Oops I did it again...

[Mr Peabody]

Krell supports SACD but unfortunately those players get up in price unless finding a good deal used or at Spearitsound.

[frenchmon]

I am using the AntiCables bi-wired. Any complaints of dryness or lack of sparkle in the highs has been remedied. I liked the Rocket's with the OML1's but they held back the Studio 530's. Who knew that my budget speakers would sound so good with less expensive cables?

I do not think music in my room has ever sounded this good. The Marant SA8001 and the modded Rega are great sources. The Krell S-300i is neutral to the point of being difficult to describe. The Studio 530's are one of those rare designs that sound better than could be imagined. Greg Timbers is a genius.

Yeah I betcha the Sa8001 is sounding good. I have a feeling in about a year I will be ready for an CDP upgrade and the Marantz Reference is on my mind. I don't have a money tree n the back yard like some people so I cant get a Levinson player.... I only wish I could get a good listen before I purchase one.

[JohnMichael]

Yeah I betcha the Sa8001 is sounding good. I have a feeling in about a year I will be ready for an CDP upgrade and the Marantz Reference is on my mind. I don't have a money tree n the back yard like some people so I cant get a Levinson player.... I only wish I could get a good listen before I purchase one.

Something tells me you will get the chance to listen.

[JohnMichael]

One of the benefits of the Studio 530/AntiCable combination is the 530's sound better, fuller at low levels. Levels where the music sounded thin and ghostlike are now more satisfying. Of course all sounds good with greater volume.It was easy to place the speakers in my room. I spent much less time to find their sweet spot than I did with the RS6's and OML 1's. I wonder if I ever found a sweet spot for the RS6's. I now have the best cable combination for the speakers. Best of all I have no need to switch speakers. Now I can sit back and enjoy the music.

[JohnMichael]

I had a dream night before last. I dreamt that as my blood levels continue to drop I became to weak to do much physical activity. In the dream I really wanted to hear the Monitor Audio RS6's. Well this nag at me until I hooked them up yesterday evening. Today listening to Mahler's 9th I thought everything sounded thin and metallic. I began to question the recording, the cd player and then I remembered this is what always happens when I listen to the RS6's. The Studio 530's are back in place and sounding so much better that Mahler's 9th is enjoyable again.

When I do become weak I will know moving the RS6's out will not be worth the effort.

[JohnMichael]

I had posted a picture of my set up with my system and JBL Studio 530's on the JBL Facebook page. I did not see anyone else extoling the virtues of the two way Studio 5 series. Everyone was posting three or more ways JBL's. I have JBL's that JBL fans largely ignore.

What Hi-Fi gives them 5 stars and I think they are quite good. Oddly they seem to be ignored by JBL fans. I think this says a lot about the sound quality.

[Mr Peabody]

Yeah, I don't understand JBL's distribution, I pretty much disregarded them as a brand until I met a guy who carried them as a custom installer, when I heard the Array and LS series I changed my opinion of JBL, and now the Studio series. It seems to me that some of JBL's best stuff is not well known about.

[JohnMichael]

I was surprised when they were given a good review in a British audio magazine before I saw any ads or other reviews. When I looked on Google Images for the speakers there were a lot of pictures from Asian magazines.

Until my interest in the Studio 530's I had not listened to JBL speakers since the L19's of the early 80's. Judging by what I saw searching the web when people buy JBL they want multiple drivers. Dual woofers, midrange, tweeter and super tweeter are of more interest than a simple two way. The Studio 530's have only one small woofer and no shiny tweeter. They just have great sound but is that enough?

[TheHills44060]

My latest experience with JBL was a really nice pro setup. I went to a local winery here on the lake last summer and the band playing that night had nice JBL monitors. They had volume but didn't singe my ears and they never seemed stressed. Last time i heard JBL's in a home atmosphere was back in college through a haze of Milwaukee's Best and dirt weed.

[filecat13]

My latest experience with JBL was a really nice pro setup. I went to a local winery here on the lake last summer and the band playing that night had nice JBL monitors. They had volume but didn't singe my ears and they never seemed stressed. Last time i heard JBL's in a home atmosphere was back in college through a haze of Milwaukee's Best and dirt weed.

Which winery? I did grad school at CWRU and visited a fair number of Ohio vintners.

Believe me, everyone, no one feels the pain of Harman's US marketing strategy for the JBL brand more than long-standing JBL fans. Well, TTTT, I suppose the men and women who design the JBLs feel the pain even more.

A prophet is without honor in his own country.

In a scant two weeks, I'll be hosting the annual Lansing Heritage Awards at my home, and the two honorees are Jerry Moro and Doug Button, who've been designing JBL (and Revel, Infinity, and JBL Pro) transducers for better than two decades. These guys are famous in Asia and Europe and virtually unknown here in the US. Greg Timbers was last year's honoree, and he's now the Honorary Chair for my little soiree.

JohnMichael (and anyone else) who'd like to send any of them a message can PM me, and I'll present it to them at the event.

As a side note, anyone who's interested in attending can PM me for details. It's June 8 in greater Los Angeles. Some folks come a very long way. There is a modest cost of $30, but it includes a dinner by Executive Chef George Carlberg from Denver.

Where else could you meet and talk to three of JBL's top guns and hear more than a half dozen of their top systems all in one place? Yes, I'm kind of a fan...

[Mr Peabody]

Sounds like quite the event Filecat.

[Thriftstore Cowboy]

I found this link to a printed review, again from the UK. It's from last year so some of you may have already read it. http://www.mediaaudio.hr/site/upload...05_english.pdf

[JohnMichael]

I found this link to a printed review, again from the UK. It's from last year so some of you may have already read it. http://www.mediaaudio.hr/site/upload...05_english.pdf

Thanks for the link. I had not read that review before. Another 5 star review and I agree.

[Thriftstore Cowboy]

It's interesting how every reviewer states some version of "these might not be for every one, but.."

And I couldn't agree more about the part that its hard to leave the room when they're playing. I find it takes a special desiciplne to turn off the hifi and not linger for "just one more song."

[JohnMichael]

I had been using the 22 inch stands and recently tried my 24 inch stands. The 22 inch stands would put the horn at ear level and the 24 inch stands put my ear slightly below the mouth of the horn. I find I prefer the sound of the speakers with my ears about midway from mid/woofer to horn. They may not be for everyone but they are for me.

[Thriftstore Cowboy]

Today I'm working from home so I get to rock out to them all day. The only problem is the constant head bobbing and toe tapping. These speakers make it really hard to sit still.

I have them sitting at 24" but I could see them easily work on shorter stands in my room. They are rather tall for a stand-mounter after all.

[JohnMichael]

Today I'm working from home so I get to rock out to them all day. The only problem is the constant head bobbing and toe tapping. These speakers make it really hard to sit still.

I have them sitting at 24" but I could see them easily work on shorter stands in my room. They are rather tall for a stand-mounter after all.

My listening chair is a formal wing back chair and the seat is a little higher than my loveless seat. They sound good at both heights but I am hearing a little more midrange detail. My 22 inch Sanus Steel Foundation stands are a good match for the speaker if you are looking for a solid reasonably priced stand.

[frenchmon]

JM....Nice to see you're still having fun! How is that TT? That Rega P10 is looking really nice...have you seen it? I'm thinking the upgrade bug has hit you a time or two?

[JohnMichael]

JM....Nice to see you're still having fun! How is that TT? That Rega P10 is looking really nice...have you seen it? I'm thinking the upgrade bug has hit you a time or two?

That is some serious change for the RP10 and the higher spec limited edition table. That arm would still need a Michell Technoweight lowered counterweight. Now if they came out with a precision arm without the spring downforce for VTF I might consider it. I have been happier than a pig in sh!t since the new motor and braces with my Planar 2.

[TheHills44060]

Which winery? I did grad school at CWRU and visited a fair number of Ohio vintners.

Oh that's fantastic! Case is a fine school. Harpersfield Winery in Geneva, OH.

[JohnMichael]

Even though the MA RS6's are finally sounding good in my room I was missing the sound of the strings through the Studio 530's. They do not have the bass or dynamics of the RS6's but when I am in a chamber music mood the Studio 530's are my go to speakers.

[Jack in Wilmington]

So that means you are retracting everything you said in the "On Vacation...Going Shopping thread on July 8th, that you had found one set of speakers to live with. I knew it was coming, just didn't know how long it would take. I'm that way with sources, sometimes I want vinyl, sometimes CD and other times HD downloads.

[JohnMichael]

It is nice to have options. The RS6's are still in place so when I am in the mood for some Mahler or Lucinda Williams live I just switch the cables. Now that I am in a string quartet mood the Studio 530's are the best with detail and sweetness of string tones.

One recording I like is the Emmerson Quartet performing Mendelssohn's "Octet". They recorded half the Octet and went back and played it again. A little more intereting than the piece recorded by different quarters.

[Jack in Wilmington]

I was at my local HiFi shop on Monday and there was a guy auditioning a pair of Paradigm Signature S2's and they had just put on The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" and it sounded dull and lifeless and the potential buyer thought it was the speakers. My salesguy was waiting on him and as he popped around the corner he said to me that sounded terrible and I agreed. Then he went over and pulled out his copy of the same disc, only remastered, and put it in the CD player and without touching any controls he hit play and we watched the guys whole expression change. This guy had no idea that there was such a thing as a bad recording. He's saying "it's The Beatles how can it sound bad", now he knows. Then they put in a Chopin disc and I too was quite impressed. I had heard these speakers before and was underwhelmed. Must have been the material.

[JohnMichael]

On other sites I read about members who own multiple pairs of speakers and change them as their mood changes. I find something to like about all of them. I think about one day having a speaker that does it all but until then I am going to enjoy my speakers as my mood changes and to stop worrying about it.