JBL Studio 590 Speaker Review

[Pulkass]

ok, if anyone thinks he might get these speakers for music stereo listening, talking about the 590 but I'm sure the 580 is just the same, don't, just don't.
It doesn't matter what the klipple plots show, just don't
Yup, as is, they are really bad for music, any half decent bookshelves with a small sub will sound 10x better.
Any half decent real 3-way will sound 10x better.

For cinema? yea who cares, they make sound, any big speaker will sound ok for home cinema simply because you don't know what to expect... and the center does most of the work anyway.
With music? when you know a snare hit with a crack comes every 7 seconds, and it's missing, you WILL hear it missing.

I'm not a speaker designer and even as a DIY i'm just starting in this hobby, but I do know you don't want an 8" woofer playing to 1.5khz, especially one with a heavy cone.
Plus any tweeter pushed to play down to 1.5khz, and specially this tweeter, nothing good can come from this.
There is a forum member that went really far to upgrade the tweeters, and I think even he said that the change was marginal.

Well not all hope is lost as these speakers can be saved, and they can even sound pretty good, but it's an investment.
You just need to modify them into a real 3-way, and I would recommend to use a dsp, make them full active and time align all the drivers.
Which mid driver? it almost doesn't matter what type, i tried a 6.5", 5.25" and now I'm using a 2.1" dome mid driver.
The whole idea is to let the woofers handle the low octaves, push this tweeter away from 1.5khz and all of a sudden this speaker comes to life.

If there is interest I'll expand on this, if not, bottom line as is don't buy, modify to 3 way yes sure its worth it.

Be assured they are not being manufactured anymore since years ago. They were fun, and almost a very serious loudspeaker. I suspect a bit of Greg Timbers was in there.

 

[DSJR]

8" up to 3k?
Would love to see 15-30 degree plots.
You have them, what do you think about them, and how wide is the sweet spot?

"what does anyone want for a $1K 2 way speaker, the moon on a stick?"
Totally agree, in the end it's a business and a product, you need to move boxes and make profit.

Back then, the dispersion off axis wasn't deemed as important as modern Klippel-style measurements seem to indicate. My BCIIs have more output in the lower hundred Hertz region and the 2khz region isn't quite as smooth, due to a phase issue at the pole piece, cured in the replacement SP1 by a plastic pole-extension, all this in an era before 'phase plugs' and whatnot...

 

[Kip]

ok, if anyone thinks he might get these speakers for music stereo listening, talking about the 590 but I'm sure the 580 is just the same, don't, just don't.
It doesn't matter what the klipple plots show, just don't
Yup, as is, they are really bad for music, any half decent bookshelves with a small sub will sound 10x better.
Any half decent real 3-way will sound 10x better.

For cinema? yea who cares, they make sound, any big speaker will sound ok for home cinema simply because you don't know what to expect... and the center does most of the work anyway.
With music? when you know a snare hit with a crack comes every 7 seconds, and it's missing, you WILL hear it missing.

I'm not a speaker designer and even as a DIY i'm just starting in this hobby, but I do know you don't want an 8" woofer playing to 1.5khz, especially one with a heavy cone.
Plus any tweeter pushed to play down to 1.5khz, and specially this tweeter, nothing good can come from this.
There is a forum member that went really far to upgrade the tweeters, and I think even he said that the change was marginal.

Well not all hope is lost as these speakers can be saved, and they can even sound pretty good, but it's an investment.
You just need to modify them into a real 3-way, and I would recommend to use a dsp, make them full active and time align all the drivers.
Which mid driver? it almost doesn't matter what type, i tried a 6.5", 5.25" and now I'm using a 2.1" dome mid driver.
The whole idea is to let the woofers handle the low octaves, push this tweeter away from 1.5khz and all of a sudden this speaker comes to life.

If there is interest I'll expand on this, if not, bottom line as is don't buy, modify to 3 way yes sure its worth it.

I guess I am primative. I listen under 70 db and love dynamics. I also like a very deep U curve.
I am a loudness junky. Hooked up to my Sansui 4000 my 590's really speak to me.

 

[Chrispy]

ok, if anyone thinks he might get these speakers for music stereo listening, talking about the 590 but I'm sure the 580 is just the same, don't, just don't.
It doesn't matter what the klipple plots show, just don't
Yup, as is, they are really bad for music, any half decent bookshelves with a small sub will sound 10x better.
Any half decent real 3-way will sound 10x better.

For cinema? yea who cares, they make sound, any big speaker will sound ok for home cinema simply because you don't know what to expect... and the center does most of the work anyway.
With music? when you know a snare hit with a crack comes every 7 seconds, and it's missing, you WILL hear it missing.

I'm not a speaker designer and even as a DIY i'm just starting in this hobby, but I do know you don't want an 8" woofer playing to 1.5khz, especially one with a heavy cone.
Plus any tweeter pushed to play down to 1.5khz, and specially this tweeter, nothing good can come from this.
There is a forum member that went really far to upgrade the tweeters, and I think even he said that the change was marginal.

Well not all hope is lost as these speakers can be saved, and they can even sound pretty good, but it's an investment.
You just need to modify them into a real 3-way, and I would recommend to use a dsp, make them full active and time align all the drivers.
Which mid driver? it almost doesn't matter what type, i tried a 6.5", 5.25" and now I'm using a 2.1" dome mid driver.
The whole idea is to let the woofers handle the low octaves, push this tweeter away from 1.5khz and all of a sudden this speaker comes to life.

If there is interest I'll expand on this, if not, bottom line as is don't buy, modify to 3 way yes sure its worth it.

LOL okay, nice rant but what are your anointed models?

 

[Beave]

ok, if anyone thinks he might get these speakers for music stereo listening, talking about the 590 but I'm sure the 580 is just the same, don't, just don't.
It doesn't matter what the klipple plots show, just don't
Yup, as is, they are really bad for music, any half decent bookshelves with a small sub will sound 10x better.
Any half decent real 3-way will sound 10x better.

For cinema? yea who cares, they make sound, any big speaker will sound ok for home cinema simply because you don't know what to expect... and the center does most of the work anyway.
With music? when you know a snare hit with a crack comes every 7 seconds, and it's missing, you WILL hear it missing.

I'm not a speaker designer and even as a DIY i'm just starting in this hobby, but I do know you don't want an 8" woofer playing to 1.5khz, especially one with a heavy cone.
Plus any tweeter pushed to play down to 1.5khz, and specially this tweeter, nothing good can come from this.
There is a forum member that went really far to upgrade the tweeters, and I think even he said that the change was marginal.

Well not all hope is lost as these speakers can be saved, and they can even sound pretty good, but it's an investment.
You just need to modify them into a real 3-way, and I would recommend to use a dsp, make them full active and time align all the drivers.
Which mid driver? it almost doesn't matter what type, i tried a 6.5", 5.25" and now I'm using a 2.1" dome mid driver.
The whole idea is to let the woofers handle the low octaves, push this tweeter away from 1.5khz and all of a sudden this speaker comes to life.

If there is interest I'll expand on this, if not, bottom line as is don't buy, modify to 3 way yes sure its worth it.

Lots of compression tweeters can be crossed at 1.5kHz and even well below that. This particular tweeter is more limited, and crossing it at 1.5kHz is pushing its limits, but it's not correct to say that nothing good can come from any tweeter being pushed to play down to 1.5kHz.

 

[Hendrixon]

Be assured they are not being manufactured anymore since years ago. They were fun, and almost a very serious loudspeaker. I suspect a bit of Greg Timbers was in there.

Second hand market? I bought them second hand
I'm about to sell a pair of JBL L-100, believe me there will be buyers.

 

[Hendrixon]

Back then, the dispersion off axis wasn't deemed as important as modern Klippel-style measurements seem to indicate. My BCIIs have more output in the lower hundred Hertz region and the 2khz region isn't quite as smooth, due to a phase issue at the pole piece, cured in the replacement SP1 by a plastic pole-extension, all this in an era before 'phase plugs' and whatnot...

Actually that 30 degree is not bad at all, I expected worse.
Still, different driver cone size and weight (and material) affects sound timbre, 8" playing 2k-3k? in my experience is less ideal.
Sorry pole piece? in the woofer?

 

[Hendrixon]

I guess I am primative. I listen under 70 db and love dynamics. I also like a very deep U curve.
I am a loudness junky. Hooked up to my Sansui 4000 my 590's really speak to me.

Hey Kip, I also listen mostly at 70-75dB and as a teen in the 70s for me flat response is loudness button ON lol
Primitive? why? your opinion is as good as mine.

Btw, according to Timbers, the main engineer behind the 5 series, if you like the 590? you are a neanderthal

 

[Hendrixon]

LOL okay, nice rant but what are your anointed models?

I don't think any speaker is just perfect on its own. For me, it is all about system synergy and the room. A speaker only shines when it clicks with the right amp and space.
Instead of anointed models, I just have a few unforgettable experiences where everything lined up perfectly.
I heard a JBL Jubilee with a modified crossover driven by a Marantz 8b in a home setup that was amazing.
Another time I heard a JBL L-300 paired with a custom DIY 845 tube amp that sounded incredible. Interestingly, the owner was temporarily safe keeping a pair of Sonus Faber Amati for a friend who was traveling, and in that exact same room, they sounded just okay to both of us.
Another great experience was a humble Dynaco 35 driving a pair of Dynaudio Special 25s, playing a B.B. King live record on a mid tier Luxman turntable. That was a perfect experience.
So for me, the magic is always in the combination, not just the brand.

Btw my 590, I tried few mid drivers, now with a 2.1" mid dome pushing this tweeter to 4khz+it really sounds good.

 

[Hendrixon]

Lots of compression tweeters can be crossed at 1.5kHz and even well below that. This particular tweeter is more limited, and crossing it at 1.5kHz is pushing its limits, but it's not correct to say that nothing good can come from any tweeter being pushed to play down to 1.5kHz.

Fair point, but when you're talking about crossing over cleanly below 1.5kHz, you're talking about large-format compression drivers with 3" or 4" diaphragms. Those are practically midrange drivers that happen to extend into the highs and have horns to assist them acoustically. I was talking about a true, small-format 1" tweeter. Forcing a standard tweeter, and most compression type with that size diaphragm - other then some rare and very expensive ones - down to 1.5kHz and below is where things get nasty.

The mid driver I use now in the 590 is a 2.1" dome with big ass magnets, it's a "tweeter" design on steroids and its happy under 1khz.

 

[Kip]

Hey Kip, I also listen mostly at 70-75dB and as a teen in the 70s for me flat response is loudness button ON lol
Primitive? why? your opinion is as good as mine.

Btw, according to Timbers, the main engineer behind the 5 series, if you like the 590? you are a neanderthal

Yep, I saw that. I don't know if I agree. I am not expecting a lot of midrange. I guess the integration of the drivers is not as good on the 590. I doubt the difference is worth finding a used pair.

 

[Hendrixon]

Here is my 3-way 590 frequency plot showing +/-1.5dB range (above Amir's for relative scale).
- Done with omnimic 40k at 1m gated at 4ms, no smoothing.
- Green verticals are my crossover points, 600Hz and 4kHz.
- I used eq (manually entered freq/type/Q) to flatten each driver. all with small wide Qs.
- Then time aligned them.
- Plot is stretched to match both dB and Hz of Amir's plot scale.

Not bad for neanderthals

 

[Hendrixon]

Here is my 3-way 590.
The mid dome has its own integrated chamber on the back so there is no need for enclosure.
Its hard to see but the mid is actually leaning a bit forward so it project a bit downwards towards the main listening area.

I'm listening now to Stan Getz and Chet Baker the Stockholm concerts and Henrik Freischlader, it sounds so good I wish Greg Timbers was here
Its a totally different speaker, so open, so dynamic with micro details in the mids which it had none before, honestly I didn't expect this outcome.

 

[Pulkass]

You changed the x over? Do you cut the woofers at 800 hz now?

 

[Hendrixon]

Woofers are cut at 600Hz, tweeters at 4kHz.
For now all done in a minidsp.

 

[Flaesh]

I didn't expect this

What model is this driver? I can't recognize it from the picture.
Have you considered another mid-range location?)

 

[Hendrixon]

It's from the Morel/Dynaudio lineage but from a different angle.
A family member of the Morel founders that worked there decades ago, for some reason left Morel and created his own speakers company called Omega Audio.
Levi (his name) was building everything by hand by himself, not just the speakers but all the drivers too, which among them were also Morel/Dynaudio designs.
Sadly few years ago he closed shop dew to health issues, and about a week ago I saw an ad from him on Facebook, selling his inventory.
I managed to grab a few parts, among them those last pair of 2.1" ODM-56 dome mids (I wanted 6 ).
Those pictures are in my car just outside his home where he sadly lives with a 24/7 care nurse.

Another location? sure:
If you go 3 way (or even 2 way) active its easy, you don't need 2 woofers, pull the top 8" woofer, buy or fabricate a matching ring and put the mid (whichever mid you use) there. as for the lone woofer, experiment either with lowering the air volume in the speaker or simply add boundaries in the dsp to the woofer so he won't try to play too low.
At that location I think the mid would be a bit closer to the tweeter? but not by much. anyway with the grill on, the 590 will look stock.
The baffle would probably influence the sound, for better or for worse needs to be measured.

Bonus idea:
Since you'll be left with two 8" matching woofers, you could build a real center speaker that will match the 590 for sound and heft

 

[Flaesh]

you don't need 2 woofers,

590 is 2-1/2-way dual-woofer, I wouldn't remove the "excess extra unnecessary" woofer. Bonus idea:

Orange ring is a fashion trend! This has been discussed a lot on the forum.

 

[Hendrixon]

the whole idea is making it a real 3 way, then you don't have to have both woofers.
Bottom woofer is crossed right above 700hz and it mostly does baffle step comp.
Even if doing it with passive crossover, if feel you need more low end, use simple eq to boost lows.

 

[Davey2156]

The reason for the second driver is to give more low end and provide simple equalization.
If you remove the second woofer and add electronic eq, you've now reduced the SPL capability of the system.

It's not clear you understand this design at all.