JBL SCL-7 Review (In-wall Speaker)

[nathan]

To be fair, it has only been a few weeks since the review was posted. But I too hope to hear some official response eventually.

 

[amirm]

@amirm , did you get answer from JBL about this distortion ?

Sorry, I forgot to ask. I even forgot I made such a promise.

 

[Cedrep]

Hi, JBL synthesis are top level line of JBL, they should have an explanation about huge 2nd harmonic distortion and dip in the 2k region.

Theses speakers are made to be use with EQ, what is the most important factor to be easely EQ able ?

 

[Cedrep]

Just seeing that HDI 1600 have exactly same distortion

JBL HDI-1600 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL HDI-1600 two-way bookshelf speaker. They were purchased new and drop shipped to me for testing. The HDI-1600 costs US $900 for one. Note: my company Madrona Digital is a dealer for Harman products such as JBL line (although we hardly sell...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[nathan]

Theses speakers are made to be use with EQ, what is the most important factor to be easely EQ able ?

In short, consistent off axis response tends to make a speaker eq friendly since the eq will change the curve not just for the direct sound but also in a similar fashion for the reflected sound.

 

[nathan]

they should have an explanation about huge 2nd harmonic distortion and dip in the 2k region.

Sure would be nice to have an official response.

 

[C. Cook]

Curious as to why there was no notation of resonance on the Revel in-walls you tested. Seems like they are even worse. I know that you don't place as much stock in these graphs as some others and that your company actually sells both brands (both Harman products obviously), but generally you always call out resonances in the graphs.

 

[amirm]

Curious as to why there was no notation of resonance on the Revel in-walls you tested. Seems like they are even worse. I know that you don't place as much stock in these graphs as some others and that your company actually sells both brands (both Harman products obviously), but generally you always call out resonances in the graphs.

I did note it:

Response is nice and even until we get to crossover region around 2 kHz. Response droops there and becomes variable, likely due to resonances from the woofers:

But keep in mind that speaker is mounted to MDF which itself is stood up by its edge. So some resonances can be attributable to the fixture. And at any rate, once you mount this on your wall, you will experience your own version of it.

 

[C. Cook]

I did note it:


But keep in mind that speaker is mounted to MDF which itself is stood up by its edge. So some resonances can be attributable to the fixture. And at any rate, once you mount this on your wall, you will experience your own version of it.

Ah, yeah I was just talking about in the graph, but yes you did. On the other note you raised, I did see that it looked like you tested both with the same type of sheetrock or particle board suspended over a bit (looks like a foot actually) of furr-out in your wall. I don't have experience with in-walls so I assume they both have some sort of 'cabinetry' behind the woofers? If not, how do they control for the variations likely encountered w/r/t wall volume at different homes? Edit: You did say it's a different version for everyone, but I'm wondering if they design for a range of volume depending on the distance between opposing sheets of sheetrock, wall height, etc.

 

[amirm]

I don't have experience with in-walls so I assume they both have some sort of 'cabinetry' behind the woofers?

No. Some come with "back boxes" but many like this one do not. If they come with one, I will test it that way but so far none have.

 

[Valentin R]

Looking at options JBL did a great job
These are 3 times the cost

 

[Germanium]

Concerning that dip around 2KHz some manufacturers do that intentionally to create a sense of depth more than you would get in the recording played flat. I personally am not a fan of this.

I know from personal conversations with Bob Carver that that is how he designs his speakers.

I personally find that flat is good if you have an amp & source that is transparent any depth that is in actual recording will come through in spades. That is how my current setup is, very tranparent with oodles of depth even though it is not in any way soft at 2 KHz. As such it can both project sound forward or towards the rear totally dependant on quality of recording.

Many classical recordings have a preponderance of energy here yet have really great sense of depth.

 

[sarumbear]

I know from personal conversations with Bob Carver that that is how he designs his speakers.

The guy is a menace to Hi-Fi

At every opportunity he is crashing his legacy to pieces...

 

[jgs5607]

Compression drivers are notorious for producing large amounts of 2nd order distortion, especially if you push them a bit too low (what this looks like). Luckily you need copious amounts of it to be audible and even then it's unlikely to sound bad.

It isn't perfect but I'm guessing that no one will hear it.

I suspect you are right. My JBL Studio 590's and 580's use their 2414h-1 driver which has 98db sensitivity; by their own specs, the recommended minimum crossover frequency is 1.9KHz for that driver. In both towers, the crossover is at 1.5KHz and the crossover has a serial notch filter to dampen the resonance ( a band aid that would not be needed if used within recommendations). Reviews have shown a resonance near the crossover, so the band aid is not totally effective.

I can't say how much it affects the sound, but in my mind, I would prefer to use drivers that can work within limits.

I built a center channel to go with these towers since JBL does not have a capable Center for this series and used a B&C DE250 that has 10db higher sensitvity, a larger diaphram and has a minimum crossover of 1.5 KHz. Being padded down 15db to match the midbass and all of the other factors above, it is pretty much cruising at any level that the 590's can play. It ended up being a higher resolution speaker than the 5's.

Of course, I was not working to a price target; at the usual 4X markup, this would be a $1500.00 speaker.

JBL has more capable compression drivers, but the resulting speaker would be more than the current overpriced ( in my mind ) models they have.