The Sound
A great catch phrase to go along with these speakers
could be "Stop and Listen". This is because their
presentation literally draws you into the world of
sound that is created by the musicians or the sound
designer.
All too often while I would demonstrate
particular scenes of movies, my guests would become
rowdy when I wanted to switch discs because they were
already drawn into the movie.
Several things I like
specifically about the total sound are an even
balance which allows the listener to explore the
different textures of the soundstage, an
exceptionally clear upper range that is very smooth
and airy, a midrange that is warm and full, and a
bottom end that is powerful but not overstated.
Overall, the combination of the paper-based mid and
low drivers and the ultrahigh drivers makes for an
aural combination that I grew very fond of very
fast.
The following are some specific notes.
Movie
Performance
Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith: During
the intro scene of the galactic cruiser flying
through space, my living room rumbled with the deep
sounds of the cruiser's engines. The bass was strong
and was felt in my gut, yet it was not boomy or
bloated.
As the movie progresses, the next thing that
struck me about the sound was plenty of subtle
detail that was present in the upper range. As action
panned from speaker to speaker the sound was precise
and clean, and movement from speaker to speaker was
literally seamless. Everything sounded very
ethereal. Laser guns were almost three dimensional
as they moved from front to back.
Highlighting the
center channel speaker for dialogue critique
resulted in excellent results as well. Voices
had a natural sound which was not nasal or chesty.
The clear upper range also made dialogue crisp and
intelligible. Overall, I liked both the tone and the
detail.
Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring: In
the scene "A Long-Expected Party", the action came to
life with the screaming sounds of the fireworks. The
sound of the whistling rockets was sharp and crisp
but not edgy. The large dragon that whooshed into
the town had a pronounced sound that was both full
with bass material as well as treble information.
The balance of the two was perfect, as one didn't
overpower the other.
Music Performance
I began music listening with the delightful pop
opera DVD entitled Amici Forever in Concert. This
DVD features the vocal talents of five classically
trained opera singers backed up by orchestral and
new age instruments. Specifically, there are two
female sopranos, two male tenors, and one male bass
baritone, and together they are billed as the first
opera band. This DVD would make for a great sound
quality test, as human voice reproduction is
something that audiophiles demand to sound natural.
In this case, five human voices would give some nice
variety for my listening. I'm going to cut to the
chase and say that the sound was magnificent with
exceptional tonal balance and a lack of coloration.
The sound was open and airy, and the rich detail of
the voices was played with remarkable accuracy as
well as having a
broad extension into the upper range. The lovely
soprano's voice came across with a tone that was
both natural and pure. Most important, was that the
sound was never brittle, brash, or edgy, even when
playing the very high notes of the soprano's
performances. The sounds of the orchestral and new
age instruments that accompanied the singers sounded
very full and were not lacking in any one particular
band.
I shifted gears and threw in a Led Zeppelin concert
DVD. I was very impressed with the clear upper range
that made Jimmy Paige's high velocity guitar solos
come through with fantastic articulation. I also
loved the tone of the guitar that the speakers
created. There was warmth and presence in the sound,
and on tracks such as track seven, the acoustic
guitars were open and airy, and the entire sound had
a lovely seamless texture as it played in my living
room. The Studio Ls were making an impression on me
that they were a system that could give music lovers
a pure connection into the passion of music listening.
Next up was the DVD audio recording of Steely Dan's
Two Against Nature album. This disc uses tight
compressed bass drums, and the recording is very
state of the art. Bass reproduction was very tight
and even, mid -bass was clear and pronounced, and the
highs were open with exceptional clarity and
smoothness. The electric bass guitar is an important
part of Steely Dan's music as it has its
roots in funk and rhythm and blues. The bass
performance from the Studio Ls was wonderful. The
sound was ultra-smooth and never overstated or
bloated. In fact, this balance helped to make
textures within the bass material easily
identifiable. The sounds of the conga drum and other
percussion instruments were also easily identifiable
on the soundstage because the balance was
exceptional. and no one frequency was overpowering
another. Bravo to the sound quality.
Conclusions
The JBL Studio L speaker lineup is fantastic and does every
sound medium complete justice in its intended
reproduction. The sound is exceptionally balanced,
and both movie and music playback is top notch. As I
imagined returning these review speakers back to JBL,
I envisioned the scene in Castaway where Tom Hank's
character loses his volleyball friend, Wilson, to
the waves of the ocean. I imagined myself running
down the street calling after the shipping truck
"Studio Ls" and parting with the wonderful sound I
had come to enjoy.
The bottom line is that I bought them for myself
and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone as an
excellent investment in home theater and music
listening enjoyment.
- Adrian
Wittenberg -