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JBL HDI-1600 Speaker Review

Sal1950

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My current plan is to upgrade my stereo only setup with Revel Performa F208’s and move these HDI-1600’s to home theater duty. I’ll pick up the matching HDI-4500 center speaker to match so I have a cohesive front soundstage.

Question for you Sal, does the HDI-4500 center have mounting holes on the bottom for the HDI stand like the 1600’s do? Just wondering if I should buy an extra stand for the center when I purchase it, or if I’ll need to make other arrangements.
No, only the four holes where the feet attach, which are wide apart on the bottom.
 

Dougey_Jones

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Thanks!
 

HuubFranssen

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My JBL 1600’s are running for a week now and I love the sound. I have always been a big fan of Naim gear for the PRAT but this works too and is a lot cheaper. The amplifier is a nice looking build with standard Hypex Ncore 250 modules with enough power. Don’t biwire these JBL’s because the stunning sound is completely gone then. It sounds like a change in balance beween low and high (or less bass distortion). I don’t measure, just listen. This is a very helpful site! Donation under way.
 

Sal1950

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My JBL 1600’s are running for a week now and I love the sound. This is a very helpful site! Donation under way.
Welcome to the ASR Forums! Glad to hear your enjoying your 1600s, they really are excellent speakers. I believe JBL has a big hit on there hands with the HDI line. I had a pair here for a couple months but decided to go with something more full range and got the 3600s. I'm not sure what to say on your comment about any change in sound from biwire, I have to think something in you expectation caused you to hear any difference.. Have someone come in and connect or disconnect the second set of wires without your knowledge a number of time and see if you can correctly identify the change.
You really should start getting into the measurement side of things, it is very valuable in putting together an outstanding kit.
Again welcome, and thanks for the donation, Amir will much appreciate it!
Sal
 

Prolix

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Anyone know if eq'ing out the top end spike does anything strange to the sound? I figure it has to be there for a reason.
 

Sal1950

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Anyone know if eq'ing out the top end spike does anything strange to the sound? I figure it has to be there for a reason.
Are you talking about that peaking that begins around 18khz?
Only dogs are hearing whats going on up there.
I don't know why it exists but I promise you it's not there for an intended audible effect.
 

tuga

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Anyone know if eq'ing out the top end spike does anything strange to the sound? I figure it has to be there for a reason.

The spike is what @John Atkinson calls "oil-can" resonance, produced by the break up of the tweeter and may be audible.
 

ElNino

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Are you talking about that peaking that begins around 18khz?
Only dogs are hearing whats going on up there.
I don't know why it exists but I promise you it's not there for an intended audible effect.

For younger people, it's likely audible on-axis. I used to be able to hear 23kHz resonances until my mid-20s, and this is lower than that.

Nothing you can do about it though; it's not possible to effectively EQ these types of resonances away. You can try to reduce its effect by putting a brickwall right before it to avoid directly stimulating the resonance, but that messes with the phase of the top octave and is likely to do more harm than good.
 

Sal1950

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For younger people, it's likely audible on-axis. I used to be able to hear 23kHz resonances until my mid-20s,
Sure it wasn't a lower harmonic you could ID?
Just call me skeptical ;)
 

charleski

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Just thought I'd share this one:
I know there are lots of fans of Steve Guttenberg here who will be eager to hear that he thinks these speakers are "pretty, pretty good". He doesn't know the difference between a waveguide and a horn, but hey, give the guy a break, he's only been selling audio gear for thirty years ...
 

Senior NEET Engineer

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Just thought I'd share this one:
I know there are lots of fans of Steve Guttenberg here who will be eager to hear that he thinks these speakers are "pretty, pretty good". He doesn't know the difference between a waveguide and a horn, but hey, give the guy a break, he's only been selling audio gear for thirty years ...

What's the difference other than marketing?
 

milosz

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Yeah a horn is an acoustic impedance matching construct. It matches the acoustic impedance of the driver diaphragm to the air in the room, in essence.

Waveguide is a term I do not like, except when used for microwave RF electronics. The concept of a waveguide as used in electronics doesn't really work when applied to acoustics. An RF waveguide has electric and magnetic field properties in it's walls that dominate it's function, a little conical depression around a tweeter has no analog of that in terms of acoustics. "Dispersion shaper" would be more accurate.

(Just FYI, a rectangular waveguide to carry electrical signals at audio frequencies would be about 25 km wide, give or take. I'm waiting for some high-end speaker cable company to claim that their cables are waveguides....)
 

ElNino

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A waveguide corrects directivity, a horn matches impedance.

If the "waveguide" is also used to permit a lower crossover frequency for the tweeter, by raising the tweeter's low end response (i.e., better coupling the tweeter to the air), can it technically be both? A waveguide and a horn?
 

charleski

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If the "waveguide" is also used to permit a lower crossover frequency for the tweeter, by raising the tweeter's low end response (i.e., better coupling the tweeter to the air), can it technically be both? A waveguide and a horn?
All horns are also waveguides (though I suppose it’s possible someone could find an exception*). But not all waveguides are horns, which require specific expansion metrics.

*Yes, I’m just covering my ass here in case someone unearths an odd-ball design ;)
 
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HuubFranssen

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A match from heaven: the JBL HDI1600’s with an Electrokompaniet PD-2D. It’s Danish. More lively than the outstanding but ultra-flat Hypex 250. You lose some high-endish finesse but it’s the best sound I ever heard in my room.
 

Sal1950

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A match from heaven: the JBL HDI1600’s with an Electrokompaniet PD-2D. It’s Danish. More lively than the outstanding but ultra-flat Hypex 250. You lose some high-endish finesse but it’s the best sound I ever heard in my room.
Glad you like them. I found them to be the best sounding stand mounts I ever heard.
 

DRNO

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Offcourse a bit room depending but have Anyone tried both the 1600 and 3600 and can make an statement?

I have the 1600 and the 4500 and thinking about to "upgrade" to 3600
 

Sal1950

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Offcourse a bit room depending but have Anyone tried both the 1600 and 3600 and can make an statement?

I have the 1600 and the 4500 and thinking about to "upgrade" to 3600
Yes, I had the 1600's for around 45 days and returned them for the 3600s. Nothing really wrong with the 1600's but I had been running stand mounts for years before that and was looking for a upgrade in bass handling and dynamics. The 3600's were a significant improvement in those departments as they should be with the increase in driver count and measured FR plus efficiency. I have 4 3600's and a 4500 center plus dual HSU subs now and have way more than I need in power and impact for either music or movies.
Of course you have to factor in the BIG increase in cost, there's always more available, just depends on your wallet. ;)
 

nick-v

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They're phenomenal! I use my HDI-1600's as surrounds, with HDI-4500 (I sure wish they made an HDI-4600 with a larger waveguide) and HDI-3800's up front.

My 1600's replaced a pair of KEF Q100's that were on surround duty and it's astonishing the difference even just for surround duty. I didn't quite expect the quality increase to be so obvious just for the surround speakers.
 
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