JBL One Series 104 Powered Monitor Review

[skiphon]

I own these speakers (just can't call them monitors, sorry). Quite good to use as an additional shit control pare for the mixes. And for the home video editing. The build quality and materials are superb!
Thank you @amirm for the review!

 

[TobyMoby]

Did they change the LF driver for the BT version? When zooming in...

Without BT: https://adn.harmanpro.com/product_a..._Series_104_Pair_Front_1605x1605_original.png

With BT: https://adn.harmanpro.com/product_a...uctPhoto_Pair_Front_Straight_RGB_original.jpg

Kind Regards

Toby

 

[napilopez]

That does indeed look different! Interesting.

 

[The_Ogre]

Hey guys, first post here in the forum.

Well, I discovered it (the forum) when I was searching for some device to help me tame some noise I was having during some recording sessions here at my home studio (which I'm still building). Ended up buying an iFi Audio iDefender3.0, which helped a lot with my system noises.

However, to not go off topic, let's stick to the JBL One Series 104. First of all, thanks for all the info in your review, amirm. I'm still trying to learn how to use all these valuable information.

This pair of 'monitors' is being my monitoring system here at my home studio, where I work mainly with rock/metal. And, as seen in its manual, the frequency range of the 104 is equal to 88 Hz – 20 kHz (-3 dB SPL) / 60 Hz – 20 kH (-10 dB SPL).

So, I'm thinking to get a subwoofer to pair with the JBLs, to get a bit more punch and definition on the low-end. However, my question here is: do you guys have an idea if it'll help improve my low-end reproduction? The idea is buying a Presonus Eris Sub8, that isn't too overpower and have a hi-pass filter at 80Hz, which seems to be a good x-over point to go with these JBLs. Any thoughts?

I'll be using them with IK Multimedia's ARC System 3 for response correction (I'm waiting for the MEMS mic to arrive here). Below is a photo of the current setup.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TobyMoby]

That does indeed look different! Interesting.

Yeah, you can see above the version without BT, very plain flat LF driver.

And here the BT version: It seems like ribbed:

https://img.audiofanzine.com/img/product/normal/2/8/282712.png?fm=webp&w=756&h=652&fit=contain&s=b64471a5262b1ec30d8a1840c0142f98

The German guy before wrote about the BT version very greatly. Made me curious. Will listen to these eggs.

Kind Regards

 

[bennybbbx]

That does indeed look different! Interesting.

and this diffrence maybe fix the problem with the 7 khz gap. the BT i have have no such 7 khz gap as can see in the measure i post. It have only a 10khz gap. but it is not much hearable because is very small

 

[bennybbbx]

Yeah, you can see above the version without BT, very plain flat LF driver.

And here the BT version: It seems like ribbed:

https://img.audiofanzine.com/img/product/normal/2/8/282712.png?fm=webp&w=756&h=652&fit=contain&s=b64471a5262b1ec30d8a1840c0142f98

The German guy before wrote about the BT version very greatly. Made me curious. Will listen to these eggs.

Kind Regards

before you test them better try if you can hear ITD. If you can not hear ITD then a fast mid is not important for you.

to go louder when have a DSP set the compressor to 1:1.5 attack time 1ms release time 180 ms let go 4 db louder but not hear woofer distortion or weak bass for me. need try out which threshhold to set. i need set it to +4 db on DSP. it depend on volume on speaker and DSP. My mini dsp go upto +12 db input level

 

[TobyMoby]

@bennybbbx

THX, they are for my son but I will listen with them out of the box and after when he played with the EQ and a sub.

Kind regards

 

[TobyMoby]

Ok, my son is happy and I think with a sub they're better than the KH80 with a sub.

Listened in 0,8 m. Better locatibility of instruments and voices...

Kind Regards, just my 2 cents

 

[Trokox]

I have owned these speakers for a year now and they are not bad speakers but they do have their limitations. They have a great stereo image and good spatiality, they stand out when fed with very good quality recordings but they lack power and do not fill the room, another negative point is that it can sound horrible with some recordings, clarity and decent details (better than bluetooth speakers and computer). If the use case is near field and volume 70 db it is recommended especially if it is on sale. I bought it on amazon for $ 82 with tax included. Currently I have them in their box since I bought a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 1 of 5th generation driven by smsl a12 and it is an improvement in every way

 

[TobyMoby]

If the use case is near field and volume 70 db it is recommended especially if it is on sale.

Around 80 cm plus a sub and my son misses nothing. I'm also very fond of these speakers. Talking about the BT Version.

Kind Regards

 

[bennybbbx]

I have owned these speakers for a year now and they are not bad speakers but they do have their limitations. They have a great stereo image and good spatiality, they stand out when fed with very good quality recordings but they lack power and do not fill the room, another negative point is that it can sound horrible with some recordings, clarity and decent details (better than bluetooth speakers and computer). If the use case is near field and volume 70 db it is recommended especially if it is on sale. I bought it on amazon for $ 82 with tax included. Currently I have them in their box since I bought a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 1 of 5th generation driven by smsl a12 and it is an improvement in every way

I never hear about monitor audio speakers before. the bronze 1 is old can not buy bronze 50 is new cost around 400$ pair.it have 5.5 inch speaker. for this price i think a JBL 104 bt as satelite and a 8 inch subwoofer and a mini dsp give lower bass when want hear loud. there is a bronze 100 which have 8 inch speaker and cost around 500 $. this is better price. if this larger bass is same precise and good stereo width as the 5.5 inch need of course test. i think if want hear louder and want full bass a 8 inch speaker is need. either as sub on small speakers or inside the full range speaker

 

[Trokox]

Nunca antes había oído hablar de los altavoces de audio del monitor. el bronce 1 es viejo no se puede comprar bronce 50 es nuevo costo alrededor de 400 $ par. tiene altavoz de 5,5 pulgadas. por este precio creo que un JBL 104 bt como satélite y un subwoofer de 8 pulgadas y un mini dsp dan bajos más bajos cuando se quiere escuchar fuerte. hay un bronce 100 que tiene un altavoz de 8 pulgadas y cuesta alrededor de 500 $. este es un mejor precio. si este bajo más grande tiene el mismo ancho estéreo preciso y bueno que el de 5,5 pulgadas, por supuesto, prueba. Creo que si quiere escuchar más fuerte y quiere graves completos, se necesita un altavoz de 8 pulgadas. ya sea como sub en altavoces pequeños o dentro del altavoz de rango completo

I never hear about monitor audio speakers before. the bronze 1 is old can not buy bronze 50 is new cost around 400$ pair.it have 5.5 inch speaker. for this price i think a JBL 104 bt as satelite and a 8 inch subwoofer and a mini dsp give lower bass when want hear loud. there is a bronze 100 which have 8 inch speaker and cost around 500 $. this is better price. if this larger bass is same precise and good stereo width as the 5.5 inch need of course test. i think if want hear louder and want full bass a 8 inch speaker is need. either as sub on small speakers or inside the full range speaker

Bronze Audio Monitor 1 was replaced by Bronze Audio Monitor 50 but they occasionally sell it on amazon. I bought mine by chance since I was thinking of buying the elac debut 2.0 b6.2 but I saw these on sale at $ 300 (before being replaced they cost 400 a pair) and the price difference was not much and I decided on the audio monitor on all because they adapt more to my listening preferences and I am very satisfied. If deep bass is your priority, an 8-inch subwoofer is the one for you. It all depends on listening preferences, if your priority is clarity and detail, the audio monitor is superior to the jbl 104

 

[Trokox]

Around 80 cm plus a sub and my son misses nothing. I'm also very fond of these speakers. Talking about the BT Version.

Kind Regards

These speakers are very good at spatiality. Listen to Billie Jean in the recommended listening position and with the tweeter at the level of your ears and it's magic. Its concentric design helps a lot with that.
Kind regards.

 

[Trokox]

Monitor Audio Bronze 1 and JBL 104

 

[bennybbbx]

Bronze Audio Monitor 1 was replaced by Bronze Audio Monitor 50 but they occasionally sell it on amazon. I bought mine by chance since I was thinking of buying the elac debut 2.0 b6.2 but I saw these on sale at $ 300 (before being replaced they cost 400 a pair) and the price difference was not much and I decided on the audio monitor on all because they adapt more to my listening preferences and I am very satisfied. If deep bass is your priority, an 8-inch subwoofer is the one for you. It all depends on listening preferences, if your priority is clarity and detail, the audio monitor is superior to the jbl 104

Have you do speaker measure and correct both and compare ?. It is clear that the JBL 104 miss clarity, because it have much bass boost around 90-160 hz. such a boost give more boom and reduce clarity. I find a test of a monitor audio speaker. ceramic seem nice but often have resonance distortion peak. this too have https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/i...&catid=77:loudspeaker-measurements&Itemid=153 look much better better in FR as the 104

 

[Trokox]

¿Ha medido y corregido ambos altavoces y ha comparado? Está claro que el JBL 104 pierde claridad, porque tiene mucho refuerzo de graves alrededor de 90-160 hz. tal impulso da más auge y reduce la claridad. Encuentro una prueba de un altavoz de audio de monitor. La cerámica parece agradable pero a menudo tiene un pico de distorsión de resonancia. esto también tiene https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/i...&catid=77:loudspeaker-measurements&Itemid=153 mucho mejor en FR como e

The bass boost that the jbl 104 has I think sounds nice, this model sounds good when you adjust it to its price but the bronze audio monitor I think is 1 0 2 steps up in my subjective listening

 

[Trokox]

Have you do speaker measure and correct both and compare ?. It is clear that the JBL 104 miss clarity, because it have much bass boost around 90-160 hz. such a boost give more boom and reduce clarity. I find a test of a monitor audio speaker. ceramic seem nice but often have resonance distortion peak. this too have https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/i...&catid=77:loudspeaker-measurements&Itemid=153 look much better better in FR as the 104

I have not measured them, Monitor audio silver 200 is a much more expensive model 2000 $ a pair

 

[bennybbbx]

I did not find a cheaper version test with distortion for monitor audio speakers. but this expensive one have a bad distortion peak. 55 db distortion on 85 db level is more as 2% as far i know. If the stereo width of speakers is good or not good, can easy compare with headphones. the speaker must sound wider as the headphones when speaker distance between left and right is over 80 cm. on the other speakers it was a little less and on the Kali lp6 was much less. but there is now a newer kali lp6 maybe this is better. i can only say from the speakers i test, the JBL 104 BT have the widest stereo width i hear and i was surprise that it sound wider as headphones for example when hear double track guitar. I notice this let easiest hear stereo width and strange resonances or phase shifts.
I also have change my presonus eris 3.5 as a wide band speaker. (disconnect tweeter work easy because this speaker have no crossover filter for the bass/mid). this sound a little smaller but better as with tweeter in the mid.

 

[Berwhale]

Hey guys, first post here in the forum.

Well, I discovered it (the forum) when I was searching for some device to help me tame some noise I was having during some recording sessions here at my home studio (which I'm still building). Ended up buying an iFi Audio iDefender3.0, which helped a lot with my system noises.

However, to not go off topic, let's stick to the JBL One Series 104. First of all, thanks for all the info in your review, amirm. I'm still trying to learn how to use all these valuable information.

This pair of 'monitors' is being my monitoring system here at my home studio, where I work mainly with rock/metal. And, as seen in its manual, the frequency range of the 104 is equal to 88 Hz – 20 kHz (-3 dB SPL) / 60 Hz – 20 kH (-10 dB SPL).

So, I'm thinking to get a subwoofer to pair with the JBLs, to get a bit more punch and definition on the low-end. However, my question here is: do you guys have an idea if it'll help improve my low-end reproduction? The idea is buying a Presonus Eris Sub8, that isn't too overpower and have a hi-pass filter at 80Hz, which seems to be a good x-over point to go with these JBLs. Any thoughts?

I'll be using them with IK Multimedia's ARC System 3 for response correction (I'm waiting for the MEMS mic to arrive here). Below is a photo of the current setup.

View attachment 157808

Thanks in advance.

The Sub8 should compliment the JBL104 just fine. The integrated passthrough with HPF was the reason I paired them with my iLoud MTMs.