JBL Stage A130 Review (speaker)

[witchdoctor]

Can't currently get these in the UK as said above. The upper mid peak may well work fine in smaller rooms witht he speakers close to a back wall (excusable in a cheap speaker but apparently not in ATC 19's and related pro versions!).

I wonder how these JBL passives with sensible inexpensive amp would compare to the internationally available 305p's? Tweeter hiss ain't an issue for me now as Tinnitus takes over at very low high frequency levels but still

I had the 230's paired with a Parasound Zamp v3 (around $300) and preferred it to the 305's or 308's.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Great review! Just bought a pair to use as surrounds for a system with a JBL Studio 5 front stage. There are a few refurbished on eBay for $150 a pair if anyone is interested.

I did ask that retailer who sells the refurbished ones on EBay/Amazon and they state it was a third party, not JBL. Not sure if this is good, bad or neutral but personally I am skeptical about 3rd party refurbs.

EDIT *I'd prefer refubs authorized by JBL either done by them or an approved vendor using genuine JBL parts/specs with a refurbished warranty from JBL*

 

[Trouble Maker]

I did ask that retailer who sells the refurbished ones on EBay/Amazon and they state it was a third party, not JBL. Not sure if this is good, bad or neutral but personally I am skeptical about 3rd party returns.

I'm not arguing whether it's good or bad, but isn't the entire retail industry basically doing that now; having 3rd parties handle return/refurbished items? I guess if we don't trust that, then we just don't buy b-stock/refurbish.

 

[okok]

this post made me got high hopes for 4349...

 

[ROOSKIE]

I'm not arguing whether it's good or bad, but isn't the entire retail industry basically doing that now; having 3rd parties handle return/refurbished items? I guess if we don't trust that, then we just don't buy b-stock/refurbish.

No.
There is difference between a 3rd party and an authorized third party.
I am sorry I should have been more clear.
These sets are random 3rd party NOT authorized third party meaning they might not even know the JBL specs or use genuine JBL parts.
I'd much rather buy direct refurbs from JBL which JBL does sell from time to time.
Or at least an authorized servicer who has actual JBL parts to use.
Both of those options usually include a manufacturers warranty, one held with JBL.
On eBay I can refurbish an item and list it as such just because I listed it that way. Amazon is pretty bad as well.

In any case my point was to be aware. I buy refurbished all the time to save money but I am aware of who did the job and what if any caveats there are due to the channel.

*Edit* some likely good news if you want a pair for cheap$. Dealsparade (the eBay & Amazon vendor for the a130 refurbished units currently listed) does in fact seem to be an authorized JBL provider. I think the communication I had with them was not correct. On their own website they seem to be authorized by JBL.

 

[whazzup]

Metal yes, I have Monitor Audio's now with metal grilles and always listen to music without them. I am assuming this is whazzup from over at head-fi. Cheers.

Yes I am! I'm fairly sure I didn't embarrass myself on headfi....or did i?

 

[ROOSKIE]

Funny.
Was looking at these yesterday and the day before, thinking I might buy and offer to send them in.
They had that very promising feel for some reason. (and the floor models have been given great reviews in the regular press)

Really astounding passive speakers for the price ($300 in USA and they were just on sale for $210). These might be the most impressive passive speaker tested here factoring in price.
Look at that low distortion, that is really low for any 5" woofer at those volumes (96db chart) and that little tweeter is doing well.
That bass distortion is not even close to an issue right down to the port tune. (which below essentially all ported speakers skyrocket due to unloading)
Doesn't matter how many speakers are already in my house, I have to get a pair of these to test @home.

Another example of how modern designs that are well engineered can pull high quality audio from very basic drivers and components & also just how good some very inexpensive drivers are these days.(I know the waveguide isn't exactly "basic" but I guarantee those tweeters don't "look" like much. )

 

[dorirod]

Thanks for the review Amir, another great find!

$150 "Certified Factory Recertified, 90 days limited warranty on parts and labor. " - not sure what that means, but ran across this:
https://www.dealparade.com/electronics/audio/bluetooth-wireless-speakers/jbla130blk-z/

 

[YSC]

looks like a budget passive champ, might be even nicer for budget customers who want to use AVR for multichannel, and from the resonance peaks it looks like it would sound great also! seems like you can't really go wrong with budget JBLs?

 

[martijn86]

Is that 14kHz peak even audible?

If you're in your 30's, even with exceptional hearing for your age, you won't hear much in that range. Faint whispers that'll be drowned out by everything below 10kHz if you're lucky. Above 40 you can forget hearing 14kHz.

 

[Kachda]

Based on the price the spin might be ok, but the resonances seem troubling to me.

 

[Steve Dallas]

If you're in your 30's, even with exceptional hearing for your age, you won't hear much in that range. Faint whispers that'll be drowned out by everything below 10kHz if you're lucky. Above 40 you can forget hearing 14kHz.

These generalizations are not generally accurate.

I am a 47 year-old male and just had my hearing tested. I can hear to 16.5KHz in my right hear and 16.0KHz in my left ear. Not sure what that means in terms of dB down (-3? -6?) without looking at the audiologist's report. I'll see if I can find it. I'll start a new thread and post it, if I can find it.

 

[amirm]

@amirm I know it takes hours for the NFS to run through it's test, does it take you hours to compile, sort and make the data for presentation? Or is there a script so it auto generates? Also, out of curiosity, have you ever measured a speaker after your EQ change?

Post measurements it takes about 20 minutes to compute the response. It then takes half hour to one hour to listen and create EQ. Raw graph export is quick but photoshop work to label and format takes an hour. Review itself takes another half hour. None of this is automated or batch unfortunately.

There is also 45 minutes of prep work for measurements followed by 2+ hours of scanning.

All in all it takes 4 to 5 hours to test and document a speaker. Usually I measure late at night and do the rest the next day. While measurement is going on I am often test a piece of electronics for another review. That too is fully manual process.

I could spit out automated measurements quicker but quality of data will be far worse.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Distortion
A Revel M105
B JBL A130
C Adam TV5
Just impressive here for the JBL

 

[Deleted member 2944]

Amir,

The "Driver Components Near Field" graph on all these speaker measurements is (I think) probably quite confusing to some readers.
The "bleeding" from one driver to the other does not depict the situation correctly.

Unless you're going to 'actually' measure the drivers individually, I would suggest to consider leaving it out.

Dave.

 

[ctbarker32]

I wouldn't know how much, or how specific, but back in the days, I've seen many studio mixing engineers, covering the tweeters of their NS-10 with a piece of toilet paper. I also read in Interviews Alan Shaw, the designer at Harbeth, stating that his speakers are designed to be listened to (and measured) with grills on. I guess they do at least make some difference.

Yep this is the famous Yamaha NS10 "tissue mod". Those speakers had such a tizzy high end that this mod was a requirement. People need to understand that the speakers in studios are not always about fidelity. Often there will be many types of speakers to simulate how a mix will sound in less than ideal instances such as car radios, etc. Things have changed a bit but a studio isn't the last word in audiophile playback fidelity.

Technically, it is known as a speaker that easily reveals poor quality in recordings. Recording engineers sought to dull its treble response by hanging tissue paper in front of it, resulting in what became known as the "tissue paper effect" – a type of comb filtering. The NS-10 has been used to monitor a large number of successful recordings by numerous artists, leading Gizmodo to refer to it as "the most important loudspeaker you never heard of"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_NS-10

 

[thewas]

Distortion
A Revel M105
B JBL A130
C Adam TV5
Just impressive here for the JBL

View attachment 98372

Really surprising, so I added the top 6,5" inch of Harman loudspeaker Revel M106 and this low budget JBL beats it too in the bass region

 

[jtwrace]

Post measurements it takes about 20 minutes to compute the response. It then takes half hour to one hour to listen and create EQ. Raw graph export is quick but photoshop work to label and format takes an hour. Review itself takes another half hour. None of this is automated or batch unfortunately.

There is also 45 minutes of prep work for measurements followed by 2+ hours of scanning.

All in all it takes 4 to 5 hours to test and document a speaker. Usually I measure late at night and do the rest the next day. While measurement is going on I am often test a piece of electronics for another review. That too is fully manual process.

I could spit out automated measurements quicker but quality of data will be far worse.

Yikes, it's like a full time "job". Thanks to the Mrs too!

 

[Vasr]

View attachment 98289


View attachment 98290
View attachment 98291

@amirm , if I may make a suggestion for the pictures you take.. it would be very useful (especially for speakers and desktop units) to place another (in addition to the panther) reference object next to the DUT before taking the picture to get a quick visual feel for size. Most apt for this group would be a small ruler/tape with a few inches/cms showing. But it could be any "standard" object - a paperback, a smartphone, a pencil - that is easy to calibrate with. Don't know if the panthers are all to scale and placed physically or photoshopped. In any case, their size isn't a well-known "standard"!

 

[Kachda]

Amir,

The "Driver Components Near Field" graph on all these speaker measurements is (I think) probably quite confusing to some readers.
The "bleeding" from one driver to the other does not depict the situation correctly.

Unless you're going to 'actually' measure the drivers individually, I would suggest to consider leaving it out.

Dave.

That graph is actually quite useful to figure out the source of the deviations even if it's not perfect. For example, sometimes you find surprising rises due to the port well into the mid-range.