JBL SCL-5 In-ceiling Speaker Review

[peniku8]

I think the normalized directivity plots (or the scale of it, if that's adjustable) were a bit of a clumsy choice for this speaker, since the scale tops out at 0dB and doesn't differentiate any positive gain, making these plots technically only suitable for speakers which have the highest gain on-axis.
They make the speaker seem like it has very wide radiation at 1.5khz, because of its hole in the response at that frequency.
In vituixCAD, values over 0dB go into white (at +10dB), which would help in such an instance.
Anyways, what a weird unit!

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Interesting, "organic" design. It looks like the engineers took inspiration from another classic design (right) and deepened it.

 

[jbattman1016]

@amirm
At the end of the review, you mentioned that you want to mount it to a well. Did you mean a wall?

"I can't properly listen to the speaker as I don't have it mounted in a well."

 

[dasdoing]

design choice is probably inpired by engineer's wife "when she is searching something" on the bed

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

would that distorsion peak even be there if meassured at -40 degrees?

Yes, unfortunately.

 

[D700]

@amirm for that kind of money, it would need to make breakfast.

 

[AndreaT]

That's what the manual says:
View attachment 263025

It might indeed ameliorate the treble fr, however the flaws of high distortion and poor crossover design remain.

 

[Dj7675]

I have 7 of the smaller version SCL-8 in ceiling in a basement 9.4.7 setup. I had on ceiling speakers (which I would prefer) but ceiling height is less than 8 feet and ceiling mounted bookshelf on a lower ceiling just wasn’t workable. As a result, I went looking for a speaker solution for flush mount ceiling speakers that would aim the sound field at the main listening position. The SCL-5/8 are one not very many solutions with a 45 degree offset waveguide and be able to rotate the speaker so it is also aimed at the main listening position. I wanted to get the larger SCL-5 but the cost is just too high to justify it. What is odd is the results of the test don’t really match in room measurements. Below is a Dirac measurement which I believe was 13 measurements over the main listening area. In addition, I listened to all 3 pairs in stereo and they also sounded good. With Atmos/movie content they sound really good. With crossovers at 100hz they also are capable of playing quite loud and despite the distortion on the measured results I don’t hear any problems at loud volumes. The measurements will probably lead to quite a lot of negative comments but they don’t match my experience with the smaller version SCL-8. When installed they actually work and solve an otherwise difficult problem and do it very well. If you have seen other in ceiling/atmos speaker measurements, they are nothing like the measurements below. It is actually quite a clever piece of engineering/design.

 

[sarumbear]

Does this have any redeeming features?

High sensitivity? No. Deep bass? No. Low distortion? No. Controlled directivity? No. Even response on any axis at all? No. Low price? No.

Have you seen test results of any other in-ceiling speaker? Did they have any “redeeming features”?

The test of this speaker in the bass region should be ignored as it was tested as a driver only, in free air, without an enclosure.

 

[Waxx]

Sorry, but that is very bad, even a relative cheap Visaton DL-10 measures a lot flatter. I installed some in the doctor office's waiting room of my sister in law, and meaured them there, and those were relative flat (within 6db) from 80Hz to 16kHz. I'm not home now, but i should find that measurment back (done with REW and an Umik mic). When putting them in the corners, we got even a suggestion of bass in that room, and that from a 4" cone (5.5" frame) with 2.5mm xmax...

 

[voodooless]

Have you seen test results if any other in-ceiling soeaker? Did they have any “redeeming features”?

A sh*tty unicorn is still just a sh*tty unicorn

To be fair though, these are rather special in that they are designed for specific off-axis usage. Most are for more of a standard downward operation, directly above the listening position (which is fairly normal for Atmos height channels).

 

[NYfan2]

I decided not to vote this time because I have not enough knowledge to decide if the speaker is faulty or that we have to change the measurements to get better results.

Kef also has expensive in-wall speakers, even comparable to the R-series it would be interesting to do more testing with different in wall speakers and see the different results to get better comparison material.

 

[voodooless]

To be clear, these things are not for in-wall! They are in-ceiling speakers for very specific use cases.

@amirm, probably a good idea to amend the title and text to reflect this.

 

[Dj7675]

Have you seen test results if any other in-ceiling soeaker? Did they have any “redeeming features”?

The test of this speaker in the bass region should be ignored as it was tested as a driver only, in free air, without an enclosure.

Below is the RSL C34E. Green is a nearfield measurement and blue is a measurement done at the listening position by a user on AVSForum. It is has an angled baffle of 15 degrees which is better than a straight down firing model, but if you install at 45 degrees for example I’m not sure if that 15 degrees is adequate or not. Trying to get good sound in a flush mount ceiling speaker 45 degrees off axis is a challenge. This speaker over the years is the most recommended on AVSForum for atmos by quite a large margin. There is an updated version that came out as well but don’t know anything about it. The SCL-5/8 are very niche speakers for sure but some can’t have mounted bookshelf speakers and there just aren’t many options for flush mounted in ceiling speakers that can work at 45 degrees off axis.

 

[sam_adams]

The test of this speaker in the bass region should be ignored as it was tested as a driver only, in free air, without an enclosure.

This is an extremely important point to keep in mind when dealing with measurements of 'speakers' of this type. They are designed with a large baffle in mind and—in most installation cases—would have a "backer box" installed in the ceiling joist space to act as an enclosure.

 

[sarumbear]

To be clear, these things are not for in-wall! They are in-ceiling speakers for very specific use cases.

@amirm, probably a good idea to amend the title and text to reflect this.

But what does a celling differ from a wall? Isn't ceiling a special name for the "walls" of a room?

 

[voodooless]

But what does a celling differ from a wall? Isn't ceiling a special name for the "walls" of a room?

Sure. You could probably mount these on the side-walls near the front or rear wall, having them point to the listener. But for front or rear, these make no sense at all.

You could just as well mount tower speakers upside down on the ceiling

 

[sarumbear]

Sure. You could probably mount these on the side-walls near the front or rear wall, having them point to the listener. But for front or rear, these make no sense at all.

the same series has other asymmetric in-wall speakers to be mounted much wider than the screen. These will work the same.

You could just as well mount tower speakers upside down on the ceiling

You mean like the way Dr. Toole mounted his Salon2?

 

[voodooless]

the same series has other asymmetric in-wall speakers to be mounted much wider than the screen. These will work the same.

As long as the angles align it will probably work.

 

[Haint]

Many of the new SCL- speakers seem to measure poorly without EQ. I wonder if that carries over to the Studio 6 in wall speakers.

Who else has measured them? Interested in looking at them.

I have a Revel in-ceiling speaker I will be testing soon.....

Very much looking forward to this, in-ceiling designs are by far the biggest blind spot in measurments with probably a lot of truly dreadful performers, but also probably one of the most popular due to Atmos deployment. The C383 looks like its probably the best performer in terms of linearity.