if you think lower level revel is the fix and the 590 isn't : respectfully , i think you need to read some more... revel is a good brand, the 500 series is good too...
-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
JBL Studio 590 Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
I moved from Revel to the 590s. Zero regrets. Regarding the 290s, if I remember right the 200 series tended to run a little bright and it was exacerbated at high volumes.
computer-audiophile
Major Contributor
The HF compression driver driver and the horn which is not too small to be effective make the decisive difference when it comes to the strikingly lively sound.
Such design concepts are rarely found nowadays in hi-fi loudspeakers and could almost be called a USP in this segment. Comparable horns are more likely to be found in PA and cinema loudspeakers or in some much more expensive high-end products.Their special sound characteristics cannot be read from the data sheet, you have to listen to them yourself.
Such design concepts are rarely found nowadays in hi-fi loudspeakers and could almost be called a USP in this segment. Comparable horns are more likely to be found in PA and cinema loudspeakers or in some much more expensive high-end products.Their special sound characteristics cannot be read from the data sheet, you have to listen to them yourself.
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,471
- Likes
- 942
I disagree.
With? Just how did you use your 590s?
Fair enough.. I hope it works out well ...
He had the jbl 2 series..
So a poor comparison....
Yes, at least imo.... I hope it works out for him, but i think the 590s are clearly the best value anywhere near their sale price( the " on sale" price).... i have the 530s in a bedroom set up, they are better than " ok" and not going anywhere ...i have **zero** upgrade -itis..edit: I'd sure like a better sub to go with them though, I've got an entry level $200 emotiva sub , it doesn't do them any favors...maybe rew / dsp would help ....
Agree to an extent, I use my 590s as l/r (but with Infinity RC263 for center), 580s for surrounds, 530s for rear surrounds....
Thanks for reviewing those. I have a couple pair. On the main level they are my LR mains in a 5.1 system. The other pair are in the basement. When tinkering in the basement I am often switching between them and the SVS ultra bookshelves. The 590's don't match the Ultras for the detail in midrange and treble, but they do offer the deep bass when I crave it.This is a review, listening test and detailed measurements of the JBL Studio 590. I bought a pair last year on sale for US $800 but costs $999.95 each currently.
View attachment 306637
This is a hefty speaker that even comes with (vibration absorbing) outriggers. I should definitely file for hazard pay for lifting it 5 feet on the platform to measure it with Klippel NFS and then dragging it to our living room to listen to!I have taken off the grill which unfortunately has plastic tabs rather than being magnetic. I don't have a picture of the backside but there are two oversized ports there.
Here are the company specs:
General Specifications
Type2-1/2-way dual-woofer, floorstanding
Finish Black
Audio Specifications
Nominal Impedance 6 ohms
Crossover Frequencies1.5kHz
Sensitivity(2.83V@1m) 92dB
Frequency Response 35Hz-40kHz
Dimensions
Width (in)12-11/16
Weight (lb) 69.5
Width (mm) 322
Depth (in) 16-1/4
Weight (kg)31.5
Depth (mm) 413
Height (mm) 1263
Height (in) 49-3/4
NOTE: our company, Madrona Digital, carries Harman products (parent of JBL) in custom system integration for residential and commercial applications. We don't have access to this consumer line but even if we did, it is not something we sell. But go ahead and read any level of bias you like in my subjective assessments.
JBL Studio 590 Tower Speaker Measurements
I measured the speaker as you see above without its grill. Acoustic center is the tweeter (although near-field id drops to just above the top woofer). Let's look at its anechoic frequency responses:
View attachment 306638
Depending how good your glasses are, you will walk away with a different view. Pull back, the response is more or less flat on axis is what we want. Zoom in though and the are a lot of fine variations which we tend to see in 2.5 way speakers as so many elements play together. Sensitivity depends on how you average the graph. I say it is closer to 90 dB than advertised 92 dB.
EDIT: it was pointed out that the there is a dummy panel you are supposed to put in place of the grill on the bottom of the tweeter waveguide. I had not done that so I remeasured the speaker again, this time with the full grill on:
View attachment 306844
As we see there is no difference. This is due to the tweeter not being covered in either case. And the dummy panel won't be doing much due to asymmetry only having a minor effect at very high frequencies.
Directivity is good resulting in rather predictable early reflections:
View attachment 306639
Combining the two, we see a pretty reasonable predicted in-room frequency response:
View attachment 306640
Here is our near-field driver and port measurements:
View attachment 306647
There is a lot going on here with a lot of resonances. In some sense designers did a good job of keeping this wilder party under control.
Looking at the horizontal axis, we again see good beam width and directivity control:
View attachment 306641
View attachment 306642
Vertically it is less optimal as many speakers are so stay at tweeter axis:
View attachment 306643
Dual drivers translates into very low bass distortion but alas, there are some issues up higher:
View attachment 306645
We can ignore the narrow resonance but I am worried about that distortion around 1 to 3 kHz. So I pulled up the distortion for individual drivers and it seems both tweeter and woofers are contributing to it:
View attachment 306646
Absolute distortion level is less informative but it shows similar good and bad news:
View attachment 306648
Impedance at 5 ohm while less than company spec, is still a full ohm higher and hence easier to drive than many speakers:
View attachment 306650
Waterfall shows a ton of resonances:
View attachment 306649
Finally here is the step response:
View attachment 306651
JBL Studio 590 Listening Tests
As soon as I started to play music, I had to step and take notice as if there was a voice saying, "hey bud, I am a big boy speaker!" I have talked in the past about how tower speakers project an image that is impressively large and not replicable with smaller bookshelf speakers. They do this by being tall but also with playing deep with authority. Such was the case with the 590 which handled my tracks with sub-bass (I call them speaker killers) with no discernable distortion. The level was a bit low but that was it.
Seeing the elevated treble in on-axis response I expected the speaker to be bit bright. Whether it was due to my ears being somewhat plugged due to allergies, existence of deep bass or both, I did not detect any sign of it being bright. It seemed balanced. It is more difficult for me to assess speakers in our living room but I thought the midrange and highs were unimpressive. Not bad. Or anything I could put my finger on. I just didn't enjoy all of my tracks as I do with very performant speakers. Again, keep all the caveats in mind as you read my subjective impressions.
I thought about applying EQ but I didn't know what and how much. Speaker wasn't bright so made no sense to shelve the highs down. And the variations in frequency response were so fine as to be silly to apply filters to it. If I were less lazy, I would create some narrow filters to counteract the resonances to see if it improves clarity.
Conclusions
There are two different speakers to analyze here: one that costs only $400 each as I bought it vs normal cost of $1,000. At $400, they are incredibly good. They are powerful, with even tonality and bass response that blows away any bookshelf speaker you would buy for $400. At $1000 each, I think there is some pause due to design issues here and there from many resonances to distortion. It would have been great to have perfect execution for $400 each but there is a reason the Revel line exists. Finer execution exists and naturally will cost you.
I like to remind you again of the joy of having a tower speaker. They take up no more space than a bookshelf and are far more stable than that on a stand. Meanwhile they are more sensitive and routinely player lower which is very important for music enjoyment.
I am going to put the JBL Studio 590 on my recommended list when on sale.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome. Click here if you have some audio gear you want me to test.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I have them hooked up to a Sansui 2000. I rarely need anything above 9 o'clock on the volume dial.
melomane13
Active Member
I had both at one point. The only thing that resembles them a little is the bass dynamics. But midrange and treble are very aggressive in the 290s. I don't know if it was the response, the distortion or both.
Too bad, I didn't take the time to take measurements.
Jbl 290 was the worst speaker purchase of my entire life, sold very quickly. Never buy without listening...
So I think you've never had the opportunity to compare 290 and 590.
They are 2 really different speakers that don't play in the same court.
Are the 590s the best in the word? No, of course, but for the price, especially on sale, it's really a very, very fantastic deal.
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,471
- Likes
- 942
Why did you call the moving van?
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,471
- Likes
- 942
Lower distortion with Revel.
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,471
- Likes
- 942
I use Infinity RC263 also. Along with JBL 290. OK at low volumes. Unfortunately, my perforated right eardrum detects distortion at high volume, including subs at 10%. Guess I'll turn off sub and turn down volume.
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,471
- Likes
- 942
I won't have 2.5.
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,471
- Likes
- 942
Mine are refurbished. You must have been original owner.
Went from Studio 530s to M16s to F35s in my space and was pleased, but found myself still looking for more dynamics and dimension to the sound, even wth the F35s being powered by an external amp (X4500H feeding an Outlaw 5000) and me only sitting 9 ft from them. I had Studio 530s before the M16s and liked the sound, plus I like the look of the 590s better than the Revels (a personal preference), so I took a shot on the 590s and found them to be exactly what I was looking for in all of my use cases (TV/movies, gaming, music) - more dynamic, bigger sound, and more 3-dimensional/holographic.
I am fully comfortable saying that the move from the F35s to the 590s was transformational to my experience, taking things to an entirely different level; it's been 18 months and I'm still in the 'honeymoon phase'. I now run a 5.1 with 4 590s and a Revel C32 center. The REW sweeps don't look all that different but I just enjoy them notably more. I overall found/find the Concerta 2 line and 590s to be way more similar than different in terms of measured audio performance but the 590s just have some magic to my ear that the Revels don't.
Last edited:
+1
I replaced a pair of Focal 726 floor standers with Studio 590s a year and a half ago and have been very happy with them. Dynamic, powerful, they simply suit me. That I bought them, delivered to my door, for $800 is a bonus. I would have been happy with them at a much higher price point.
Similar threads
- Poll
- Poll
- Poll
