JBL HDI-1600 Speaker Review

[paulgyro]

Hello, someone compare with ATC scm11, Revel M106?

I don't know of anyone who's measured the ATC scm11 or reviewed both of these. Do you?

Paul

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Hello, someone compare with ATC scm11, Revel M106?

I currently own M106 and formerly owned HDI1600. The HDI’s have more bass. Imaging is different between the two but I couldn’t really say if one is better than the other.

 

[silver12]

I currently own M106 and formerly owned HDI1600. The HDI’s have more bass. Imaging is different between the two but I couldn’t really say if one is better than the other.

Thanks for this info. Could you tell me which one is beter for listening in low volume?

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Thanks for this info. Could you tell me which one is beter for listening in low volume?

Depends on how you think about it I guess. The HDI is bassier, so at low volume, extra bass could be perceived as a positive. I think both of these speakers have been reviewed by Amir, so you can also look at their predicted in room response and draw conclusions from those.

I sold the HDI before I had proper room correction (Dirac). Looking back, I think I may have kept and filled out the rest of an HDI based 5.1. I obviously ended up with a full Revel Performa 3 setup, which I love.

Keep in mind that these speakers are all designed by Harman, and use shared engineering/testing/production resources.

They have more in common than if you were comparing two other unrelated brands.

 

[Theriverlethe]

How do these compare to the Studio 630?

 

[Beave]

How do these compare to the Studio 630?

Good question. Real wood veneer on the HDI vs vinyl wrap on the Studio 630. Likely more expensive drivers on the HDI vs the Studio 630. But I haven't seen any measurements of the Studio 630, so it's hard to say what differences there are. Would love to have Amir or Erin review them!

 

[Theriverlethe]

Do you play any movie scenes during your listening sessions? For most all my music, I regularly have movies at at least 10x the wattage (~ -10dB usually for movies and ~ -20dB or lower for music).

That’s not at all how this works. Wattage is “assigned” moment by moment based on the input signal, with the volume control only setting the peak output. The film industry standardized on 85dB SPL pink noise with 20dB of headroom, so film soundtracks on average are landing around -20dBFS. The music industry has no standardization whatsoever and often brick walls recordings at 0dBFS. So, your -10dB setting for movies is likely using much less power on average than the -20dB music setting.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

How do these compare to the Studio 630?

They’re not comparable in any meaningful way, totally different class of product. The HDI drivers are similar in make and quality to the Revel Performa drivers.

 

[Theriverlethe]

They’re not comparable in any meaningful way, totally different class of product. The HDI drivers are similar in make and quality to the Revel Performa drivers.

Really? I’ve heard of people happily using LSR 305’s for LCR and surrounds in small control rooms calibrated to 79dB SPL.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Really? I’ve heard of people happily using LSR 305’s for LCR and surrounds in small control rooms calibrated to 79dB SPL.

People do all kinds of things, doesn’t mean they’re in the same product class. Are we now comparing LSR’s to HDI’s? Because that’s a big stretch.

I can hear the hiss from this thread.

 

[Theriverlethe]

People do all kinds of things, doesn’t mean they’re in the same product class. Are we now comparing LSR’s to HDI’s? Because that’s a big stretch.

I can hear the hiss from this thread.

Obviously the LSR305 amplifier hiss becomes audible if you’re calibrating -20dBFS to 85dB SPL. It might be informative to conduct a blind listening test between the Studio 630 and HDI 1600 after equalizing below the Schroeder frequency, in addition to measurements. I suspect the HDI 1600 will reach higher SPL without audible distortion, but it’s a very legitimate question.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Obviously the LSR305 amplifier hiss becomes audible if you’re calibrating -20dBFS to 85dB SPL. It might be informative to conduct a blind listening test between the Studio 630 and HDI 1600 after equalizing below the Schroeder frequency, in addition to measurements. I suspect the HDI 1600 will reach higher SPL without audible distortion, but it’s a very legitimate question.

Alright, you do that, and I’ll continue not comparing speakers that aren’t in the same dimension when it comes to build quality, materials quality, aesthetic, desirability, etc.

 

[Theriverlethe]

Alright, you do that, and I’ll continue not comparing speakers that aren’t in the same dimension when it comes to build quality, materials quality, aesthetic, desirability, etc.

You’re free to believe whatever you want but some of us are actually here for the science.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

You’re free to believe whatever you want but some of us are actually here for the science.

I’m here for both, I think most users are. I’m also pretty sure both the LSR’s and HDI’s were tested by Amir, so we really don’t need to have a debate.

Regarding LSR hiss, it’s always audible, have you owned/used them?

 

[Theriverlethe]

I’m here for both, I think most users are. I’m also pretty sure both the LSR’s and HDI’s were tested by Amir, so we really don’t need to have a debate.

Regarding LSR hiss, it’s always audible, have you owned/used them?

The actual question before you derailed was Studio 630 vs. HDI-1600. Studio 630 is passive so obviously wouldn’t have amplifier hiss.

 

[Sal1950]

The actual question before you derailed was Studio 630 vs. HDI-1600. Studio 630 is passive so obviously wouldn’t have amplifier hiss.

The 1600s and 630s use entirely different compression drivers and slightly different wave guides and totally different base drivers.
which is easily seen in the photos. How different they sound could only be decided by measurement. Have a 630
drop shipped to Amir and we can all get the exact answers.
I had 1600s here for a month or so but ultimately decided I wanted something with more muscle and got the 3600s.

 

[ROOSKIE]

How do these compare to the Studio 630?

They’re not comparable in any meaningful way, totally different class of product. The HDI drivers are similar in make and quality to the Revel Performa drivers.

Alright, you do that, and I’ll continue not comparing speakers that aren’t in the same dimension when it comes to build quality, materials quality, aesthetic, desirability, etc.

@Dougey_Jones I think you are being a bit inflexible here.

@Theriverlethe I have been tempted to buy the 620&630 for some time. I just have not yet.
The drivers used in the 6xx line are very nice drivers for the price class. Easily well above the norm. A speaker is more than it's drivers of course.
For what it is worth in a 2.0 set-up I prefered the JBL 530 to the Revel M105 by a slight margin. WIth subs it would be a tie. That is an example of subjective preference trumping price.
Both of those speakers measure extremely well by any metric (I have had 3 sets of JBL 530's and none have had the distortion/resonce in the mids that the sample here had.)

I suspect the 630 is very close in performance to the HDI-1600, close enough to ask and to examine if any gains are worth the price increase. Certainly it is fair to ask and certainly many folks here have limited funds and budget accordingly. You may be willing to spend out for the HDI-1600 and also would be very stoked to save $1000 to get 85-95%+ of the perfromance. I'd am curious as well.
I own the 4309 and do prefer that to the 530. There is no question about that by the way. That said I think most folks would be fine with the 530 that I paid $250 for vs the $2k 4309 that needs PEQ to optimize it well.
I also rock the m126be and BMR. I think these 3 speakers represent a level above the 530 but sure cost alot more. The 530 is 85-90% of the sound for way less money.

Now id love to try a 1600 and a 630. Can anyone send the 630 in???

 

[GXAlan]

I bought the 620 and did not like it as much as the 530. I had some in room measurements shared here.

JBL Studio 620, subjective impressions

The Studio 620 should be hitting US shores in a few months. I picked up one from Japan. A few comments - it's a dark red color, with the web images representing what it would look like under bright lights. It's darker in real life and I have shown a comparison to the classic JBL walnut finish...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It looked much nicer than the 530 though. It was just vinyl and not veneer though. The Studio 6 uses the same drivers as the Studio 5.

The HDI use one line down from the JBL 708p. It is a D2 compression driver but no differential drive woofer.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I bought the 620 and did not like it as much as the 530. I had some in room measurements shared here.

JBL Studio 620, subjective impressions

The Studio 620 should be hitting US shores in a few months. I picked up one from Japan. A few comments - it's a dark red color, with the web images representing what it would look like under bright lights. It's darker in real life and I have shown a comparison to the classic JBL walnut finish...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It looked much nicer than the 530 though. It was just vinyl and not veneer though. The Studio 6 uses the same drivers as the Studio 5.

The HDI use one line down from the JBL 708p. It is a D2 compression driver but no differential drive woofer.

View attachment 334396

Your experience with the 620 is interesting. Inspired to try the 630/620 all the more.

I think it is good to use high quality drivers and I agree that JBL has a big catalog of great drivers to draw from.

The drivers used in the Studio 5xx series are excellent for the class and I am indeed aware they are mainly transferred over to the Studio 6xx. Coupled with the waveguide/horn the 5xx is a step/level up from some competitors that I have tested. I expect the same from the 6xx line and the variation of the HDi guide used there. Diminished returns kick in fast because of this, especially if in a modest sized room and at conventional playback levels.

A speaker is a system and as such all bets are off even if the drivers are 'better'. You can make excellent loudspeakers with average drivers.

I'd love to blind test the HDI-1600 with the 4309 and 630. What would be the result? Very similar configs and specs with three different 6.5" woofers, three different HDi waveguides and two different tweeters.

 

[Theriverlethe]

How important is it to elevate the tweeters to ear level with the dispersion pattern of these speakers?