Customer Reviews

JBL L890 4-Way, High Performance 8-inch Dual Floorstanding Loudspeaker (Black)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had these speakers for a little over a month and they sound great. Even though I have a subwoofer, they sound great by themselves. In my opinion, this is a true full range speaker. The detailed highs, pronounced mid and deep lows make this speaker a winner. I not only recommend this speaker, I also recommend the rest of the Studio L line. One word of caution....they will sound really bright at first but they will calm down.

I purchased a complete Studio L home theater anchored by the L890 over a month ago, and after breaking them in with every style of music, I can can say that these speakers truly deliver the goods. On acoustic Jazz, you can hear into the performance, with a deep and wide soundstage and terrific articulation of each instrument. Bass is full and natural with a solid feeling of the body of the instrument. Horns sound real and arc across the front of my room. The music in 2 channel analog direct mode on my Sony STR-DA5400ES reciever makes my music come to life. These speakers are well balanced from top to bottom, and never emphasize one part of the audio spectrum over another. On Classical music, orchestras sound powerful, and the strings sound rich and full. The speakers present a sweeping panorama of sound. Organs go deep and sound powerful, in fact I can feel the sound of the organ in my chest. Beethoven and Mahler sound like you are there in the concert hall. Rock music really comes alive with drive and punch. The 2 8inch woofers go deep and remind me of how classic stereo speakers used to sound. Every CD or LP I play comes to life and reminds me why I love to listen to music as much as I do. On Blu-Ray movies and concerts, the sound is even more mindblowing than on music. Dialog thru the matching center channel is crisp and clear. The L890's deliver the rest of the sonic goods with clear, rich and involving sound. Explosions and special effects are presented better than in the finest cinema houses. I wall mounted the JBL Studio L matching rear speakers and now enjoy a seamless and truly enveloping sound expierence with every film. On concerts, the DTS-Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD provided by my Sony BDP-S550 Blu-Ray player and matching surround sound reciever deliver a stunning recreation of sound. Over the years I have owned a number of outstanding audio speakers, from B&W Nautilus to Paradigmn Studio 100's, but no speaker, regardless of cost, as given me the complete home audio sound I was seeking for both music and movies. Many speakers sound great on one or the other, but not both. With the JBL Studio L speakers, I have finally found the complete audio nirvana I have sought for so long. And at these prices on Amazon, I was able to purchase the entire 5.0 suite for a fraction of their original retail cost. An astounding audio bargain at full price, but at half or less this is a no brainer. A true old school classic yet with state of the art engineering and great build quality, JBL has produced a modern audio classic. I highly recommend these speakers without reservation and would strongly encourage anyone in the market for either a stereo pair or a complete home theatre to dive in and open your ears to the sound of music and film delivered with the realism and detail so often missing in most systems. You won't regret it.

I bought these because I trust JBL. I have a pair of JBL Decade L-26 speakers that are 33 years old and going strong. Originally I was going to buy some Polks and use them as my rear channel. I listened to the JBL Venue series and was not too impressed, the Studio L's blew them away. They sounded so good my old JBL's will be the rear channel now.

Originally I was not going to consider the JBL Studio line, based on my past opinion of JBL speakers. I looked at JBL 20 years ago - they were very popular, so you could find them in any audio store - and back then they were simply too bright for me. Unnaturally so. That was then.

The JBL studio line is a great series of speakers. They tend to be large physically, so take the measurements into account when you start to research them.

I was originally going to get the L830 speakers, which matched the amount of money I wanted to spend. Before long, I started to realize that I would need a powered Sub-woofer eventually, and that the ~$225 L830 package (From Harman direct) would soon mushroom to way over $500, or so.

So I started to look at the L890. It's a full-range speaker, so it doesn't need a SW to reproduce low frequencies. But what it does need is a big room. You need to be able to place them about 3 feet from the wall to keep the bass from getting muddy. This isn't a huge problem if you don't have the room, unless you crank them up. But sooner or later you'll wish you had them sitting in the middle of the floor of a big empty room. This is what they deserve.

The imaging is quite quite good - I give them a strong B-plus there, and the accuracy is thrilling - I rate them a strong A-minus.
It's hard to grade these speakers, because you get so much for your money.
Sure you could spend thousands more to get an even more spectacular experience, but I just could never justify that kind of expense.

I spent about $680 (shipped) on two of these from Harman direct.These come via freight, the boxes are large and heavy, and I dread the day I'll have to move them to another house. Also they are tall speakers and the footprint is somewhat narrow, so if you live with earthquakes or rambunctious St.Bernards then you will want to find a way to tether them somehow, and I'm not sure how you would do this if you agree with me that they should be placed away from the wall.

If you have the room for them, then I can't imagine you'd be unhappy with these speakers. They are surprisingly good, and it will take me a long time to outgrow them. I would also recommend any speaker in this product line - the L830 is also a very good deal in a very large "bookshelf" speaker.

As a trivial point, these speakers do not have aluminum feet as described. The feet are plastic that has been painted silver - whatever, they work fine and are sturdy enough to take the spikes that screw into them if you want isolation from your carpet.

It took me some serious research, shopping, shipping coordination, and setup to get these babies in place in my home. Now I get to enjoy them for years.

I have just unpacked my newly purchased JBL L890 from Datavision.

Words of warning these units are refurbish units. They are NOT factory new. They are factory refurbished units.

Shipping boxes show lots of wear, missing are factory manuals and the carpet spikes, the fiberglass sound damping mat is loose in one unit. This may be the reason they are not new. Internal box packing had extra packing around the sides. It is only luck they arrived unscratched. The units did not have the usual internal plastic bag around the speakers; this is used to keep moisture out of the speakers.

When your units are delivered be sure to inspect the box closely for damage. Normal procedure is to have the factory box inside a tri-wall shipping box for protection did not happen here.

I honestly do not mind refurbished units as long as I know they are refurbished.

I have not hooked them up yet that will take two more weeks as my entertainment center is being rebuilt.

EDITED August 17, 2008

I contacted Datavision and they did a serial number search and their tracking indicate these are NEW speakers and NOT refurbished. I have no reason to doubt them. They also offered a full refund and to get the missing parts.

The speakers did arrive with damaged boxes and missing internal packing, manuals etc. so it is possible some were in the transport chain from JBL -> Datavision -> to me the damage and missing parts happened. After unpacking and close hand examination the speakers are unscratched.

Moral of this story be at home to receive the speakers and do not sign until you have had close inital inspection. ... sign here ... sorry not until I inspect for damage.

I did hooked the speakers up to an alternate system to test function and they sound very good. So far confirming all the listening reports I have read.

Execellent value for money. And I give Datavision an A+ for quick responce, over a weekend with the Olympics on.

I purchased a pair of new JBL L890's about 2 months ago, Upon initial hook up to my Vintage 165w per channel {CONCEPT 16.5) 2 channel receiver I was a bit disappointed, They do not appear to be very efficient as they require a good deal of power to produce a similar volume as other speakers I have had on the system.
I have had Cerwin Vega RE38's which are not considered high end or audiophile but the sound stage the Vega's give is much more full and boomy but the articulation of mids and highs are not as detailed as the JBL L890's.
To be fair the JBL are 8ohm and the Cerwin Vega RE38's are 4ohm, The Concept 16.5 is rated at 165wpc at 8ohm but can produce up to 250wpc at 4ohm.
I currently Have the JBL's connected to a Concept 11.0 which is rated at 110wpc at 8 ohm and after about a month they did seem to be breaking in a bit and becoming more musical, The 16.5 is a very awesome powerhouse but the 11.0 has a more airy and detailed sound, more refined at normal volume levels with the JBL L890's but the Hard hitting Punch of both of the vintage CONCEPT Receivers can Rattle the 8" woofers in the JBL's and overwhelm them, You are not going to get the big sound of the older 12" 3way or 15" 3 or 4 way speakers like the Cerwin's or even the JBL L100's, I have compared Technics 12"3ways and Cerwins 12"and 15". The Yamaha NS-555 6-ohm Towers which I tested actually sounded very comparable to the L890's only much more efficient meaning more volume at the same input power. The Yamaha's were pretty darn good for the money.
I paid 435.00 each for the JBL-L890'S each at Nebraska Furniture Mart on sale March 2011 and feel that would be the Max that I would spend for them, after research before before purchase I found the average selling price was 649.00 each. While I have tested these Speakers with different music from Classical Symphony to Rock like Metallica/Pink Floyd/Scorpions and some blues like Susan Tedeche,SRV,ZZ Top and even some big band and techno dance music all in 2 channel stereo with CD and Vinyl I will be testing them with a Yamaha HTR-5660 surround amp with Blue ray movies such as Avatar and Transformers to see if they are more geared for the cold detailed digital sound as opposed to the warm full sound of analog, I will update this review after that test, I also have a Yamaha RX-797 100wpc 2 channel amp recently purchased from Crutchfield that I will test them with also just to be thorough.
Bottom line depends on what sound you are looking for, I tend to lean towards big sound at pretty loud volumes especially with rock and I want a punch I can feel and crisp highs that are well blended and not fatiguing or shrill and while subs can fill out the bottom register they are not the same as a true woofer pumping out the bass and mid bass directly in the apex of the listening zone. So far the JBL's are good not great,I would not pay More than 400.00 each again for them.

I have had a pair of these for about a year and half, and couldn't imagine having another speaker now.

So another person who reviewed these speakers said that they have little or no low end - which could not be farther from the truth. They actually have incredibly tight, accurate, and if you want, overpowering bass - but they absolutely need to be paired with the right electronics! I had used a pioneer amp with these at first, and the low end simply wasn't there (it was a 120 watt/channel amp which SHOULD have done the job). So I borrowed my friend's Harmon Kardon two channel amp, with I believe the same power rating (it was around 120 or 125 watts/channel), and the speakers did a 180. They will sound good no matter what, but to get them to sound great you really need to be careful with the electronics pairing. I purchased the same HK amp I borrowed from my friend off of Harmon Kardon's web site for really cheap refurbished. If you want a general rule of thumb for pairing an amp with these speakers - go with a Harmon Kardon. NO SONY, YAMAHA, PIONEER amps - they sound like crap.

Anyways, regarding their sound, they are some of the most perfectly balanced speakers I've listened to (especially in this price range). The mid-range is perfectly articulated and open, with crisp but not fatiguing or harsh highs, and unbelievable low end performance.

They are worth every penny and more. Also, if you like it loud, you can absolutely crank these and not have to worry.

Well I finally purchased them after doing some research. Im am very satisfied and got a great speaker for the amount of money spent! Very happy! and they sound great! I recommend to anyone. Do your research and make your decision wisely. Do not get discourage by anyone. To be honest, I coudnt find a decent jbl center channel, so I complimented the L890s with a Klipsh center. Anyways I hear alot about the Klipsh this and that.......Just get yourself a HTS3600 power center and youll make any speaker sound as a high end product! I think the L890 is just as good as any high end speaker out there! Also it has one of the most attractive designs! i love it! remenber! the key is the HTS3600 TRUST ME!!!!!!! it gets the full sound clearity out any speaker!!

I have used a pair of the L890's for my system mains, with a JBL mid, JBL 10 inch powered sub and L830's for surround sounds as a home theater for about 6 months. It is a very good combination for music and blu-rays. I listen to a very eclectic mixture of music from Mozart to Bob Marley to SRV to Eagles. Very good response in all ranges. They look nice, as well, but they are really big and heavy. They need a lot of juice so don't scrimp on the power. Lastly, they are a good price for this level of performance and I have personally paid a lot more and gotten a lot less for it. Pull the trigger on the purchase.

I just replaced a 100W Sony A/V with the new Onkyo 808 at 135W. Even better performance than before. It is too good!

Great speaker! Really! The sound is very balanced, effortless and transparent. It delivers without shouting, very musical, terrific! You can spend x20 on speakers, you can't get better sound.

This speaker when connected to HK3490 is above anything else on any price range. My most loved CD by Neal Seroka is singing! All instruments are there with most delicate details preserved. The sound comes out of this speaker is undeniably music! From bass to guitar and drums with brushing and cymbals this speaker
delivers!