Andrew Robinson began his career as an art director in entertainment advertising in 2003, after graduating from Art Center College of Design. In 2006, he became a creative director at Crew Creative Advertising, and oversaw the agency's Television Division, where he worked for clients such as TNT, TBS, History, FX, and Bravo to name a few. He now has one of the most popular AV-related channels on YouTube.
If you're shopping for a compact home theater speaker, but don't want to or can't install on-wall or in-wall speakers, may I suggest you check out the L830 from JBL. No other brand has been more synonymous with Hollywood theaters and/or concert events than JBL and the lineage is more than apparent in the L830 reviewed here. Retailing for around $500 a pair, the L830 is average-sized as far as a bookshelf speaker goes and is nicely finished, featuring a very rigid, well-constructed cabinet. The L830 can be had in three finishes, black ash as standard and beech and cherry as no-additional-cost options.
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Behind the grille, the L830 features a single six-inch low-frequency driver mated to a one-inch tweeter and a three-quarter-inch ultra-high-frequency transducer. The L830 has a reported frequency response of 48Hz-40kHz, getting most of its bass oomph from its rear Freeflow port and crossed over at 2.5kHz and 20kHz. The L830 has a 90dB sensitivity with a fairly benign eight-ohm load, making it ideally suited for many of today's modern receivers or integrated amplifiers. The L830, like all of the speakers in the Series L range, is bi-wireable and features gold-plated five-way binding posts.
Read the High Points, The Low Points and The Conclusion on Page 2
High Points
• As far as bookshelf speakers are concerned, the L830 is a solid performer, featuring a full-bodied, natural midrange with a smooth, albeit lively, top end.
• The L830's bass performance is solid and a tad more robust than most bookshelf speakers in its class, but for true full-range sound, you'll want to mate the L830 to a capable subwoofer.
• The L830 is one dynamic loudspeaker despite its size, making it ideal for large-scale music and/or feature film soundtracks.
• The fit and finish of the L830 is better-looking and more solid than most speakers in its class.
Low Points
• The L830, like other speakers in the Studio L range, suffers from a bit of high-frequency excess that can be easily remedied with placement and/or a digital EQ from the likes of Audyssey.
• The L830 is somewhat narrow for a monitor speaker, making speaker stand mounting a bit trickier, but not impossible.
• Though they're billed as bookshelf speakers, the L830 sound their best when placed out in a room a good foot or more from the front wall. Bookshelf placement will result in a slightly vague and mushy bottom end that is overly dampened due to the rear-ported design.
Conclusion
At around $500 for the pair, the L830 is a bit costlier than some bookshelf speakers in its class, though its fit and finish more than justify the price. It is dynamic and lively and can play at insane volumes with ease, but don't think the L830 isn't musical and/or involving. While the L830's tweeters can get a bit finicky at the extremes and the bass needs a sub to sound truly full-range, the L830 is still a well-rounded and versatile loudspeaker for the money.
