Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL L880 6-Inch 4-Way Dual Floorstanding Loudspeaker (Black)

The JBL L880 floorstanding towers are EXTRAORDINARY value for money compared with other manufacturer's and internet only dealers products. Many will claim to have very neutral response and dynamic potential, but JBL has been in the business of making speakers since before many of those companies were glimmers in the eyes of their founders.

You can find excellent measurements of the L880's response curves online (Stereophile has an excellent review with such measurements) and the measurements don't lie. Flat response on axis from 40KHz down to about 30 Hz (with some leeway for room reinforcement). What that means in terms of listening is that everything sounds exactly as the mixer, engineers, and musicians (or movie makers if that's your bag) intended it to; nothing is being unduly influenced by characteristics of the speakers themselves, hence the description as neutral.

I've been using these paired with an Onkyo TX-SR606, a JBL LC2 center, and some surrounds that used to be the fronts in an Onkyo package (SKS-HT540) for home theater, but what's been most pleasantly surprising is how much these have gotten me back into stereo music listening.

These are excellent speakers for both music and movies, but their musicality is amazing. They produce rich, full bass, mids, and highs with great ease. If you push them, they don't sweat, they just go louder and louder until your AVR gets to its limits. These speakers have made me reconsider my stance on getting a pre-pro and separate amps in the future. Now I want them worse than ever, just to see what these are capable of with 200 Watts RMS vs. the ~90 I'm giving them now.

I've rediscovered my love of classical music thanks to these speakers. I can't wait to get some pipe organ CDs to really put them through their paces.

Pros
-Very nice looking in cherry finish (I'll post a photo)
-Astonishing sound reproduction
-Great stereo imaging
-Great punch and dynamics (esp. for movies, but even with driving rock and roll at extreme volumes these loudspeakers don't crack a sweat)
-Huge headroom for further amplification (as funds become available)
-Nice interconnects and relatively undetectable crossovers (that's a good thing)
-Excellent full range response

Cons
-Size may be an issue for some (I believe in bigger is better when speakers are on the table; see photo for size reference)
-Bi-wire connectivity is more gimmick than reality
-Plastic feet are a weak point but don't look bad
-Resistance ratings are optimistic at 8 ohms nominal (see Stereophile's review among others, these have a wide patch of 3-4 ohm response that may tax some receivers not rated for those low resistances)

In sum these speakers are AMAZING value for money, even at Amazon's prices (though sometimes Harman refurbished ones can be had for less elsewhere on the internet making them even greater value). They are great for home theater applications, but I think even better for music listening in 2 channel or multi-channel. To be completely honest I wish I could buy 3 more L880s for multichannel applications but I know my wife would kill me.

I'm not an audiophile, but I do like classical and jazz music at reference volumes (and play both nonprofessionally) and I can tell you from my own experience with other far more expensive brands at boutique audio stores, these will give speakers at 4 times the price a run for their money with the right amplification (at least 75 W RMS in real life, not manufacturers specs) and have blown everything I've heard at twice the price away solidly.

p.s. There's another reviewer who has suggested that these speakers are the same as the LC2 center channel speaker in the same line. As an owner of both, I can tell you they are not. Cabinet resonance and porting creates a very different speaker (even my Onkyo agrees as the Audyssey 2EQ calibration program crosses the LC2 over at 60 Hz, but leaves the L880s at "Full Range"). The bass and midbass are far fuller and more robust from the L880s.

After doing exhaustive research on floorstanding speakers for my new home theater I decided on the JBL L880s. All of the reviews I read were extremely positive as well as recommendations I got from dealers. Everything turned out to be true- these speakers are not only well built and sound great, they are good looking as well. Their ability to handle all that is thrown at them (music and movie) is exceptional. The range capability is outstanding. After tweaking the crossover frequency and settling on 60Hz (sending the rest to the subwoofer)they sound excellent. I also purchased the JBL LC1 center speaker to go with them. I highly recommend these speakers- I couldn't be more pleased with them.

Shipping was fast, though amazon did complicate matters by shipping them on separate days, requiring two separate deliveries, not just one. Had them out of the box in about 10 minutes each, so unboxing was relatively easy, especially given that I was doing it alone without any help. Currently have them single-wired to a Harmon Kardon HK 3490 stereo receiver, so I am using these in a 2.0 system (no subwoofer) primarily for music and the occasional blu-ray movie. Completely pleased with their performance so far (two weeks). Bass is clean and tight, and even without a sub, these speakers provide wall-rattling bass if I want it. Midrange and highs are clear and distinct as well. The soundstage is remarkably three-dimensional, not just horizontally but vertically as well, and roomy. I listen to all kinds of music from jazz to rock to rap, and I'm finding that the speakers perform exceptionally well no matter the genre, though I have to say that they are the most outstanding and impressive with jazz. With blu-ray movies, again, I'm not missing the sub. These speakers deliver powerful enough bass on their own, and the voice tracks are loud, clear, and centered. Overall, I would recommend these speakers without hesitation. They look and sound great and are worth every penny.

These speakers are great for home theater and music. With a Polk PSW505 12 inch Sub and Bose 161 surround and center. Clear highs with tight punching bass. And mid range that isn't muffled. Quality made speakers, solid. When buying great speakers except no substitutes. JBL. They did come to me in the origial boxes that were in rough shape with the seals broken. But everything was there and not broke.Rub marks rubbed out with polish. They need to double box them before shipping. Shipping was fast.

I like to visit audio stores from time to time seeking a great speaker that could really impress me, not subtle. A couple of weeks ago, a sales showed me JBL ES90. I like its detail and wide soundstage, and image from distance. Before l880, my speakers are mackie and e-mu studio monitors which are great for near field listening just lack of that detail that I am missing. The klipsch rf81 that I also have is better in detail but less soundstaging. I know a good speaker could reproduce the detail like Grado GS1000 that I also own. ES90 seems close enough while maintain good imaging. To be sure I visited best buy to audit their Klipsch, mythos from Definitive Tech, and vienna which is highly recommonded. The sales played some action movies and made it loud, and I played some musics from my own collectionn. I did not hear that detail from ES90. then I discovered L series of JBL is better than ES. I chose L880 over L890 because I would use subwoofer anyway and believe very low bass need powerful active subwoofer to handle it. I have 12" reference sub from klipsch and ps12 from e-mu system. The later one has more input and more for studio application. BTW audiosource amp5.1a single channel x2 are used to drive the pair of L880. The result is what i am looking for.
I usually listening to orchestrated musics, like classical, and soundtracks(by Zimmer) particularly which has less voices involved. L880 changes my mind, listening to its reprduction of female voices is the sound I had never heard before, simply astonishing.
It is quite challenging when I moved it to 2nd floor by stairs because of its weight and size.

update,9/10/2009
Its bass can reach 32Hz, only -2 or -3db from 35Hz. But you need to place them close to the wall. Then virtually you don't need subwoofer which is a pain for placement and big.