B&W DM302 vs JBL L20T --what should I do?

[BMWCCA]

In the modern era, the little self-powered LSR305 will blow your mind with near field imaging. I would recommend these to you in a heartbeat as I think they may be exactly what you are seeking.

Do seek them out...

Massdrop has the piano-black matched-set down to $179.99/pair. They call them the LSR30x if anyone wants to Google it. I already own two-pairs of the LSR305s or I'd probably take the bait!

As the owner of a pair of L20T, L1, and the Pro-III Plus system, I can vouch for how incredible the LSR305 really is. They image like a pair of L7s in the middle of a room, and that's a compliment (since I also have two-pairs of those!).

 

[Kreshna]

In my opinion, soundstage (as it pertains to the speaker's contribution) is more a matter of cabinet and baffle design. You want to very carefully control the high frequency radiation pattern while keeping cabinet resonance to a minimum. If you want this above else in the JBL family then you want to seek out something from the XPL family or the 250Ti, if we're talking classic models. Although they are a fine loudspeaker, a big square box like the 120ti or L20T is just not going to be the last word in imaging.

In the modern era, the little self-powered LSR305 will blow your mind with near field imaging. I would recommend these to you in a heartbeat as I think they may be exactly what you are seeking.

Do seek them out...

jblnut

Massdrop has the piano-black matched-set down to $179.99/pair. They call them the LSR30x if anyone wants to Google it. I already own two-pairs of the LSR305s or I'd probably take the bait!

As the owner of a pair of L20T, L1, and the Pro-III Plus system, I can vouch for how incredible the LSR305 really is. They image like a pair of L7s in the middle of a room, and that's a compliment (since I also have two-pairs of those!).

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I believe JBL monitors do have excellent, detailed 2D stereo imaging; JBL L20T and JBL 120Ti do. However, it is this review that interests me a lot:

"Depth of soundstage in recordings is quite good, some of the best I have heard. The amount of detail within that soundstage is also excellent, far beyond what one would expect to have from such inexpensive speakers & it's not a hyped detail gotten through hyped up treble. List price of these is 149 dollars for each speaker, basically 300 dollars for a stereo pair"


Nonetheless, I'm still curious about NHT SuperZero though.
Would I regret if I pass the SuperZero?
Is the SuperZero 2.1 still the same legendary speakers which were highly acclaimed in Stereophile Magazine review decades ago? What is the difference?
Could anyone tell their experience with NHT SuperZero?

 

[Kreshna]

UPDATE: I made a comparison between B&W DM302's impedance curve and JBL L20T impedance curve, and here's what I got.

Despite being more sensitive (91 dB / watt / meter), the B&W DM302 is apparently harder to drive, with approximately 3 ohm dip between 200 Hz to 300 Hz, and 5 ohm dip between 10 kHz to 20 kHz. The JBL L20T, on the other hand, despite being less sensitive, is easier to drive, with merely 6 ohm dip between 150 Hz to 350 Hz (approximately) and 8 ohm dip between 7 kHz to 20 kHz.

So, is that the reason the B&W DM302s sound more brittle and fatiguing than the JBL L20T when played out loud? Because the Sansui A-40 driving them starts clipping when speaker impedance falls below 4 ohm? So I need a more powerful amp?

Too bad my 220v to 110v power transformer went bad, and I've been down with sore throat so I couldn't buy a new one. Otherwise I could try my Yamaha RX-V663 (US release, 110 volt only) to drive the B&W DM302. The RX-V663 is more powerful than the Sansui A-40. With more powerful amp, hopefully the brittleness at loud volume will cease to exist.

I'm a tad disappointed to discover the B&W DM302 is harder to drive despite being more sensitive. I hope I could play around with tube (or tubey-sounding) amp. Or low powered, high output impedance amp like TPA3116. I mean, since the DM302 is pretty sensitive, then I guess it would mate well with low power amp.

I wonder whether the highly acclaimed Dared DV 6C would work well with the DM302, and really hope so. Yes, its output power is only 35 watt per channel at 8 ohm, but it doubles down to 65 watt per channel at 4 ohm. Should be a good choice, no?

 

[Oldsansui441]

Too bad my 220v to 110v power transformer went bad, and I've been down with sore throat so I couldn't buy a new one. Otherwise I could try my Yamaha RX-V663 (US release, 110 volt only) to drive the B&W DM302. The RX-V663 is more powerful than the Sansui A-40. With more powerful amp, hopefully the brittleness at loud volume will cease to exist.

From my experience with B&W's l would say this is almost a certainty. Don't bother trying to make them sound their best with a low powered amp, the more power to a point the better really, it will control them more easily.

 

[voyager12]

I had the DM302. Nice speakers. If you can get their successor, the DM303, go for those instead. They're simply better in ALL respect.

 

[Rybeam]

The DM 302 are the finest small / tiny speakers I have ever heard. For the record they are ported and the last of the B&W designed while both founders were still alive. The 100 pounds price catagoty was a big competitive thing in the UK for years. These were B&W attempt at closing the era with the ultimate small affordabile speaker. You may find some that sound as good but I dispute better. Given plenty good clean power they are world beaters until you turn them up too loud then their small size becomes evident. They really like my Mac 1900.

I also have a pair of B&W DM 601 I think the smaller 302 are a bit smoother. Both are fine small speakers. Hope to someday hear a large pair of B&Ws.

Cheers All !!!!