Yeah I can pretty much kiss goodbye to monetising
this video. But I hope it’s worth it.
I’ve been struggling recently to find a decent review of these speakers.
There’s a lot of mumbo jumbo out there and while I don’t pretend to be an expert in
this field, I thought I’d do a video, really testing these speakers with some music that
you might enjoy… And in a way that we can actually enjoy these speakers together.
They’re not perfect though!
I am Alex and I do down to earth tech videos.
If I brought my friend over to my house to have a listen to these speakers, these would
be some of the tracks I’d be playing.
Sadly, as I said, I can’t monetise this video but I struggle to talk about speakers
without putting some tracks that you might recognise.
So today, you’re my best friend, so welcome… And I will do my best to describe to you what
I can hear, and discuss the details as we go.
But I do appreciate that this stuff can be subjective, so I’ve also uploaded every
single tune individually as private videos… without any editing and I will leave a link
to those videos in the description for you.
And sure, we will also talk about what I think about this design, and whether or not they
are worth the price tag, but to kick things off, let’s listen to it together.
This is a relatively new songs by the Rolling Stones but I’ve listening to this non-stop
at home in the car, through my headphones… and I even used it in my tech reviews.
In other words… I’ve listened to these tracks in many different situations and levels
of quality.
With this one, there’s a bit of everything which is why I thought it would be perfect
to kick things off here.
The first nugget of surprise I got with this one, was the reverb in Mick’s vocals which
you can’t really hear on cheap speakers.
There’s the organ as well which is really nice and defined which again, kinda gets all
mushy when I listen to this in a lot of other speakers.
When Lady Gaga comes in, it’s just so damn clear. It’s like… crystal clear vocals.
Dead centre in your brain.
The Bass though, when it gets going, this is when you start to go… yeah these speakers
can pack a punch. I mean, it sounds better the louder you listen to it.
Which is awesome!
I will say this though… This loud part of the song is awesome but I noticed that if
I am listening to this maybe a few meters away, I don’t really get that sense of dispersion
that you’d get with a HiFi system of course, but it totally depends on the space and where
you are too.
When I moved the speaker to a smaller room, and listening to it at say 60-70% of the volume,
you still kinda getting a little bit of an illusion of 3D sound but I found it best when
you are facing it really.
By the way, the songs I am playing are all through Tidal and I chose the Highest resolution
possible to play them.
At 3 and half minutes… another surprise here was the definition in the cymbals, you
can really hear them clearly in this louder part of the song. And it’s just superb.
It’s not something you will pick up.. .so distinctly through cheap speakers on in the
car.
And then at 5 and a half minutes when they go a a lot quieter… here is where you get
a nice sense of… dynamics in the sound you know?
They go from loud to soft… to loud again and the speakers, just… don’t get in the
way you know?
Awesome experience, it’s an amazing recording… which helps.
I won’t talk about specs, because you can see these in the box. But I will show them
on screen every now and then.
One thing I would say though on the design aspect is… Wouldn’t it be awesome if these
were white? They’re not really visible but I don’t know, feels like they missed a trick
here.
Hey JBL, for people who loved their L100s like me…this would have been a nice touch!
Maybe in the next release 😘
Now this song by the Testy Brothers is an awesome uplifting song. Nothing too special
about it, apart from the fact I love how it makes me feel…
But it does have a bit of everything too, and the little nugget of surprise here…
is how I can clearly hear the sustained notes on the keyboard… whilst this REALLY PUNCHY
beat is going through.
Now listening to Dancing Nanices… wow… this song really impressed me through these
speakers. It’s not exactly like listening to the band in real life, but damn it’s
pretty close.
It’s quite a complex song this especially towards the end, but the drums in this are
excellent. You can hear so much detail in here.
Everything does seem to be happening pretty tight within the speakers so not the best
sound stage compared with HiFi systems
The important thing for me is… Did it move me, did it impress me? And the answer is yes,
absolutely. I’ve listened to the Woburn and to the B&O Zeppelin for example and this
song is a bit of a reference for me.
This next couple of songs… I don’t know why, but I think Audiophiles will shoot me
down in the comments.
Very simple but in my opinion is one of those songs that you really appreciate MORE… when
you listen to it in a high end setup.
And boy…. This did not disappoint. I like listening for two things in the song. One
is the vocal of course, the quality in there, but not so much how it sounds but it’s the
detail in her voice.
When you listen to it in a decent pair of speakers, her voice sound like velvet.
And I am sorry I am probably not that good at explaining but velvet… is the best word
I can use to describe it.
The other element here is the bass in this song. My goodness, that hits you right in
the feels. I can't explain it, it's just amazing.
OK, now to elevate things a little bit, I though I’d play a coule of my favourite
tunes from a BASS perspective.
I can’t play too much of these next two songs because they have quite bit of profanity
These are absolute bangers on these speakers.
The bass guitar here on Take the Power Back… is the star of the show for me on this song.
And you can almost see the strings being slapped you know. It's eally amazing how it sounds
and you can get every detail in there.
It’s a powerful song again, and what surprised me about this one was the vocals actually.
Super clear, again dead centre and perhaps a little bit too flat in my default EQ settings,
for this song especially, up the mids a little bit… the vocals on this get even better.
Down to your taste of course, but it was better than I expected for sure from a midrange perspective.
On I feel it coming by The Weekend and Daft Punk… and Starboy… I had to take a breather
after that.
And that’s the thing about music right… When it’s good quality, it has that power
to take you to places and… if you love BASS… and I am not talking… just a big THUD…
that sometimes you get with those big speakers. Just really enjoyable powerful beats.
Hey… this is as good as it gets for me really, as a single unit… even at full volume…
yeah insane quality.
Now this next song doesn’t have “bit” of everything. IT HAS EVERYTHING!
Bit of a mad house of a song but perfect for testing speakers. This is Bohemian Rhapsody
by Queen.
I mean… I think JBL nailed it on this one.
Time to get real now…
Music transports you to a place, a time in your life… and all that jazz. Come on that
was good!
And yes JBL definitely achieved that here, even though I only got one of them.
JBL also tried to merge the classic, retro look in the design with modern functionality
with streaming services.
I’d love to have more connectivity options, like a HDMI port or why not an RCA port too?
That would be the cherry on top.
Being a tech head and someone who enjoys tech, I do love the digital aspect but there are
times when I’d like to listen to a vynil or perhaps connect this to my TV.
I’d love to use this almost like a soundbar… I mean… connecting it via Bluetooth works
but the lag is just too much for it to be usable for movies.
I guess that’s what they have their soundbars for right? Still, it would be nice considering
the price, to have something extra to make it… you know good value for money.
I am not saying it isn’t good value, but I am saying I expected a bit more at this
price range, as a bonus.
On the positive side, the Authentics 500 does have Dolby Atmos and whilst they didn’t
make this a “portable speaker” like the 200 or 300 version of this…
this is something you can 100% move around, as long as you don’t do it three times a
day. It’s only one cable after all.
But the design intention here is for it to be your centrepiece really, rather than your
portable speaker.
At the time of recording these cost $699 dollars or £580 pounds over here in the UK.
As far as a smart speaker goes…it’s definitely one the best ones I’ve ever tried… the
software is not the best and to be honest, I am a bit picky when it comes to music apps.
The microphone that the smart speaker uses seems to be excellent and picks up your voice
commands quite easily, whether you’re invoking Jeff Bezos lady - not going to say her name
here - or Google… Both seem to work well.
If you’re listening to it at max volume though, you might have a problem.
Now when it comes to the JBL One app and the services that we have..
I’ve said enough about the app right. It’s definitely buggy and too basic..
But we also need more services… and the interface just needs to be snappier.
There are some cosmetics which I think can be done very quickly like a bigger search
bar, and more controls when you are actually playing the music.
Even things like, adding things to a playlist or going to that album or artist. Just needs
to be more intuitive.
It’s kinda hard to.. bash this speaker based on the app right?
But considering one of the main selling points is the smart speaker functionality… I think
the app needs a lot more work.
Let me level with you.
Did JBL manage to stay true to the original 1960s and 70s loudspeakers that we know and
love?
I am not sure that was the intention apart from the design… But absolutely, these,
like the original L100s for example… are best when listening to music loud.
You will feel the dimension of the songs and experience music close to how the artists
intended. With those constraints that I shared earlier right, after all, this is effectively
a mono setup right?
Is the Authentics 500 worth the price tag? I would say right now, it’s probably 150
dollars or 100 pounds… above where it should be.
That’s just my opinion based on a few factors for example:
JBL are probably enjoying the fact that really there isn’t a lot of DIRECT competition
out there.
And like I said earlier, we are probably paying for features that we can’t yet enjoy fully
like Dolby Atmos
Depending on the music service… I’ve no idea when I’m listening to a track that
has Dolby Atmos.
Tidal is probably the best app in the sense that it tells you what quality you’re listening
to…but that’s not the case for YouTube music for example.
I wish there was a remote. As I mentioned before the apps are fine but sometimes I don’t
want to be using my phone. I just want to sit somehwere and enjoy music without any
distractions. A remote at this price range wouldn’t go amiss.
My overall opinion of the Authentics 500 being overpriced is also based on what other speakers
out there provide…
like the Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin for example.
Striking design but slightly older speakers with… not as many features as the Authentics
500…
And very different design, with that woofer centrally positioned, so a fairly different
sound signature too… but you can get a pair of them almost the same price as one of these.
That’s kinda hard to argue, right?
There’s also the Marshall Woburn, depending on your taste as well. I do think this is
a lot clearer and offers a lot more definition at the low end.
The Marshall in comparison…. To my hearing anyway is a little more muffled at the low
end, even though it has a really nice separation as well, it's a fantastic speaker too.
Or a thought... which is probably what I am going to do now... you could spend another
£150 pounds, there or thereabouts… and get one of the best in this category which
is the NAIM Muso Qube 2nd gen.
That is probably my next purchase, I love the design, I’ve been to a couple of HiFi
stores and you know… been very tempted by it… and I think as far as streamers go,
that is as good as it gets. It has a remote control too.
Let me what you thought of this video and if you’d like me to review more of these
speakers in future, I’d love to invest more time in these.
And JBL, if you're watching...Don’t be angry with me.