Studio 590

[LowPhreak]

Welp, first I'm surprised that some of you (us) haven't had a statue or something erected somewhere in G.T.'s honor. Amazing what he can do given a $2k retail budget, let alone his other designs. So let's get off our asses and get that done.

Excerpts & edits of what I've written elsewhere on these:

...Other than the rise of 2.5-3dB centered around 8-9kHz, I can't find anything sonically to regret about them, especially considering the price (and my cost was even less than the usual 20% off retail sale like they're having again). So for $1600./pair on sale they're a great deal.

What they do well:

- Dispersion/Soundstage/Imaging
- Realism
- Low distortion and power compression (well...JBL)
- Bottom end
- Vocal/midrange clarity
- No undesirable "horn sound", (cupped hands, nasality, beaming).

I listen to a lot of progressive rock. The 590's have a great ability to keep instruments separated, i.e. things don't mash together on complex music or when you go louder, but I haven't had them much above 100dB yet (neighbors). One area of the frequency response generally doesn't suddenly become louder than the rest. However, I haven't had a high-power amp yet to really push them to their power limits, but they don't suffer with "only" the 150'ish w.p.c. this H/K puts out either. Decent efficiency.

The lower notes on songs like Genesis' 'Firth of Fifth', 'Squonk', or 'Dance On A Volcano', or ELP's 'Lucky Man', or Bruford/Levin's B.L.U.E. sound like they're coming from a good 15" woofer - clean, tight, big, and real, not boomy or wooly - and the rest of the sound is layered and well-defined. Nothing gets lost amongst heavier bass hits, and I hear no sense of strain. They can do 30Hz range easily on test tones and music if you care to boost it a little. On Beck's "The Golden Age", that single, light splash cymbal hit during the first bars is easily heard (yes it was a Paiste and sounded like one), and it's placed correctly in the soundstage. The snare drum on this track that Joey Waronker used sounds very good too, and I should know, I sometimes used to tune one of my snares (a Yamaha 14" x 6.5" copper model) to get the same sound as he had on that track.

I listen to jazz and classical too, world, reggae, blues, funk, etc. Miles' horn on 'Kind of Blue' is real, and stuff like Haydn's Cello and Violin Concertos and Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Clarinet, piano, and stand-up bass with Bill Bruford's Earthworks acoustic jazz sound very good.

IMO they (and 98% of other speakers) need proper EQ - something that I've migrated to over the years instead of tolerating unhappy FR curves and/or room acoustics, or swapping 137 different cables and components trying to get a decent FR. So for this room (asymmetric 26.5' x 20'), after a lot of listening & experimenting here's what I have on the Soundcraftsmen:


15,360 Hz: +1.5dB
7,680: -4.5
3,840: -3.0
1,920: Flat
960: Flat
480: -1.5
240: -4.0
120: -3.5
60: -2.0
30: +5 or 6.0

I generally leave it there for all music, though personal bias I generally like a bit less in the 100-500Hz range or some frequencies in that range. On test tones there's some reinforcement in the 140-180Hz range in this room, so a good para or 1/3 octave would be nice, or room treatments. The center of the horn (with spikes) is 41" high - IMO a good seated height. It would be nice to have a wood veneer, but for the price I can live with the finish.

Some independent measurements: http://i.nextmedia.com.au/avhub/aust...ers-review.pdf No crazy phase angles that matter, fairly easy to drive, nice FR curve, etc.

They beat the last few speakers I've had, including Nautilus 803's, 4412's, big-ass Maggie Tympani IV-D's, and except for sheer power handling & output, SR4725X's. Even used/demo I can't afford 1400 Arrays anymore so 590's are the next best thing.

[fpitas]

I think everyone here already knows that G.T. is a talented engineer, but those are quite a bargain. Happy listening!

[JBLAddict]

lot of extremely positive comments from Studio 5xx owners on the JBL AVS forum echoing your statements, and from what TiDome said in relation to offloading his PS gear in part from hearing the 530 side by side with a PT800, has had me thinking of picking up a pair for some months....

[LowPhreak]

I think everyone here already knows that G.T. is a talented engineer,...

Yeah, that was just a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor about us JBL fans and G.T. I think his contributions can't be overstated.


JBLAddict - I'm not much of a HT guy, mainly 2-ch, but if this room wasn't so oddly shaped I might have gotten a Rear set of 530's or 570's for occasional fill/ambience.

[JuniorJBL]

I have the 580's and the 12" sub in cherry and they are really nice sounding. They do everything that you say in every respect. I have heard the 590's as well and they are very good too!

The 580's are quite impressive as well being dual 6 1/2" drivers. They truly don't need much help other than getting them matched to the room!!

[LowPhreak]

I had 580's for a few weeks, but because of QC reasons on 2 pairs I ended up with 590's. I don't feel much need for a sub with the 590's (and neighbors probably wouldn't appreciate it ), but if I did I might try to find a used REL Stadium III and bring it in pretty low. Not only for the last 10Hz or so, but what the better REL's do for the sense of ease, air, and soundstage with the mains is remarkable. My old Stentor III (or a pair of them), Studio II/III's, or the new Gibraltar's I'm completely certain would improve any JBL main speaker on the forum, or most any other speaker.

[Dave_72]

I had 580's for a few weeks, but because of QC reasons on 2 pairs I ended up with 590's. I don't feel much need for a sub with the 590's (and neighbors probably wouldn't appreciate it ), but if I did I might try to find a used REL Stadium III and bring it in pretty low. Not only for the last 10Hz or so, but what the better REL's do for the sense of ease, air, and soundstage with the mains is remarkable. My old Stentor III (or a pair of them), Studio II/III's, or the new Gibraltar's I'm completely certain would improve any JBL main speaker on the forum, or most any other speaker.

How does REL compare with say, Velodyne? Thanks.

[LowPhreak]

I never directly compared Velo with REL, since I've only had one of the smaller Velo's in the 90's (I think a ULD-12?) for maybe a week, then replaced it with an Entec that popped up at a great price and was a better match for my Martin-Logan CLS-II's at the time. I can say the Velodyne couldn't hang with the Entec for speed and definition though. It's likely the newer Velo's are improved since then.

For audio mode, REL's take input from your main amp's speaker outputs instead of from the pre-amp outs, (they do connect to the pre-amp for HT mode .1 channel though), and their LPF X-O adjustments and power amps are excellent. That way the sub gets the same signal as the speakers and I think it makes a big difference. They don't HPF to the satellites so they still run full-range and there's no X-O degradation there. Once you get the sub positioned right and dialed in, the net effect is your speakers simply sound like they've gained the last octave but don't sound like a separate sub is playing, and the detail, soundstage, and placement cues all improve. When I turned off the REL, I could immediately hear it was gone and not just the lowest bass.

It's not a "brute force" approach like having a couple of 18's in big boxes with giant amps, though I never felt the Stentor was lacking power or becoming non-linear when I pushed the N803's hard. With REL, it's about retrieving info in the low end and getting a seamless blend with the mains so you can't tell there's a sub.

I don't know how good their digital amps sound, but I can recommend their MOSFET amps like in the older Stadium, Stentor, Studio. I think for recent models only the G-1 and G-2 use the MOSFETs.

[Dave_72]

I never directly compared Velo with REL, since I've only had one of the smaller Velo's in the 90's (I think a ULD-12?) for maybe a week, then replaced it with an Entec that popped up at a great price and was a better match for my Martin-Logan CLS-II's at the time. I can say the Velodyne couldn't hang with the Entec for speed and definition though. It's likely the newer Velo's are improved since then.

For audio mode, REL's take input from your main amp's speaker outputs instead of from the pre-amp outs, (they do connect to the pre-amp for HT mode .1 channel though), and their LPF X-O adjustments and power amps are excellent. That way the sub gets the same signal as the speakers and I think it makes a big difference. They don't HPF to the satellites so they still run full-range and there's no X-O degradation there. Once you get the sub positioned right and dialed in, the net effect is your speakers simply sound like they've gained the last octave but don't sound like a separate sub is playing, and the detail, soundstage, and placement cues all improve. When I turned off the REL, I could immediately hear it was gone and not just the lowest bass.

It's not a "brute force" approach like having a couple of 18's in big boxes with giant amps, though I never felt the Stentor was lacking power or becoming non-linear when I pushed the N803's hard. With REL, it's about retrieving info in the low end and getting a seamless blend with the mains so you can't tell there's a sub.

I don't know how good their digital amps sound, but I can recommend their MOSFET amps like in the older Stadium, Stentor, Studio. I think for recent models only the G-1 and G-2 use the MOSFETs.

Cool, thanks for the info. Sounds good.