JBL Stage A130 Review (speaker)

[MarkWinston]

The golfing panther I believe was with EQ, otherwise it was just ok. Did you use any EQ?

No I didnt... but honestly, should a speaker get a golfing panther based on what it does after eq? This is the reason why I do not trust panthers and preference scores, listening with our own ears is still the best thing, in fact it should be the only thing.

 

[Erici]

No I didnt... but honestly, should a speaker get a golfing panther based on what it does after eq? This is the reason why I do not trust panthers and preference scores, listening with our own ears is still the best thing, in fact it should be the only thing.

Why are you on a site that focuses on measurements if you think "listening with our own ears is still the best thing, in fact it should be the only thing."? Seems like you'd be wasting your time here?

 

[Presently42]

Out of curiosity, I had a look at the differences between @amirm and @hardisj 's data:



Clearly the same speaker - but with some important differences: having aligned them by eye between 200 and 400 Hz (as @Sean Olive 's research indicates one should), on notes, that Erin's data are much less flat than Amir's: the treble looks to be shelved a couple of dB up. Furthermore, the entirety of Erin's curve seems to be shifted to the right - though this might be my own error, as I had to use WebPlotDigitiser, given that Erin doesn't publish his data. Lastly, the hump present in Amir's data at around 2000 Hz is missing from Erin's.

All in all, I blame unit-to-unit variations. A pity, as these variations are sufficient to change eq non-trivially. Does anyone happen to know if the speaker's engineers are on the site? Perhaps they would be able to resolve these inconsistencies.

Edit: The shift was indeed an error on my part: the corrected curves are presented above.

 

[dealpapa]

I watch his videos. On his "Best Speaker Under $200 Edition 2 - JBL vs Sony vs Jamo vs Micca vs Cambridge Audio Speaker Shootout" he picked the JBL A130 as best for regular listening.
Here are the speakers:

JBL Stage A130
Cambridge Minx XL $169
Jamo S803
Micca RB42
Sony SSCS5

In his video, “My Top Ten Speakers Regardless of Price”
JBL A130 is not a winner, but the Sony SSCS5 is

Emotiva Airmotiv B1+
Elac Uni-Fi UB5.2 -
Elac Unifi 2.0
Sony SSCS5
Elac Debut Reference
Jamo C93ii
Polk R100
SVS Ultra
Emotiva T1
Klipsch RP6000F

no criticism is intended at all. He speaks of different uses for the speakers

He is cheap crazy guy, what I learn from his list is:

Recommended Speaker List

Around $100 (These prices will fluctuate between $75 - $150)
Sony SSCS5 - Lively $75

Around $200

JBL Stage A130 - Neutral/Great All Arounder 199 right now (it seems not good now)

Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ Crystal Clear and Punchy 250

Recommended Amp List

Under $100
Aiyima A07 - Neutral and Full

 

[Sancus]

All in all, I blame unit-to-unit variations. A pity, as these variations are sufficient to change eq non-trivially.

Yep, but this is very common in speakers in this price range, especially tweeter variation. It's been documented before even in the JBL actives.

I really don't think you'll be able to buy a speaker that costs less than $500/ea without risking +/- 1dB-2dB in the tweeter. And even then, there may be outliers, it's hard to be sure unless multiple samples have been measured.

 

[Walter]

This reminds me very much of the difference in measurements of the Vanatoo Transparent Zero between ASR and Noaudiophile, which were attributed to significant unit to unit variations.

 

[More Dynamics Please]

I'm shocked, shocked to find that some people like the A130 and some don't. Has this ever happened with any other speaker?

 

[Presently42]

Yep, but this is very common in speakers in this price range, especially tweeter variation. It's been documented before even in the JBL actives.

I really don't think you'll be able to buy a speaker that costs less than $500/ea without risking +/- 1dB-2dB in the tweeter. And even then, there may be outliers, it's hard to be sure unless multiple samples have been measured.

It does seem, that the tweeter is the largest difference: the crossover is around 3.2 kHz: and that's roughly where the shelf is.

 

[Hiten]

I wonder whether there is a way for the user to damp these cabinet resonances from the outside. Perhaps affixing some kind of pad against the sides. E.g. take something like a BBC-like bituminous pad and tie it in place with thick string. Or better, use flexible caulk to glue it in place. I would imagine you would not need to cover more than the central 15-25% of the side. The disadvantage is that this would be one try and hope it is not an error.

The enclosure looks like closed and will be difficult to properly fix. I guess small bracing in the center of side panel would also work ./? If some cheap but good tweeter replacement would also benefit. But doubt extra effort required would be worth.

I wonder if the woofer in this particular model is special to have good enough linear response and low distortion then the center channel (Stage A130C ) can be sacrificed to make a pair of brand new well made speaker with new tweeter and crossover. But again lots of effort will be required and probably we may have comparatively better speaker in the same (Effort+Price) range making the exercise futile.
Regards

 

[pio80]

Hi guys,

I have experienced a strange thing. I try to explain that.
I gave them a chance and put them on the stands and out of the box I was shocked how these little bookshelfs can play I mean smooth, detailed (a little to much) sound with good amount of bass (although I do not hide, sometimes I had to take off a treble a bit..)
..Every track sounded good, very good!
It all changed when I turned the subwoofer (rel t5i) on
.. jbls came to be shouty, irritating...
Now I am listening without sub and its fine, I am satisfied.
With Elac dbr62 everything is correct..

What is wrong? Any ideas?

Regards

 

[abdo123]

Hi guys,

I have experienced a strange thing. I try to explain that.
I gave them a chance and put them on the stands and out of the box I was shocked how these little bookshelfs can play I mean smooth, detailed (a little to much) sound with good amount of bass (although I do not hide, sometimes I had to take off a treble a bit..)
..Every track sounded good, very good!
It all changed when I turned the subwoofer (rel t5i) on
.. jbls came to be shouty, irritating...
Now I am listening without sub and its fine, I am satisfied.
With Elac dbr62 everything is correct..

What is wrong? Any ideas?

Regards

What is your crossover frequency on the sub?

I would seal the port of the JBL and put the crossover on 100Hz.

 

[Walter]

To add to that, are you able to high pass the A130s, or were they still running full range? If they are, and there happens to be a room node in the frequencies where they overlap strongly with the subs, that might explain it. If that is the case, but you have no way to apply a high pass filter, then @abdo123's suggestion should help a lot. You can use tightly rolled socks to seal the ports.

 

[MarkWinston]

Why are you on a site that focuses on measurements if you think "listening with our own ears is still the best thing, in fact it should be the only thing."? Seems like you'd be wasting your time here?

Clearly you do not comprehend what Im saying here in this context. If it measures good, you still have to listen to it. Listening is the only thing left after all the measurements are known. Example, 2 different data is now shown for 1 particular speaker. 1 got a golfing panther, the other had a less than average review. What else can one do? Listen. As I did. And I hated the A130 uneqed even before Erin's review came out. Golfing panther? More like golf ball panther. Listen listen listen and listen, its way better than any preference score or panthers. Thats what I meant. Measuring good dont mean it will sound good. My apologies for not making myself clear.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

Clearly you do not comprehend what Im saying here in this context. If it measures good, you still have to listen to it. Listening is the only thing left after all the measurements are known. Example, 2 different data is now shown for 1 particular speaker. 1 got a golfing panther, the other had a less than average review. What else can one do? Listen. As I did. And I hated the A130 uneqed even before Erin's review came out. Golfing panther? More like golf ball panther. Listen listen listen and listen. Thats what I meant. Measuring good dont mean it will sound good. My apologies for not making myself clear.

Yes maybe you are doing something wrong, why are you listening to speakers?

 

[pozz]

Yep, but this is very common in speakers in this price range, especially tweeter variation. It's been documented before even in the JBL actives.

I really don't think you'll be able to buy a speaker that costs less than $500/ea without risking +/- 1dB-2dB in the tweeter. And even then, there may be outliers, it's hard to be sure unless multiple samples have been measured.

Where did that graph come from? That's not even that bad: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/pair-deviation-list-s-r.18058/

 

[pio80]

What is your crossover frequency on the sub?

I would seal the port of the JBL and put the crossover on 100Hz.

Crossover is in 60-50hz position..to be clear I need bass support , not completely replace it by sub

 

[abdo123]

Crossover is in 60-50hz position..to be clear I need bass support , not completely replace it by sub

I can't help you if you don't want to try what i'm suggesting.

 

[pozz]

Crossover is in 60-50hz position..to be clear I need bass support , not completely replace it by sub

The speaker is too small to support a crossover that low.

 

[pio80]

To add to that, are you able to high pass the A130s, or were they still running full range? If they are, and there happens to be a room node in the frequencies where they overlap strongly with the subs, that might explain it. If that is the case, but you have no way to apply a high pass filter, then @abdo123's suggestion should help a lot. You can use tightly rolled socks to seal the ports.

I am not able to do so , they are running full range. Sub is connected through high level input. I will try to do a few configurations and I will see what's happen then.

 

[pio80]

I can't help you if you don't want to try what i'm suggesting.

If I set 100hz up whats about low-max level ? 50% less?