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JBL 705P / 708P

Kouioui

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These are the LSR305s on the Panagea DS100 from Audio Advisor. Essentially the DS400 but with only one upright. The top plate is 6 x 6 inches rather than 6 x 8.5 inches as supplied with the DS400. Four 1 cm or so balls of Blu Tack on each corner secures them very well.
Same 305s I use and on similar stands. Found a pair of Auralex 3" thick speaker isolation foam pads for $5 that have a slight tilt to help with desk/floor bounce reflections. No impressions in the foam from the weight of the JBLs for 7yrs.
 

sejarzo

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... It’s good to know I have +/- 3.5 inches.

That was just an example, given that +/- 2 degrees vertically is not usually a big deal when it comes to response, and I would presume it's as insignificant with these as any speaker given the effectiveness of the JBL waveguide.
 

stunta

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Uh. I just got myself a 3rd 708p for the center channel. My first died but luckily was under warranty and JBL replaced it. Fingers crossed!

My 2nd 708P quietly stopped working. 2nd LED went solid green, no sound. Manual says solid green is custom settings, but I have everything at default. Power cycled and it changed to solid red which the manual says is related to digital signal - I am using analog. Manual troubleshooting step says to try factory reset but doesn't say how (I figured it out).

No more JBL speakers for me. Terrible usability. Garbage QC.
 

Valentin R

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My 2nd 708P quietly stopped working. 2nd LED went solid green, no sound. Manual says solid green is custom settings, but I have everything at default. Power cycled and it changed to solid red which the manual says is related to digital signal - I am using analog. Manual troubleshooting step says to try factory reset but doesn't say how (I figured it out).

No more JBL speakers for me. Terrible usability. Garbage QC.


Press and Hold the MENU and BACK keys simultaneously while setting the POWER SWITCH to the ON position. Text in the display will confirm the speaker has been reset.
 

Sal1950

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Very discouraging the number of amp/dsp failures I read about in these little powered guys. :(
Says something about the current ownership IMHO.
 

Thomas savage

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My 2nd 708P quietly stopped working. 2nd LED went solid green, no sound. Manual says solid green is custom settings, but I have everything at default. Power cycled and it changed to solid red which the manual says is related to digital signal - I am using analog. Manual troubleshooting step says to try factory reset but doesn't say how (I figured it out).

No more JBL speakers for me. Terrible usability. Garbage QC.
I replace mine with the 308, not as good but cheap so I don't care and tbh good enough for the TV.

The kind of money they want for the 7 series these failures are unacceptable. Personally I hate boxing things up and sending stuff and i hate dealing with customer care.

My 705p is still sitting on the floor broken, I couldn't be arsed to send it off. They are trash imo only fit for a skip.
 

Frank Dernie

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I replace mine with the 308, not as good but cheap so I don't care and tbh good enough for the TV.

The kind of money they want for the 7 series these failures are unacceptable. Personally I hate boxing things up and sending stuff and i hate dealing with customer care.

My 705p is still sitting on the floor broken, I couldn't be arsed to send it off. They are trash imo only fit for a skip.
Completely agree.
Reliability is the No 1 requirement of anything and I hate boxing things up and sending them back, I also tend to not bother and just never, ever buy anything from that manufacturer again.
 

stunta

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I don't mind boxing it and leaving it out for pickup by courier, but I need to drive 30 mins to take it to the authorized repair center. It's 2 hours of my time and I don't like driving.
 

GXAlan

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Very discouraging the number of amp/dsp failures I read about in these little powered guys. :(
Says something about the current ownership IMHO.

Or previous leadership, pre-Samsung...

I'll quote Sidney Harman
“The American idea is to do the designing and marketing, and let manufacturing be done by the most labor-intensive nation,” said Harman, who was undersecretary of commerce for Jimmy Carter. “We as a company reject that. We believe the garden in which innovation grows is on the manufacturing floor.”
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-24-fi-935-story.html

Even his mistakes have a different flavor than today's approach of profits above all.
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/21/...led-test-worker-democracy.html?pagewanted=all

Under Sidney Harman, his companies were known for reliability and performance. You could buy refoam or recone kits for just about anything, including vintage gear.

Under subsequent leadership, profits skyrocketed and the $8B buyout from Samsung was a great thing for shareholders. But it has lead to today's world of buggy Arcam AVRs and failing active speakers. You get exemplary performance but it is still built to a price and philosophy of replacement rather than repair. The subsequent management did the right thing for shareholders and the company, but it came at the expense of the enthusiast and value-priced studio speaker line.

Under Samsung, we've seen some innovative speakers come out. Time will tell if Samsung's electronics manufacturing know-how trickles down into Harman. Since Harman is run semi-independently, it might not.
 

stunta

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I replace mine with the 308, not as good but cheap so I don't care and tbh good enough for the TV.

Interesting. I originally had my 308p as center channel and replaced it with a 708p. I kept the 308p as backup so now it goes back in as center and the center 708p goes to mains while I wait for the repair round-trip.

The 708p sounds amazing to my ears. It is silly that the more expensive unit has more quality issues.
 

Olli

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I'm happy with mine. The sound is just too good for the money.

Why the active version? With Hypex Amps now so cheap (eg Audiophonics) you could get a passive („i“) + Amp set for almost the same price as the „p“...
 

Icboschert

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Why the active version? With Hypex Amps now so cheap (eg Audiophonics) you could get a passive („i“) + Amp set for almost the same price as the „p“...
the 'i' version requires JBL's DSP file to run. Usually only runs in the Crown amps I believe
 

stunta

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If going passive, might as well go with the Revel line. The main reason I went with the active version was to take advantage of the benefits of built-in optimizations and DSP crossovers. The merits may be theoretical, but I just feel better about it. The reliability issues make me question my judgment.
 

BDWoody

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beefkabob

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Why the active version? With Hypex Amps now so cheap (eg Audiophonics) you could get a passive („i“) + Amp set for almost the same price as the „p“...
Hypex 4x250 watts is 1200us?
Course I'd need dsp for all 4 channels to biamp properly. And 4 channels of dac. I could get a crown amp to do it all. Plus speakers. Vs 1000 each b stock 708p? Just not so close in price.
 

LDKTA

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Same here...and so far no failures or issues from mine...knock on Woody...;)

Right there with you. Honestly, I haven't heard of many issues with the 7 Series (aside from what I've heard in this group -- but I'm sure there are far more people experiencing the same troubles). Though, I will say that JBLs QC could/should be better. This isn't surprising to me though considering the type of product that it is and they're selling a ton of them... I personally know of several others with the 7 Series that have yet to have any issues whatsoever (including myself). Warranty covers these issues but I could see why one would be upset and not want to deal with JBL anymore. I just find the commentary in this group to be overblown. I know of people with Genelec's that have had monitors arrive DOA and with other issues as well. It happens. To each their own.
 
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stunta

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Right there with you. Honestly, I haven't heard of many issues with the 7 Series (aside from what I've heard in this group -- but I'm sure there are far more people experiencing the same troubles). Though, I will say that JBLs QC could/should be better. This isn't surprising to me though considering the type of product that it is and they're selling a ton of them... I personally know of several others with the 7 Series that have yet to have any issues whatsoever (including myself). Warranty covers these issues but I could see why one would be upset and not want to deal with JBL anymore. I just find the commentary in this group to be overblown. I know of people with Genelec's that have had monitors arrive DOA and with other issues as well. It happens. To each their own.

I see your point. More people are generally vocal about issues than those coming online and declaring their speakers work as they should. I think the irritation here, at least for me, comes from having owned other speakers that are very high quality in the builds with no issues over a decade of use. The fact that I have to keep backup speakers is a bad sign. Its not pleasant living with fragile gear and its not fun not having them around while waiting for repair - and this has happened to me twice. At 4K USD a pair, I just have higher expectations - JBL needs to figure out what is going wrong and if its a bad batch and issue a recall if that is case.
 

Sal1950

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Right there with you. Honestly, I haven't heard of many issues with the 7 Series (aside from what I've heard in this group -- but I'm sure there are far more people experiencing the same troubles). Though, I will say that JBLs QC could/should be better. This isn't surprising to me though considering the type of product that it is and they're selling a ton of them... I personally know of several others with the 7 Series that have yet to have any issues whatsoever (including myself). Warranty covers these issues but I could see why one would be upset and not want to deal with JBL anymore. I just find the commentary in this group to be overblown. I know of people with Genelec's that have had monitors arrive DOA and with other issues as well. It happens. To each their own.
I understand what your saying, the only thing is the failures reported here are statisically high for the number of members reporting. The ones I'm aware of are mainly longer term members, not people who can here looking for a reason to rant.. I'd say the numbers reporting failures vs the ones who have reported no problems is roughly 50/50, not a good number. But then I working from memory and I'm about 6 months away from total hard drive failure. ;)
 
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