JBL Stage A130 Review (speaker)

[ROOSKIE]

It seems logical to me that if speakers come with equipment, like grills, they should be designed to operate with that equipment present. Removing them makes them out of spec. If a designer fails to take grills/cloth/whatever fully into account in the design then that's a bad designer. Just my sense of the situation. Maybe it's just unwise to block the sound, period, though.

I would be inclined, based on my assumption, to require a special tool to remove the grills on any speaker I'd release for sale that have them/cloth — to fully make the point.

Having been into this hobby for nearly 25 years I can say that nearly every HiFi, Audiophile, Performance oriented speaker measures best (and should therefore sound best) with the grills OFF.
This is not at all new or even remotely not understood.
Sometimes grills are well designed and affect the sound very little if at all, more often they are a sonic afterthought and detrimental.
Grills are generally there as an option for various reasons (such as looking better in the living to some people). Often grills are taken off when actually used and for many folks (such as myself) never ever put on the speaker - ever. I like the look of the nearly every speaker without grills.
This is very common in the "audiophile/HiFi" realm. Many people like seeing the drivers.
Any speaker with a special tool required to take the grills off likely will not sell well.

 

[richard12511]

Having been into this hobby for nearly 25 years I can say that nearly every HiFi, Audiophile, Performance oriented speaker measures best (and should therefore sound best) with the grills OFF.
This is not at all new or even remotely not understood.
Sometimes grills are well designed and affect the sound very little if at all, more often they are a sonic afterthought and detrimental.
Grills are generally there as an option for various reasons (such as looking better in the living to some people). Often grills are taken off when actually used and for many folks (such as myself) never ever put on the speaker - ever. I like the look of the nearly every speaker without grills.
This is very common in the "audiophile/HiFi" realm. Many people like seeing the drivers.
Any speaker with a special tool required to take the grills off likely will not sell well.

I tend to love the look of the bare drivers too. There are exceptions, of course, like the JBL 530 I like better with grills on. Some have "permanently" attached grills. My Genelecs for example have grills that would be very difficult to remove

 

[richard12511]

I might redo the measurements at a higher dB another day, but to be honest it's calibrated at 1kHz the same as Amir said he does his, albeit I did say I'm 1dB below his 86dB, I'm at 85dB equivalent 1 metre. I actually don't like running these high volume sweeps on my speakers, it is by far greater factors louder than the loudest music listening I do (so not really applicable), and I feel it stresses the speakers, therefore does not make me happy when I'm running them, lol! (lol, I even wear my closed back HP50 headphones when I'm running these latest sweeps on just the one speaker - it's that much louder than even listening to both my speakers at my max listening levels) I'm only running them out of curiosity and substantiation, but I don't like doing it. Given me & Amir are both calibrating the response at the same 1kHz point then I think that makes my SPL valid vs his measurements....I'm hesitant to rerun at an additional 5dB.....I think my measurements are quite comparable with my latest efforts.

Do you have other speakers you can measure? While your results can't really be compared with Amir's, they should be with other speakers in the same setup. Would be great if you had another speaker which Amir has also measured.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I tend to love the look of the bare drivers too. There are exceptions, of course, like the JBL 530 I like better with grills on. Some have "permanently" attached grills. My Genelecs for example have grills that would be very difficult to remove

I have the 530's and I don't use grills. They deff are even more "Darth Vader'ish this way but I really like the look of the grey cones.
Interestingly this is one set that Amir measured with the grills on.
I actually am curious about the sound with and without and this reminds me to dig the grills out of storage and measure at home. It is unlikely there is much difference that I can measure with confidence in room but maybe. (way to cold outside I am in full Winter now)

Do you have other speakers you can measure? While your results can't really be compared with Amir's, they should be with other speakers in the same setup. Would be great if you had another speaker which Amir has also measured.

I have several sets of speakers Amir measured included 2 speakers that are the EXACT speaker he used. (I had sent them in) I also have the A130 heading my way. This week I won't have a chance to measure much but I might be able to at least do the distortion of the A130 and one additional speaker. (at least do this by next week mid-week) Then in the future hit a couple more speakers.

 

[laudio]

I have the 530's and I don't use grills. They deff are even more "Darth Vader'ish this way but I really like the look of the grey cones.
Interestingly this is one set that Amir measured with the grills on.
I actually am curious about the sound with and without and this reminds me to dig the grills out of storage and measure at home. It is unlikely there is much difference that I can measure with confidence in room but maybe. (way to cold outside I am in full Winter now)

I have several sets of speakers Amir measured included 2 speakers that are the EXACT speaker he used. (I had sent them in) I also have the A130 heading my way. This week I won't have a chance to measure much but I might be able to at least do the distortion of the A130 and one additional speaker. (at least do this by next week mid-week) Then in the future hit a couple more speakers.

Have to think the 530s are better than these 130s with the golfing panther... preference rating and all as well. But no love for the 530s on ASR. 530s are best speaker I've come across in a bookshelf and I've had a lot of them.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Have to think the 530s are better than these 130s with the golfing panther... preference rating and all as well. But no love for the 530s on ASR. 530s are best speaker I've come across in a bookshelf and I've had a lot of them.

Yah, I love mine.
For me as well they beat out several much more expensive units I have owned here in my personal space - including the Revel M105 which I was surprised by. To be honest it was very close and either speaker really would be a fine, fine choice.
So in other words I really like the 530's.
I do have a couple set-ups I like slightly more but they are DIY actives and made with fairly expensive drivers. The infinity RC263 used as a stereo pair is another unexpected winner IMHO. I don't like them more than the 530's but I do like them as much and they sound very different from one another even though I use PEQ here.
I had to try the A130's. We will see...

 

[laudio]

Yah, I love mine.
For me as well they beat out several much more expensive units I have owned here in my personal space - including the Revel M105 which I was surprised by. To be honest it was very close and either speaker really would be a fine, fine choice.
So in other words I really like the 530's.
I do have a couple set-ups I like slightly more but they are DIY actives and made with fairly expensive drivers. The infinity RC263 used as a stereo pair is another unexpected winner IMHO. I don't like them more than the 530's but I do like them as much and they sound very different from one another even though I use PEQ here.
I had to try the A130's. We will see...

At the right price for A130s, same here. JBL prices all over the place day to day - think I saw the 570s for 180 last week? Now over 500. Interesting about RC263 used in a stereo pair. That's not how it works here though - just listen to one at a time.

 

[theyellowspecial]

Are any of the A170, 180, 190 on the docket? Would love to see how the floorstanders measure.

 

[boselover61]

Are any of the A170, 180, 190 on the docket? Would love to see how the floorstanders measure.

Stereophile measured one stage floorstand model

 

[Robbo99999]

Do you have other speakers you can measure? While your results can't really be compared with Amir's, they should be with other speakers in the same setup. Would be great if you had another speaker which Amir has also measured.

Unfortunately when it comes to speakers I've only got that pair of JBL 308's, headphones is another matter, got 3 sets of widely measured headphones and another set on their way to me (HE4xx). On the contrary, I think my results can be compared to Amir's because I'm measuring at 0.33m at the same dB (well 1dB less according to my calculations)....obviously there's other margins of error, but broadly I think my methodology & therefore results would be comparable with Amir's, which was my intention.

 

[amirm]

Are any of the A170, 180, 190 on the docket? Would love to see how the floorstanders measure.

No I don't have any...

 

[ROOSKIE]

Mine arrived today. I just unboxed them, no listening yet.
They were refurbished, purchased on ebay.
Thankfully they arrived with a big Recertified by JBL sticker on the box so I must believe this vendor is using JBl specs and parts.
Also eBay now offers 2 year warranty for free on certified refurbished items which this is. So yay, 2 years.

The unit is very cheaply made it terms of very basic materials and yet is tightly pulled together and looks and feels just fine, actually great for $150 refurb price.

The waveguide is cool and has a lot of subtle contours when inspected up close, this guide has a lot going on.
The woofers have a stamped steel frame and are vented.
The tweets are button and very simple looking aluminum domes with the aforementioned wave guide and a dome phase lens.
The crossover is very simple with very budget parts.
The port is flared at both ends. (plastic ends and a cardboard tube in the middle)

My units have zero signs of use and upon a basic inspection have no signs of any parts obviously replaced. Hopefully just a return due to change of mind and not a problem unit.

Here are some quick images, you can see the vent on the woofer and the tiny button tweeter.
I only pulled the back plate off, I won't be removing anything else today. Eventually (weeks from now) I may take a woofer out to measure.

 

[Jmudrick]

Mine arrived today. I just unboxed them, no listening yet.
They were refurbished, purchased on ebay.
Thankfully they arrived with a big Recertified by JBL sticker on the box so I must believe this vendor is using JBl specs and parts.
Also eBay now offers 2 year warranty for free on certified refurbished items which this is. So yay, 2 years.

The unit is very cheaply made it terms of very basic materials and yet is tightly pulled together and looks and feels just fine, actually great for $150 refurb price.

The waveguide is cool and has a lot of subtle contours when inspected up close, this guide has a lot going on.
The woofers have a stamped steel frame and are vented.
The tweets are button and very simple looking aluminum domes with the aforementioned wave guide and a dome phase lens.
The crossover is very simple with very budget parts.
The port is flared at both ends. (plastic ends and a cardboard tube in the middle)

My units have zero signs of use and upon a basic inspection have no signs of any parts obviously replaced. Hopefully just a return due to change of mind and not a problem unit.

Here are some quick images, you can see the vent on the woofer and the tiny button tweeter.
I only pulled the back plate off, I won't be removing anything else today. Eventually (weeks from now) I may take a woofer out to measure.


View attachment 99483View attachment 99484View attachment 99485View attachment 99486

Was tempted by the Stage refurb prices but bought the 570s when they were available. Unfortunately still waiting for them to show.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Was tempted by the Stage refurb prices but bought the 570s when they were available. Unfortunately still waiting for them to show.

Hope they show up for you soon.
I doubt you will regret buying them.
The 530's are one of my all time favorites and I have used the 580's as well which also sounded incredible. Both measure very well as well.
I have to guess that the 570 both measure and sound great.

 

[Jmudrick]

Hope they show up for you soon.
I doubt you will regret buying them.
The 530's are one of my all time favorites and I have used the 580's as well which also sounded incredible. Both measure very well as well.
I have to guess that the 570 both measure and sound great.

Same drivers as the 530s, so I expect they'll be tonally close, just more relaxed and authoritative in the bass department with that second driver.. I can't imagine I'd like them less than I do my 530s.

 

[thewas]

My units have zero signs of use and upon a basic inspection have no signs of any parts obviously replaced. Hopefully just a return due to change of mind and not a problem unit.

I have the feeling that the "refurbished" is often just a trick to lower the price and increase sales and often used by companies like Harman, from what I read all those products are brand new, which I doubt is a coincidence.

 

[boselover61]

Would

I have the feeling that the "refurbished" is often just a trick to lower the price and increase sales and often used by companies like Harman, from what I read all those products are brand new, which I doubt is a coincidence.

Would u say its a pro consumer choice?

 

[thewas]

Would

Would u say its a pro consumer choice?

Imho not really, as it would mean the normal selling price is overpriced and its pretending facts which aren't true.

 

[boselover61]

On the topic of EQ. Is it true that fewer filters get you better results? I've been playing with both Maiky's filter and Pierre's and I found them to have some subtle differences. Maiky's a bit flatter and Pierre's more dynamic (brighter or more colored?)

 

[andreasmaaan]

On the topic of EQ. Is it true that fewer filters get you better results? I've been playing with both Maiky's filter and Pierre's and I found them to have some subtle differences. Maiky's a bit flatter and Pierre's more dynamic (brighter or more colored?)

It's got nothing to do with the number of filters specifically. Objectively, all that matters is what comes out of the speakers, whether it is the result of few or many filters.