The OFFICIAL JBL Owners Thread - Page 462

Ha, you sound like me. . . However after getting 6 of these in I can honestly say I think they are worth every penny.

Now that I look at Amazon, that price is only good for the black ones! The cherry ones are $580.. Yikes!!!

what do you guys recommend as far as speaker wire goes. i used to go to Frys to get those Monster THX SP 16 Gauge speaker wires and they were great. but unfortunately they're discontinued. what would you guys recommend. anyone have any experience with the Monster THX XP?

Any decent 16ga is fine up to 12 ft. Over 12 ft go with 14ga.

does it really matter 14ga for over 12ft? my concern is, i use those plastic speaker cages wrappers from Lowes to wrap the wires, since those cages/wrappers are made to stick on the wall to blend in with a plain white wall, i don't think they're thick enough to accommodate 14ga.

am i really going to hear a difference if i were to stick with 16ga? my surround speaker will definitely require routing the wires way longer than 12ft.

^^^'It won't make a huge difference, if any at all.

so i am now shopping for two sets of L820's (total of 4) to make a 7.1 setup. currently i only have two JBL Balcony as my two back surrouds (5.1 setup). but like i said, with the newest addition of EC35, now my front soundstage sounds so good and full and generous that my back feels small and lacking.

i think i asked this before but never got a definite answer. with my current setup of EC35 center, Stadium Mains, would 4 more L820 be a good additional to the 7.1 surround? obviously the two L820's for the sides, and two more for the back. what do you guys think.
Edited by howzz1854 - 3/21/13 at 4:46pm

That's what I got for my rears:

that's nice.

i just want a general consensus if it'll be a good match to my current setup.

Hello all, I'm new to the site but have read a lot of the excellent information you guys seem willing to pass along. I'm in the process of finishing my basement and have the opportunity to build my system mostly from scratch and am looking for some feedback based on your experience. I just purchased the Onkyo TX-NR5010 receiver and need to buy speakers.

Unfortunately I jumped the gun a little when Amazon had a sale on the ES line and I bought 2 of the ES250PBK subs, 2 of the ES90 BK speakers and 1 of the ES25C centers. Now after reading through much of this forum I think I'd prefer to use the L series instead. I will use the subs (or some combination of the 4 Infinity & JBL subs I already own) but have moved the ES25 to my bedroom and will likely try to sell the ES90s unless I can convince the wife they should also be in our bedroom...

At this point I'm pretty sure I'd like to set up a 9.2 configuration with rear surrounds and front highs, I don't really have the space to do front wides nor do I want to buy an external amp at this time. Here's my dilemma, I need to use in-ceiling speakers for my surrounds/rear surrounds because of the layout of the room and am not sure which speakers would work best with the LC2/L890s. JBL has the L228C/LS328C models but the construction on them seems to be completely different than the L8xxx series. Does anybody have any experience with these speakers or an idea of how well they match?

Second issue is what series to use for my front highs. I was going to buy the L820s but thought that might be overkill. Any opinions on using the L810s? How is the performance on these speakers, do they match well considering they're a 3 way speaker instead of a 4 way speaker? Also am I asking for trouble combining these speakers that are rated at 75 watts with the Onkyo 5010?

That's it for now, I appreciate any recommendations you could toss my way.
Edited by extreemist - 3/23/13 at 4:59am

I chose the L820s for surrounds to go with the L880/L890/LC2, better match as they are all the same design. L810s go better with the L830/LC1. Not saying it won't work but is a better match.

Yeah, the LC2 is a much better match to the L820's.

here's another question, the four L820's i am getting for the 7.1 setup (two surround sides, and two surround backs), are direct radiating speakers. i just did some research, and some say that it's not good to place direct radiating type satellite speakers directly to the side, since the sound will be too focused and takes the attention away from the movie. instead placing it farther to the rear to create a more diffused surround effect to create a more realistic ambient surround effect.

what are your thoughts?

Total BS. As long as the surrounds are set to the proper distance/sound level they will be good.

thanks for your input.

basically what i am asking is this:



or




has anyone tried both configurations with direct radiating speakers and have come to a definitive conclusion? this will really save me time and trouble of getting yelled at by the wife for drilling so many holes on the wall.

basically my receiver, Pioneer VSX 1120K has an option setting for either of those two configurations. i am just wondering which one will give a better and more realistic surround experience.

With your setup, it's arguable how much benefit you'll get from 7.1. The vast majority of available content is 5.1, with the surround channels being mixed with the intent of creating a sound field to the rear of the viewer. That doesn't mean it's less effective with the surround channels to the side, but its not what was intended and there will be occasions when you notice it.

Using a processor like PLIIx will shift some of the 5.1 audio to the back channels and might help. But I'd vote for the first configuration with all surrounds to the rear. The back channels should be spaced more or less equally to the front channels. The surround channels should be 10-15' to the rear of the viewer according to most "experts". That setup gives you the best reproduction of both 5.1 and 7.1 sources and still allows the use of something like PLIIx to blend 5.1 into 7.1. It's also the configuration that is assumed by mixing engineers.

I have tried it, this week in fact, and feel it absolutely matters, and why it's so commonly referred to in the majority of 5.1 setup manuals. My Performance Series manual specifically calls for this as does the Harmon Kardon AVR I use. The PS manual shows the rear PT800s with their leading edge tangent to the back of the couch, with the center of the PT800 SR/SL mounted 5 ft off the ground!!. the manual states "the two surround speakers should be placed slightly behind the listening position,and ideally, should face each other and be at a level higher than the listener's ears" The AVR manual has a 110 degree angle off the axis from listening position to TV.

I had 90 degree with tweets at ear level for the past year, because I have a sliding patio door at the rear left 110 degree position. However, I've felt the background sound in movies, sports, and music was aimed directly at me to the point of being annoying, even though I've sat in the seat with the Spears/Musil calibration disc that came with the OPPO 83SE, and decibel meter countless times. I never turned it down out of stubbornness because the meter showed balance.

Anyhow, last weekend I permanently remounted the SR speaker to the back, and started to move the SL speaker, which is on a stand in front of the sliding door, the same amount during critical listening. I'm extremely pleased with the change, not just "an eh, maybe, I think I hear it" psycho-acoustic fodder but definite sense of diffuse sound that is clearly in the backside of the room rather than shouting directly on axis into my right and left ears. Try it I think you'll find it makes a meaningful difference.

thanks for your input. i guess yours is 5.1 setup? my current 5.1 is also setup in a way that the surround R/L speakers are about 120 degrees fromt he center, so it's farther back than a 110 degree setup, and i too prefer it as well. it gives more depth and not in your face. but my dilema is when adding 7.1 to the mix.

i guess i'll just have to try both positions and see which i like better. hell looks like i'll just have to drill four sets of holes and spend more time testing.

I heard these guys have done it before a few times.

http://www.dolby.com/uploadedFiles/Assets/US/Doc/Consumer/Dolby-Home-Theatre-Speaker-Guide-7.1-6-8.pdf

http://www.dolby.com/gb/en/consumer/setup/connection-guide/home-theater-speaker-guide/index.html

For movies there is a little more "fudge factor" but for serious gaming the speakers must be in the correct position to:
1) Avoid friendly fire incidents that will get you kicked/banned from hardcore servers (PC).
2) Allow you to defend/attack with your eyes closed/in the dark.
3) Keep that Dogtag Hunter's knife out of your ribcage.

Edit: Since getting a new BD Player the main rig is now 4 L890s set to full range + LC2 in 5.1.
Edited by Bob7145 - 3/24/13 at 9:12pm

yeah i read that already.

so what are you saying... what's your opinion? surround on the side? or more like 120 degrees to the rear.

My opinion? There is no opinion. It's Dolby or it isn't. Even with 7.1 speakers, if the material is 5.1 the side speakers will be SILENT unless using a stereo to multichannel conversion or other conversion which defeats the purpose of Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA. Any deviance in speaker placement from the Dolby pattern will result in sounds coming from somewhere the engineer did not intend. Like the article reads, This is how you do it and here's a few degrees fudge factor.
But for gaming, if you hear some one behind you, turn around and he is not there then your speakers are in the wrong position.

Edit: Just to make it more confusing, you could follow THX plans - http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/surround-sound-speaker-set-up/

I switch my rig around once in a while just for fun. The 5.1 setup using the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD or 5.1 DTS-HD MA gives the highest quality sound to be reproduced on your speakers. On BlueRay discs you get either 192khz/24bit 5.1 channels or 96khz/24bit 7.1 channels. Take your pick if available on the disc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS-HD_Master_Audio
For my 5.1 rig the rear speakers are toward the corner of the room which is proper for PC gaming.

Here is another dilema. I had a 7.1 rig but when I tried to use the rear speakers as zone 2 it did not work because 5.1 disabled the side speakers and sent the rear channels to the.. wait, there is nothing there, the speakers are in zone 2. Newer receivers have dedicated zone 2 amps now but what works better is another multi-channel AVR in the other room.
7.1 is awsome when it works but 5.1 is more reliable and you never have to think about whether some setting needs changing.
My bedroom rig is 7.1 because I listen to Logic 7 most of the time.

Ha ha, I guess my opinion is... put your speakers wherever they sound best to you!
Edited by Bob7145 - 3/25/13 at 12:37am

I have my (5.1) Surround PT800s at 90-Deg about 5' off the floor. Works great for movies & concert BDs.

Placing the side surrounds @ 135* (basically in the corners) you don't really need the rear surrounds.
When I still lived in the last house I had I placed the sides @ 90* and the rears just to both sides of an 8'-8" archway (which spaced them about the same as the fronts.
Either way works, I'm only using 5.1 now, with the surrounds @ about 135*.

I've been running a 5.2 system in a smaller room (15x19) and we are moving to a new house with a finished room that is 22x32. I've been using JBL L830 for my R/L and my center channel is a LC1. I am thinking about using two pairs of JBL SP8IIs as my surrounds.

I love the L830's, but that is a big room to pump sound in. Because of the size of the room, I'm thinking maybe I should replace bookshelf speakers to towers? Would I be better off selling my L830's and purchasing Studio 190's or should I save my pennies and get a pair of L890's.

The L890 is a better speaker than the 190. In a room that size, you cannot have too much speaker. However, the real challenge will be subs, and I'd add 2 more. (placing one at the center of each wall)
But I'd also keep the L830s and use them for surrounds. Upgrading to an LC2 center might also be advisable.

The L830's have a port on the back. Don't they need to be at least a foot from a wall?

If you get wall mounts that would support the L830s away from the wall would work.

Fair enough. I was hoping to save a little money but if I end up replacing them in the near future that will negate anything I save up front. Any thoughts on the L228C or the LS328C speakers for the surrounds/rear surrounds? Not sure what else would work with the L890/L820/LC2 combo??
Edited by extreemist - 3/25/13 at 12:50pm

I am not familiar with the L228C or LS328C speakers. However I did not replace all of my speakers at the same time. They gradually got shuffled backwards and then into the next room where they got shuffled backwards again, haha. It never stops! As long as the Mains and Center match you will get much enjoyment while waiting to upgrade the surrounds.
I don't game as much as I used to so matching speakers is a little more important now. For gaming, WHERE the sound is coming from is more important than the quality of the boom especially when it is directed at you!
Been listening to some awesome music on DVD lately and matching speakers makes a difference if the engineer blended in some surround effects. Movies with slower dynamics (not Action movies) you can really tell when an object moves from one speaker to the next and the sounds stay the same instead of dropping treble or bass intensity (did I say that correctly?).

I'm also a huge fan of concert DVDs/BluRays so it's as important to me as the sound quality of movies. The issue with my rear speakers is more of a limitation of the space rather than that of budget so that's why I'm looking at in-ceiling speakers that will match the L890/LC2s. I think I'll just order a couple of the LS328s and see how well the blend with the other speakers. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

can anyone who have owned both JBL Stadium and JBL L890 comment on what one can expect from the upgrade. color, presentation, dynamic range, frequency response, soundstage etc.