JBL SDR-35 AVR Review

[Fidji]

"7.2.4 is considered bare minimum"

That is why you most likely never find this kind of devices in average Western European homes (apartments or flats with unavoidable neighbour's).

13 speakers in a living room (aka home theater) and this mediocre measuring monster sitting in the middle: a nightmare (strictly subjective of course)

Probably typical "dolby atmos" soundbar or "HT in a box" with single low quality sub will be much more annoying for your neighbors. Biggest limitation will be space available, as you probably do not find too many apartments with room other than living room having 30m2 or more.

If done properly all those high channel count setups are actually very neighbor friendly - under conditions - for sure you need to have some basic acoustic treatments, also you for sure need to invest a LOT of money into very good center channel speaker and proper subwoofers. You get the same subjective immersion on much lower objective loudness. quality C lets you enjoy full clarity even without needing to crank up the volume. And e.g. 4 good SW equalized to +-1dB and with properly treated room you do not need to
play them loud to have this tactile impression of LFE and bass. I live in a flat, there is children's room just below me - never had any complaints [I do have lot of acoustic treatments and some sound insulation too].

Then you can do a lot of tricks - make center 1-1.5db Hotter, make special target curve with emphasized 2kHz area b couple of dB etc, put more weight on ceiling plane to make sound more into space, avoid using room corners to expand FR etc. Can be done, it just costs a hell lot of money. And for sure, you should buy some proper AVP from Trinnov, Emotiva, etc

And last but not least - you can not behave like an idiot. 2AM weekdays is not a proper time to watch some Avengers movie ;-) .

EDIT: please see typical scandinavian living room [very fine and helpful gentleman], when there is a will, there is a way.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/trinnov-altitude.1516103/post-61805805

 

[MediumRare]

Very disappointing to see Harman release such a poor product. I somehow thought they were less cynical than most of the "masstige" producers. Caveat emptor remains the byword.

 

[Deleted member 50971]

As I have said before. I have a few fairly recent used Yamaha AVRs, mediocre measurements and all.
But I have NEVER been let down by the ACTUAL SOUND.................

I love this site and the measurements are cool, but there has to be a point where measurements correlate TO what we actually are hearing.....

I’ll agree with this to a certain point, and like your Yammy my AVP just works, and no matter what you throw at it as long as you get the settings correct it’s going to work. But… is it too much to ask to get a little less noise and distortion, and a little less degradation between different inputs and outputs? I mean they’re all over the place depending on what input or output you’re using. So up until this point very few of the mid-priced AVR/AVP manufacturers tried very hard in my opinion to bring the noise and distortion down, and it was just good enough. Looks like Denon and Anthem are getting it, because they’re leading the pack with mid priced AVR/AVP’s. Why are they getting it? Because now they know that we know because of ASR, and just may be they’re listening.

Marantz are you listening to us?

Denon makes a better AVR than this one for less than 1/4th of the price.

Edit;

I’ll clarify the last statement, it measures better and by all accounts it is more stable than this one appears to be.

 

[jhaider]

13 IMAX Enhanced Marvel movies on Disney+. I don’t have any experience with this, but my understanding is it is streamed DTS:X for the audio…

Any immersive content on Disney+ is streamed in Atmos. DTS has no immersive streaming presence, and isn’t supported in AppleTV.

Honestly given that most of the industry hasn’t adopted DTS-X I suspect the issue is DTS doesn’t have working versions for the hardware in these devices.

DTS has been clown show for a while. Remember when they released their PlayFi thing and didn’t bother to make it work with Macs? True, I don’t think it worked well on anything, but it didn’t even have a Mac version that could be terrible. I stopped regarding them as a serious player in the industry after that.

Point is there’s lots of head-scratching stuff here - principally why would anyone who wants this platform buy this AVR instead of the considerably cheaper AVP version, and what’s the point of a super expensive but incomplete immersive AVR generally, when Denon/Marantz and Anthem offer immersive AVRs with amps for all channels at much lower cost. But omitting DTS whatever just seems like most of the market.

 

[xaviescacs]

This guarantees poor performance in higher frequencies in our wideband THD+N vs frequency:

At lower frequencies or at higher frequencies?

 

[abdo123]

"7.2.4 is considered bare minimum"

That is why you most likely never find this kind of devices in average Western European homes (apartments or flats with unavoidable neighbour's).

13 speakers in a living room (aka home theater) and this mediocre measuring monster sitting in the middle: a nightmare (strictly subjective of course)

These kind of installations are usually done with in-wall speakers with all of the wiring sitting in the walls. If someone wants it to happen they can make it happen without being a visual disaster. The smaller the space means the smaller the speakers have to be.

 

[Dj7675]

Any immersive content on Disney+ is streamed in Atmos.

Honestly given that most of the industry hasn’t adopted DTS-X I suspect the issue is DTS doesn’t have working versions for the hardware in these devices.

DTS has been clown show for a while. Remember when they released their PlayFi thing and didn’t bother to make it work with Macs? True, I don’t think it worked well on anything, but it didn’t even have a Mac version. I stopped regarding them as a serious player in the industry after that.

Any immersive content on Disney+ is streamed in Atmos. DTS has no immersive streaming presence, and isn’t supported in AppleTV.

Honestly given that most of the industry hasn’t adopted DTS-X I suspect the issue is DTS doesn’t have working versions for the hardware in these devices.

DTS has been clown show for a while. Remember when they released their PlayFi thing and didn’t bother to make it work with Macs? True, I don’t think it worked well on anything, but it didn’t even have a Mac version that could be terrible. I stopped regarding them as a serious player in the industry after that.

-Good to know about Disney/AppleTV
-I don’t follow anything else DTS does so PlayFi etc is not relevant to me and really doesn’t have anything to do with the existing DTS:X content, having speaker layouts supported in excess of 11 channels, and playback of DTS:X and upmixing 5.1/7.1 content to more than 11 speakers with Neural X.
Again this is not relevant to people that don’t have any desire or a room that would accommodate more than 11 speakers. So for those DTS:X Pro does not matter at all. But when you get to 16 channels and this price point, it will matter to some that want more than 11 speakers. Everyone has their list of things that are a “must have” when shopping. On a 16 channel processor DTS:X pro would be one for me, but I understand it wouldn’t be for everyone.

 

[Rottmannash]

There are so many of us, I can just feel it lol… Waiting for a good mid priced AVP that’s bug free and breaks the SINAD of 100. It doesn’t make sense to buy an AVR for me because I have all outboard amplification, and it has to be XLR.

The Anthem AVM 70 looks like the one to buy for under $4000. I know there’s the Trinnov but I’m not paying that kind of money.

Someone is going to break out of the pack, and I would like if Marantz would get their act together and dump those hdam’s. Because they have a very stable platform, and I’ve used one for years and it just works day in and day out. But I know what’s going to happen if they upgrade, the price is going to go from $5000 to $7500. I never upgraded to 4K, I have the last line of plasma TV’s that Panasonic made, and I never did Dolby Atmos yet. It’s almost time, but I can be patient.

Just wait til you see a 4K HDR movie on OLED with Atmos audio-I want to hear your reaction.

 

[Deleted member 50971]

Just wait til you see a 4K HDR movie on OLED with Atmos audio-I want to hear your reaction.

I’m sure I will be amazed. I’ll probably take the leap in 2023 if I find the right AVP, and the Anthem AVM70 looks like the best mid-priced AVP out there. If they would just add one XLR analog input 0.o

 

[iraweiss]

FWIW Sound and Vision just reviewed this receiver or something similar as well. Here is the link: https://www.soundandvision.com/content/jbl-synthesis-sdr-38-16-channel-av-receiver-review

No measurements, of course.

 

[Vacceo]

I’ll agree with this to a certain point, and like your Yammy my AVP just works, and no matter what you throw at it as long as you get the settings correct it’s going to work. But… is it too much to ask to get a little less noise and distortion, and a little less degradation between different inputs and outputs? I mean they’re all over the place depending on what input or output you’re using. So up until this point very few of the mid-priced AVR/AVP manufacturers tried very hard in my opinion to bring the noise and distortion down, and it was just good enough. Looks like Denon and Anthem are getting it, because they’re leading the pack with mid priced AVR/AVP’s. Why are they getting it? Because now they know that we know because of ASR, and just may be they’re listening.

Marantz are you listening to us?

Denon makes a better AVR than this one for less than 1/4th of the price.

Edit;

I’ll clarify the last statement, it measures better and by all accounts it is more stable than this one appears to be.

Primare is releasing an AVP, but it is expected to be around 7 grand. It will have Dirac, though. Marantz could be an option as Amir has pointed out several times that Sound United is open to feedback.

As much as I like the aesthetics of McIntosh, I´m not even considering their gear as they do not even seem to consider that their AVP´s could run Multeq X.

 

[Dj7675]

Primare is releasing an AVP, but it is expected to be around 7 grand. It will have Dirac, though. Marantz could be an option as Amir has pointed out several times that Sound United is open to feedback.

As much as I like the aesthetics of McIntosh, I´m not even considering their gear as they do not even seem to consider that their AVP´s could run Multeq X.

Their top model‘s always run RoomPerfect and lower ones run Audyssey.

 

[Vacceo]

Their top model‘s always run RoomPerfect and lower ones run Audyssey.

That´s why I find the reaction puzzling: why not allowing users to download and use MultEQ-X if they want to? Sure, it is more work, but the results are comparable to Dirac.

For the MX180, it makes a Trinov cheap, so go guess...

 

[GXAlan]

Just wait til you see a 4K HDR movie on OLED with Atmos audio-I want to hear your reaction.

Right now, one of the best demo shows is Harmonious Live on Disney+. It sounds mediocre on mediocre sound bars but on a premium home theater, it really shines. The mastering is very good even though it’s just 5.1 DD+ and is a notch above every other “live musical”. Visually, it’s a true HDR treat. First 10 minutes is filler.

 

[Deleted member 50971]

Primare is releasing an AVP, but it is expected to be around 7 grand. It will have Dirac, though. Marantz could be an option as Amir has pointed out several times that Sound United is open to feedback.

As much as I like the aesthetics of McIntosh, I´m not even considering their gear as they do not even seem to consider that their AVP´s could run Multeq X.

Thanks, and I’m definitely going to stay tuned. Looking up the Primare right now.

Edit;
They are an interesting design, and look a lot more compact than many of the other ones. Although we don’t know what they’re offering would look like yet.

How do I turn the Swedish currency into American dollars? I just don’t understand it. Thanks.

 

[FrantzM]

To sum it up:

Poor Product. Poor Value ... JBL too often doesn't seem to understand their own value and quality.
Take some different and smaller brands: Topping, Gnelec, Neumann, or Kef... You buy one product from these brands, quality is almost certain, and superlative performance not a surprise...
JBL? A crapshoot... Impossibly great products with a price too low to believe: LSR 308 or relatively expensive: JBL M2 or middle of the road: JBL 708 or HDI ...
And this nonsense for $8500.oo or those:

or

Yep .. Same Brand and badge and ...


Peace.

 

[Vacceo]

Thanks, and I’m definitely going to stay tuned. Looking up the Primare right now.

Edit;
They are an interesting design, and look a lot more compact than many of the other ones. Although we don’t know what they’re offering would look like yet.

How do I turn the Swedish currency into American dollars? I just don’t understand it. Thanks.

Look for any converter of Swedish Krona into Dollars. Since I have seen their preview prices in € and there´s parity at the moment of writing this, we can safely assume that their 16 channel AVP will be more than 7 grand due to import taxes and so on.

Size wise, their AVR´s are pretty much the size of a Marantz SR60xx.

Right now, one of the best demo shows is Harmonious Live on Disney+. It sounds mediocre on mediocre sound bars but on a premium home theater, it really shines. The mastering is very good even though it’s just 5.1 DD+ and is a notch above every other “live musical”. Visually, it’s a true HDR treat. First 10 minutes is filler.

I don´t know who mastered the Atmos sound on Stranger Things, but the result is impressive. Content like that makes having 11 speakers (or more) worth it.

 

[Deleted member 50971]

Look for any converter of Swedish Krone into Dollars. Since I have seen their preview prices in € and there´s parity at the moment of writing this, we can safely assume that their 16 channel AVP will be more than 7 grand due to import taxes and so on.

Size wise, their AVR´s are pretty much the size of a Marantz SR60xx.

The price is not out of the question if that’s what it’s going to be, I was hoping not to go that expensive but I’ll see where this goes. Thanks again.

 

[GXAlan]

Thanks, and I’m definitely going to stay tuned. Looking up the Primare right now.

Edit;
They are an interesting design, and look a lot more compact than many of the other ones. Although we don’t know what they’re offering would look like yet.

How do I turn the Swedish currency into American dollars? I just don’t understand it. Thanks.

Primare used to be sold at Best Buy/Magnolia AV. They were an early adopter of Class D although they haven’t made a receiver since the pre
HDMI era. Class D + Dirac could be very competitive.

https://helpdesk.primare.net/hc/en-us/articles/360019688060-What-plans-are-in-place-for-new-Primare-home-theatre-products-

 

[Vacceo]

The price is not out of the question if that’s what it’s going to be, I was hoping not to go that expensive but I’ll see where this goes. Thanks again.

According to primare, the AVP will release in a year (fall 2023), so by then, inflation could have increased even more or we may not even care as the planet could be a nuclear wasteland. Still, until it gets measured, I´d keep my options flexible and keep using what I already have.

Primare used to be sold at Best Buy/Magnolia AV. They were an early adopter of Class D although they haven’t made a receiver since the pre
HDMI era. Class D + Dirac could be very competitive.

https://helpdesk.primare.net/hc/en-us/articles/360019688060-What-plans-are-in-place-for-new-Primare-home-theatre-products-

I have seen some AVP´s with HDMI (SP23), but those are pre-Atmos.