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JBL Stage A130 Review (speaker)

MasterMech

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Sure. Do point them toward the listeners though if you mount them up high.

Thanks for the info Amir, I am currently running Monitor Audio Radius 90's for my side, rear & height channels.

I wanted to go for JBL HDI-1600 to match my HDI-3600's up front but I cannot afford to buy 5 pairs of them so these seem a good option & keeps everything JBL.

I presume there are no mounting points on these speakers? Going to be challenging mounting them to the ceiling & I guess its a big no no turning them on their side?
 
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amirm

amirm

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I presume there are no mounting points on these speakers? Going to be challenging mounting them to the ceiling & I guess its a big no no turning them on their side?
No, there is none:

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They are cheap enough that I would not worry about screwing some brackets into the back. :)

As to turning them on the side, their best dispersion is when mounted vertically. You will be degrading their performance if you turn them sideways. But maybe for surround duty it is not as important.
 

abdo123

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For Stage A130 owners with unlimited DSP such as Roon/Foobar/Jriver players here is 20 times PEQ filter string based on Amir's anechoic analyze that will smooth out most patterns, EQ policy is based on DI curve (directivity index) so not in favor of close nearfield super flat on axis but optimal at farfield 2 meter and up as for spinorama standard (CEA/CTA-2034 ANSI)..

View attachment 109332

Overlaid animation of detailed synthetic prediction for above EQ string based Amir's analyze..
View attachment 109322

At which sample rate did you generate these EQ filters?
 

abdo123

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There's no samplerate involved for smoothing process using 20 times PEQ filters bank :) samplerate comes in only if you set that filter bank as a convolution filter.

I'm listening ~3.5 - 4 meters away from the speakers and your settings are giving me 'the sound my brain expects from the room' which is something only wide dispersion speakers before did.

Great work!

My only problem/remark was that 20 filters was a bit too much so i had to split it between two DSP engines. no idea if i could do that but it sounds good to me.
 

deadchip12

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Having been an headphone user all my life, I really want to start a good value atmos setup with these speakers but room treatment scares me. Do these sound crappy in a non treated room (normal bed room with furnitured like bed and closet and glass windows)?
 

Teeter

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@deadchip12 My HT is set-up in an open air basement. The space that it is utilizing is 10 X 12 with 7 foot ceiling w5ith exposed rafters. I have 55 inch screen, AVR, subwoofer, 5 Speakers with the FL/FR Jbl Stage A130's. With AVR auto sound calibration, watching DD movies is superb.
I have my bed with carpeted concrete floor and concrete walls. I am in my domain with sound all around me. People get to technical, you know what I mean. My ears are ordinary. lol
 

JEntwistle

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Does anyone have any experience comparing these to the slightly smaller Stage A120? Also, the Studio 220 (on a side note, I'm not sure what the difference is between the Studio 220 and Stage A120; is the Studio line older and being replaced by Stage?)

Any ideas or impressions greatly appreciated.
 

Teeter

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Studio line is the previous model, replaced with the Stage. You can google the models for speaker size and freq. response and might find reviews, too. When the Stage A 130 go on sale, it is $179/pr. The Studios and the Stage A 120, will be okay. JBL quality is great with over all reputation for years. Whatever your budget will afford. Polk S 20 and S 15 are good too. I have the Polk S 15 as my side surrounds.
 
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JEntwistle

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Studio line is the previous model, replaced with the Stage. You can google the models for speaker size and freq. response and might find reviews, too. When the Stage A 130 go on sale, it is $179/pr. The Studios and the Stage A 120, will be okay. JBL quality is great with over all reputation for years. Whatever your budget will afford. Polk S 20 and S 15 are good too. I have the Polk S 15 as my side surrounds.

Thanks. I was confused about Studio vs. Stage.

Price is not an issue on these. Room size is the issue I have, and I'm wondering if A120 would be a decent compromise from A130.
 

Teeter

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My choice is the Stage 130. You can look up the specs for both and decide. Plus any reviews.
 

JEntwistle

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My choice is the Stage 130. You can look up the specs for both and decide. Plus any reviews.

It's really hard to find good reviews of the A120 or the Studio 220. I guess it stands to reason the A130 would be the best, but I'm trying to gauge how much of a tradeoff it is to go down to A120, which I understand has the same tweeter but a smaller woofer. And also how much difference there is from the Studio 220, which I think uses different cone materials.

I guess in the end it might just be as simple as the difference in the published low end frequency response specs, which are actually pretty close: 55Hz for the A130 vs 60 for the A120.

And the room these will be in has less than ideal acoustic conditions, which might make the differences even less important.

There are just so few reviews of the A120 and the 220 out there. Was curious if anyone has any impressions.

Thanks again.
 

hex168

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I would think it depends on your intended listening level and distance, and crossover frequency to your subs. The A130 is unusual in the 5" class for its low distortion at lower frequencies. The A120's distortion is likely to be much higher below 200 Hz or so. Look at the ASR reviews for the Philharmonic Affordable Accuracy Monitor and the Dayton C-Note for examples in the 4" woofer class and compare to the A130 review. If you listen relatively close to the speakers and at low levels, this will not be an issue for you.
 

JonCr

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I purchased the Stage A180 towers and A125c center... What’s surprising is how good the center sounds.

This may be the first time I’ve heard any significant comment on the A125c center. I’ve always been curious about it. Thanks!
 

JEntwistle

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I would think it depends on your intended listening level and distance, and crossover frequency to your subs. The A130 is unusual in the 5" class for its low distortion at lower frequencies. The A120's distortion is likely to be much higher below 200 Hz or so. Look at the ASR reviews for the Philharmonic Affordable Accuracy Monitor and the Dayton C-Note for examples in the 4" woofer class and compare to the A130 review. If you listen relatively close to the speakers and at low levels, this will not be an issue for you.

Thanks, this is very helpful. I think I am going to start with the A130s and see if they fit in my space, and then work down to the A120 if needed. Part of my thinking is that I would like the speakers to be something I would like to keep if I moved them from this room at a later date.
 
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