Picked up some JBL Control 23 speakers - any good?

Scougar · 19 Mar 2015 at 14:21

EDIT: This thread is now known as... Scougar's Adventures in Hi-Fi, and how to blow money tinkering with all this stuff! ;-)

I picked up a pair of 2nd hand JBL Control 23 speakers for 15 dollars yesterday. As I'm not really into speakers... are they any good? (I wouldn't be using them outside).

flame696 · 19 Mar 2015 at 14:58

Well for $15 you really cant go wrong

Scougar · 20 Mar 2015 at 11:16

To drive these I'll have to buy an amp (2nd hand) so I wondering if it's worth it for these speakers.

lucid · 20 Mar 2015 at 15:20

Look, the speakers are still listed new on Amazon.com for around $200 a pair. So there's your retail value right there. That's not so difficult to understand, is it?

So, if you were spending $200 on a new pair then what would you spend on an amp to go with them?

Just because you got a pair at a stupidly cheap price it doesn't suddenly make them rubbish. If you can't understand that then you really don't deserve such a bargain.

Are these $200 speakers the last word in Hi-Fi fidelity?...... er no. Are they a commercial speaker normally used for background music?... Yes. Should you spend $300/$400/$500 on a Hi-Fi amp to drive them? .... IMO, no, that would be overkill. Do they deserve a half-decent amp though? ... Yes. Should you be looking for an amp or stereo receiver on Craigslist for around $50-$80....YES!!!

If you'd bought these at a more realistic s/h price then my guess is you'd have paid $50-$70. Think of the money you saved as a head-start on buying a receiver. However, if the thought of spending $60-$80 on a receiver has you running for the hills then just sell the speakers quick for $40-$50 and make a profit and let someone else have the benefit.

Scougar · 20 Mar 2015 at 18:05

"I don't deserve such a bargain". Not sure why you are giving me a beat down. They are listed for foyers etc as background or foreground. Finding reviews on them for music/movie purposes is actually very hard. I completely realize they are cheap, but that doesn't make them any good for personal usage, which is why I'm asking.

I will either be asking to borrow an amp from my father-in-law (he has loads of older stuff sitting around I think), or I will go to Goodwill for about $35 and get one myself. Just for tinkering with and messing around with I just wanted to know if I should.

lucid · 20 Mar 2015 at 19:00

Scougar said:
They are listed for foyers etc as background or foreground. Finding reviews on them for music/movie purposes is actually very hard.

BIB That's what I said already:

lucid said:
Are these $200 speakers the last word in Hi-Fi fidelity?...... er no. Are they a commercial speaker normally used for background music?... Yes.

If you already had a plan for amps; father-in-law and goodwill then why not just do that in the first place?

lude1962 · 20 Mar 2015 at 19:45

15 bucks for a pair of $200 dollar speakers, they're probably nicked or shagged, you wont know unless you try them

Scougar · 20 Mar 2015 at 23:21

lucid: I would only buy an amp if the speakers were worthwhile... hence my question. I completely see your point.. but hopefully you see I don't want to waste money if the speakers are junk, and was seeking the audio sections advise... that is all. You know.. I thought I could actually come here and get a A) Yes they are worth it, get an amp or B) No, they are not suitable for general usage... don't bother... etc.

The bottom line is, it seems like people maybe don't know what these sound like then.

lude1962 said:
15 bucks for a pair of $200 dollar speakers, they're probably nicked or shagged, you wont know unless you try them

Given they are from my employer... I doubt they are stolen. Now shagged... well maybe....

lucid · 21 Mar 2015 at 01:20

Scougar said:
I don't want to waste money if the speakers are junk, and was seeking the audio sections advise... that is all. You know.. I thought I could actually come here and get a A) Yes they are worth it, get an amp or B) No, they are not suitable for general usage... don't bother... etc.

The bottom line is, it seems like people maybe don't know what these sound like then.

We know roughly what they sound like. They sound like commercial background music speakers. Not as good as $200 Hi-Fi speakers but worth spending $50-$80 on a used AV receiver to power them. That's what I said, here....

lucid said:
Do they deserve a half-decent amp though? ... Yes. Should you be looking for an amp or stereo receiver on Craigslist for around $50-$80....YES!!!

If you're expecting some super-analytical Hi-Fi style review then forget it. They don't exist, as you've found out. The JBLs are commercial speakers designed for robustness. That doesn't mean they're bad; just that they're designed for applications where they might get some abuse. If you want a yardstick then "$100 Hi-Fi speaker quality", how's that?

I've no idea what you might get from the goodwill for $35. But I have a reasonable idea what you might pick up from Craigslist for $50-$80.

When all said and done, you've got 200 dollars worth of speaker for less than 10% of retail, and you've said you can borrow an amp to try them with. So really, what's stopping you hooking them up? What's the worst that can happen other than them being broken....... is you don't like the sound. That's hardly a disaster when you can sell them for two or tree times what they cost you, is it?

JBL is one of Americas biggest and longest running speaker brands. Do you really think that if the speakers weren't at least worth $200 retail then they'd still be selling for that price?

As Larry the Cable Guy says

Git-R-Done

Scougar · 21 Mar 2015 at 02:43

^^^ lol

I'll get an amp. (I'll see what they have.. they always seem to have receivers in there)

Scougar · 22 Mar 2015 at 17:25

Picked up an old Sony STR K660P receiver for 20 dollars. Pretty lame for what they usually have but just to try out as I'm just tinkering with this stuff I don't have a purpose for it yet lol.

Scougar · 23 Mar 2015 at 00:37

Darn... and this is why I KNEW I shouldn't have bought this today.... I can't work out how to get JUST stereo from 2 speakers on this thing, without it trying to use a sub woofer :-(

(i.e how do I turn the sub off on this thing?)

Should have got the really good panasonic unit the other day, but at the time I didn't have speakers d'oh.

https://docs.sony.com/release/HTDDW665.pdf If you guys are able to work it out please let me know. (alternatively.. if I am able to just wire the sub output to the speakers as well (But that would suck I suspect).

EDIT: I 'think' I managed to solve it using the AFD setting to mimic stereo sources with no modifications... not sure yet. (I can't seem to play with bass/treble in this mode on the amp itself though. I can't test on the speakers yet as it is too late and daughter asleep.. will try tomorrow :-)

lucid · 23 Mar 2015 at 09:20

You're right, that particular Sony was a bad choice. It is designed to work with its own speaker package rather than aftermarket speakers.

The set-up options are very limited. There doesn't appear to be a facility to select "No subwoofer" (which is the 'mode' that you really need) so it means that the receiver's crossover settings are fixed to suit the Sony speaker package it would have been sold with originally. Unless the Sony is relying on the natural roll-off of the original Sony speakers then it is filtering the sound by frequency and sending some to the subwoofer socket and some to the main speakers. Since this would have originally sold with small satellite speakers which have no bass and only marginal midrange reproduction ability, then the output from the L & R speaker terminals will sound very bass-light. This won't be making the most of your JBLs.

DON'T connect the sub output to the JBLs with the L & R. You will kill the amp and possibly wreck the speakers too.

You can continue to mess about with the Sony trying to polish a turd, but my suggestion is you return it to the store and buy a STEREO receiver.

Scougar · 23 Mar 2015 at 10:58

Ok. Will do. Thanks.

Scougar · 23 Mar 2015 at 15:10

Hmm.. also, noticed the speakers are 8ohm and the output of the receiver is 6ohm. Is that an issue?

EDIT: Gooooooogled it.. like usual.... and 6 ohm amp with 8 ohm speakers is fine, but might be quieter.

EDIT: Walked into a meeting room and noticed these speakers hanging on the wall for a projector. I highly suspect a room has been redone and this is where they have come from. Also.. these also likely means these have seen only light usage, or at least low volume.

sastusbulbas · 24 Mar 2015 at 21:48

There is nothing wrong with the JBL Control 23, they are proffesional speakers built for work use rather than looking pretty on an overpriced stand. Good drivers, robust cabinets. And can even be used outdoors.

They benefit from a meaty stereo amp with reasonable current delivery, 50w stated. No point in an AV amp unless you have 5 speakers and a sub.

Denom PMA 350
Cambridge Audio Azur

Anything up to 50 bucks pre owned would get a reasonable sound out of them. As would some Akai or JVC budget stereo amp out a superstore.

Scougar · 25 Mar 2015 at 01:49

Thanks. The AV amp even with the subwoofer not showing as activated seems to not be putting the bass to them, so I need to find something more suitable for stereo output.
(Doh).

Rroff · 25 Mar 2015 at 01:58

Always liked JBL speakers - though more in the DJing context (used to support a mate who did quite a bit of DJing) - not really an area I'm an expert on (hides from lucid) but if your not sure you could always buy something cheap and cheerful amp wise like the lower end pyle jobbies. (As in to get an idea of what your playing with without/before spending a lot of money).

Scougar · 25 Mar 2015 at 02:29

I am definitely just in the experimenting phase so I can make mistakes early on and it not cost me much, and learn from those mistakes hopefully.

I am not in a position to play music properly at the moment anyway given where I am living so just tinkering until I get that sorted is fine by me.

Scougar · 13 Apr 2015 at 00:51

Well.... I finally cracked, and probably too early. I saw an 1980's early 90's Onkyo TX-27 in a local store, in extremely good condition (no dust whatsoever on it.. scary clean), so decided to pay the $30 for it just to get stereo. In my mind, way over the top for an old school amp/tuner, but heck.. I really wanted to try these speakers out :-D

They sound pretty nice. Not sure what to make of the amp yet, but it works... just it doesn't have anything fancy like optical connections etc. Does certainly look very retro cool though :-)

(They also had the Onkyo matching cassette player there, but I couldn't care a second about cassette's... too much pain in my younger years with that.)