrade. Harman’s Logic7 is far and away the best multichannel upscaling algorithm I’ve heard.
As I understand it, Logic16 is, or was until recently, broken. Maybe check on other forums.

For that matter, the bugs were never ironed out of its immediate predecessor on this AVR’s previous version (badged “Lexicon”). That generation also had other mind-boggling limitations, such as initially broken bass management and no support for on wall height speakers.
 
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