JBL 104

I scoured the reviews online over this speaker and it was a very mixed bag of results but let me bust a few of those opinions concerning this very capable desktop speaker from JBL. I purchased my set from Amazon myself and am not a sponsored reviewer. Before I go into details I will say that this review is kept within this context of the class the speaker is in which is important. Firstly the build quality of the speaker is very robust and also refined, no sharp edges or rough finishes here from JBL. The grill is is very well fitted and strong again nothing rough here at all. The ABS plastic is not thin and gives a good solid all round feel. There is no side play in the buttons and volume potentionmeter, firm to press and a nice firm staged turn on the volume dial, very well housed with no wobble. The white leds are not overly bright and so don't distract as they might with some people. So no complaint here at all with the build quality, 10/10! A really good size for my 1m wide desk. Sound quality is where a vast amount of subjective opinion arises. Personally speaking I think they are spot on for the job which I bought them for which is a PC speaker that will be used for most contemporary multimedia purposes including Spotify, Apple Music, You Tube etc. The sound of these speakers are not lacking by any means as some have probably a little overly harshly judged. Saying the bass is non existent is utter silliness and I can only say that whomever said that must be using at least 8 inch Studio Monitors for the last 10 years. The JBL104 bt has plenty of bass in the context of the design and purpose and it is very nicely balanced too. These are a very upfront sound. The speakers seemed to loosen up a little after a few hours from new so it is worth giving them a little time. Everything about the sound is balanced clean and precise and really has plenty of volume to give out too. Getting these to half way on the volume and there was plenty of good clean sound flowing into my 5 x 5m room so these do get quite loud contrary to what some reviews might say. I mean if Mojaxx form DJ City liked these then that says something about the performance of the 104bt, he is a pro DJ who knows his gear and in whom I find myself in agreement over alot of tech. The stereo imaging is excellent and these are a very centric sound, much like the Rotel A11 Tribute where the sound centers in between the speakers and on a desk it shines and sounds like the band is directly in front of you singing live! Again, this contrary to some reviews saying the sound stayed inside the speaker, it certainly doesn't on my desk. The connectivity is generous with the balanced and unbalanced inputs are solid. I have not had chance to test them yet but I don't have any doubts about the performance there either considering what I have tested so far. The Bluetooth is excellent, very clean and without fault in sound quality and connection is stable so far using Spotify amd Apple Music on the PC. You tube testing to come a little later. The headphone received some criticisms on Reddit when the 104 was released but again unless the later models were better tuned I really found no fault here. I tested the headphone with my budget but rather good Stagg SPM 235 In Ear Monitors and again sheer sonic clarity! Very nice. I have not tested the Aux in but it is also probably just as good as everything else so far and baring in mind that it is an Aux in so will be dependent on the source material for performance. So have no doubts, this is a pro speaker, it performs like a pro speaker and in the context of design, sound and purpose the 104bt does it all very, very well. Now, are these perfect? No. There are a couple of issues that JBL could address in maybe a second version. Bluetooth is ahead of the video or in otherwords there is latency between the two. The audio hits you first followed by the video which for PC speakers is not ideal. For music is does not matter but for stuff like YouTube its not acceptable. I discovered the volume drops over wired connection, more so over the balanced connection so if you considering this speaker make sure you have at least 2vrms of output signal feeding the wired connections. Bluetooth is the loudest connection but with the lag. These are pretty much my only two gripes but I am afraid they are deal breakers as these are needed for video as well as music. I also recieved a faulty pair with the balanced connection not working on the main drive unit unless I pulled the red 1/4 inch Jack out by around 1/5th to make a connection so rather sadly I had to return the speakers via Amazon whom rectified the situation promptly. I would like to see a revised version of this speaker without bluetooth delay and better volume over wired connection as the sound quality of these speakers is excellent and would stay on my desk for years with the improvements if they were ever to arrive.

I don’t write reviews, but I just finished 3 hours back to back testing these and thought I should share. Short version: If you’re thinking about buying these you should probably buy them. Long version: My testing comparison was against an Audio Pro A10 and - unfairly - my full 5.1 hifi (Onkyo receiver, Dali sensor floorstanders, etc). They destroyed the A10, literally no comparison on any measure. And in some cases they showed detail In recordings that my hifi blended out. Obviously this set of stereo speakers is no match for the range and power of a big expensive setup (whether hifi or studio). But for this size of speaker at this price? If you have the need, they’re perfect. They have a very good range and would work well for listening to music right up to medium sized rooms (30-40sqm) at moderate volume levels. For monitoring they have great detail. They show up bad recordings. I noticed fairly subtle mic/setup changes mid verse in well produced songs I’ve heard many time before and never picked up on. Unlike some detailed speakers they’re not tiring/annoying to listen to, they’re dynamic and fairly warm. Bass and mid are smooth and punchy, trebles are crisp without ever being shrill or metallic. They’re solid, good build quality and have a clean, modern look. This is a simple, versatile setup, plug it into whatever you want. Way better than a Bluetooth/Smart speaker that will get out dated; there’ll always be some new tech, new codec, new ai assistant. In ten years these will still plug into the latest AI device while your first gen smart speaker is deep in landfill somewhere. Finally, these speakers could be used in any way you want. They’re not just for sound engineers. No reason they couldn’t be used in any room for music or tv or whatever. I haven’t tried them outside, they have a big sound but would probably sound a bit lost outside of a smallish patio/pool setting, so maybe don’t use them as the PA system at your wedding.

I use these with my mp3 mixer and laptop setup. I can't find a way to connect using Bluetooth so I have to use the cable which limits placement of the speakers. I haven't tried them at full volume but don't need to even at lowish volume I can hear each sounds clearly. Nice looking and a good weight for their small size.

Recently, I bought the JBL 1 Series 104 and they are awesome! The sound quality is incredibleᅳhighs are clear, mids are clean and bass is punchy. They fit perfectly on my desk without taking much space which is good for my home studio setup and everything I listen to sounds much cooler.⁤ Compactness alone is a great plus as well. They sit on my table perfectly without occupying too much space. In addition, they look really sleek and the setup process was a breeze. The only inconvenience with them is that when you turn them on, they make noise and there isn’t a way that I know of (or can find) to turn this off. Highly recommended!

I like the way that they feel solid, sound good and not too big for my home studio. Same JBL quality that you expect too. Worth the money. Just plug them in and they work well. I would buy again.

Muy buen producto, gran calidad y sonido.

I thought it will come with 2 type of power plug, but only 1 found in the box.

He comprado este par de altavoces pensando en escuchar música en una habitación pequeña, ya sea conectados al reproductor de CD o al ordenador, y la verdad que bastante contento en cuanto a calidad de sonido y a diseño. Dejando de lado la valoración a nivel de uso profesional o aficionado en la producción musical, cosa por lo cual no los he adquirido, he de señalar que para lo que yo los quería estoy bastante satisfecho. Sonido ciertamente plano, para eso son monitores, pero muy claro y bajos potentes para su rango, creo que son ideales para relajarse por la noche en un pequeño estudio escuchando música. Recomiendo situarlos con una separación de unos dos metros para apreciar mejor la calidad de sonido. Obviamente para un espacio o una sala grande no los recomendaría. En cuanto al diseño me encantan, los puedes combinar perfectamente con un ordenador y no desentonan estéticamente. Creo que JBL está consiguiendo altavoces geniales con precios muy bajos.

Excelentes, buenas bonitas pero no tan baratas, pero suenan muy bien, lo valen

Premetto che sono un amante delle yamaha msp, ho la serie 5 e la serie 3...cercavo una soluzione "portatile" compatta e performante e dopo decine di audio test online le ho preferite alle iloud micro (sembravano troppo bassose) e ne sono contento: paragonate fianco a fianco con le yamaha msp3 sembrano sorelle nella timbrica e nella copertura delle frequenze...ovviamente in potenza non reggono il confronto, ma sono più che sufficienti per ascoltare musica in casa o come monitor da scrivania! Davvero soddisfatto e assolutamente consigliate...se non siete amanti delle dinamiche bassose tipo krk...