JBL MA7100HP AV Receiver Review

[qirex]

Thank you for the solid and impartial review as always! I was hoping for better results as well. It seems perplexing that no one has yet to catch the Topping/Fosi/Aiyima/IcePower lightning in an AVR bottle.

I don't think any current model AVR under $2500 is recommended here. That's the class where you get into larger housings, much higher quality power supplies and much more shielding than the $1000 and under world. AVRs are a shrinking market, especially at the lower end and everything is made to a price point. If you took this JBL's components and moved the power supply to the outside and put several inches and 2 layers of steel between the amps and the DACs I bet it would measure better. In my opinion it's not really fair to compare a single chip DAC or amp in its own steel box with a discrete external power supply to all those things plus HDMI switching, surround decoding, room correction, etc.crammed into one shoebox.

My wish is somebody eventually makes a decent small stand-alone surround processor but that's not the market the companies build them for, which is high end and custom install where they absolutely do not want a $500 5.1 decoder to exist. The Toppings and Fosis of the world don't seem too keen on having to deal with all the baggage and expense of HDMI and surround format licensing/certification.

 

[kyuu]

I received the unit back from Amir. If anyone has any questions or something they'd like me to check or look at, let me know. Just keep in mind the only measurement instruments I have are a multimeter and a UMIK-1.

 

[pogo]

How does it now perform compared to your previous AVR?

 

[Doctors11]

I received the unit back from Amir. If anyone has any questions or something they'd like me to check or look at, let me know. Just keep in mind the only measurement instruments I have are a multimeter and a UMIK-1.

How would you rate the built in room correction?

 

[kyuu]

How does it now perform compared to your previous AVR?

It's hard to say as of yet as I've barely got it set up. One thing I did notice immediately is that it seems to get much louder. However I haven't got any room correction set up yet on the new unit yet (so haven't lost headroom to the EQ) and there's other factors that might be influencing that relative to the old AVR. I haven't noticed any sound quality issues, I can say that, outside of the obvious need for room correction and getting everything dialed in. I set the volume to max and put my ear against the speakers' tweeters, didn't hear any hissing.

I am very much enjoying how easy it is to stream Tidal or UPnP to the unit and the display when doing so. It also came with a 60-day trial for Roon, so I set the up and it works great as well. There's definitely some neat things about Roon, like integrating my local library and Tidal, and seeing the entire playback chain in real time.

The display is pretty nice. The font is definitely small for viewing at a distance, but at least when doing volume changes you get a little circular meter with a much larger number that is easy to see.

How would you rate the built in room correction?

I would rate is as not working yet. As I thought would be the case, I couldn't find any way to get the EZ Set EQ app to recognize the UMIK-1 plugged into my phone. I've had to resort to ordering the recommended Dayton IMM-6C mic so I can do the calibration until I can get a Dirac license on sale (assuming the new leadership doesn't nix the sales). Luckily it should come in tomorrow so I can get that rolling then. I think I still need to get the speaker levels set manually though? I'll probably set up REW to use for SPL metering to do that tonight.

What's weird is that the test tones the AVR plays are influenced by the volume, which I don't remember being the case with the old Denon. So I'm not sure where I should have the volume set before adjusting the speaker trims for level matching.

 

[EWL5]

As DLBC doesn't appear to be an option for both the 7100HP and 9100HP, does purchasing DL FB still make sense?

 

[kyuu]

As DLBC doesn't appear to be an option for both the 7100HP and 9100HP, does purchasing DL FB still make sense?

I'm not sure I understand the question. What does not being able to get DLBC have to do with whether the base Dirac Live makes sense?

 

[EWL5]

I'm not sure I understand the question. What does not being able to get DLBC have to do with whether the base Dirac Live makes sense?

The 2021 line of Voxx products and at least one Arcam had issues w/bass management and the only thing they had in common was the lack of DLBM or DLBC functionality. I would imagine you don't get DLBM w/your paid DL FB license.

 

[kyuu]

The 2021 line of Voxx products and at least one Arcam had issues w/bass management and the only thing they had in common was the lack of DLBM or DLBC functionality. I would imagine you don't get DLBM w/your paid DL FB license.

What was the issue with bass management exactly? Was this an issue only when using Dirac on the Voxx products or was the bass management borked in general?

 

[EWL5]

What was the issue with bass management exactly? Was this an issue only when using Dirac on the Voxx products or was the bass management borked in general?

From the RZ50 owner's thread on AVS post #3:

• When setting the subwoofer level in the Dirac Live application it might require your subwoofer gain to be maxed out in order to match your other speaker levels. This is wrong and something you don't want. Set the subwoofer gain halfway and try to measure 1 point, export the filters, then check the subwoofer trim in the AVR to see if it falls between -6 to -9. Adjust the physical knob and repeat the steps until you get the correct range. See Post 1 in the Official Dirac Live Thread for correct Volume Calibration procedure.

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/61244181/

There's none of this back and forth shenanigans on my Denon 3800 but I do have DLBM (and haven't paid for DLBC). You may or may not know that 2021 Voxx products aren't capable of DLBM/DLBC. The upcoming RZ30 will have compatibility from the start and I bet the above workaround goes away!

 

[tusc]

I am very much enjoying how easy it is to stream Tidal or UPnP to the unit and the display when doing so. It also came with a 60-day trial for Roon, so I set the up and it works great as well. There's definitely some neat things about Roon, like integrating my local library and Tidal, and seeing the entire playback chain in real time.

You might also want to check out Lyrion Music Server (formerly Logitech media server) if you don't want to pay monthly fees for Roon. You can register with TIdal, Qobuz & Spotify and still play hires music through the 7100's UPNP renderer. It'll even update the media art on the display.

 

[ban25]

From the RZ50 owner's thread on AVS post #3:

• When setting the subwoofer level in the Dirac Live application it might require your subwoofer gain to be maxed out in order to match your other speaker levels. This is wrong and something you don't want. Set the subwoofer gain halfway and try to measure 1 point, export the filters, then check the subwoofer trim in the AVR to see if it falls between -6 to -9. Adjust the physical knob and repeat the steps until you get the correct range. See Post 1 in the Official Dirac Live Thread for correct Volume Calibration procedure.

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/61244181/

There's none of this back and forth shenanigans on my Denon 3800 but I do have DLBM (and haven't paid for DLBC). You may or may not know that 2021 Voxx products aren't capable of DLBM/DLBC. The upcoming RZ30 will have compatibility from the start and I bet the above workaround goes away!

I can confirm that there is none of those shenanigans on the Integra DRX-8.4 and the Pioneer LX805.

 

[EWL5]

I can confirm that there is none of those shenanigans on the Integra DRX-8.4 and the Pioneer LX805.

Right, because those are 2023 Voxx products (not to be confused w/the 2021 ones)!

 

[dlaloum]

I can confirm that there is none of those shenanigans on the Integra DRX-8.4 and the Pioneer LX805.

I think the reason for that is DLBM... the AVRs that don't have the sub level issues, all have DLBM.

I'm betting that the upcoming firmware upgrade for the RZ50, will give it DLBM and resolve those issues.

 

[kyuu]

FYI I'm going to move further discussion of my experience with setting up my MA7100 to the other thread since we're getting a bit off-topic from the review.

 

[Left]

Nice UI review over at Ripewave's YouTube channel:

 

[Des Esseintes]

I was recommended this over the Yamaha R-N1000A by some guy working at a hi-fi store. Basically they have Focal Vestia 3 or 4 speakers at half price (still have to decide which ones I want) and I mentioned I was considering the Yamaha to power them. The guy said the Yamaha would do fine with the Vestia 3 but might not be powerful enough for the Vestia 4. I then mentioned I was also going to use my system for movies but was considering an audio amp with an hdmi input rather than a full-on AV receiver as I only watch older movies. He said the JBL MA7100HP AV would do just as well for music and allow me to add a front speaker for movie watching. Not sure what to think now after reading this thread.

 

[kyuu]

I was recommended this over the Yamaha R-N1000A by some guy working at a hi-fi store. Basically they have Focal Vestia 3 or 4 speakers at half price (still have to decide which ones I want) and I mentioned I was considering the Yamaha to power them. The guy said the Yamaha would do fine with the Vestia 3 but might not be powerful enough for the Vestia 4. I then mentioned I was also going to use my system for movies but was considering an audio amp with an hdmi input rather than a full-on AV receiver as I only watch older movies. He said the JBL MA7100HP AV would do just as well for music and allow me to add a front speaker for movie watching. Not sure what to think now after reading this thread.

Are you planning on ever going beyond a 2.1 setup? If not, then the only reason to recommend this JBL over the Yamaha is for Dirac room correction. The guy at the hi-fi store is selling you nonsense about the Yamaha not being powerful enough for the Vestia 4. It's rated for 100W continuous into both channels at 8 ohm, and for much more peak power down to 2 ohms. That's way more than good enough.

 

[Des Esseintes]

I thought the Yamaha also had room correction?

I was considering a frontal speaker (not sure how they're called) because apparently (from what I heard), it might be worth it when watching films with dialogues that are not super well-recorded.

 

[pogo]

Just have it demonstrated to you. He will probably speak from experience.