Thanks. Yeah, this is a tough call. I'm generally one to go on the overkill side of things when it comes to my audio and the 705 is in the "just enough" category so I'm having a hard time committing .

All I can tell you is that I sat down at the start of the demo and within 15 seconds of listening my wife looked at me and said "uh oh, your face is showing that buyers remorse look I know all too well".

Buyers remorse? Sorry, I can't remember your whole system. I know you've got the OS , but what is the buyers remorse?

I'm thinking of just putting 6 of the 705's in an Atmos 5.2.4 configuration along with the M2's and forgetting about it. I'm thinking you might be saying that would probably a good thing?

Gah! Damn you and your m2s! Every time I even think of getting more gear my wife ends up reminding me of how she NEEDS a new escalade!

Gah! Damn you and your m2s! Every time I even think of getting more gear my wife ends up reminding me of how she NEEDS a new escalade!

An Escalade is a luxury item...M2s are a %^$&#* necessity...what doesn't she get!!!!!

Don't think - Do. . Added: But also you might not even like the M2's, not everyone does. So don't sweat it.



Haha! So true...

Yea, it was unfortunate or maybe fortunate that the m2 was taken offline to show off the 705i by the time I got to jbl

I think you probably got at least a close fascimile of the M2 with the 705's, at least from a pure SQ standpoint. But judging a speaker at a show is absurd. It takes a lot of listening to truly judge a speaker, particularly a very accurate one. The more accurate, the more chameleon like a speaker becomes, and you end up judging the unique recording attributes more than the speaker. The less accurate a speaker and you hear more of the the unique speaker attributes, not the unique recording attributes.

What day do your 708i's arrive? I am eagerly awaiting your impressions

These were initially supposed to release in January. So clearly there is some issue, whether it's supply chain or design change issues is impossible to know. But clearly there's more to it than an unanticipated demand issues. I just hope they have it all figured out at this point .

Did you ever find out what the issue was? Even with already owning M2s, hopefully you're at least a little excited to be getting these soon

I dont think JBL has released anechoic measurements for these yet. That should tell is where the deficits are.

Active has advantages over passive without a doubt. The advantages are less distortion, decreased attack time, custom crossover integration by using DSP instead of passive components, better speaker protection from being overdriven. The disadvantage is cost in both design and set up. Active requires getting a signal and power to each speaker or multiple speaker wires if the amps are outside the speaker, passive only requires a speaker wire. With that being said it still comes down to design. There are some excellent passive speakers and mediocre active speakers and vice versa. However, if there is the same speaker in active and passive versions I will take the active speaker. But, things are rarely that simple.

The active design is also more friendly to correction of room related issues without advanced or extra equipment.

I though I saw a post of their max SPL but cant seem to find it now. DO we think the 708 would be loud enough to put behind a screen as your main LRC?

I was looking at the JBL cinema stuff and love the 305's I have. If I could get my HT speakers to play as loud as I needed and sound like my 305 I would be pleased at punch. Also the 708 looks to be front ported, Hello baffle wall!

708 is plenty loud for a 12 foot distance.

Distance is the determining factor as each doubling of distance is a drop by about -6db. I think many are rated at 1 meter/1watt for sensitivity.

So if you know every time you double wattage you gain about 3db - you can back into how many watts it will take to reach the volume level you want.

Commercial theaters are calibrated at 85db C weighted and often called on to do 100db+ peaks. Having 20db of headroom seems like something you want.

Frequency Response -1.5 dB @ 45Hz – 23kHz
Max SPL (80 Hz - 20 kHz) >108 dB SPL / 1m
Maximum Peak SPL (80 Hz - 20 kHz) >114 dB SPL / 1m

Specs look pretty good. ^

If it does 114db peak at 1m, then it does 111db at 2m, and 108db at 3m.

3.65m is 12 feet. So 85db constant with about 105db peaks seems to be reasonable with these at a 12ft distance.

I think you'd be surprised at how loud this actually is. Set your system C weighted at 85db constant with some pink noise (subs off !). Check it out. (Turn subs back on).

Any idea what kind of power will be required to safely achieve these levels? I haven't seen sensitivity specs posted anywhere.

708 is plenty loud for a 12 foot distance.

Distance is the determining factor as each doubling of distance is a drop by about -6db. I think many are rated at 1 meter/1watt for sensitivity.

So if you know every time you double wattage you gain about 3db - you can back into how many watts it will take to reach the volume level you want.

Commercial theaters are calibrated at 85db C weighted and often called on to do 100db+ peaks. Having 20db of headroom seems like something you want.

Frequency Response -1.5 dB @ 45Hz – 23kHz
Max SPL (80 Hz - 20 kHz) >108 dB SPL / 1m
Maximum Peak SPL (80 Hz - 20 kHz) >114 dB SPL / 1m

Specs look pretty good. ^



If it does 114db peak at 1m, then it does 111db at 2m, and 108db at 3m.

3.65m is 12 feet. So 85db constant with about 105db peaks seems to be reasonable with these at a 12ft distance.

I think you'd be surprised at how loud this actually is. Set your system C weighted at 85db constant with some pink noise (subs off !). Check it out. (Turn subs back on).

It drops 6 dB at 2m, not 3 dB, you should get 108 dB peak at 2m. 1 to 2m is doubling of distance, you said it yourself above.

Yeah good catch- I switch back from wattage doubling (3db) to distance doubling (-6db) when I realized the sensitivity rating was not posted. math isn't my friend I guess..

No, you are fine, every makes mistakes and slips up, I do it all the time.


I would try the 308, 708(I do love JBL) if it could play loud enough but I have my doubts sitting from 14 feet away. The cinema speakers won' fit in my baffle wall either. I have given up on my DIY skills and let JBL do the crosses for me.

Also, I know there has been some ambiguity regarding powered versions of the 7 series, but the latest info is that there will be powered versions "by the end of the year"...we shall see if that holds true. I certainly hope so.