JBL Stage A130 or Arena 130?

[king0188]

I mainly like classical music.
My room is about 10-15 m2.
I already have nad c328 and considering to buy a fosi v3.

Stage A130 has better tweeter and @amirm ’s test result is good.
Arena 130 has bigger 7-inch woofer, i like it. but i can't find any test data.

How to choose? The price is almost same.Arena 130 is a little cheaper (about $15)

Reply

 

[JeremyFife]

Hi,
A couple of thoughts: If your NAD goes loud enough then I'd suggest keeping it and putting the money towards better speakers.

Secondly, is there a reason you are only considering JBL? The Stage A130 was reviewed as good - but only if you can EQ it.
If you can put the budget up (because you don't change Amp) then you have a lot more choice.

 

[staticV3]

Amir's and Erin's measurements of the A130 collectively show a speaker with poor quality control, poor on-axis linearity, a tweeter breakup mode in the audible range, and a resonating enclosure.


THD seems to be the only strength.

At least here in Germany, one can get a pair of Elac DBR62 for the same price as the Stage A130, so that's what I'd choose.

 

[king0188]

Secondly, is there a reason you are only considering JBL? The Stage A130 was reviewed as good - but only if you can EQ it.
If you can put the budget up (because you don't change Amp) then you have a lot more choice.

Just because I found these 2 speakers have good reviews in the forums
I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks

 

[JeremyFife]

Amir's and Erin's measurements of the A130 collectively show a speaker with poor quality control, poor on-axis linearity, a tweeter breakup mode in the audible range, and a resonating enclosure.
View attachment 401988 View attachment 401989

THD seems to be the only strength.

At least here in Germany, one can get a pair of Elac DBR62 for the same price as the Stage A130, so that's what I'd choose.

I hadn't looked at Erin's review, so thanks for the update and correction. That variance between results is indeed concerning.
Agree that I'd look elsewhere - Elac DBR62, as you say. Perhaps also Wharfdale Diamond 12.1 (not sure of price where OP is)

 

[king0188]

At least here in Germany, one can get a pair of Elac DBR62 for the same price as the Stage A130, so that's what I'd choose.

Here in China, the price: dbr62 = 2.5 * stage130

 

[king0188]

Agree that I'd look elsewhere - Elac DBR62, as you say. Perhaps also Wharfdale Diamond 12.1 (not sure of price where OP is)

Thanks for your advice
Dbr62 and 12.1 are both better speakers, higher price of course

 

[JeremyFife]

Of course! That's always the way

However, that's also why I suggested keeping your NAD amp and using any money you save to help with the cost of speakers.

Are other brands in your budget?

 

[king0188]

Are other brands in your budget?

All brands are OK, such as Elac Dali.

 

[TonyJZX]

i have the Arena 130 and these are like... 10yrs old... when I bought mine they were on massive closeout as the Stage 130 was already on the market

its a forgone conclusion... the 7" Arena just digs deeper and has much more 'body'... but being a cheap JBL you get all those JBL sound things

if you can afford the DBR62 reference, get it

over here on the ANZ world its also 2.5x to 3x the price of the Stage 130 = JBL Is a max box shifter so they subsidise the market big time.

ELAC positions itself as a higher end speaker.

 

[TonyJZX]

one other thing

i flat out would not buy the new Stage 130 as I do not think *MOST* 5" speakers just do not have enough box volume for a good range of performance

the Arena 130 I really like... since I bought them for like not much more than a competant Chinese dac and the 7" cone and box volume just slaughters most 6" speakers for room filling performance

AND at least ONE chinese electronics manufacturer uses the Arena as a test speaker.

Its kind of like, knowing the American market... if Americans use the big 130 as quasi standard then why not tune our dacs and amps for it?

 

[king0188]

the Arena 130 I really like... since I bought them for like not much more than a competant Chinese dac and the 7" cone and box volume just slaughters most 6" speakers for room filling performance

The Arena 130's 7-inch woofer is the main reason I want to buy it.
What amplifier do you use to push it?
Do you remember how much you paid for it?

 

[Tom C]

If you can afford US $300, you could get a pair of JBL 305P. If you can swing $500, you could get JBL 308P. The 306P is $400/pair. You would probably be pretty happy with 308P. Hard to beat for the price. They are powered, though, so no amps needed, making the NAD unusable, because you would need some kind of volume control, and you may want the ability to switch between different sources. Hard to find a perfect solution.