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JBL Stage 135C Review (Center Speaker)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 168 88.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 20 10.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 2 1.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    190

Robbo99999

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So far we have seen that practically all centre speakers suck. Maybe these are the solution. Then we can rank centre speakers on how bad they suck? :)
Yeah, makes me want to never buy a centre speaker! :D
 

dfuller

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And another one bites the dust... Making a good measuring horzontal center seems to be almost impossible, let alone a low profile one.
It's possible, just has to be a 3-way design with a lowish crossover.
 

sarumbear

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Sure there is, the very fact that most people have no room under the TV. My TV is about 33 inches off the ground mounted on a wall.

And when seated I am looking up somewhat.

All the cable boxes and receiver and Blu ray player and all are on a shelf.

What floor stander would even fit and not block the view of the TV, unless you have the TV like well over 4 feet above the ground??

I have a 33" floor stander and even it blocks the view as my couch has me sitting down lower than the TV itself.
I agree. I was wrong to expect a floor stander to fit. However any bookshelf speaker on a short stand will fit. There is no shortage of them and they will deliver more bass than most centre speakers.
 

sarumbear

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RichT

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So is JBL telling us that a quality center speaker at a competitive price cannot be designed, very depressing
 

Robbo99999

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So is JBL telling us that a quality center speaker at a competitive price cannot be designed, very depressing
You're right, this needs to be looked at!
 

sarumbear

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So is JBL telling us that a quality center speaker at a competitive price cannot be designed, very depressing
I wish they take a stand and not offer any 2-way centre speaker, which cannot work. Harman is big and rich enough to do that and steer the industry to the correct way.
 

abdo123

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So far we have seen that practically all centre speakers suck.

Not really, only the ones without a dedicated mid range, this issue has been thoroughly discussed on this forum

example of a good center; https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/revel-c208-review-center-speaker.21303/

I wish @amirm can get his hands on one of those:


C1_front.png
 

sarumbear

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More Dynamics Please

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Various AV forums are full of posts saying "I only have 4-5" under my TV and need a center that fits." At 4" high the 135C is one of the few that will fit that limited space. Forum advice is always given to use one of many available methods to fit a larger center but some remain adamant that they will only settle for a 4-5" tall center. JBL is just listening to the voice of the customer who isn't willing to make the effort to fit a larger center. The fact that JBL also offers the larger Stage 125C shows that they understand a better center is preferable even in their economical Stage series. When on sale the 3-way Infinity RC263 remains the performance bargain center from Harman and would likely be a reasonable fit with the Stage series.
 

sarumbear

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What does that mean?
When a tweeter and a woofer/midrange is not vertically aligned the horisontal dispersion will have sloped loping. In order to compensate that the tweeter is in centred between two woofer/mids. This avoid loping but reduces the horisontal dispersion.
 

voodooless

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Not really, only the ones without a dedicated mid range, this issue has been thoroughly discussed on this forum
Those are neither cheap nor 10 cm high ;) The Revel is 3x as high. Price-wise the Emotiva is close though. Definitely interesting to see what it would do.

Why not just get Neumann KH 80 DSP? It's small and good and doesn't cost that much (obviously more than the JBL). Doesn't get very loud though. But it would even work pretty well on its side, there is just a small directivity error at 2 kHz.
 

sarumbear

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Those are neither cheap nor 10 cm high ;) The Revel is 3x as high.

Why not just get Neumann KH 80 DSP? It's small and good and doesn't cost that much (obviously more than the JBL). Doesn't get very loud though. But it would even work pretty well on its side, there is just a small directivity error at 2 kHz.
Just get a suitable stand! Which doesn't exist... :)
 

beaRA

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So is JBL telling us that a quality center speaker at a competitive price cannot be designed, very depressing
No? The Emotiva C1+ looks very promising at just $250. The Infinity RC263 measured quite well and was available at a very competitive price for a long time. There is a very small sample size of center speakers measured on a Klippel NFS. Y'all need to calm down with the "all center speakers suck" overreaction.
 

abdo123

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When a tweeter and a woofer/midrange is not vertically aligned the horisontal dispersion will have sloped loping. In order to compensate that the tweeter is in centred between two woofer/mids. This avoid loping but reduces the horisontal dispersion.
We have seen many speakers with a tweeter between two woofers and there was still significant loping, why is that?
 

sarumbear

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No? The Emotiva C1+ looks very promising at just $250. The Infinity RC263 measured quite well and was available at a very competitive price for a long time. There is a very small sample size of center speakers measured on a Klippel NFS. Y'all need to calm down with the "all center speakers suck" overreaction.
You don't need to measure them. One look is enough to know that they will not work. A d'Appolito design on its side will always create a narrow horisontal dispersion.
 

sarumbear

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We have seen many speakers with a tweeter between two woofers and there was still significant loping, why is that?
There may well be. I was trying to explain the reason why d'Appolito layout is used. I can't know if everyone have implemented it correctly.
 

beaRA

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You don't need to measure them. One look is enough to know that they will not work. A d'Appolito design on its side will always create a narrow horisontal dispersion.
I agree with you. That's why all the posts acting shocked at these results are strange. It is clear from the driver layout that the A135C will have narrow horizontal dispersion. It does not follow logically that all center speakers suck and no center speaker can be designed to have good performance at a competitive price.
 
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