JBL Studio 630 and Studio 698 - Review & Measurements by Erin

[Rick63]

After 10 days of subjective listening to the 630's I like them but don't love them, therefore I won't try to justify keeping them, so I just requested a return shipping label from Crutchfield.

I swapped them out for my Dynaudio BM5 MKIII monitors and I'm a happy listener again.

 

[Gokart10]

Hey guys, fairly new to the audiophile world.

Running the Studio 630s with the IA255.1 (about to be replaced by the Buckeye Hypex NC252MP) and Wiim Pro Plus. Is the suggested EQ to fix that dip? I have been playing with the EQ and this is what I came up with. It sounds better to me than the default, but I was wondering if I should tinker around anything else.

 

[Prolix]

I guess I don't understand why the bass extension of the 698 is just about the same as the 630, or why anyone would buy a 12" wide, 16" deep floorstander that's -8 at 40hz.

 

[JeffGB]

Hey guys, fairly new to the audiophile world.

Running the Studio 630s with the IA255.1 (about to be replaced by the Buckeye Hypex NC252MP) and Wiim Pro Plus. Is the suggested EQ to fix that dip? I have been playing with the EQ and this is what I came up with. It sounds better to me than the default, but I was wondering if I should tinker around anything else.
View attachment 372333

I've been using the JBL Studio 630 with the EQ shown here

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pierreaubert/spinorama/develop/datas/eq/JBL%20Studio%20630/iir-autoeq.txt

It's based on Erin's data. I really like the result.

 

[AVKS]

I guess I don't understand why the bass extension of the 698 is just about the same as the 630, or why anyone would buy a 12" wide, 16" deep floorstander that's -8 at 40hz.

Much better sensitivity, better dynamics and headroom, 2-way vs 3-way, and generally taking the same amount of floorspace anyway when a stand is considered. Unless a case-specific need for bookshelf speakers, such as use on a desktop, I will nearly always opt for the greater capability of towers as budget allows.

 

[robertospeed]

Hello everyone,

Sorry for reopening this discussion.

I am considering buying a pair of JBL Studio 630 speakers and would appreciate some advice from people who are more experienced than I am. I am not an audiophile and I do not have much knowledge of speaker measurements, so I am mainly interested in practical listening impressions.

I currently own a pair of Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary speakers. My room is small (3 m x 3 m), treated with acoustic absorption panels, and my listening distance is about 2 meters.

My system consists of:

• Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary
• B&W ASW608 subwoofer
• Denon PMA-1700NE integrated amplifier

I do not use EQ, DSP, room correction, or tone controls.

I listen almost exclusively to Heavy Metal and Power Metal, especially bands such as Dream Theater, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Manowar, and similar artists.

What matters most to me is the reproduction of drums: snare drum impact, double-kick drum definition, dynamics, speed, and the ability to keep instruments well separated and easy to follow during fast and complex passages.

I have read mixed opinions about the JBL Studio 630. Some people describe them as very dynamic and engaging speakers, while others claim that the midrange is recessed.

My questions are:

1. At their current price, are the JBL Studio 630 still considered a good buy?
2. For Heavy Metal and Power Metal, are the JBL Studio 630 generally a better choice than the Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary?
3. When people say that the Studio 630 have a recessed midrange, what does that actually mean in practice? Do electric guitars, snare drums, and keyboards simply sound less forward compared to the bass and treble, or is the issue often exaggerated?
4. Since I already use a subwoofer, would the JBL Studio 630 provide better dynamics, impact, and drum definition than the Denton 85th Anniversary?

Thank you in advance for any advice or first-hand experience.

 

[Jon AA]

Must say though for people that use EQ its a very interesting choice without much competition in that price range as its directivity and multitone distortion even at 96 dB are surprisingly good, also I personally like it looks.

Yup.

So, I've been working on improving my measurement techniques a bit and have been doing some measurements lately. I thought some in this thread might like this one. This is the Studio 630 with a bit of anechoic EQ (courtesy MultEQ-X):

Not too shabby for a speaker I picked up for $350 a pair....

Here's what the "Before" spin looked like:

Not a perfect match with Erin's, but within +/- 1 dB pretty much the whole way. I measured on the tweeter axis and he measured below so that surely accounts for some of it, along with unit to unit variations.

 

[Jon AA]

I do not use EQ, DSP, room correction, or tone controls......

1. At their current price, are the JBL Studio 630 still considered a good buy?

For you at $700+ current prices, I would not recommend this speaker for you. As you can see above, there is a pretty massive difference in potential sound quality with this particular speaker if you can use EQ. For $700 I think you could find a better speaker without needing EQ.

 

[robertospeed]

For you at $700+ current prices, I would not recommend this speaker for you. As you can see above, there is a pretty massive difference in potential sound quality with this particular speaker if you can use EQ. For $700 I think you could find a better speaker without needing EQ.

I've had the JBL Studio 630s for about five days now, and so far I'm very satisfied with them. To my ears, they sound great even without any EQ. I'm using them with a Denon PMA-1700NE: the midrange is well-presented, the highs are clear, and the bass is more than good for speakers of this size. Which speakers do you recommend with these dimensions and a price of 700 Euros ? But what's wrong with the JBL Studio 630 ?

 

[robertospeed]

I noticed that with certain songs I feel the woofers vibrate a little, especially one speaker vibrates more, has this happened to you too?

 

[Jon AA]

I've had the JBL Studio 630s for about five days now, and so far I'm very satisfied with them. To my ears, they sound great even without any EQ. I'm using them with a Denon PMA-1700NE: the midrange is well-presented, the highs are clear, and the bass is more than good for speakers of this size. Which speakers do you recommend with these dimensions and a price of 700 Euros ? But what's wrong with the JBL Studio 630 ?

I'm sorry, had I known you had already bought them I would have kept my mouth shut. Just enjoy them, they're a nice speaker. And you can keep tucked in the back of your mind that if you ever feel the need to upgrade in the future, you may not need to go shopping for other speakers, but could consider adding EQ instead since these speakers have the potential to sound quite a bit better if you use it.

I noticed that with certain songs I feel the woofers vibrate a little, especially one speaker vibrates more, has this happened to you too?

Are you hearing that or seeing it? I noticed visually there's an oscillation visible in the woofer's surround when playing a decent amount of bass, it looks a bit odd but doesn't seem audible so I wouldn't worry about it.

I was, however, able to drive them to audible distortion with the above EQ in testing fairly easily which was to be expected. I didn't have a high-pass on them at the time, which I would typically use on any ported speaker that isn't being crossed to a sub. Like most speakers this size, if you want deep bass with much volume, you really need to use a sub.

 

[robertospeed]

This is the clicking sound I hear in the woofers, I also have other speakers: Dali Spektor 1 and Indiana Line Utah 5 and they don't make any clicking sound.