JBL Studio 590 Speaker Review

[Robbo99999]

I stare at those numbers.
For me, anything above 85 dB at my ears is absolutely a no go.
Above that my ears ring, unless I am hearing the real thing, to my astonishment.

Yes, 85 dB seems to be a limit for my ears when
hearing a loudspeaker, but I have found no limit so far when I got close to a pipe organ, a trumpet, a saxophone, a cello...very curious.
Distortion involved ?

Interestingly, for my JBL 308p Mkii, that is one notch above on the volume control on back of speaker that I listen to at max volume, so I don't listen at that 88.4dB level, and I think one notch is 4dB at that level of the dial, so max I listen to is 84.4dB 1kHz at that 3.8m listening position - above that it doesn't sound good, either distortion related or just too loud for my ears, not sure which. (and it's exceedingly rare that I use them at that 84.4dB level, usually around 6dB less for that 3.8m).

 

[Robbo99999]

Did you listen and compare?

Nope, I'm just saying distortion issues (from measurements) at 2kHz shouldn't be present based on comparisons with other products.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Amir if you have time can you remeasure the speaker with grille or the horn cover on?

@amirm This.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Looking at the horn/waveguide and the front baffle, is it constructed of plastic or metal? It’s hard to tell from the pictures.

 

[YSC]

I sometimes wonder why it seems like JBL always have a highs distortion peak, and gernally a slightly slop up treble response on axis? the fine resonanaces likely are compromise for higher SPL capability?

 

[muad]

As you like it. You have the choice. I think it's not easy to make such a big floor stander look elegant. But as I said, I'm happy with what I have.

View attachment 306675

It's really too bad they don't have the cherry finish in North America. Looks really nice!

 

[fieldcar]

I should put in my 2 cents. I've got a pair of the 590's and suspected that I had a failed compression driver in one of my speakers. Luckily after showing support my THD graph, and a sound clip, Harman sent me 2x more compression drivers to rebuild the speaker myself. The distortion that I heard from the compression driver sounded like a square wave during the FR sweep. Though it wasn't just at 2 and 9KHz like this review shows. It was all through 1-5KHz.

I was able to replace the compression driver with a new one, and while I didn't do another THD measurement (only a few high SPL sweeps), it's been doing great in my home theater ever since.

So a few weeks go by after the repair, and curiosity struck. I decided to disassemble the 2414H compression driver, and I noticed that the voice coil was perfect, but with the solder joint for the voice coil was very likely rubbing on the channel in the magnet structure. I was able to spin the voice coil/throat end until I didn't feel rubbing, and reassemble it. I tested it out with a simple crossover outside of the speaker, and I was easily getting ~120dB without any audible distortion. Man, these compression drivers can put out SPL! I think they're rated for 130dB for the JBL EON's that use these 2414H's.

I feel that it's a bit of manufacturing and a bit of design flaw that causes this issue. The biggest hurdle to inspecting it yourself, is that getting to these compression drivers requires a few beers, a bit of cussing, and a heat gun to remove the waveguide and access the driver. I wouldn't recommend it.

If you do buy any of these JBL studio speakers, try running a FR sweep from 1K-20KHz, and listen for distortion. I'd say if you hear a square wave sound at ~105-115dB from 1-5KHz, you probably have a compression driver with part of the voice coil rubbing. I also noticed that it was a bit light on the ferrofluid, and it was pooling mostly to one side.

I'm surprised that the preference score is so low, but I run them with multEQ-X in a room with thick carpet and sound absorbent ceiling tiles.

In the end, despite the tweeter resonance, I'm happy as a clam due to the great bass output and sensitivity. Big sound > preference score? In my book, yes.


Nearfield measurement @2inches.

THD @ 2". faulty compression driver.

 

[MKR]

I should put in my 2 cents. I've got a pair of the 590's and suspected that I had a failed compression driver in one of my speakers. Luckily after showing support my THD graph, and a sound clip, Harman sent me 2x more compression drivers to rebuild the speaker myself. The distortion that I heard from the compression driver sounded like a square wave during the FR sweep. Though it wasn't just at 2 and 9KHz like this review shows. It was all through 1-5KHz.

I was able to replace the compression driver with a new one, and while I didn't do another THD measurement (only a few high SPL sweeps), it's been doing great in my home theater ever since.

So a few weeks go by after the repair, and curiosity struck. I decided to disassemble the 2414H compression driver, and I noticed that the voice coil was perfect, but with the solder joint for the voice coil was very likely rubbing on the channel in the magnet structure. I was able to spin the voice coil/throat end until I didn't feel rubbing, and reassemble it. I tested it out with a simple crossover outside of the speaker, and I was easily getting ~120dB without any audible distortion. Man, these compression drivers can put out SPL! I think they're rated for 130dB for the JBL EON's that use these 2414H's.

I feel that it's a bit of manufacturing and a bit of design flaw that causes this issue. The biggest hurdle to inspecting it yourself, is that getting to these compression drivers requires a few beers, a bit of cussing, and a heat gun to remove the waveguide and access the driver. I wouldn't recommend it.

If you do buy any of these JBL studio speakers, try running a FR sweep from 1K-20KHz, and listen for distortion. I'd say if you hear a square wave sound at ~105-115dB from 1-5KHz, you probably have a compression driver with part of the voice coil rubbing. I also noticed that it was a bit light on the ferrofluid, and it was pooling mostly to one side.

I'm surprised that the preference score is so low, but I run them with multEQ-X in a room with thick carpet and sound absorbent ceiling tiles.

In the end, despite the tweeter resonance, I'm happy as a clam due to the great bass output and sensitivity. Big sound > preference score? In my book, yes.


Nearfield measurement @2inches.
View attachment 306691


THD @ 2". faulty compression driver.
View attachment 306692

View attachment 306693


View attachment 306690 View attachment 306696View attachment 306697View attachment 306698

Now that is a serious commitment to the 590s ! … You are a braver fella then I am to perform such a surgery, well done!

Again, the experience with my pair is no audible distortion. Not saying it isn’t there, but I certainty can’t hear it.

But now you have me curious, will fire up REW and grab some measurements of mine.

 

[AVKS]

So it is a bad performing loudspeaker, with issues a renamed maker should have avoided.

Performs great in real life. I moved from Revel towers that measure better to 590s and enjoy these much more. The 590s being a fraction of the cost and looking better/more interesting (personal taste of course) is just icing on the cake.

 

[RichT]

Great work on you review Amir and many helpful comments as well. I have the 580's and love them. I chickened out on the 590's because of their size. I do love those large speakers and don't bother with book shelf speakers myself, kind regards

 

[GXAlan]

I voted "great" because the 590's have been going on sale for several years, so it's a bit like Bed Bath and Beyond and their 20% off coupons. They charge a premium for inpatient buyers, and the true price is actually the discounted price. I used to think that they were closing out the Series 5, but it's pretty clear that there has been on-going production since 2020. Hopefully newer buyers can report on production dates.

I would really be curious to have remeasured results with the bottom waveguide for the horn in place. Maybe it makes a difference -- maybe it doesn't. Would be neat to see if the trim piece was just for cosmetics or if, like a dented dome tweeter, there is a measurable difference. @amirm

 

[Steven Holt]

Amir, thank you for this review, wonderful work. Reading thru this, I see that the VD is messy (I think it's somewhat of a nightmare). You recommend 'stay at tweeter axis'. So a question : Do you need to stand up while listening to this speaker to get it's best performance given that it's a floor-stander? I don't think too many would do this.

 

[AVKS]

Amir, thank you for this review, wonderful work. Reading thru this, I see that the VD is messy (I think it's somewhat of a nightmare). You recommend 'stay at tweeter axis'. So a question : Do you need to stand up while listening to this speaker to get it's best performance given that it's a floor-stander? I don't think too many would do this.

I find this series to be a bit strong if you're right on axis (I have 580s and 590s and used to have 530s). A bit above/below is more pleasant.

 

[Roland301]

Sadly, you insist, but cannot be so.

Place any tested device into a group, be it amplifier, dac, server, whatever, and say specifications it is to deliver to say bad, poor, fair, good, excellent. Then see if you can afford it anytime or at a sale if interested.

I am looking for performance, money is another
issue.

Or I don't need to read anymore as all my electronics are presents from my friends and family. Lowest price ever. Great performance ?
Great performance/price ?

A smartphone delivering 0.1 volts is great because it was a present..?

There are reasonable boundaries for everything. A smartphone delivering 0.1 volts will not be good in any circumstance. Similarly, if a speaker just sounds awful then it will sound awful whether it's $1000 or $100.

For most people price is a primary consideration; they have a budget and they want to pick the best performing product within that budget. So recommending a speaker when it's $400 but not when it's $1000 is perfectly reasonable. I do not see why one would consider products solely by measured performance and then be left with a list where half of the items are unaffordable.

 

[Billy Budapest]

It's plastic.....reinforced with a grid structure behind, and a good bit of material where the CD mounts.

At the $2000/pair price, it really should be aluminum for durability purposes. MAYBE a glass fiber reinforced thermoset plastic. But not something like ABS or another lightweight thermoplastic.

I just read that it utilizes a glass-filled ABS horn. So I guess from the durability angle, it’s OK. I wasn’t aware that fillers could be used with ABS—I thought that was only possible with thermoset phenolic (like Bakelite, etc.).

 

[SKBubba]

Yes, the speakers should have been measured with the grill on, or the plastic cover in place. This will certainly change the horn geometry. I'm not sure why this oversight was made......or if it was.

That said, the 580 is the preferable model in this line. It's much more manageable and friendly, size-wise.....but still with more than adequate SPL capability for most users.

580 on sale for $299:

Studio 580 | Professional-quality 200-watt Floorstanding Speaker

JBl Studio 580 floorstanding loudspeaker effects more than ears but resonates through your entire body, create excellent sound you can feel as well as hear.

www.jbl.com

 

[beefkabob]

I don’t care. It’s shit engineering and they should fix it.

It's not shit engineering. It's good engineering for the price and size. JBL offers better products for more money. I know because I own some of them.

 

[voodooless]

It's not shit engineering. It's good engineering for the price and size. JBL offers better products for more money. I know because I own some of them.

As I have shown, it’s shit in any price range…

 

[D0Od]

I voted "great" because the 590's have been going on sale for several years, so it's a bit like Bed Bath and Beyond and their 20% off coupons. They charge a premium for inpatient buyers, and the true price is actually the discounted price. I used to think that they were closing out the Series 5, but it's pretty clear that there has been on-going production since 2020. Hopefully newer buyers can report on production dates.

I would really be curious to have remeasured results with the bottom waveguide for the horn in place. Maybe it makes a difference -- maybe it doesn't. Would be neat to see if the trim piece was just for cosmetics or if, like a dented dome tweeter, there is a measurable difference. @amirm

Indeed, I had my eye on these speakers back in the day after coming across them on SD and Reddit, often mentioned as a great bang for your buck. I can't seem to find a history of my purchase date, but I can confirm that I have a picture of them in my current living room from Oct. 2018. So I can narrow my purchase date down to sometime between Aug. 2018 and Oct. 2018. The point of finding that date is to further re-enforce what GXAlan said. Even back then prior to my purchase people were saying things like: "this is a great deal!" , & "You better jump on this deal now why JBL is getting rid of their stock and discontinuing these."
So yes, it seems that these are perpetually on a deep discount sale cycle. I have noticed them popping up on sale over the years and it always makes me laugh a bit.
With that being said, I've really enjoyed these speakers over the years. I was able to pair them with the matching center and bookshelf speakers. The bookshelves are completely overkill for surrounds and are pretty ridiculously huge mounted up on our vaulted ceiling in our open-concept and oddly shaped living room. And the center is mounted like 12 feet high on the mantle to clear our 75" TV when it's in the up position on the MantleMount. No carpet & open to other large spaces. You get the picture, it's a horrible listening environment. But the speakers get louder than we can stand, powered by just an Onkyo TX-NR656. I'm real happy with them, but I'm no expert.

 

[Steven Holt]

It's not shit engineering. It's good engineering for the price and size. JBL offers better products for more money. I know because I own some of them.

Personally, I think that JBL is well aware of the 'tweeter problem' and chooses not to fix it, they like what they call the 'West Coast Sound'. And you're right, they do make fine gear for the money. I would love to have the 4311's. (You have to excuse Voodooless, he's no nonsense and tells ya what he thinks. He does know this hobby.)