User Manual
test reports
test reports
The Studio L successfully
combines powerful
sound with a compact,
no-nonsense package.
WHAT WE THINK
52 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2006 SOUND & VISION
S
peaker maker JBL is just one part of the Harman International family, but for a
brand that makes up only a single slice of a large pie, it has an incredibly diverse
product mix. Along with home theater speakers, JBL makes systems for music-
recording and film sound-mixing studios, movie theaters, concert halls, comput
-
ers, and cars. So many different speakers coming out of one lab is bound to lead
to some crossbreeding — a theory that helps explain the Studio L series. JBL’s
newest creation takes the robust build quality of its professional studio monitors and
mixes it with the flat-TV-friendly installation options we’ve come to expect from home
theater speakers. The result is an unusually rugged wall-mountable system — one that
makes other recent entries into the field look fussy and feminine in comparison.
The exceptionally sturdy cabinets — JBL ensures maximum rigidity by using 1-inch-
thick MDF for the front baffles — make Studio L
speakers heavier than most. Good thing, too: the
testosterone rush I worked up by heaving them out
of their boxes put me in the right frame of mind to
appreciate the blunt, unembellished design. The slab-
like L820 and L810 left/right satellites and LC2 cen
-
ter speaker have rounded edges and are surprisingly
Studio L Series Home Theater Speaker System
slim (5
1
⁄
2
inches deep with the
grilles on) given their overall heft.
The L8400P subwoofer echoes
the look of the sats, although its
silvery, molded-plastic feet add a
slight flourish. If your domestic
partner is a Martha Stewart-like
design fascist, you might want to
check out some of the sleeker, sex
-
ier options on the market. But if
your normal scene consists of bud
-
dies, brews, and a networked Play
-
Station alongside the home the
-
ater gear, this rig’s for you.
Each woodgrain-
finished JBL sat has keyhole
mounts for a wall installation. Not
wanting to break out the drill, I
placed the L820s on 24-inch-high
speaker stands at either side of
my plasma TV and the L810s on
higher stands slightly behind and
at either end of my couch. The LC2
is one of the biggest center speak
-
ers I’ve ever tested — its higher-
than-normal cabinet makes it a
better candidate for wall-mount
-
ing than TV-stand installation. On
the plus side, the LC2’s dual 6-inch
woofers make it an excellent sonic
match for the L820, which sports
a similar array of drivers. Fortu
-
nately, JBL also offers the match
-
ing LC1 ($499), a conventional hor
-
izontal center speaker that will fit
the shelves of most TV stands.
Like the larger L820, the L810
that I used for the surround chan
-
nels is a substantial, direct-radiat
-
ing satellite speaker with better-
than-average bass. After listening
to the pair’s focused, muscular
delivery on a few multichannel
tracks, I decided to angle them
back about 45°, bouncing the
sound off my rear wall for a more
diffuse, dipole-like presentation.
The L8400P, like most subwoof
-
ers, did its best work placed in the
right front corner of my room. An
LFE (low-frequency effects) set
-
ting on the sub’s back panel let me
bypass its internal crossover to
avoid overlap with the one in my
preamp/processor, which could
muddy the bass. The L820’s speci
-
fied 55-Hz bass rolloff meant that
JBL
PHOTOS BY TONY CORDOZA
SETUP
$3,098 / JBL.COM / 516-496-3400
AL GRIFFIN
SV02 JBL-6rev.indd 52 12/13/05 3:35:49 PM