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View Full Version : My experience of JBL L890 and questions...



spooky
03-05-2006, 06:57 AM
Well, I would say I am not an "experienced" listener and just discovered recently the hifi world. I am looking for a stereo music system and had the chance to test Jamo (don't remember the exact model, just remember it was around $700) and JBL 880 and 890, as well as another speaker brand in the same price tag, all with the same amplifiers (Denon 1500AE and 1055). I listened to classical (voices) and jazz with a Denon DCD-1500AE CD player.
I found that the 890 had more bass than all the others, but I can't say if the 890 had exagerated bass volumes or if others lacked bass. As for medium and high (or very high...), I do not remember of substantial differences (this tells you how much my ears are untrained:D ), though dogs may have different opinions:p (40 kHz...). Interestingly I found that the 880 basses were clearly lower than the 890. I went twice in the shop and reached the same conclusion each time.
In another shop, I also had the opportunity to listen to B&W 704 and Cabasse speakers. I found that they were lacking bass (classical and pop). I tried several models from Cabasse and B&W and found that basses were better as the price tag was higher :applaud:
Ok, this is for my rookie listening experience.
Then, I did my homework and checked out the frequency responses of those speakers. For instance:
B&W 704: 40 Hz - 25 kHz (+/-3dB)
B&W 703: 38 Hz - 25 kHz (+/-3dB)
L890: 28 Hz - 40 kHz (+/-3dB) :blah:

That matched my humble listening :banghead: now my questions are:
* Is there too much bass in the L890 for music playing? :bs: (this is also what I heard here and there)... or does it simply totally outperforms competitors of similar prices?
* Is L890 only for HT?

Uh, would I dare to talk about the weight? Ok, I may be really stupid to talk about $ per kG criteria, but with:

54 lb (24.5kg) I think few come close to that JBL ratio ;) but I guess it does not mean much.

Comments?

oznob
03-05-2006, 09:28 PM
Hi spooky and welcome to the forum! That's a great song by the way! I'm sure your ears have not deceived you. You can read specs, reviews, opinions etc. but what it comes down to is what sounds better to you. We here on the forum obviously have a passion for all things JBL, old and new. We know the experience of the designers and techs who pour their heart and soul into these speakers to make them the best they can be. There have been some positive threads on the performance of the new L series. If you click on the search link and type in L890, you will find some thoughts from members. I have been wanting to listen to them but I can't seem to find a retailer in my area that carries them. As far as your question on too much bass for music, I for one am a big fan of JBL's because they do bass right! You should look for a balanced sound accross the spectrum and bass is key to listening satisfaction IMHO. Again, trust your ears. Take some of your own CD's when auditioning and critically listen to the highs, mids, lows and subtleties in the music. I think you will find no one does it better than JBL. Have fun with your listening!:applaud:

Mark

spooky
03-06-2006, 12:37 PM
Thanks Oznob for your kind answer. I also read the others posts on L890, but obviously there not so many reviews of these speakers and I feel a bit lonely with my L890 questions and my ears :barf:

Fred.

crashtcs
07-01-2006, 12:02 AM
I may or may not be an "audiophile", I can't see spending as much for speakers as a new luxury vehicle (can't justify them either), but I do think I have some listening smarts. Here's my Studio L story, which might help you decide. I listened to the 890s at Showcase in Phx, AZ along side comparable priced Polks, and some fancy Martin Logan speakers. I could hear the differences between all of them, the Martin Logans were way out of my spending range so they didn't matter, but I liked both JBL and Polk whilst the salesman was playing some Jazz music. The salesman seemed very knowlegeable, and experienced (many years older than I, and an ex-trumpet palyer), and he favored the JBL 890s, switching back and forth for me, and pointing out why. I could understand his opinion, and agreed most of the time, but could also here sounds in the Polks which I preferred over the JBLs. But, I liked the 890s overall for sound and looks (cherry w/o cover). I also listened to the 880s, and comparable Polks, and thought the Polks were better than the 880s, especially in with bass, but the 880s bass was better than the 890s. So, I slept on it a few days, and went to a different Showcase store in town, and listened to them again, with a different salesman. Admitedly, I liked all for different reasons, but I really liked the bass, midrange, and highs of the JBL890s when combined with a decent sub. So, I took the 890s home, and to test with my (probably conservative) 10" Velodyne sub. Well, they rocked! I was soo impressed by the depth at low, midrange, and high clarity that went back for more. I listen to music 90% of the time, and HT 10% of the time, so the 890s made sense for that. So, I wanted kick-butt 5 channel stereo, which I feel translates to better than that kick-butt HT sound. After a couple of weeks with the 890s, mixed with some inferior surround speakers, I got the 810s for surround/rear speakers. They were amazing compared to the other speakers I was using becuase they matches so perctly. But, they were missing the 5 channel depth I wanted for music (HT was fine). I replaced them with the L330s, and WOW, what a difference. JBL890s for mains, and 330s for surround/rears compliment each other so good it was amazing. But, wait, I had a crappy center channel that made listening to HT, HDTV, and 5 channel stereo crappy. So, after much more investigation I decided I had to get a Studio L center channel to make my life complete. I listened to the CL1 at the local shop and it didn't seem to make a life changing experience, but they didn't have an LC2, but I decided to order the LC2 (what the Hell, I bought the 890s, 330s, why skimp $100 on the center channel at this point). The LC2, L890, and L330 are an amazing combination for me. The 890s and 330s together were awesome, then adding the LC2 just made the experience come alive. I'm happy! Maybe spending a few more thousand+ would be better, but it doesn't seem worth it for me! Listening to Phil Collins, Our Lady Peace, Wyton Marsalis, Metallica, and even (God forbid) Garth Brooks sound great with this setup!

spkrman57
07-01-2006, 06:02 AM
Do you have them on stands off the ground to remove the ground reflections!

Ron