Hear the Truth - JBL 230 Review

witchdoctor

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2016
337
5
148
Hear the truth is JBL's motto. I feel that if a majority of music and movies are mastered on JBL's that using a good JBL speaker will give you the best opportunity to hear what the engineer heard in the studio. The fact that a majority of movie theaters and concert halls use JBL's kind of validates that JBL must be doing something right. I was looking for a bookshelf speaker for my desktop and decided to go JBL. I auditioned the LSR 305 and 308 at Guitar Center under less than ideal conditions and they just sounded a little bright for my taste. I found out later that their is a contour knob for the treble so you can dial it in but I didn't get the opportunity to try it during my audition. Next I heard great things about the 530's but I saw feedback from a guy on Amazon who owned the 830, the 530 and the 230 and he preferred the 230's which are the least expensive of the three. I did a little research and found out that the Studio 2 series uses trickle down tech from the latest and greatest JBL studio monitor, the M2. Charles Sprinkle an engineer with JBL commented how even though some of the components like the new wave guide are a superior design they actually lend themselves to lower manufacturing cost because the tooling needed for them are less complex. So I decided to give the Studio 230's an in home audition. They are being driven with Parasounds ZDac, Zamp v3 and Zpre v2 and connected with Mapleshade cables.
If I had to use one word to describe the 230's I would call them articulate. If an instrument is in the mix, no matter how subtle, it presents itself in its own space within the soundstage, no smearing and getting lost in the mix. The second thing about these speakers is the coherency of the music, from top to bottom within their range. The bass is tight, the highs are airy, and the amount of detail they present can make the speaker sound bright if you are not accustomed to that level of detail in the treble. I do have them paired with a TBI subwoofer http://www.stereotimes.com/speak112204.shtml which pretty much disappears with any speaker you mate it with.
I have not had the opportunity to compare the 230's with the other JBL bookshelfs or Revel's. Every time I am tempted to try another more expensive speaker I just turn my system on and can't imagine switching because these are just so pleasant to listen to. If you get an opportunity to check out the 230's or any of the Studio 2 series I would recommend it.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Thanks for the review. At $400/pair, I should give them a try :). The cross pollination between Harman's luxury group and JBL has really advanced the position of JBL into audiophile territory.
 

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