JBL AC25 Speaker Review

[Geert]

Sometimes it is really hard for me to understand the Harman group, not only the measurements are poor but also the price is crazy, considering the same JBL Pro sells an active 15" DSP PA loudspeaker with 133 dB max SPL for similar money https://jblpro.com/en/products/prx915

That 15" is from a low budget product range; cheap drivers, a very light plastic cabinet... The AC25 is a purpose-built speaker, focusing on speach amplification in a package that's minimaly visually obtrusive. A use case is for example as audience overhead speakers in live TV shows. Makes no sense to judge it by HiFi standards.

 

[thewas]

That 15" is from a low budget product range; cheap drivers, a very light plastic cabinet... The AC25 is a purpose-built speaker, focusing on speach amplification in a package that's minimaly visually obtrusive. A use case is for example as audience overhead speakers in live TV shows. Makes no sense to judge it by HiFi standards.

I know that the PRX belongs to the cheaper PA ranges from JBL Pro, still the price for that AC25 is in my opinion not justified at all, since it is just a small passive box with two also not expensive 5" PA mid drivers and a dome tweeter.

 

[tcli]

Here is my take on the EQ.

DSP don't do miracles.
Any EQ will not change the poor DI.

Note : I'm not again DSP. A basic passive filter + DSP could be a good solution, but in any case, you have to care about directivity.

 

[peniku8]

High distortion even at 86dBSPL, somewhat wonky directivity, not-so-flat response even with dsp, port resonance and rolls off below ~120Hz which will make it difficult to integrate well with a subwoofer... I feel like no amount of dsp can salvage this. And then a 1k price tag? Even for 100$ I wouldn't want this speaker.

 

[FrankW]

I think this tweeter must be broken. Did it become "unstuck" at higher drive levels? How did distortion levels appear to go down from 86 to 96db???

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

Sometimes it is really hard for me to understand the Harman group, not only the measurements are poor but also the price is crazy, considering the same JBL Pro sells an active 15" DSP PA loudspeaker with 133 dB max SPL for similar money https://jblpro.com/en/products/prx915

You and I both.
Harman is weird...


Peace.

 

[computer-audiophile]

Is this a trend we are seeing today?

Speakers intentionally designed to be used with DSP..

Interesting question. It makes the application more complex. No problem when it comes to professional PA or studio use, I think.

But as a home hi-fi user, I still prefer simpler solutions. In my listening practice, I get by without EQ to achieve good music listening experience.

 

[Aperiodic]

Wow, JBL must really be hurting to nickel-and-dime their customers for that extra $7.64.... Why not just round it to an even $1000???

 

[wwenze]

Well the value of a product can be greater than the sum of its parts so maybe $900 went into the FIR file.

 

[NTK]

This is a PA speaker. Its claim to fame is 115 dB SPL output from a 15 in X 6 in X 7 in package. That is higher than the max SPL from a Genelec 8531, which occupies more than 3x the volume. High fidelity is not the design target.

 

[nathan]

maybe I could even hear Christopher Nolan movie dialog

If he wanted you to hear it clearly he would mix it differently.....

 

[thewas]

This is a PA speaker. Its claim to fame is 115 dB SPL output from a 15 in X 6 in X 7 in package. That is higher than the max SPL from a Genelec 8531, which occupies more than 3x the volume. High fidelity is not the design target.

The problem is that those claims seem to be quite far from reality, since as Amirs measurements show, its tweeter already distorts highly at 86 dB.

 

[NTK]

The problem is that those claims seem to be quite far from reality, since as Amirs measurements show, its tweeter already distorts highly at 86 dB.

It is interesting that the absolute levels of distortion (at 2 - 7 kHz) stayed about the same from 86 dB to 96 dB.

 

[LouB]

This is a PA speaker. Its claim to fame is 115 dB SPL output from a 15 in X 6 in X 7 in package. That is higher than the max SPL from a Genelec 8531, which occupies more than 3x the volume. High fidelity is not the design target.

View attachment 276840

Thanks ! I was wondering why they would make a speaker like this. But the target market "houses of worship, presentation suites & retail are more often than not used by people that never heard of DSP. A lot of of those places are used by a lot of different groups with different needs in a PA. Not sure where the DSP comes in the chain but if it's a button you can press or mess with I can guaranty these will sound like crap 90% of the time.

 

[thewas]

It is interesting that the absolute levels of distortion (at 2 - 7 kHz) stayed about the same from 86 dB to 96 dB.

Yes, also noticed that, seems to be not a typical HD source.

 

[PeteL]

This is a PA speaker. Its claim to fame is 115 dB SPL output from a 15 in X 6 in X 7 in package. That is higher than the max SPL from a Genelec 8531, which occupies more than 3x the volume. High fidelity is not the design target.

View attachment 276840

May not be the design target but it's still a crappy speaker. Since when Hi Fidelity is not important for PA applications?

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I think it's weird and have several questions someone may be able to answer.

Is this becoming a trend? -Slap some random drivers in an enclosure and let it be manufactured whilst the engineers come up with a DSP filter that makes the speaker sound okay?
Is it because it's cheaper? -Because they can't get the driver units they want? -Because the crossover and/or baffle design can be shaved down in cost?

 

[PeteL]

I think it's weird and have several questions someone may be able to answer.

Is this becoming a trend? -Slap some random drivers in an enclosure and let it be manufactured whilst the engineers come up with a DSP filter that makes the speaker sound okay?
Is it because it's cheaper? -Because they can't get the driver units they want? -Because the crossover and/or baffle design can be shaved down in cost?

It is indeed becoming the norm now for PA speakers to design to optimise based on other parameters than frequency response, and let the Companion DSP amp do the frequency response work. Mainly SPL and dispersion. Everybody does the same thing. That said, some do it much better than JBL... The speaker still have to be well behave. There is not much that can be done to make these speakers sound good...

These for exemple are still designed to be used with DSP but sound miles better. Go louder and are smaller.

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[bigjacko]

This is a PA speaker. Its claim to fame is 115 dB SPL output from a 15 in X 6 in X 7 in package. That is higher than the max SPL from a Genelec 8531, which occupies more than 3x the volume. High fidelity is not the design target.

View attachment 276840

I think you forgot the subbass diffference. 8351 probably goes down to 30Hz, where those only up to 150 Hz. The low end needs lots of space.

 

[NTK]

I think you forgot the subbass diffference. 8351 probably goes down to 30Hz, where those only up to 150 Hz. The low end needs lots of space.

May be reproducing bass below 100 Hz is not a design requirement for this PA speaker?