JBL Studio A130 Bookshelf speakers (1 Viewer)

[Mike Up]

What's everyone think of these? They have great reviews and arent as bright as many more popular speakers despite have a horn guide on their aluminium tweeters.

Price is low and many have said these speakers compete and better others. 2X and 3X their price

 

[Mike Up]

Software wont let me edit, but the speaker is Stage A130, not studio

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

In that price range, I'd probably just go w/ ELAC Debut 2.0 instead, especially given the current (frequently recurring) sale. Probably go w/ the B6.2 for the extra ~$40 -- if really on very tight budget, maybe try ordering direct from ELAC to save on sales tax, especially if your tax rate is rather high like NY here.

_Man_

 

[Mike Up]

In that price range, I'd probably just go w/ ELAC Debut 2.0 instead, especially given the current (frequently recurring) sale. Probably go w/ the B6.2 for the extra ~$40 -- if really on very tight budget, maybe try ordering direct from ELAC to save on sales tax, especially if your tax rate is rather high like NY here.

_Man_

The 6.2 maybe but the 5.2 are about the brightest speakers I've heard. None the less, the JBLs tonally sound better to me than both the debuts.

Why would you go with those Elacs over the A130s?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I don't have actual experience w/ the JBLs, and I'm not aware of them being particularly great -- for my $ (and tastes), I just don't imagine them beating the ELACs, but YMMV of course.

And of course, if you've already done the comparison w/ a good/proper setup and just don't like the ELAC's sound as much, that's all that really matters. There's plenty of subjectivity w/ speaker sound pref afterall...

_Man_

 

[Mike Up]

The upper end Elacs are good but after hearing how bright those cheaper Debuts were, I investigated and they are really elevated in the treble with some saying Elac cheaped out and didn't add resistors to bring them down to match the woofer output.

The JBL tonally sounded really good next to PSB, KEF, Polk, and wharedale. They sounding really good with a mild midrange boost. After investigating, just as I heard, the minor midrange boost was shown in measurements but the rest of the speaker was more accurate than most. ASR rated it very highly over speakers costing 3X as much. While I usually hate horn loaded tweeters, these aren't compression but aluminum dome and sound more laid back then many speakers.

Cheap Audioman said imaging and soundstaging on the A130s were excellent. I just wanted to know what actual owner's experience with them were. I really like speakers that can image and soundstage well as I've had some that were just terrible. I also like them to have good tonal voicing that's not too dark or too bright.

My current TSI100 have excellent imaging and soundstaging. Their tonal voice is very good as well with rises in the high midrange but mid and high treble aren't bad like some speakers. I wouldn't call them bright at all as the Infinity Reference speakers they replaced were bright and unrealistic sounding. The Polk TSI sounds really good. The Polk ES sounds better than the previous S series and ASR also highly recommend the Polk ES20 saying they were better than many more expensive speakers.

I've heard a lot of very expensive 'bright' speakers from brands that many love, but they would drive me nuts.

I'm not sure I'd like the JBLs better than my current Polk TSI100s but they really seem like a winner as I just read constant reviews praising them. My TSI100s were praised in a lot of reviews but ASR gave a bad review for previous model Monitor 40s that are similar to the TSI series but not the same. Unfortunately one of the speakers were damaged badly in delivery to ASR and they still reviewed them. I can't help but feel even the 'good' speaker couldn't be trusted as it was abused in shipping.

 

[Jim517]

I really like my Stage A130s. They're used for home theater and music.

 

[Mike Up]

I really like my Stage A130s. They're used for home theater and music.

Thanks!

 

[Mike Up]

Well I just ordered the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 and C6.2. I'll see if I like them. They seem a lot more accurate and aren't bright like the B5.2 speakers.

 

[Mike Up]

I decided against the JBL as I read good reviews but some negative reviews as well.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well I just ordered the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 and C6.2. I'll see if I like them. They seem a lot more accurate and aren't bright like the B5.2 speakers.

Well, theoretically, if you bought them direct from ELAC and don't like them, they do accept returns for full refund (w/in 30 days?), but since return shipping won't be free AFAIK (nor probably quite that cheap) and they aren't that expensive anyway, especially at the current sale prices, I imagine you'd probably have to hate them to bother trying to return them, heh...

I actually don't mind the slightly bright B5.2s, but then again, I only use those for surrounds. I actually went w/ the UniFi 2.0 floorstanders for the front L/R (and a matching center of course).

What I really wanted was to go w/ some big, old, (very) power/current hungry, space-hogging, used Thiels (and an additional beefy amp to feed them), but a las... had to do a 180 about-face (and can't even fit my tiring, old Vandersteens in my current space anymore) -- part of the reason I went w/ the ELACs is they can actually barely fit my current, rather tight space...

Anyhoo, enjoy your new Debut 2.0s!



_Man_

 

[Mike Up]

Thanks!

The Elac B6.2 and C6.2 aren't as bright as the B5.2 and is the reason why I went with those. Actually the B6.2 is very well reviewed with good measurements as is the C6.2. Plus the B6.2 are only $40 more for the pair over the B5.2s and the C6.2 is only $70 more than the C5.2. The C6.2 while having dual 6-1/2" woofers, still has a shorter height and is only 1/2" taller than the C5.2.

I think I'll really like them.

While I really like my TSI100s, I thought they were missing some midrange. I bought them mainly because I got the Polk TL1600 for the smaller media room and was very impressed just how good and realistic sounding those small speakers were. The TSI100s sounded and imaged great but was missing some lower midrange I liked in the TL1s, plus the imaging on the TSI100s was more sensitive to seating position than the small TL1 speakers. I want to see how the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2s image as well as having a bit fuller sound than the TSI100s. However tonality is different on every model of speaker, even included in the same brand as none of Polks speaker lines sound like any other of their speakers lines. So one model line's tonality could sound better than another's based solely on the type of music being played.

I seen Erins corner tested these B6.2 and biggest negative is compression at higher sound levels. However as trustworthy as Erins corner is, I think something is going on with his equipment as his test results seem different than any other reviewers results.

I bought from Amazon so I'll see how everything goes. I don't really anticipate on sending these back but Amazon usually has a great return policy.

I did think about getting Wharfedale diamonds as my buddy loved his Denton 80s but they seemed a bit to laid back and dark, as I don't know if I'd like them in my room. Also thought about Emotivas but their 4 ohm loads and low sensitivity didn't seem like a good match to a receiver.

I'm with you on older speakers. So many speaker brands have vanished. There used to be so many good speakers to choose from in all price ranges. Now pickings are slim and more expensive speakers don't seem to have a lot of benefits over the cheaper speakers.

What really stinks is there's no show rooms anymore. So all you can really do is go by reviews and your own trial and error. I never bought equipment off the internet before when there use to be so many brick and mortar stores. Now you are forced to buy internet if you want something good.