JBL 708P Review (Professional Monitor)

[PeteL]

Especially when the wife leaves you because they are so darn ugly

I find them very ugly indeed myself, that's unfortunate for such a well performing speaker. Not sure if it's the picture, but is the front baffle all plastic? Overall they look like a mini public address speaker, probably rugged enough, but the feel of something you would log in an out of a cube truck and not care about scratches and bumps. Utilitarian to say the least... Yes I know, it's targeted at pro applications, but even pro studios can have a bit of class in their esthetics.

 

[dfuller]

The vertical orientation of the 708, lower price and smoother directivity edge it out for me against the Neumann but obviously both are excellent.

That's a fair reason - save for the directivity smoothness. The Neumann's vertical directivity is considerably better than the JBL's, but yeah - that style of 3-way speaker has some horizontal dispersion weirdness in the midrange sort of regardless of design. Dynaudio's similarly laid out LYD48 and Core 47 have the same horizontal weirdness as do (IIRC) the Focal SM9s.

Not bad, but I'm not sure people know JBL's pricing in Europe. Here, it's 2100€ new vs 1750€ for the KH310 and 1800€ for the 8350A. Which have better performances (distorsion, port and on-axis FR) with less known reliability issues.
Not to say that this is a bad speaker, but the competition is simply too good at that price point.

Worldwide pricing makes things very interesting. 4200EUR is over $5,000 US, and at that price point they simply aren't quite good enough IMO.

 

[JIW]

I don't know if the comments were meant ironically, so a few thoughts on that.

The 708P has a compression driver with waveguide. This thing should easily deliver 100dBSPL (100dB/1W/1m).
If the amplifier for the tweeter would deliver only 50W of power (THD <=1%), a maximum sound pressure of 100 + 10*log50 = 117dB would result.

Therefore, the 250W amplifier power for the compression driver is total overkill and completely unnecessary. But Class D amplifier power can be had cheaply, so why develop another power amplifier.

The maximum peak SPL of the speaker is given in the specification as 114dB, so 50W would still be sufficient for a driver/waveguide combination with only 97dBSPL.

View attachment 110093

Regarding the sensitivity of the compression driver, Sound & Recording measured the noise without input as 28 dBA at 10 cm, i.e. 8 dBA at 1 m. The manual states SNR for the HF as 92 dBA at 2.83 V. So sensitivity of the HF is indeed somewhere around 100 dB SPL at 2.83 V at 1 m.

 

[pma]

Not sure if it's the picture, but is the front baffle all plastic?

As already written, 12mm plywood. Better to look for company specs than to look at the picture

https://jblpro.com/en-US/site_elements/7p-series-owner-s-manual

 

[JIW]

is that room mode or something? the huge dip at~780hz looked nasty

It's a port resonance.

 

[Bugal1998]

I find them very ugly indeed myself, that's unfortunate for such a well performing speaker. Not sure if it's the picture, but is the front baffle all plastic? Overall they look like a mini public address speaker, probably rugged enough, but the feel of something you would log in an out of a cube truck and not care about scratches and bumps. Utilitarian to say the least... Yes I know, it's targeted at pro applications, but even pro studios can have a bit of class in their esthetics.

Yes, the front baffle is all "plastic" or some type of molded compound. The sidewalls are wood as is the internal framing. The side handles are plastic.

 

[Kachda]

I find them very ugly indeed myself, that's unfortunate for such a well performing speaker. Not sure if it's the picture, but is the front baffle all plastic? Overall they look like a mini public address speaker, probably rugged enough, but the feel of something you would log in an out of a cube truck and not care about scratches and bumps. Utilitarian to say the least... Yes I know, it's targeted at pro applications, but even pro studios can have a bit of class in their esthetics.

Yes PA speakers is exactly what they remind me off

 

[Deleted member 2944]

Yes, the front baffle is all "plastic" or some type of molded compound. The sidewalls are wood as is the internal framing. The side handles are plastic.

No, the front baffle (where the woofer mounts) is wood. Much of what you (visibly) see on the front is plastic though. The tweeter guide and the associated fascia for the port are plastic, but attached to the wood baffle.

Dave.

 

[3125b]

Again, not to say that this is a bad speaker, but the competition is simply too good at that price point.

Right?
The Adam S2V is 1500€ and maybe slightly inferior, the Dynaudio Core 7 is 1647€, the Event Opal 1849€ and so on. The Genelec 8341 are more expensive, but not by that much. For midfield the Adam S3V are 2300, the Genelec 1032 are 2000€ and so on.

Certainly a good monitor, but it just seems a bit overpriced in Europe.
The 8341 are 500€/piece (1000€) per pair) more expensive - not a huge difference for a professionel spending that kind if money anyway, and it's ... just better, not worlds apart, but a noteable difference:

JBL:

Genelec:

 

[GXAlan]

1) Interesting that the 4319 has lower distortion for both the woofer and tweeter.
2) The slightly higher tilt seems to be consistent with the 4319 (esp once the tweeter was tuned down)
3) dispersion is way better with this modern generation DSP and horn

 

[Bugal1998]

No, the front baffle (where the woofer mounts) is wood. Much of what you (visibly) see on the front is plastic though. The tweeter guide and the associated fascia for the port are plastic, but attached to the wood baffle.

Dave.

It's nuanced, but the entire mounting point for the front of the speaker is some type of molded compound. 100% of the screws that hold the entire front assembly of the speaker to the "box" of the speaker go into 'plastic'. So I would say, yes, the front baffle is plastic. You're correct that there is a plywood mounting ring to which the woofer is attached... Which is itself attached to the molded front baffle.

https://assets.harman.com/portals/w...lParts/c/634b5395-15a7-4cfc-bda1-1a66f07f0499

(You need to open the 708p exploded view)

Part 33 in the diagram titled "Led Baffle Grill Assembly" is entirely molded

 

[BostonJack]

I'm done around 14.8khz.

Oh boy. I'm done at 7.mumble kHz. I would have guessed 10kHz. That's kind of humbling. Age: 66. left ear is worst than right ear by about a kHz. I've spent a moderate amount of time shooting 30 cal. rifles on a range with good ear protection. I know that I don't have "golden" ears, but this seems to be a case of tin-plated brass, at best.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

It's nuanced, but the entire mounting point for the front of the speaker is some type of molded compound. 100% of the screws that hold the entire front assembly of the speaker to the "box" of the speaker go into 'plastic'. So I would say, yes, the front baffle is plastic. You're correct that there is a plywood mounting ring to which the woofer is attached... Which is itself attached to the molded front baffle.

https://assets.harman.com/portals/w...lParts/c/634b5395-15a7-4cfc-bda1-1a66f07f0499

(You need to open the 708p exploded view)

Part 33 in the diagram titled "Led Baffle Grill Assembly" is entirely molded

Yeah, I actually took mine apart and understand how it's all put together.
But thanks.

Dave.

 

[PeteL]

As already written, 12mm plywood. Better to look for company specs than to look at the picture

https://jblpro.com/en-US/site_elements/7p-series-owner-s-manual

I did read that, but I believe they are talking about the box, not the front?

 

[oivavoi]

Two thoughts:

- The fact that the JBL 308 scores quite a bit better on the preference score really shows the limitations of the preference score, IMO. Unless, of course, someone will do a blind comparison of these two speakers and show that a good number of listeners actually prefer the 308.

- That port and woofer resonance give me pause. If we accept that the preference score is not exact science - going back to the previous point - then I also think we must entertain the possibility that resonances of this type may have a larger effect on perception than sometimes assumed.

 

[Dave Tremblay]

I have an Atmos setup in my Home Theater with 5 of the 705i speakers (JBL In-Ceiling, JBL Subs), and I've been extremely impressed with them. The "install" versions NEED Eq to sound right, but just a super clean sound that punches way above its size. In my opinion, there is no comparison to the 3 series. I have those as well, and while a good speaker, not close to the 7 series in performance and subjective sound quality.

 

[TulseLuper]

The fact that the JBL 308 scores quite a bit better on the preference score really shows the limitations of the preference score, IMO. Unless, of course, someone will do a blind comparison of these two speakers and show that a good number of listeners actually prefer the 308.

I'm curious how many people care about the preference score. I scroll right past it. If I were shopping, I'd narrow things down by the data Amir presents and based on my bass/SPL needs, then audition from there. I'm sure it will develop over time (perhaps partially thanks to this archive of reviews), but it's hard to imagine that single number meaningfully guiding a decision.

A blind test like you mention would of course change things.

 

[MZKM]

It's interesting that the 708 scores a 5.0 and the 308P a 5.6. I own both, the 708 is the much better speaker, specially when the volume is high. Honestly, this makes me wonder if there is something missing in the formula in the scoring.

I think better max SPL (less bass distortion) is a main factor. Also, the 308P has the PIR starting to slope down at around 200Hz, whereas this 708P is around 100Hz, so bass could be heard as louder. This 708P also has wider directivity (which Amir probably prefers, but reduces it‘s score).

And again, the preference rating is for far-field listening. The near/mid field listening that these monitors are typically used for will cause some inaccuracy with the score.

 

[respice finem]

The comparisons to the KH 310(A) are a bit "uneven", because the Neumann is not a ported speaker, and is similarly priced only in its analog version. There is a version with digital input and DSP options, the KH 310D, but that is far more expensive:
https://www.thomann.de/de/neumann_kh_310_d_right.htm (price per unit not pair) vs https://www.thomann.de/de/neumann_kh_310_a_right.htm
The attractive side of the Neumann for me would be avoiding any port related issues, as well as easier access to service in case of a defect (I live in Germany). All this being largely theoretical so far, because before thinking of buying anything better than my current stuff, I'll need to provide a proper listening room first.

 

[respice finem]

Oh boy. I'm done at 7.mumble kHz. I would have guessed 10kHz. That's kind of humbling. Age: 66. left ear is worst than right ear by about a kHz. I've spent a moderate amount of time shooting 30 cal. rifles on a range with good ear protection. I know that I don't have "golden" ears, but this seems to be a case of tin-plated brass, at best.

Welcome to the club (of semi-deaf sports shooters) About the same here, the probably worst for me were my early years with proper protection not available. Sorry for OT. BTW, the test is probably not very accurate, unless you have a very quiet room.