JBL Studio 530 Speaker Review

[maty]

You assume too much about me and my knowledge.

 

[Shazb0t]

You assume too much about me and my knowledge.

I think most people understand your knowledge here.

 

[Davedaring]

On sale now for $279.

 

[AVKS]

On sale now for $279.

Refurbs, but I've had good luck with the Arena 180 refurbs I bought last summer. They were definitely slightly less than new so buyer's should be aware that they may not be perfect... implied by 'refurb' but worth mentioning.

 

[richard12511]

On sale now for $279.

I went for it. Excited to get them in and start comparing.

 

[Zvu]

To contrast Danny's hypotheses a bit with facts, here are some results of an investigation of core inductors from 2009 (Hobby Hifi 1-2009).

- The saturation current decreases only slightly with increasing frequency.
- The saturation current decreases significantly with increasing inductance of the coil.
- Ferrite core coils have a relatively low load capacity, P-core coils and core inductor coils have a much higher load capacity.

To get a feeling for the magnitude of the distortions produced by core coils, we now take a look at the results found for the "worst" type of coil, the ferrite core coils.
The diagram shows the third-order harmonic distortions produced by the coils as a function of the voltage at 2 ohms resistance. The total resistance varies slightly (with the inductance), as the coil has a DC resistance and reactance depending on the inductance - in our case 2.7 Ohm.
View attachment 58947
With an inductance of 2.2mH, the distortions remain below 0.1% up to 15V and below 0.32% up to 18.5V. This corresponds to about 125W and 188W at 4 ohms. The coil costs about 10-15$ for the end user.

With the cheapest ferrite core coil examined, for 4-7$, the distortions remained below 0.32% at 4 Ohm to 53W power.

Personally, I would use air-core coils when building a 2-way loudspeaker, since the low inductance makes it unimportant in terms of price.

But as long as you don't reach the saturation limit of the core coil when listening to music with a "cheap" 2-way speaker, it doesn't make much sense to replace it with an air core coil or even more expensive "high-end" coils.

I did some measurements by measuring distortion from midwoofer with only difference being the type of coil.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showth...e-of-inductor-types-on-distortion-performance

Cedric at JustDIYit did some mesurements also:

http://www.justdiyit.com/self-a-air-ou-self-ferrite/

Without trying to make a name for Danny, but there just might be something to it. Less with air core vs cored inductor, but more with type of core material for inductors.

 

[maty]

Welcome here, Zvu.

 

[QMuse]

I did some measurements by measuring distortion from midwoofer with only difference being the type of coil.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showth...e-of-inductor-types-on-distortion-performance

Cedric at JustDIYit did some mesurements also:

If you want to show the difference in distorion I suggest you use Overlays where you can show 2 THD curves on the same chart.

 

[Zvu]

^It is quite visible like this so no need for overlays. Differences aren't of cosmetic nature.

@maty: Thanks.

 

[QMuse]

^It is quite visible like this so no need for overlays. Differences aren't of cosmetic nature.

@maty: Thanks.

Well, overlays were designed for overlaying in order to make comparisons easier and IMO it would make your point more clear.

 

[Zvu]

I agree but, since these were not meant to be reference grade measurements, it should serve just as a pointer in which direction further investigation should progress. Mine or anyone elses. In this case Ctrl's.

Thanks for suggestion.

 

[diablo900t]

I was kind of surprised to see the measurements and listening impressions, I thought they would be more impressive. I have the Studio 590s, and have been using the 530s for surrounds. I replaced the 520C with the Infinity RC263.

I also have the Infinity R162s as well, I'm wondering if it would be better to use those for surrounds and utilize the 530s and the 520C in another room for LCR.

 

[AVKS]

The R162s will get louder if you're pushing volume, but given that they're surrounds they probably aren't working too hard overall.

 

[Mocs123]

Just a heads up these (along with their big brother the 590) are on sale for half price again.

 

[Jlm86]

Settings for: crossover and sub
Jbl 530 LR
Jbl 520c
Hsu vtf-15 sub

??
Configuration "small"
Crossover 80hz
sub 120hz LF crossover

 

[Haint]

Settings for: crossover and sub
Jbl 530 LR
Jbl 520c
Hsu vtf-15 sub

??
Configuration "small"
Crossover 80hz
sub 120hz LF crossover

Are you asking if those settings are correct? In the absence of in room measurements, yes, those are the general recommendations.

 

[Chrispy]

Settings for: crossover and sub
Jbl 530 LR
Jbl 520c
Hsu vtf-15 sub

??
Configuration "small"
Crossover 80hz
sub 120hz LF crossover

The crossover is the crossover, the sub's 120 LPF of LFE is just a limit on the LFE channel content (i.e. content with a ".1" channel). 80 is a good starting point, I cross mine higher myself....but if you don't run into localization.....

 

[Jlm86]

Just setup my new (refurbished) 530s..
Denon x3600. Set to 6 ohms
530 LR
520c
Hsu vtf-15 sub

Now on to the show....

 

[Jlm86]

Question....
JBL 530s
Denon AVR 3600 vs. avr w/ multi channel amp..

Significant difference you think?

 

[Chrispy]

Question....
JBL 530s
Denon AVR 3600 vs. avr w/ multi channel amp..

Significant difference you think?

Significant? No. Noticeable? Perhaps. Depends on the amp and your listening levels.