Thank you for this review! I took your advice and pieced my theater together as was possible. I started my upgrad with an F12 and then bought and used the B15 ($120) as my L&R. Then found the arena 170’s on sale for $140 on cyber Monday and ran the B15’s to the back. I then found the arena matching center and I honestly can’t be more impressed after doing the crawl for the F12. But even with no sub, the system is impressive with my Onky 757. Good review!
Good review, Zeos. I actually have 2 pairs of these, bought them awhile back when Amazon ran them at a deep discount (about $70 a pair, I believe) to be used in a dedicated home theater room I'm building in my basement. Then I ran across a deal on some Klipsch surrounds I like better, and bought them. I never really thought about using these in a 2:1 setup, but after your review I pulled a pair back out and am running them with a 12" sub. You're right, they sound fantastic in this application! I was gonna sell them, but now I found a new love for them.
Just purchased. Thanks Zeos, dammit! My surrounds are awesome (JBL 8330's) and I think these just might keep up with them as rears. Nothing else I've tried can. The depth is perfect.
Beautiful speakers. But, I noticed you said something interesting about the bass driver movement between Bass reflex and sealed enclosure. In my experience, I get more excursion in a sealed enclosure versus a bass reflex, unless I go under 30 Hz, point that might vary from design to design. Love your videos.
I managed to grab a few of these at $107 pr. laid them flat as you suggested and tuned them as rear surrounds flat against walls and bouncing off ceiling. Could not be happier w/ the fill they provide. Next i cut up some yoga blocks to provide a nice angled soft platform and mounted these like Atmos speakers on my front towers, tuned and played w/them till the front height fill came in just right in my room. Thanks for saving me a bunch of money, full 5.2.2 sound filling my small 13x15x9ft tall HT room. I have a second HT room w/higher end surrounds and Height speakers, I compare the sound between the 2 rooms every chance i get and my own honest feeling is that I can’t justify replacing the B15’s with costlier speakers for the very small differences in fill sound quality. There is a small difference in low end output in very particular movie scenes but other than that the mids, vocals, highs, please me immensely. Thank you for the recommendation and reviews. BTW, keep up the high energy and long winded reviews, that’s exactly why i follow you, i want to know how you really feel about cheap thrills. I looove cheap thrills and steals.
Zeos. How could you forget your favorite sealed speaker ever the PSA MT110. The 10 inch speakers you deemed end game. You never mentioned them in this video.
Anyone else not see this posted to his page? I looked for it after seeing the sound demo and don't see it. I saw it as a recommended video and clicked on it, but still don't see it in the uploads page. I am wondering if this has been officially posted or not, but if it hasn't posted officially, UA-cam messed up and posted it as a recommended.
Bought these in Jan for about 120 and then! found them at 107. damn! Wanted to pair them with with my JBL sub. Hated them at first. Used them for a few days and put them in a closet and then realized I need to break them in. did it and now I love em! Their amazing! They have enough bass to integrate with my subwoofer so I'm happy.
I'm currently using these in my dedicated home theater for side and rear surrounds to match with my 3x $6,000 each, JBL M2's (left, center, right) and they keep up. I got them because they have shallow depth cabinet but they sounded great.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU MAN I HAVE 2 VELODYNE 15 ! BUT THE SPEAKER ARE TIRED ! I WANTED MAYBE TO BY 2 ULTIMAX 15 TO REPLACE IT WITH 2 CROWN AMPS ? WHAT DO YOU THINK ;-) CUZE FIXING MY VÉLODYNE IS EXPENSIVE ! BUT THEY SOUND SO GREAT !
5 років тому
Can I use them as surround speakers with my KEF Q150?
Did you hear the Q Acoustics 3020? maybe in interesting comparison... Greez from Germany, btw the 130 are availalble in Germany for around 245€ in WHITE :D
So it's been a while since I've gotten into setups. If I all I have is a pic, and I wanted these as a two channel setup with one sub, help me out. I'd need a pair of these, a sub, and what else? What links them all together?
I got these off woot for $80 two years ago. Great imaging with nice JBL warmth and tamed treble dispite the giant waveguide. Still prefer my SX6s for front channels, and on a desk they are a bit much. Could rarely put my amp past 15 before they were "too loud" on my desk. Very good if you absolutely need a small speaker without a port.
Am not sure if this is a bass versus limited bass matter. Does it produce realistic mids. Can you tell timbre. If the only target is to have these as surrounds, fine. Otherwise I don’t think they’re going to find a place as primary speakers.
I have pair of these JBL Arena120 and a pair of the JBL ES30. With the multimeter I can check the impedance of 5.8 ohms at ES30, but for the Arena120, it does not show anything for both. They are new and I using the 200 ohms multimeter scale. I tested them with my Yamaha RX-A3080 and the 5.5 woofer works ok. I disampled the speakers from the Arena 120 and I checked with the multimeter and they have the same 5.8 ohms from the ES30. Does anybody knows why this happens ?
i got a pair of white 120s a few months ago (for $89) to use on my desktop computer and i like them a lot , however they need a sub badly IMO . but my 12 inch powered velodyne makes for a bad azz setup !
Hey Zeos, have you ever heard of a company called GoldenEar? I'd be very interested in seeing what you think of their GoldenEar Triton One tower speakers?
This is closer. No shiny plastic but JBL really needs to hire a consultant or someone who can incorporate aesthetics into the build without sacrificing the sound. That thing has more screws than a Thai bargirl.
I bought the JBL arena 130 probably a year ago and then I went for the 120 for my rear channels . They are great, waiting for the 130 review. BTW there are arena 160 and 180 with 1 woofer and two respectively. (Towers)
@@fraula1 130s have the same tweeter as the 120s but have a much larger cabinet and a port in the back. But in my opinion and hearing, 130 sound more balanced per say. BTW look here on UA-cam a video of the Arena 130 playing George Duke - it's On. It made me wanna go buy them and I did go lol.
I have the 170’s and they are amazing for the price point. Give them some room as they’re rear ported and they really sing especially in stereo but work really well after some tweaking for home theater.
I got mine for $69 the pair delivered from Amazon in 2018. For the money they make great computer speakers as long as you use a decent analog amp. Forget the cheap digital amps.
Your killing me Z. I just caught hell for buying the Jamo S803’s. I also have Elac b6’s in my dedicated theater and looking for another option. Was gonna go Jamos for the theater as well. Now I gotta wait for the bigger jbl review. I’m gonna be divorced if I keep watching your videos. Ugh.
I have a pair of Trust Silva 21734 with holes in the plastic cover. But then again they need all the help they can get, and less material is cheaper. Logic.
JBL Arena130 200eur- Q acustic 3020i 300eur- KEF Q150 400eur What to buy? I've been waiting for this review since my birthday... btw Arena120 are 170 here
JBL/Infinity have giant sales all the time with major sites/stores, the first of the year is the worst time to buy them though. They make great drivers, but there is no design on the crossover, so depending on the model the frequency response can be all over the place. If you have a minidsp then you can make them sound great.
By crossover do you mean between the woofer and the tweeter on each individual speaker? That sounds like a goddam mess if that is something they don't tune for.
This speaker are so good but it’s a shame they can go low enough. They must be paired with a subwoofer. mine is KRK S10 subwoofer and the sound is stupidly good and loud !!. À little bit Louder than my ELAC B6.2. I wish I could try the Arena 130. I drive them with a crown XLS1500 amp connected to my pioneer lx57 as a preamp. What a joy to listen !! The speaker have some magic. really. they image like crazy. AMAZING.
Thank you for this review! I took your advice and pieced my theater together as was possible. I started my upgrad with an F12 and then bought and used the B15 ($120) as my L&R. Then found the arena 170’s on sale for $140 on cyber Monday and ran the B15’s to the back. I then found the arena matching center and I honestly can’t be more impressed after doing the crawl for the F12. But even with no sub, the system is impressive with my Onky 757. Good review!
Thank you for recommanding the adam t5V's i love em to bits now for 2 weeks , i did add a small sub so they sound complete now .
Being in Scotland I some times wish you would cover more Monitor Audio stuff, but I am glad you bring gems like these to our attention.
Can't wait for the Arena 130 review
They're awesome speakers big sound
Good review, Zeos. I actually have 2 pairs of these, bought them awhile back when Amazon ran them at a deep discount (about $70 a pair, I believe) to be used in a dedicated home theater room I'm building in my basement. Then I ran across a deal on some Klipsch surrounds I like better, and bought them. I never really thought about using these in a 2:1 setup, but after your review I pulled a pair back out and am running them with a 12" sub. You're right, they sound fantastic in this application! I was gonna sell them, but now I found a new love for them.
Just purchased. Thanks Zeos, dammit! My surrounds are awesome (JBL 8330's) and I think these just might keep up with them as rears. Nothing else I've tried can. The depth is perfect.
Pioneer is very nice
I've been looking to upgrade from my LSR-308's, Looking forward to the 130 review!
Purchased the B15s, hope they match well with the SMSL AD15 I use in the bedroom for TV/Music. Thanks Zeos.
Beautiful speakers. But, I noticed you said something interesting about the bass driver movement between Bass reflex and sealed enclosure. In my experience, I get more excursion in a sealed enclosure versus a bass reflex, unless I go under 30 Hz, point that might vary from design to design. Love your videos.
Yamaha NS-333 also have speaker covers without anything plastic in the way :-)
Do you know anywhere to get those Kanto Bens anymore? (Specifically in orange). They're the one speaker I would have insta got if they were available.
I would recommend you test the Kef LSX. I bought them and very impressed by the sound quality.
I can't find them in Amazon. Any purchase link ?
Have you heard of Tekton Design speakers? I'd love to get your feedback on their Double Impacts/Electrons for something a little higher end (3k).
Do you need a center? Is the imaging good enough to run just these with a sub? For movies and music obviously.
Do you think the SMSL AD18's push enough power to run these? Thinking about getting a pair for my living room in an apartment.
Amazon dynamic pricing has jacked them to 200 bucks already....lol
I managed to grab a few of these at $107 pr. laid them flat as you suggested and tuned them as rear surrounds flat against walls and bouncing off ceiling. Could not be happier w/ the fill they provide. Next i cut up some yoga blocks to provide a nice angled soft platform and mounted these like Atmos speakers on my front towers, tuned and played w/them till the front height fill came in just right in my room. Thanks for saving me a bunch of money, full 5.2.2 sound filling my small 13x15x9ft tall HT room. I have a second HT room w/higher end surrounds and Height speakers, I compare the sound between the 2 rooms every chance i get and my own honest feeling is that I can’t justify replacing the B15’s with costlier speakers for the very small differences in fill sound quality. There is a small difference in low end output in very particular movie scenes but other than that the mids, vocals, highs, please me immensely. Thank you for the recommendation and reviews. BTW, keep up the high energy and long winded reviews, that’s exactly why i follow you, i want to know how you really feel about cheap thrills. I looove cheap thrills and steals.
are this a considerable upgrade over the dayton b652 for desk usage?
Any thoughts between the Sony SSCS5 and the JBL Arena 120?
Zeos. How could you forget your favorite sealed speaker ever the PSA MT110. The 10 inch speakers you deemed end game. You never mentioned them in this video.
Zeos, What happened to your Jamo's woofer?!
That soundtrack when the video starts? What is it? I just know i heard it before so many times but cant remember the got damn name
Anyone else not see this posted to his page? I looked for it after seeing the sound demo and don't see it. I saw it as a recommended video and clicked on it, but still don't see it in the uploads page.
I am wondering if this has been officially posted or not, but if it hasn't posted officially, UA-cam messed up and posted it as a recommended.
I wish I could still get these something like this is exactly what I'm looking for. Big Sound small package and wall-mountable.
Listening through a pair of JBL B15s
How would you compare the mids & highs vs. the S400?
Bought these in Jan for about 120 and then! found them at 107. damn! Wanted to pair them with with my JBL sub. Hated them at first. Used them for a few days and put them in a closet and then realized I need to break them in. did it and now I love em! Their amazing! They have enough bass to integrate with my subwoofer so I'm happy.
What u guys think are better for rear speaker, this jbl 120 or Pioneer SP -BS22-LR?
I'm currently using these in my dedicated home theater for side and rear surrounds to match with my 3x $6,000 each, JBL M2's (left, center, right) and they keep up. I got them because they have shallow depth cabinet but they sounded great.
Love these JBL speakers.
The best for 2.1 systems
could you post a link to the speaker wires you use por favor
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU MAN I HAVE 2 VELODYNE 15 ! BUT THE SPEAKER ARE TIRED ! I WANTED MAYBE TO BY 2 ULTIMAX 15 TO REPLACE IT WITH 2 CROWN AMPS ? WHAT DO YOU THINK ;-) CUZE FIXING MY VÉLODYNE IS EXPENSIVE ! BUT THEY SOUND SO GREAT !
Can I use them as surround speakers with my KEF Q150?
Did you hear the Q Acoustics 3020? maybe in interesting comparison... Greez from Germany, btw the 130 are availalble in Germany for around 245€ in WHITE :D
superzeros have been 120/pair since summer; sealed with a soft dome tweeter i believe better suited for near-field.
how do these compare to the Kali Audio monitors?
I don't want to annoy you but what is this vocal track at 5:04?
So it's been a while since I've gotten into setups. If I all I have is a pic, and I wanted these as a two channel setup with one sub, help me out. I'd need a pair of these, a sub, and what else? What links them all together?
Is the only difference between the 15s and 20s cosmetic?
Shallow
... and pedantic.
This
Adam Kycia he was referring to the beginnings of the video.
@@aw7245 Correct!
that was deep dude
Grilles on the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 88's have no plastic blocking the drivers the fabric is just stretched over a frame.
Hello ,jbl b15 = jbl arean 120 is the same?
i have 6 of them as my overheads and surrounds, for the price, they are hard to beat
Are u referring to your manhood size?
How about JBL Arena 180 ?
The grilles on my Q100 and Q500 have no plastic blocking any drivers.
How about the Arena in tower version?
15:20, which song was that?
I got these off woot for $80 two years ago. Great imaging with nice JBL warmth and tamed treble dispite the giant waveguide. Still prefer my SX6s for front channels, and on a desk they are a bit much. Could rarely put my amp past 15 before they were "too loud" on my desk. Very good if you absolutely need a small speaker without a port.
Am not sure if this is a bass versus limited bass matter. Does it produce realistic mids. Can you tell timbre. If the only target is to have these as surrounds, fine. Otherwise I don’t think they’re going to find a place as primary speakers.
I've noticed that Z rarely discusses the mid-range in his reviews. Only treble, bass and "wow these are loud!" Not very helpful.
The B&W 600 series have holes in the gills for the tweeters : ^ )
I thought you were about to flamingo? Hahahahahaha great videos bro
I have pair of these JBL Arena120 and a pair of the JBL ES30. With the multimeter I can check the impedance of 5.8 ohms at ES30, but for the Arena120, it does not show anything for both. They are new and I using the 200 ohms multimeter scale. I tested them with my Yamaha RX-A3080 and the 5.5 woofer works ok. I disampled the speakers from the Arena 120 and I checked with the multimeter and they have the same 5.8 ohms from the ES30. Does anybody knows why this happens ?
15:16 what's the song called?
i got a pair of white 120s a few months ago (for $89) to use on my desktop computer and i like them a lot , however they need a sub badly IMO . but my 12 inch powered velodyne makes for a bad azz setup !
When you going to test the BenQ electrostatics desktops
i have B&W Dm 600 s3 and they have an opening in the grille over the tweeter
I bought the Arena 120's. What is the difference between the B15 and the A120's besides $42 cheaper?
Dave Gregory wondering the same thing
Dave Gregory cosmetic?
Review the jbl stage a130
Hey Zeos, have you ever heard of a company called GoldenEar? I'd be very interested in seeing what you think of their GoldenEar Triton One tower speakers?
Oh yes that would be something, I heard them, love them!
Have heard of. Might contact.
The grilles of the Mission QX-2 don't have plastic in front of the tweeter.
I snagged the B15s off Woot in August '16 for 79.00 and the Arena 10S sub for 89.00 in October '16. Too good to pass up for the price.
$80 Ebay, bought months ago, minus grills.😎
B&W DM600 has the little cutout for the tweeter, too.
For classical orchestra?
My Dali's (Zensor 1's, 3's and Vokal) just have a plastic frame with nothing blocking any of the speakers. :)
I also really like speakers that perform way out of their price range.
Would 3 of the centers for L,C,R be a good idea?
Center channels are a compromise. Use three jbl 120's instead
This is closer. No shiny plastic but JBL really needs to hire a consultant or someone who can incorporate aesthetics into the build without sacrificing the sound. That thing has more screws than a Thai bargirl.
I need a 1 hour consultation
THE JAMO S803 THAT I HAVE in white have the grills like that my banana plugs dont go all the way in
Do these get hooked up to the front speaker section of the amp?
They can
@@unknowntosociety01 Oh I found out lol amazing!!
That cat gets to listen to the best audio. Lucky Chewbacca.
they got great dimensions for desk
Z can you review the NHT SuperZero 2.1
And the NHT C-3. A sealed, 3-way bookshelf. Yes please!
I own the JBL HLS 610's (discontinued by JBL) x4. They sound amazing.
I bought the JBL arena 130 probably a year ago and then I went for the 120 for my rear channels . They are great, waiting for the 130 review. BTW there are arena 160 and 180 with 1 woofer and two respectively. (Towers)
Electric Funeral Hello :) are the Arena 120 superior to the130 in mid /High départment ?
@@fraula1 130s have the same tweeter as the 120s but have a much larger cabinet and a port in the back. But in my opinion and hearing, 130 sound more balanced per say. BTW look here on UA-cam a video of the Arena 130 playing George Duke - it's On. It made me wanna go buy them and I did go lol.
I have the 170’s and they are amazing for the price point. Give them some room as they’re rear ported and they really sing especially in stereo but work really well after some tweaking for home theater.
Electric Funeral Thank you very Much 👍
Too bad you didn't get the Arena 130's (Whites) on JBL's site a few months back when they were selling them for $100.... per pair!!! GOT IT!!! :P
I got mine for $69 the pair delivered from Amazon in 2018. For the money they make great computer speakers as long as you use a decent analog amp. Forget the cheap digital amps.
My dali zensor 7s have an "open" grill, for the twitter and the subs
6 of these with one svs NSD12 for a 6.1😨😁
These or Airmotiv E1 look-a-like Slim Speakers for Surrounds.
Compare to Klipsch?
My KLH 12" floor speakers dont' have plastic mesh blocking the tweeters. :D But their from the 1980's so... lol!
i think ill use these for atmos with Revel126be's for main stage
Damn it they are now 199.99 I wanted these for my Atmos speakers
zeos effect
Your killing me Z. I just caught hell for buying the Jamo S803’s. I also have Elac b6’s in my dedicated theater and looking for another option. Was gonna go Jamos for the theater as well. Now I gotta wait for the bigger jbl review. I’m gonna be divorced if I keep watching your videos. Ugh.
Predator....nice!
Paradigm Shift A2 (sealed goodness below 60Hz)
I have a pair of Trust Silva 21734 with holes in the plastic cover. But then again they need all the help they can get, and less material is cheaper. Logic.
Lala is now the speaker goddess? I can see that.
JBL Arena130 200eur- Q acustic 3020i 300eur- KEF Q150 400eur
What to buy? I've been waiting for this review since my birthday...
btw Arena120 are 170 here
Los amigos invisibles..nice
You should learn how to use REW (Room EQ Wizard) (it's free) along with your Mini DSP and it won't take you 3 1/2 hrs to integrate your subs.
PSA MT110, the other sealed speaker.
Why is there a missing driver on the jamos?
It blew/Shorted. I was going to sell in the yard sale but no Bueno.
That Black Mesa OST though
predator 1 main ost?
JBL/Infinity have giant sales all the time with major sites/stores, the first of the year is the worst time to buy them though. They make great drivers, but there is no design on the crossover, so depending on the model the frequency response can be all over the place. If you have a minidsp then you can make them sound great.
By crossover do you mean between the woofer and the tweeter on each individual speaker? That sounds like a goddam mess if that is something they don't tune for.
@@dudemanismadcool They just use a simple 2 way crossover for all their speakers. There are no extra components to smooth out the frequency response.
This speaker are so good but it’s a shame they can go low enough. They must be paired with a subwoofer. mine is KRK S10 subwoofer and the sound is stupidly good and loud !!. À little bit Louder than my ELAC B6.2. I wish I could try the Arena 130.
I drive them with a crown XLS1500 amp connected to my pioneer lx57 as a preamp. What a joy to listen !!
The speaker have some magic. really. they image like crazy.
AMAZING.