JBL SCL-5 In-ceiling Speaker Review

[sarumbear]

As long as the angles align it will probably work.

Found the speaker I mean.

SCL-7 | 2-Way Dual 5.25-inch (130mm) In-Wall Loudspeaker

The SCL-7 is the smallest traditional in-wall model in the JBL Synthesis Custom Loudspeaker (SCL) series. It is designed for use as a width or surround channel or as an LCR in smaller systems. The SCL-7 features JBL’s patented 2410H-2 1-inch (25mm) compression driver mated to an offset High...

www.jblsynthesis.com

JBL SCL-7 Review (In-wall Speaker)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL SCL-7 in-wall "custom" home theater speakers. It was purchased new by a member and kindly sent to me for testing. It costs US $1,100 each. It is an interesting design with two mid-woofers and asymmetrical waveguide/horn. There is a near/far...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[voodooless]

Found the speaker I mean.

SCL-7 | 2-Way Dual 5.25-inch (130mm) In-Wall Loudspeaker

The SCL-7 is the smallest traditional in-wall model in the JBL Synthesis Custom Loudspeaker (SCL) series. It is designed for use as a width or surround channel or as an LCR in smaller systems. The SCL-7 features JBL’s patented 2410H-2 1-inch (25mm) compression driver mated to an offset High...

www.jblsynthesis.com

Yes, they are for L and R duty (or high/low center). Those horn angles are not as extreme as the SCL-5.

 

[sarumbear]

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

Search is your friend

JBL SCL-7 Review (In-wall Speaker)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL SCL-7 in-wall "custom" home theater speakers. It was purchased new by a member and kindly sent to me for testing. It costs US $1,100 each. It is an interesting design with two mid-woofers and asymmetrical waveguide/horn. There is a near/far...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JBL SCL-5 In-ceiling Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL Synthesis SCL-5 In-Ceiling speaker. It was purchased by a member and kindly drop shipped to me for testing. It costs US $2,200. It is hard to see in the picture but both the tweeter and woofer are angled toward each other. In the way I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[nick-v]

The measurement methodology doesn't really make sense here, correct? The product is clearly intended to be 45° off axis.

Harman's measurements with and without EQ applied:

 

[Haint]

Search is your friend

JBL SCL-7 Review (In-wall Speaker)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL SCL-7 in-wall "custom" home theater speakers. It was purchased new by a member and kindly sent to me for testing. It costs US $1,100 each. It is an interesting design with two mid-woofers and asymmetrical waveguide/horn. There is a near/far...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JBL SCL-5 In-ceiling Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL Synthesis SCL-5 In-Ceiling speaker. It was purchased by a member and kindly drop shipped to me for testing. It costs US $2,200. It is hard to see in the picture but both the tweeter and woofer are angled toward each other. In the way I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'm of course aware of these, I'm posting this in the thread you linked. He said many though, implying there are others.

 

[sarumbear]

View attachment 263114
Yes, they are for L and R duty (or high/low center). Those horn angles are not as extreme as the SCL-5.

According to JBL spec:

SCL-7
High Frequency Coverage Angle (-6 dB)
60° Vertical, 90° Horizontal (Left

SCL-5
High Frequency Coverage Angle (-6dB)
60° Vertical (Up

 

[voodooless]

According to JBL spec:

SCL-7
High Frequency Coverage Angle (-6 dB)
60° Vertical, 90° Horizontal (Left

SCL-5
High Frequency Coverage Angle (-6dB)
60° Vertical (Up

Those are coverage angles of the waveguide, not where they are pointed at.

 

[Soundstage]

How about doing all these measurements when pointing the speaker and baffle with a 40 degree inclination from the listener?

 

[sarumbear]

Those are coverage angles of the waveguide, not where they are pointed at.

Aren’t they mean roughly the same? Does it matter where is the 0dB and where is the -6dB, when the FR varies that much, at least.

 

[voodooless]

Aren’t they mean roughly the same? Does it matter where is the 0dB and where is the -6dB, when the FR varies that much, at least.

Well, if you only quote half of the data…

SCL-5

60° Vertical (Up: 30°, Down: 30°, from 45° Vertical Center line), 120° Horizontal, from 2 kHz to 10 kHz.

SCL-7

60° Ver, 90° Hor (Left: 30°, Right: 60°, from center line), from 2 kHz to 15 kHz

See, the 5 has it at 45 deg centerline, the 7 is a normal centerline.

 

[sarumbear]

Well, if you only quote half of the data…

I blame Apple & JBL. That was all I was seeing. I even copied the text from the website page.

 

[Robbo99999]

I don't really know what to think about this review. Either the speaker is rubbish or the Klippel can't "cope" with the unique/strange design of this ceiling speaker. I don't know if Klippel could be setup to more representatively measure this speaker in terms of it's usual orientation to it's intended listening position. I don't think there's anything really to hang your hat on here, I wouldn't feel confident about buying this speaker due to the unknowns, and I'd probably therefore buy a more understood speaker that would be able to be used in place of this - not sure what speaker that would be given it's in the ceiling, I'm just putting out some ideas. Couldn't rate it highly for obvious reasons, and then you've got the high price.....couldn't vote it at it's lowest as I just don't think the speaker has been measured optimally (whatever that methodology would look like) for it's intended purpose.

 

[Dj7675]

Here is a; very good visual representation of how they are installed and intended to be used. Designed to be listened to around 45 degree off axis.

 

[sarumbear]

Here is a; very good visual representation of how they are installed and intended to be used. Designed to be listened to around 45 degree off axis.

It looks like they are designed for mounting LCR to the ceiling above the screen. A very niche use.

 

[nick-v]

Their primary use case is for overhead speakers in immersive home theater systems. The 45° axis matches the dolby guidelines perfectly and they can be "toed-in" (rotated) so that they're directly on axis with the main listening position.

 

[Dj7675]

It looks like they are designed for mounting LCR to the ceiling above the screen. A very niche use.

Could be used that way. But more commonly would be 45degree in front of MLP and 45 degree behind MLP for Atmos speakers. I don’t think it is a coincidence that Dolby spec is 45 degree and the offset waveguide is also 45 degrees. If I had a 9 foot ceiling I would simply install the JBL 705i which is a much better speaker but all rooms have their compromises and it works well how they are installed.

 

[sarumbear]

Their primary use case is for overhead speakers in immersive home theater systems. The 45° axis matches the dolby guidelines perfectly and they can be "toed-in" (rotated) so that they're directly on axis with the main listening position.

It is designed for use as a height channel or in-ceiling LCR or surround channel loudspeaker.

SCL-5 | Two-way 7-inch (180mm) In-Ceiling Loudspeaker

The SCL-5 is the highest performance traditional round in-ceiling model in the JBL Synthesis Custom Loudspeaker (SCL) series. It is designed for use as a height channel or in-ceiling LCR or surround channel loudspeaker. The SCL-5 features JBL’s patented 2409H 1-inch (25mm) compression driver...

www.jblsynthesis.com

 

[restorer-john]

The measurement methodology doesn't really make sense here, correct? The product is clearly intended to be 45° off axis.

Harman's measurements with and without EQ applied:

Those plots are spit out of the 'Harman Marketing System' computer if you ask me.

Looks like the 'designers' at JBL/Harman tried to be too smart for themselves and failed, producing a horror-show of a PA ceiling speaker for US$2000.

 

[Dj7675]

Those plots are spit out of the 'Harman Marketing System' computer if you ask me.

Looks like the 'designers' at JBL/Harman tried to be too smart for themselves and failed, producing a horror-show of a PA ceiling speaker for US$2000.

Agree to disagree For their use case, they succeeded at solving a real world problem of in ceiling atmos speakers designed to be listened to 45 degrees off axis. I would agree the price is very high but that doesn’t bother me as people can choose to buy or not.

 

[sarumbear]

Looks like the 'designers' at JBL/Harman tried to be too smart for themselves and failed, producing a horror-show of a PA ceiling speaker for US$2000.

But they are!

They are designed to be mounted to the ceilings at meeting rooms, to be used when occupants need to watch something on the TV and sound better than a Bose.