PERFORMANCE (CONTINUED)
It’s in the treble where I found the Studio 180’s greatest strengths — and the one place where I felt it could stand improvement. Overall, the treble was stunning, and I use that word carefully: I was literally taken aback at how clear it sounded. Not only did the castanets in “Sentenza del Cuore: Allegro” from the Chesky Records CD of The Coryells sound clear; I could actually hear them echoing off the high walls and ceiling of St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan, where the CD was recorded. The fact that a recording I’ve heard on at least 1,000 different audio products, from iPod docks to $500,000 supersystems, impressed me so much through the Studio 180 speaks volumes.
However, super-high-frequency percussion instruments, such as the glockenspiel on “Shower the People” from James Taylor’s Live at the Beacon Theatre and the bell tree in “Once I Wished a Tree Upside Down” from Trilok Gurtu’s Living Magic, sounded overly crisp and a bit distorted. Given more money to spend on a tweeter, I expect JBL’s engineers could have corrected this flaw, but considering how few recordings I (and probably you) have that feature glockenspiel or bell tree, it’s not a major concern.
The other flaw in the Studio 180 is simply what it is: a full-range speaker. I’m used to hearing bass reproduced through perfectly positioned subwoofers. With any full-range speaker, the bass is compromised because you have to position the speakers primarily for the best midrange and treble reproduction — and the position that’s best for mid/treble is never going to be the optimum position for bass reproduction. While the Studio 180 delivered even deep synthesizer bass notes with ease, the low bass didn’t sound as even as I’m used to. There’s an easy fix for that, though: add a sub.
BOTTOM LINE
I’ve heard some amazingly good, relatively inexpensive tower speakers of late, including the Mordaunt-Short Aviano 6 and the NHT Absolute Tower, but I can’t think of a better value in a tower speaker than the Studio 180. This new JBL is iron-clad (well, actually fake woodgrain vinyl-clad) proof that it’s possible to improve a speaker’s looks without screwing up the sound.
Hopefully you will get a chance to compare these with the new Boston Acoustics A360 soon?
I will now learn not to underestimate the performance of a speaker based on how it looks. On first impressions, I wondered how a tower speaker like that could be good, but since I trust your judgement, your review really opened my eyes! I hope I have a chance to listen to the kinds of sound qualities this speaker can produce. I need to listen before I really make a decision whether to purchase.
I have owned these speakers for about 20 months now. After trying and bringing home 4 different sets of speakers ( KEF, Paradigm, Yamaha and Boston Acoustics) I have yet to find a better sounding speaker. Full rich spatial mids, responsive Base and Crystal Clear highs. Listening to everything from A-Z as a pretty eclectic music lover I have yet to come across a genre that these speakers have disappointed me with. Absolutely Amazing...
I have thease speakers connected to a Denon 1910 reciever with the 5.1 Infinity Beta Speakers. Is my reciever powerfull enough to handle all of the speakers at once? Is this Denon reciever perfect with thease speakers? Can you recomand some settings for setup them (crosswover,etc)?
Right now i am using the reciever in 7.1, should i change it to 5.1 for movies? How can i setup the my speakers with this reciever corectly? I know how i want them to sound but right now they don't make a big impresion. Shoud i change to a new Harman Kardon reciever?
@Mariandvd: Your Denon should work fine. IMHO, a decent receiver isn't going to be especially good or bad with any particular speaker. Switching to another brand will probably not give you dramatically better sound. You can use it in 7.1 for movies and music - whatever you like is fine, there are no hard and fast rules. You can run the JBLs full-range (or large) if you like. For the Infinity speakers, probably an 80 Hz crossover point will work well.
I don't recommend using the tone controls on the receiver. Set everything flat tonally, and be sure to balance the channel levels using an SPL meter. (The ones available as iPod and Droid apps will work fine.) Place the JBLs at least a foot from the wall behind them. BTW, you will probably get better sound with a matching system -- i.e., all-JBL or all-Infinity, and use speakers within the same line, like the Studio series.
Purchased a pair for a great price, somewhat based on this review and a few others....Firstly, in the manual the crossover points say 1.1kHz, 2.5kHz, 6dB/octave, not the 800Hz, 3.2kHz, 6dB/octave you state. The 190 shows the crossover points you speak of but it says different for the 180. Even JBL's 180 spec sheet shows your numbers when their manual doesn't?
Secondly, they could need more break in time but I'm not wowed with their sound overall and may send them back. They don’t stink, but there isn't anything about the sound that made me raise an eyebrow and get a big grin on my face like there was listening to my new Martin Logan Motion 12's while listening to one of Clapton's Crossroads guitar fest dvds the other day.
I feel the bass of these is more than ample but isn't super accurate sometimes and can lend a ever so slight muddy character to certain songs imo. They may be a great home theater speaker though and I may keep them for that reason alone if they shine there.
Overall they haven't kept me up at night listening to "just one more song" before I go to bed. I did hear things I hadn't with older 2 way speakers which is nice, but there is just something about the sound that seems restrained. Maybe that's because they are not broke in and will open up some later?
Thanks for a great site/mag, I just started subscribing and know it'll be a life long one. I'm officially in the wormhole of audio now, I just hope it doesn't cost too much.....yeah I know lol.