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Should I replace my center speaker: from jbl stage a125c to polk s30?

deadchip12

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Aug 1, 2019
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Silly me not reading the review of the jbl stage a125c and just purchased it thinking it would timbre match the fronts (which are the jbl stage a130s, bought after good reviews by Amir and other reviewers). Now I recently came to this forum to check and the jbl seems to receive a terrible review from Amir. The polk S30, on the other hand, is more well received, and it's a lot cheaper than the jbl as well. My budget is less than $500 for the center speaker (the jbl costs $300 here and the polk costs $200). Should I try to get rid of the jbl and get the polk? Or get sth else entirely? I sit at dead center and there are no listeners other than me.

Pic of the setup:
IMG_20220708_082508.jpg
 

beagleman

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Sep 24, 2020
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Honestly would keep the JBL you have right now, BUT>>>I see a huge potential for improvement in your set up!
The overall response is "Good enough", with your center, and as far as the narrow dispersion, with only you as the listener, not really a problem at all.

It would benefit greatly with some carpeting of some type and some acoustic absorption in a few key places. That would render FAR less echo and reflections and make things far more intelligible overall.

What are the dimensions of that room?
And what does the other side of the room look like?
 
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deadchip12

Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
94
Likes
22
Honestly would keep the JBL you have right now, BUT>>>I see a huge potential for improvement in your set up!
The overall response is "Good enough", with your center, and as far as the narrow dispersion, with only you as the listener, not really a problem at all.

It would benefit greatly with some carpeting of some type and some acoustic absorption in a few key places. That would render FAR less echo and reflections and make things far more intelligible overall.

What are the dimensions of that room?
And what does the other side of the room look like?
Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Actually I don't find the dialogue coming from the center unintelligible at all. Most if not everything sounds clear and pretty damn good overall to my ears. It's just that I read Amir's review and he seems to have nothing good to say about this center speaker, so I wonder if other in-similar-price-range options like the polk s30 is much better.

My setup is in my bedroom. The listening area you see in the picture is about 2.7mx3.5m. The other side of the room is just my bed next to a wall.

I thought about adding acoustics panels but there's no place in my country selling decent ones, and I don't really have the necessary skills to make them myself. Also, to my knowledge, room treatment is not worth it unless you do it properly; adding foams or thin acoustic panels will not solve anything but worsen the sounds. They need to be thick and dense. Having 10cm thick acoustic panels on the walls/ceilings and 40cm thick bass traps at the corner in my bedroom is a scary thought though. At the moment, I'm quite happy with how the setup sounds. Soundstage and imaging are great. I don't think the echo is so bad that it ruins the listening experience. I expected way worse, but am pleasantly surprised at how good it still sounds without any room treatment.
 
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