A pleasant surprise - JBL L 890s

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Krish
Stammgast
#1 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 05:46
I happened to drop in to the H/K JBL showroom at the Atria Mall in Worli on Friday and spent close to an hour and some listening to the JBL L890s.

To do the speakers and my ears justice, I asked for them to be driven by a stereo amp. Fortunately the showroom folks happened to have a H/K stereo amp at hand, the H/K 970. However we had to make do with a H/K DVD player as the source.

The speakers are 4 way, featuring Rigid PolyPlas woofer cones and HF and UHF dome tweeters. The stated frequency response is 28Hz – 40kHz.

We played mostly Jazz and a bit of Western Classical music -Joao Gilberto/Astrud Gilberto, Patricia Barber, Maria Pires/Andre Previn.

Here is my first impression.

These speakers are a revelation. I was expecting the typical brash and bright JBL signature sound. How wrong was I. These speakers are very polite and restrained, the bass is very tight, the midrange liquid and the imaging and sound staging, very, very good.

However there is one flaw, an Achilles heel, one blot on the otherwise balmy soundscape- the treble. It is excessively and annoyingly bright. It tends to overwhelm the sonic palette. Interestingly this seemed less evident when I played the classical CD.I kinda attributed it to the source and the amplifier. I think that a more polite source and amplifier would correct the problem to some extent Another reason could be that the speakers were just out of the box and had not been 'broken in' properly.

These speakers are massive and the build quality is top class and the asking price is around Rs 75,000.

All in all worth an audition.

I must also put in a word for Keegan Paes. For his patience and general good humour.I was also impressed by the fact that he was remarkably well informed.An audiophile in a HT showroom...

BTW he would be more than willing to demo the speakers for you, with your own amp.Good show Keegan, if you happen to read this

Guys, do give these speakers a listen and let me know what you think.


[Beitrag von Krish am 18. Sep 2006, 10:55 bearbeitet]
Arj
Inventar
#2 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 06:54
hi krish.."pre conceived notions" about brands is the worst disservice we could do to ourselves in this.

JBLs are actually an excellent brand and their flagship speakers and monitors are really good.. best of all they are high sensitivity hence requireing low currents so most amps can drive them
SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt
#3 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 07:40

hi krish.."pre conceived notions" about brands is the worst disservice we could do to ourselves in this.


You are right! In fact I suggest everyone give a listen to anything they come across irrespective of brand and broaden their horizons for choice...
Krish
Stammgast
#4 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 07:48

Arj schrieb:
hi krish.."pre conceived notions" about brands is the worst disservice we could do to ourselves in this.

JBLs are actually an excellent brand and their flagship speakers and monitors are really good.. best of all they are high sensitivity hence requireing low currents so most amps can drive them


True enough...

But tell me this.Outside of the Infinity series, how often does the name JBL crop up on this forum ??

It's perhaps also to do with the fact that JBL & H/K focus all their effort on cultivating the home theatre market.

In fact, were it not for Keegan who went that extra mile to set up a stereo unit, I would have perhaps ended up dismissing them too.

BTW I also happened to hear the more expensive Project Array speakers and atleast I prefer the less expensive L 890s

K
Jeeves
Stammgast
#5 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 09:29
I had a pair of JBL LX800 flrs speakers for over 8 years and they were fantastic. I had a Carver integrated 65 rms/ch driving them and they could handle just about any kind of music. I then lived in a house with 20' ceilings and the accoustics weree to die for. I will always fondly remember the LX800!
Arj
Inventar
#6 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 10:17

Krish schrieb:


But tell me this.Outside of the Infinity series, how often does the name JBL crop up on this forum ??

It's perhaps also to do with the fact that JBL & H/K focus all their effort on cultivating the home theatre market.



we as other manufacturers they are also banking oin the HT segment.
Infinity was part of the HK fold much later. they were known for some very excellently neutral systems before the RS6OO etc.. also the original Kappa systems very much on the SF stradivery form factor !.

JBL as an audiophile brand in hors is very well accepted and loved in Japan. in fact thay have many Japan specific Offerings.

Even with regard to berillium tweeters which were used by JM lab as a "niche", JBLs were the forst (I think along with Yamaha..another "historical" audiophile brand)
Krish
Stammgast
#7 erstellt: 18. Sep 2006, 11:15
Hi,

It would be interesting to do a shoot out between the Kef iQ9, Monitor Audio RS 8 and the JBL 890Ls

What do you guys think ?

What Hifi India A/V Max are you listening ??

K
Manek
Inventar
#8 erstellt: 19. Sep 2006, 03:39
heard them....the horn tweeter is a bit out of control and needed better integration with the other drivers otherwise its decent speaker system.

Need to check em out with better amps though.

Manek.
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