JBLs All New EON 500 Series
By Dave Mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifac
BPM Magazine
If youre a seasoned sound guy youll know the JBL EON series of speakers. JBL have all but owned the portable PA market having dominated with this range for some 14 years as the best selling powered speakers in professional audio history.
Needless to say, this next generation is bound to be a big talking point amongst enthusiasts and professionals alike, specifically in terms of affordability and whether they have managed to maintain that competitive edge that has made them the number one choice for so many applications. I asked a few sound pros what they had thought made the EON series so dominant for so many years and notwithstanding a host of varied opinions (as sound pros will always have when talking about their biggest passion), the general consensus was that these speakers have always been genuine work-horses and very versatile.
There are three speakers in the new range, namely the EON 510, 515 and 518S. As is the standard these days, the model number denotes the woofer size as in 10 inch, 15 inch and 18 inch for the sub. This is portable PA and JBL certainly deliver with the 510 weighing in at a light 7.7 kilograms and the 515 under 15 kilos.
I spent a weekend with a pair of 515s and had a fine time putting them through their paces. The first thing that struck me was that they are incredibly light. On paper 15 kilos may or may not sound like anything but when the substantial box was standing in front of me and I picked it up for the first time, I was genuinely taken aback at how nice and light they actually are. They also come with dual soft-gripped handles on each side as well as one on top so the bane of all portable PA has been eased somewhat with these easy to carry, lightweight units.
It's amazing to think that theyre also fully powered with Crown Class D amplifiers too. This lightness can be attributed to JBLs 15-inch Differential Drive woofer, a compact high-performance compression driver with a 1-inch exit and neodymium motor on a 100 x 60 wave guide. Make sense? Basically its advanced technology speakers use the high performance neodymium material instead of the older ferrite magnets to give you the same if not better delivery in a way more compact, lighter design.
Aesthetically the new 515s are pretty smart too. The deep-welled full size handles integrate beautifully into the moulded composite enclosures, with an austere full metal front grill that has a protective backing fitted intent on handling the rigours of life on the road. Below the front grill is the familiar JBL logo which illuminates when powered on, although thoughtfully this illumination can be switched off at the back of the speaker with a nifty indented button. Its subtle things like these that best illustrate the thoughtfulness that has gone into this next generation EON series. Underneath you will find a 36 mm pole socket with stabilizing screw for mounting although the design allows them to be placed on their sides for floor monitoring too.
Other features include a sort of on-board mini-mixer with loop-thru or mix-out capability and selectable EQ in the form of a loudness type control with the ability to roll off the low frequency for maximum performance with a subwoofer or when used as a floor monitor. Likewise this EQ knob can also be used to boost the bass for low volume applications such as small bars or restaurants etc. Line-in comes in the form of an XLR/ quarter-inch combo connector and two additional quarter-inch jacks providing input flexibility and the ability to mix multiple sources. Each loudspeaker features one XLR output where the output signal is selectable, either the whole mix may be looped to another speaker (or sent to a mixing console), or simply the primary input for traditional daisy-chaining. Interestingly the Mic/Line, Mix/Loop and Logo On/off buttons are all indented requiring a pen point or something similar to press them in, assumingly to avoid these being bumped into the wrong position. Powered by a Crown Class-D the 515 will deliver 450 watts of continuous power with a peak at 900 and the cabinet boasts frequency range of 39 Hz - 20 kHz with the EQ in 'Flat' position. The crossover frequency is at 2.2 KHz.
And so; features aside, portability aside, versatility aside, lets get to the million dollar question... How do they sound? For my money these must be the most well-rounded, pleasantly sounding loudspeakers JBL have made to date. Putting them through their paces of techno, loud rock, acoustic and vocal music, as well as for voice-over PA, I would be hard pressed to find fault with them. With hardly a hint of top end harshness or bottom end rumble, it seems that JBL will continue their dominance in the portable powered PA category with this next generation of the EON series.
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