JBL 708P Review (Professional Monitor)

[Tom C]

I believe their PA is a bit better than the studio equipment. I believe, but I´m not sure.

The two that failed were both PA. Eon 610 and Eon 618. My 705P’s have been AOK for five years. Just got some 708P’s. We’ll see how it goes.
The 705s were bought from JBL as b-stock. The Eons were bought from my local pro dealer, Full Compass. Not sure that would matter, though.

 

[dcolak]

The two that failed were both PA. Eon 610 and Eon 618. My 705P’s have been AOK for five years. Just got some 708P’s. We’ll see how it goes.
The 705s were bought from JBL as b-stock. The Eons were bought from my local pro dealer, Full Compass. Not sure that would matter, though.

Damn, so JBL is bad all around with electronics.

 

[Pio]

I'm using 3 for my LCR /TV - haven't turned them off in over a year - they're working perfectly. I had issue with one of the very first one's I got - but after the fix, it's been perfect as well.
My daughter uses 2 705P's in her set up - and those have been perfect so far.

Very happy with the 7 series

 

[NMixes]

I got a chance of buying five 708p at a huge discount to replace my Yamahas MSP7 Studio monitors.

While they are coming this way, I was wondering, how are we in the reliability side with these monitors? Have we been able to track it down to a few batches of defective units? Or is it something related to innefective cooling, or...?

I worry about making the change and after warranty my JBLs all go south.

What do you reckon?

Out of 3 708p I have, two have failed

 

[2440]

I got a chance of buying five 708p at a huge discount to replace my Yamahas MSP7 Studio monitors.

While they are coming this way, I was wondering, how are we in the reliability side with these monitors? Have we been able to track it down to a few batches of defective units? Or is it something related to innefective cooling, or...?

I worry about making the change and after warranty my JBLs all go south.

What do you reckon?

I used LSR28P monitors for 8 years of daily semi-pro use with no problems. My current 708Ps have worked fine for the year I’ve owned them. I was told there were reliability issues early in production, which were addressed years ago.

 

[beefkabob]

I had a bad b-stock that I RMAd. I have two good B stock and 3 good used 705p.

 

[Zzzzz...]

I'm using 3 for my LCR /TV - haven't turned them in over a year - they're working perfectly. I had issue with one of the very first one's I got - but after the fix, it's been perfect as well.
My daughter uses 2 705P's in her set up - and those have been perfect so far.

Very happy with the 7 series

I noticed you also have the Neumann KH420's. How do you find them compared to the 708's?

 

[Tom C]

Pio is the man, imo

 

[Pio]

I noticed you also have the Neumann KH420's. How do you find them compared to the 708's?

Z - I really enjoy them both - but I've not put them up side by side, I don't think I have ever had them in the same room. The 708s and 420's have the characteristics that I enjoy in a speaker - low compression, super revealing and pretty transparent.

I originally got the 708's for my office / studio when we were in the NY area. I had sold my B&W 802's to finance the purchase of the (then new) JBL 4367. For me - the 708 was a smaller version of the 4367 that I could have at work and they had the same characteristics that I love in the 4367; revealing with tons of dynamics, virtually no compression and no fatigue.

PS - I LOVE the 4367 and those I have had in the same room as the 420's. They're my 2 favorite speakers.. I put the JBLs in storage for now because of the addition of the 870 subs paired with the 420's - but honestly, I love the sound of both pretty equally.


If you're on instagram, check out my page home_and_pro_audio

 

[Robbo99999]

I don't have a single JBL active monitor that did not fail (four in a row, different monitors/subwoofers).

JBL is abysmal with their electronics. Just as bad as NAD or Cambridge Audio. Trash quality, made to fail.

Too bad, JBL has awesome speakers, when they work.

I've had x2 JBL 308p Mkii speakers since 2020 and they've been in use everyday connected to my TV and for music listening and they're just the same as Day 1 as far as I can tell. They get 8hrs or more of usage every day.

 

[henriquestaino]

Thank you for everyone that addressed my concerns!
My conclusion is that it seems the issues are not as widespread as they were at first, mainly because they were addressed in later production.
I have decided that if they work well throughout the return window and I like them, I'm keeping them and selling my Yamahas.
It is worth mentioning that here in Brazil it is extremely hard and expensive to get other monitors in this class. Neumanns and Genelecs are all hard to come by (low availability) and pretty expensive (The 708ps were considerably cheaper than Genelec 8030cs, for example, and less than half of KH120s), and JBL is pretty big here, so I hope support will be easier and faster.
Later on I'll complete an immersive set using the much cheaper 308 mkII for rears and ceiling, since most of my work is still in 5.1.
I'll be sure to report here about my experience with them.
Thanks again!

 

[Bugal1998]

If you're on instagram, check out my page home_and_pro_audio

Nice photos. The camera loves the 4367 in your space. Makes me want to spend a cold snowy Sunday morning drinking coffee and listening to music in your room!

 

[Zzzzz...]

Z - I really enjoy them both - but I've not put them up side by side, I don't think I have ever had them in the same room. The 708s and 420's have the characteristics that I enjoy in a speaker - low compression, super revealing and pretty transparent.

I originally got the 708's for my office / studio when we were in the NY area. I had sold my B&W 802's to finance the purchase of the (then new) JBL 4367. For me - the 708 was a smaller version of the 4367 that I could have at work and they had the same characteristics that I love in the 4367; revealing with tons of dynamics, virtually no compression and no fatigue.

PS - I LOVE the 4367 and those I have had in the same room as the 420's. They're my 2 favorite speakers.. I put the JBLs in storage for now because of the addition of the 870 subs paired with the 420's - but honestly, I love the sound of both pretty equally.


If you're on instagram, check out my page home_and_pro_audio

All this sounds great. Sometimes reading this forum I feel like people are keener on Neumann and Genelec. It's nice to read that you like both your various JBLs and Neumanns.

Wonderful Instagram BTW. So many speakers. I noticed the 6332's and some Revels amongst others. Nice music choices also (I'm an old time Police fan).

 

[henriquestaino]

The 708p got here, but I must say the first impression is not very reassuring.

The staples on the manual are completely rusted, some screws on the back panel are partially stripped and most of them show heavy signs of corrosion. See the photos

I'm guessing they were improperly stored in a damp environment for a long time?

I'm considering returning them and waiting for a another opportunity.

Sigh...

 

[Tom C]

I think that if those were purchased new, they are not in acceptable condition. Especially if you paid full price. I’d return them and try something else. Who knows what the electronics inside look like. They may be just as corroded.

 

[henriquestaino]

I think that if those were purchased new, they are not in acceptable condition. Especially if you paid full price. I’d return them and try something else. Who knows what the electronics inside look like. They may be just as corroded.

Yeah, that's my thinking regarding the internals.
JBL support asked me to open up another one and see how that looked like, and it was the same or worse, check it out:

We are now negotiating on them sending me another five, but this time brand new out of the factory, with full warranty. These ones have stickers on the boxes with dates going back to 2023. I don't want supposedly new speakers that have been sitting in bad conditioned spaces for two and a half years, or worse, that have been sold and returned on top of that.

If they meet that demand, fine. If not, I'll return them and wait for another sale.

 

[Robbo99999]

Yeah, that's my thinking regarding the internals.
JBL support asked me to open up another one and see how that looked like, and it was the same or worse, check it out:

View attachment 492368View attachment 492369View attachment 492370View attachment 492371

We are now negotiating on them sending me another five, but this time brand new out of the factory, with full warranty. These ones have stickers on the boxes with dates going back to 2023. I don't want supposedly new speakers that have been sitting in bad conditioned spaces for two and a half years, or worse, that have been sold and returned on top of that.

If they meet that demand, fine. If not, I'll return them and wait for another sale.

Good sleuthing! I wouldn't want them if they'd been exposed to such bad storage for so long, and strange re the somewhat stripped screws, which makes me feel like they've been reconditioned or something rather than coming straight new from the factory.

 

[henriquestaino]

Good sleuthing! I wouldn't want them if they'd been exposed to such bad storage for so long, and strange re the somewhat stripped screws, which makes me feel like they've been reconditioned or something rather than coming straight new from the factory.

Yup! Very weird.

And on top of that, the boxes had some new tape on top of older, cut tape, closing them.
There is a possible explanation for that, though, which is that JBL opens them up for including a manual in portuguese and a power cable with our standard plug. I'm telling them I don't need the manual or cable, just send them sealed straight from the factory.

Thank god I filmed myself opening the box and showing them the stripped screws.

 

[sheeple]

Old design, little demand. Makes sense it has been sitting on the shelfs for quite a while. I would return them.

 

[henriquestaino]

Old design, little demand. Makes sense it has been sitting on the shelfs for quite a while. I would return them.

Yeah I agree.

Regarding "old design", I don't really see anything newer or better at this pricepoint. At least around here. Neumanns KH120II are 3x the price I got for these, Genelecs are double the price and smaller, etc. I mean, it maybe old, but surely not really outdated, right?