
The JBL Sound
Contents
We tested the JBL as a complete product, of course. We tested with the Ethernet cable between the left and right speakers for maximum resolution. By the way, the cable is a bit short (3 meters). A longer cable would be nice as it would be easier to tuck away.
To get right to the point: the JBL puts out a surprisingly neutral and complete sound. We played mainly through Tidal Connect, because ROON is not yet approved and then only Airplay works. Now we also listened via Airplay, but honestly that is just so much worse, that we kept playing via Tidal Connect after a few tracks; there is much more richness and calmness in the presentation.
Calm
What we didn’t expect at all is the calmness in the reproduction. With horn we immediately think of an “in your face,” presentation, but the HDI horn spreads much more than we expected. This creates a wide and also high image that is not “in your face” at all.
True, there is less depth than with the Sonus Faber Luminas, but that is also due to other things. Just to stick with that comparison; the Sonus Faber with Yamaha A-S2200 and Bluesound Node 2i costs about 4000 Euros total. If we put that next to the JBL 4305P we first of all hear a totally different reproduction, but we must honestly say that in terms of neutrality and speed the JBL wins. In terms of scale the Sonus Faber set ‘wins’.
The JBL is certainly not a warm sounding speaker. A subwoofer can change that a bit. We do recommend that in certain cases.
The overall sound is pretty calm, because the whole thing is very well controlled. Everything is easy to follow, which makes it easy to listen “deep” in to the music. Even more complex pieces like music by Radiohead where a lot can happen, or acoustic work by Mammal Hands, for example, just goes well. No harshness, compression or annoying ringing. Impressive.
Now we could go on endlessly describing per track what we hear, but know that we listened to this pair of JBL’s a lot. This is because it also played in the study for a while. There we heard everything from internet radio to Rammstein. And yes … the JBL does handle it all. Although for heavier electronic work, we would add a subwoofer to complete the picture. However, it’s not an absolute must. It’s just the finishing touch to this fine speaker.