JBL LSR-32 as midfields

[Mr. Victory]

Anyone use these for midfields in a medium sized room?
Thoughts?
Any other suggestions for a midfield monitor mainly for tracking and "feeling".

I already have a pair of adam S2.5As that I'm happy with for nearfields and I'm moving into a smaller control room (roughly 17x19X10 but not square). I'm going to need something to track guitars with in the cr as well as checking the mix on the "mains". I'm coming from the one-room-studio setup.
So fyi- as a reference point, I've been using an EV eliminator PA with sub as "mains" untill now (oh how gettho) , so I don't care for perfection up top. I just want to feel it nicely and get loud.

I figure my budget is around 2K, I'd buy used and I'll get rid of the PA.

So would these JBLs do the trick?

talk to me slutz...

[WunderBro Flo]

never heard the lsr32 thingies, but I have just started to use dynaudio M2 midfields and they are blowing me away. fantastic speakers, but not really that well known. probably because they are relativeley expensive for passive monitors. but if you come across a cheap used pair don´t hesitate!
rock on!
pat

[Mr. Victory]

thanks for the info. I will check em out online. thumbsup

Originally Posted by Mr. Victory

Anyone use these for midfields in a medium sized room?
Thoughts?
Any other suggestions for a midfield monitor mainly for tracking and "feeling".

I already have a pair of adam S2.5As that I'm happy with for nearfields and I'm moving into a smaller control room (roughly 17x19X10 but not square). I'm going to need something to track guitars with in the cr as well as checking the mix on the "mains". I'm coming from the one-room-studio setup.
So fyi- as a reference point, I've been using an EV eliminator PA with sub as "mains" untill now (oh how gettho) , so I don't care for perfection up top. I just want to feel it nicely and get loud.

I figure my budget is around 2K, I'd buy used and I'll get rid of the PA.

So would these JBLs do the trick?

talk to me slutz...

Sorry that you have to use EV for anything. What a horrid sound those eliminators are. The JBL's roll off a bit high from what I remember. It is a steep drop from 60Hz to 40Hz. Atleast it was in the rooms I used them. Like anything, placement can take you lower, or atleast amplify the lowend. I think the box is tuned to 35Hz or so.

It was a huge step up from the 4412, which sounds a bit boomy and undefined in the low end. At that same time I was switching back and forth from the LSR's to the Tannoy 12DMT's or whatever they were called. I thought that the JBL's were better suited for rock than the Tannoys. They were for me anyway, which was what I was working on.

I would try them out. You need some beef power behind them. Something with good damping/braking. A Bryston ought to bring out the best in them.

[Nerve Nickels]

Yo,

I use the Lsr32's

f'n love them, Very confident when you want accuracy!

Highly recommend them... over everything

[catfish11]

i also use them as mains along w genelec 1031a's
they are more accurate the genelecs
but if you really want to here em.......

THEY BE LOUD!!!!!!

power - hafler p3000 transnova

[wwittman]

With a good amp the LSR 32's are terriific.

[Mario-C.]

I've used those LSR's with bryston amps and boy, they rock ...

[Mr. Victory]

Nice, I guess I sniffed out a good contender then.

And yes, I can't wait to get rid of the EV's. Ghetto PA won't cut it in the next room.

Would anyone know how much juice each one of these things would need? Someone mentioned Bryston. Do you remember if it was 300w/side? Were they bi-amped?

Thanks to all for your impressions.

SV

[Billster]

Originally Posted by wwittman

With a good amp the LSR 32's are terriific.

May I ask what you liked specifically about them ? Imaging ? Depth ? Looks ?

Cheers,
Bill

[wwittman]

good clarity and iagin, they go nice and loud without straining, they have a full range that seems well balanced without seeming hyped or scooped... and they simply sound MUSICAL.
they're easy to listen to and inspire confidence.

the first time I tried them (for a review) I had them up in a really great room that had been extensively tweaked by George Augspurger, and which had his big custom monitors. (2 x 15's and a horn in his custom cab, plus 18" subs on the floor)

This room REALLY sounds amazing and translates beautifully.

I was listening on the big speakers and then swicthed to the JBL's.. before I could say it myself, my assistant said "they sound like the bigs!"

which is a fairly impressive feat for $2000 worth of speakers... to sound like the 20,000+ dollar system.
Obviously they won't go as loud or as deep as those big monitors built in to the wall and bi-amped with subs...
but they had the CHARACTER of the same sound.
They didn't make me want to change my entire mix.
They just sounded like the more contained version of the same sound.

that was very impressive.

Straight after that I started using them and LSR28p's all the time.

[wwittman]

oh, a single Bryston 4B would be sufficient.. but too much power never hurts, only helps.

[TonyBelmont]

I have been unimpressed with the LSR32's (especially the low end).... I think that the LSR28P is a much more capable all around midfield monitor and has a better low end than the bigger LSR32's... I would demo them side by side and come to your own conclusions.

[Billster]

Thanks for sharing your impressions, Wwittman. Sounds like a real contender. I´ll have to check them out anytime soon !

Bill

[robdarling]

The JBL LSR-32 is a fantastic speaker, with two very strong requirements:

one, you MUST bi-amp them. If you haven't heard them bi-amped, you haven't heard them. They are a much better speaker.

two, they really like the amp close to the speaker.

It must be something about the crossover design that these two factors make such a difference- I've never seen a speaker so finicky to these issues- but I've been using them for about six years in three rooms, and this is what I've found. The imaging is amazing and the low end is really tight. They act like a small speaker with full-range response- great stuff. But you've got to follow these two rules or you won't get the same thing. The low-end balls up and compresses otherwise.

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by robdarling

The JBL LSR-32 is a fantastic speaker, with two very strong requirements:

one, you MUST bi-amp them. If you haven't heard them bi-amped, you haven't heard them. They are a much better speaker.

two, they really like the amp close to the speaker.

It must be something about the crossover design that these two factors make such a difference- I've never seen a speaker so finicky to these issues- but I've been using them for about six years in three rooms, and this is what I've found. The imaging is amazing and the low end is really tight. They act like a small speaker with full-range response- great stuff. But you've got to follow these two rules or you won't get the same thing. The low-end balls up and compresses otherwise.

So.....what amps are you using on the lows/highs?

Or....are you talking about single mono amp per speaker?

(actually sounds like you're bi-amping per you description....is the crossover between the woof and mids/highs bypassed when bi-amping?)

Fleaman

[Mr. Victory]

by Robdarling...

"two, they really like the amp close to the speaker. "


May I ask, what constitutes "close"? 2ft, 10ft?

SV

[robdarling]

I've used a number of amps over the years, tried different combos- bryston, macintosh, qsc- and now use a pair of Audio Research D-130's (the more recent version of this amp is the 150.2- an AMAZING amp.) I have one amp each for the left and right speakers (left signal splits at amp to two inputs, one out of amp drives lows, one drive the mid/high, for example.)

by "close", I mean a foot. Really. Crazy stuff. But the lows changed their balance completely, for the better, by moving the amp closer. They went from being "well, they're big speakers, they're never quite right" to being a super-well balanced tool. Put the amp right behind the speaker and you're good.

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by robdarling

by "close", I mean a foot. Really. Crazy stuff. But the lows changed their balance completely, for the better, by moving the amp closer. They went from being "well, they're big speakers, they're never quite right" to being a super-well balanced tool. Put the amp right behind the speaker and you're good.

Maybe it was because you used different cables? Weird....

[Mr. Victory]

Originally Posted by robdarling

I've used a number of amps over the years, tried different combos- bryston, macintosh, qsc- and now use a pair of Audio Research D-130's (the more recent version of this amp is the 150.2- an AMAZING amp.) I have one amp each for the left and right speakers (left signal splits at amp to two inputs, one out of amp drives lows, one drive the mid/high, for example.)

by "close", I mean a foot. Really. Crazy stuff. But the lows changed their balance completely, for the better, by moving the amp closer. They went from being "well, they're big speakers, they're never quite right" to being a super-well balanced tool. Put the amp right behind the speaker and you're good.

Do these amps have fans in them?

[robdarling]

Originally Posted by TonyBelmont

Maybe it was because you used different cables? Weird....

Nope. Exactly the same cable, just less of it. It's not really weird, technically- the line from the amp to the crossover is the complicated load that will be affected by cable length. I've just never seen something so fussy.

And no, the Audio Research amps don't have fans. Couldn't imagine putting fans a foot from my speakers. That would suck.

[Mr. Victory]

That's what I figured.

I must say, that's pretty slutty...putting the amps right next to or behind the speakers.

SV

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by robdarling

I've used a number of amps over the years, tried different combos- bryston, macintosh, qsc- and now use a pair of Audio Research D-130's (the more recent version of this amp is the 150.2- an AMAZING amp.) I have one amp each for the left and right speakers (left signal splits at amp to two inputs, one out of amp drives lows, one drive the mid/high, for example.)

.

Ok, so there was a big difference even when using both amps bridged but not split at the speaker ?

The LSR32's like lots of pwr and the bi-amping that you have would give the woofs only 150amps each (i.e. D-130's) as opposed to feeding off 300amps each full range (assuming you're taking the post bridge bar off when bi-amping). I'm surprised that this downsizing in pwr for the woofs would yield such an improvement...but I guess I could be surprised.

Since the LSR32's use a bridge bar at the speaker posts for full range, I would guess that bi-wiring w/o the bar (as would be the case with your bi-amping) shouldn't by-pass any of the crossover network, so it seems strange to see such an improvement. Maybe you have a better theory as to why this is?

Fleaman

[robdarling]

Originally Posted by Fleaman

Ok, so there was a big difference even when using both amps bridged but not split at the speaker ?

Fleaman

Flea,

I think maybe you missed something. The amps aren't bridged mono.

Console left out.

At amplifier, split cable to left and right ins of amplifier.

Left out of amp to low input on speaker.

Right out of amp to mid/high input on speaker..

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by robdarling

Flea,

I think maybe you missed something. The amps aren't bridged mono.

Console left out.

At amplifier, split cable to left and right ins of amplifier.

Left out of amp to low input on speaker.

Right out of amp to mid/high input on speaker..

I got that....and that means the lows/woof only get 150amps each side as opposed to running 2 bridged mono amps which would allow the lows (which suck all the power) to feed off 300wpc. Hence my surprise that with this downgrading of amps (to the woofs) would yield such an improvement.

Fleaman

[robdarling]

Sorry Flea, your post was a little hard to follow, so some answers.

First, the difference between 150 and 300 really isn't that great.

Secondly, the smoothing of the load presented to the amp that comes with bi-amping is much more important a factor than any amount of power you can dish, not just for the lsr's. In general, bi-amping is the most powerful enhancement you can make to any speaker design.

Also, as we all know, power and quality of power, especially under dynamic conditions, are very relative concepts. The AR has been a great amp. Much better than the Brystons and definitely better than any of the power monsters like the Crowns. I wish it weren't so- two of these guys was a pricey move. New, one of them cost as much as a pair of used Brystons, and they don't come up used.

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by robdarling

Also, as we all know, power and quality of power, especially under dynamic conditions, are very relative concepts. The AR has been a great amp. Much better than the Brystons and definitely better than any of the power monsters like the Crowns.

Aware of this also, so I was assuming using the same amps (AR's in your example). But, have you tried them bridged and full range on the LSR's?

Fleaman

[Adebar]

Originally Posted by robdarling

The JBL LSR-32 is a fantastic speaker, with two very strong requirements:

one, you MUST bi-amp them. If you haven't heard them bi-amped, you haven't heard them. They are a much better speaker.

two, they really like the amp close to the speaker.

It must be something about the crossover design that these two factors make such a difference- I've never seen a speaker so finicky to these issues- but I've been using them for about six years in three rooms, and this is what I've found. The imaging is amazing and the low end is really tight. They act like a small speaker with full-range response- great stuff. But you've got to follow these two rules or you won't get the same thing. The low-end balls up and compresses otherwise.

For me too, this speaker is fantastic. I made similar expeiences with bi-wiring an never knew a speaker that have this strong improvement over single wiring. Amp is a Hafler 9505 and maybe I try bi-amping soon.

I use it as midfield in a room with 28 square meters and high seelings (4,2 m) - great.

By the way. The tight on earth standing John Wattkinson described in an article the benefits of bi-wiring. sorry that i cna`t remember where i read this.

[zulusound]

I just got a pair of NOS LSR32's last night and I am really really happy with the sound of them. I bought a pair of Focal Twin6's and they are great, but they didn't fill the room like a main. I kept the Twin6's as my B speakers by my computer monitors and the JBLs and NS10's are behind my board, powered by a Bryston 4B. I haven't tried bi-amping the big LSR's, I think they sound fantastic as they are, even pre burn in. They pump, yet are tight. They are detailed, though the high end is warm and classy and not even close to shrill. I used to own a pair of 4412's and these LSR32's are from a different universe, a much better one! Fun speakers to crank, no doubt.

Evan

[Fleaman]

Yes they are!

You my try adding mass to them. They are rather light for their size and with a big 12" pumping away, more mass should tighten them up further.

Bolting them solidly to a very heavy stand (with shot/sand, etc.) should help.