JBL - MA7100HP 7.2ch. 8K High Performance AV Home Theater Receiver - White

I'm beyond impressed with this receiver. It perfectly combines modern technology with incredible sound quality. The setup was intuitive, and it integrates seamlessly with all my streaming services. It’s a sleek, powerful addition to my home audio system. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a premium upgrade!

JBL and Harman have been iconic names in professional and consumer audio for decades. Both date to the 1940’s and 1950’s. By the late 1960’s and early 1970’s JBL speakers were the premier speakers in Fender guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets as well as many stage monitors. In the mid 1970’s the Grateful Dead toured with their famous “Wall of Sound” which contained a reported 586 JBL speakers. James B. Lansing was associated with a lot of great music. By the 1970’s Harman Kardon stereo receivers were a favorite among audiophiles. JBL and Harman Kardon were responsible for some of the most respected and popular professional audio equipment as well as consumer products. Through the decades the companies experienced ownership and management changes wherein fast-forward to the present day, Harman International is a subsidiary of Samsung, and includes JBL and a collective of some of the most renowned and respected audio products companies. JBL Harman just released the new product line comprised of MA (Modern Audio) AV receivers and JBL Stage 2 speakers. Among the factors that attracted me to these new components is that the MA AV receivers and Stage 2 speakers are matched components. There are several compelling advantages to using matched components, particularly as compared to cobbling together a home theater system from components from various manufacturers or even various products from a single manufacturer. First, all of the speakers share the same physical appearance characteristics, including their modern, minimalist design style, and their availability in either an Espresso (dark) or Latte (light) woodgrain speaker enclosure finish, with complimentary black or gray, magnetically attached removable grilles. The MA receivers are available with either a black or white face on a black cabinet. More importantly, they are matched technically. All of the speaker enclosures share the same construction and sound shaping characteristics with similar tuned rear ports, transducer design, construction and electrical characteristics, similar crossover networks and matched impedance. These speakers are also technically matched to the new MA model AV receivers, including matched power handling, with the intention of producing outstanding sound reproduction. In fact, towards those end-goals, the new MA AV receivers and the Stage 2 speakers were all designed and engineered at the JBL Harman Acoustic Engineering Center of Excellence in Northridge, California. The speakers and receivers will perform optimally together, because they are purposefully designed for perfect integration and compatibility. Another attribute of the MA series receivers and Stage 2 series speakers is that JBL designed and engineered them for simplicity of setup/installation and operation. People who are neither audiophiles, engineers or industry professionals are able to rely on these components being the perfect accompaniments for each other. There are enough selections available to get just what you want and need, but there is no overwhelming complexity to create a difficult or intimidating experience when selecting, setting up or using these terrific components. I am extremely impressed with the performance of my JBL Harman components, all of which sound terrific. My outstanding JBL Harman home theater system is comprised of: MA7100HP – 7.2 Channel AV Receiver Stage 280F – Floorstanding (Tower) Speakers – Front Channels Stage 240H – Atmos Height Modules (Atmos Caps) – Mounted on 280F Speakers Stage 245C – Center Channel Speaker Stage 250B – Bookshelf Speakers – Rear Channels Stage 220P – 12” 250 Watt RMS Powered Subwoofer This assemblage of perfectly matched JBL Harman components is a stellar home theater system which sounds absolutely amazing! I am incredibly impressed and completely satisfied with the MA7100HP AV Receiver which is the core of the home theater system. SPECIFICATIONS – MA71100HP (From JBL Documentation): Amplifier Section Channels 7.2 Rated Power @ 8Ω (20Hz – 20kHz, 2 channels driven, 0.5% THD max) 125 W RMS Rated Power @ 4Ω (20Hz – 20kHz, 2 channels driven, 0.5% THD max) 175 W RMS Video Features HDMI eARC & Audio Return Channel 8K HDMI input connectors (HDMI 2.1, HDCP 2.3 up to 8K/60Hz, 4K/120Hz) 3 HDMI 2.1 enhanced gaming features Gaming-VRR, ALLM, QFT, HFR (4K@120Hz) HDR 10+ & Dolby Vision Audio Features File format MP3 / MPEG-4 AAC: up to 48 kHz / 320kbps WMA: up to 48 kHz / 192kbps ALAC / FLAC: up to 192 kHz / 24-bit PCM / WAV / AIFF: up to192 kHz / 24-bit Pure Direct & EZ-Set EQ Dirac Live Ready* License purchased separately Front channel bi-amp DA converter 192kHz/24-bit Connectivity HDMI Input/Output 6 / 2 Wi-Fi (2.4 / 5GHz) Bluetooth receive (v5.3, Low Energy, APTX HD, APTX Adaptive) Bluetooth transmit Digital Audio Input 1 Coax, 1 Optical Stereo analog input 2 single-ended RCA Pre-Out (single ended RCA) Stereo Zone 2, Subwoofer 1, Subwoofer 2 General Mains voltage 110 – 240V, 50–60Hz Max. power consumption 700W Standby power consumption <0.5W Dimensions incl. feet and speaker terminals (H x W x D) 5.3" x 17.0" x 15.6" (135.0mm x 432.0mm x 396.4mm) Weight 16.4lb (7.4kg) The MA7100HP is a genuinely high-performance receiver with Class D amplification which supports numerous digital source formats including high-resolution Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound decoding. It has abundant connections including 3-4k and 3-8k HDMI 2.1, HDCP 2.3 inputs and 2 HDMI outputs. The speaker connection binding posts are closely spaced and present a challenge when connecting bare speaker wire, especially 12 gauge. It is relatively compact and lightweight and is available with either a white or black front panel. The front panel has very few controls, as JBL designed these units to be simple and not intimidating for users. A large menu selection knob and large volume knob as well as six function buttons are located on the front panel along with a color display. The small remote control has similarly sparse controls. There are recessed LEDs beneath the front panel allowing various colors of “underlighting” below the AVR. The default is JBL orange. Initial setup for connecting to Wi-Fi is with the JBL Premium Audio app. The app is also the exclusive method for selecting streaming Internet audio and Chromecast built-in; the AVR panel/remote controls do not include this functionality. I found the app to be slow and laggy, with a bug involving loss of the links for Presets and linked music accounts. Inasmuch as streaming audio must be accessed from the app, it would be helpful to have volume control in the app. The MA7100HP does not support broadcast radio via FM, AM or Satellite. Given JBL’s intention for simplicity of setup, the following “Essential Setup” tasks (described in the PDF only Owner’s Manual) may not comport with the “simplicity” theme. 1. Manual entry of “Speaker Type” for each channel. 2. Manual selection of low frequency crossover threshold. 3. Assignment of rear surround amplifier channels to either “Front Height” or “Top Middle” for Atmos speakers. 4. Manual adjustment of individual speaker levels, which requires a C-weighted Sound Pressure Level (SPL) meter. a. The lack of a Relative volume scale from -79db (mute) to +18db (maximum power) precludes adjusting the speaker trim based on Reference Level. There is no numeric value on the Absolute volume scale (0 – 99) which is identified as corresponding to 0db (Reference). 5. Manual entry of distances from each speaker to the primary listening position. After completing the Essential Setup, Room Equalization may be performed using the JBL EZ-Set EQ app with an iPhone, or if an Android device is employed, a calibrated, USB-C microphone is required (JBL recommends the Dayton Audio iMM-6C). The Manual explicitly explains that EZ-Set EQ does not affect Delay or Level adjustment (hence the need to set speaker levels and enter distances prior to EQ). The Settings Menus of the MA7100HP afford good selections and flexibility for numerous features and functions including sources, HDMI inputs, etc. The MA7100HP is an absolutely outstanding receiver in terms of performance! I believe that the most important criteria for judging any AVR is performance in providing high fidelity audio. This MA7100HP based home theater component system sounds absolutely stellar! I enjoy movies and music at high volume levels. Even when operating at those high levels, with all channels driven, there was no clipping, breakup or distortion. The Class D receiver with a 0.5% THD spec never ran out of headroom. The matched design and engineering of the Stage 2 series speakers and the MA series AV receivers makes it extremely simple and easy to specify and select a complete home theater system comprised of excellent, premium level components from an outstanding audio component manufacturer, with a very long and rich company heritage. Our listening and viewing experience has improved significantly with the Harman JBL home theater components. Whether playing streamed movies or music, or using my Blu-Ray player, CD changer, or turntable, we are now enjoying the experience more than we did previously. The Stage 2 speakers and MA7100HP AVR provide extraordinary, room filling, high resolution audio with incredible fidelity across the full sound spectrum. As soon as I had connected and configured the system, running Top Gun Maverick, with its powerful soundtrack and height effects, was really incredible and satisfying! A few movies and concert videos later I was beyond impressed with how outstanding the Harman JBL components are! This is really how high-performance component audio should sound. The home theater experience with these components is truly a theater experience! I am confident that the MA7100HP Audio Visual Receiver was the best choice for the heart of this great home theater system. I am extremely impressed with it, and I am enjoying its performance enormously.

Love what JBL has done with their Stage 2 series, especially with their take on what a modern AVR should look like. The MA7100HP's sleek and high resolution screen on the front makes it a very modern looking AVR with performance to back it up. A “no-nonsense” approach to simplifying the controls on both the receiver and remote is much welcomed. Who needs a separate button for every function anymore? The specs sheet is impressive at 125W RMS per channel, 6 HDMI outputs with up to 8k support and the most important 4k at 120Hz support. I’m currently using this 7.2 AVR as a 5.2.2. That means I have Left, Center and Right for the front soundstage, 2 subs using the dual sub outputs, 2 surrounds and reassigned the last 2 channels to be my dolby atmos speakers. You can skip atmos and do a 7.2 setup with 2 surrounds and 2 rear surrounds but I think adding Atmos is a game changer. I love action movies and hearing helicopters come from the ceiling atmos speakers are pretty amazing and immersive. The entire setup is straight forward. Plug in your speaker wires on the back and install the wifi antennas. You do need a phone and JBL’s phone app to connect the AVR to your home’s wifi. A bit goofy that you can’t directly login to your home’s wifi without the phone app. You will then get a quick firmware update and you’re nearly there in terms of general setup. For advanced home theater enthusiasts, you will need to run a room calibration. JBL uses a phone app called “EZ Set EQ” and that will create a balanced EQ per channel. It however doesn’t measure speaker distance (delay) or speaker level. Top tips I have for proper setup is to input your distances based on your main listening position first, then level each speaker to 75dB using an SPL meter with C weighting at reference level volumes. And finally to use the “EZ Set EQ” app to create a custom EQ curve to correct for your room per channel. Nothing will sound better than a proper calibration. While “EZ Set EQ” was easy to use, it’s not easier and more complete compared to Yamaha’s YPAO or Marantz Audyssey room correction that includes a dedicated calibration microphone and automatically adjusts speaker delay and speaker levels for you. This JBL is DIRAC Live enabled but you do need to purchase a separate license and supply your own laptop and external mic for calibration. Maybe I’ll try DIRAC in the future but I’m currently pretty happy with the “EZ Set EQ” app. It lacks the subwoofer room correction that DIRAC Live offers. The overall user experience has been very positive. I love the modern look, the screen on the front to show album covers of the music I’m casting from my phone and the reduction of physical buttons on both the AVR and remote.

PROS: Modern-styled, which is such a welcomed change Premium sound that packs a punch above its weight Smaller footprint for easy placement Simplicity of setting up to get great sound Simplified remote that is sleeker than most CONS: The price is on the higher side for a class D receiver (when compared to an Onkyo RZ-50, for example, which is a class A) Can't customize input names (but JBL gives you pre-determined choices) We need the app to connect the receiver to wifi (no big deal, but it's still confusing why you couldn't connect it directly by inputting the password with the remote). DIRAC Live is not included but is capable of using it after purchase (Onkyo includes it with the RZ50, for example) JBL has entered the mid-tier home theater space with its Stage 2 series with some spice! When we are all used to the same old style of AVR receivers, they've come in to encourage modernization. I've had several receivers over the years, and you can take the oldest one and place it next to my most recent one - it'd take work to tell which one was the old one. JBL has changed that. This MA7100HP has stylish accents with JBL's signature orange. A high-resolution screen on the front separates itself from the generic green font many other companies use on their smaller screens. Here, the font is modernized, and the description of what's on the screen is provided very clearly. It also shows album art while streaming from your PC or phone, which is fantastic and adds to the modernization. I do wish the inputs were customizable. For example, the input my PS5 goes into - I would love to display "Playstation" or my Xbox displaying "Xbox." It's not a dealbreaker, but having that feature is still lovely. That could be a future firmware update? You'll need your phone to help the receiver connect to your wifi network, allowing for firmware updates (you'll be prompted for an initial firmware update after it connects to your network for the first time). JBL's goal with this receiver and their newly introduced speakers is simplifying the setup. Only some people are sound engineers, so the receiver and remote controls are simplified for a novice to get used to quickly. Most of my previous receiver remotes have been littered with buttons I never used or rarely used, so it's nice to have a simple remote that can be small. The specs for the 7100 are robust, too. 125W RMS per channel, 6 HDMI outputs with up to 8k support, and 4K at 120Hz backing - which is super important to any modern gamer. Currently, I'm using this receiver with a 7.2 setup. A center, right, left, atmos on top of those, rear left and right, and a subwoofer. All of these are from JBL's new Stage-2 series, which makes this receiver easier to use and enjoy. I may hook up a Klipsch sub on the left side to make it work with two subs. Although it's overkill, it sounds impressive with another sub. I may have to move some things around in my entertainment room, but the more bass, the better. Many of us don't use Atmos height speakers, but they add a punch for intense movie scenes - especially of the action genre. The 7100 handles Atmos like a movie theater. The separation is beautiful, and the voices are clear and loud. Over the years, movie audio has been hit or miss, with voices being drowned out by background music or sound effects - not with this setup, thankfully. How quickly and easy the setup will be is up to the user. JBL uses an app to automatically set up the EQ, but you may want to customize it based on speaker distance. You'll also want to dial in your subs if you are knowledgeable enough. Otherwise, the "easy EQ" does a good enough job to produce incredible sound. If you have a theater at home, you may want to dig into the customization, but I only had to do that a little. I'm glad I have transitioned to the new JBL's Stage-2 setup along with this 7100. I come from an Onkyo RZ50, which is obviously a great receiver, but I've had issues with mine in year 3, and they have become very annoying. Coming from premium Klipsch speakers, I welcome the modern style JBL has brought with its product line. I'm happy everything is stylish and consistent across all speakers and receiver.

The JBL MA710HP AVR looks more like a modern music streamer than it does a traditional AVR. The body is black metal with a glass front façade. The full color LCD screen is flanked by two oversized plastic volume and input selector knobs. There are eight buttons including the selector knobs. The back of the AVR has the traditional speaker binding posts, HDMI 4k and HDMI 8K inputs, an eARC HDMI to the TV, a phono input and grounding lug, RJ-45 plug for network integration, toslink fiberoptic input, left and right composite inputs, and two Zone 2 composite outputs so the unit can support a second audio zone with the help of an external amplifier. As an added feature, the MA710HP has an LCD color strip along the bottom of the unit that supports a number of colors. The remote control is small and simple. The remote consists of a single navigation D-pad and 12 buttons. There is no backlighting. The remote is thin up top with a bump for the battery compartment. This uneven construction makes the remote uncomfortable to hold and clumsy to operate. Overall control of the MA710HP is easy to navigate via either remote or the front panel buttons. There is a control panel overlay that will display on the TV when viewing content from an HDMI source. The overlay menus have the same format as the MA710HP LCD controls. Unfortunately, the overly looks like an afterthought when compared to the polished LCD screen controls. === Setup === Physical setup is straight forward. JBL did a good job of simplifying the back of the MA710HP. The connections are well marked and spread out to provide plenty of room to connect multiple speakers and devices. My system is made up of a single 4K Blu-ray player, Xbox Series X, CD Player, and 4K TV. My speakers are a full 7.1 configuration consisting of the JBL Stage 2 280F tower speakers, 250B bookshelf speakers, 245C center channel, and a pair of 240H height speakers in Atmos configuration. I am using one of the MA710HP’s two subwoofer outputs to drive a single JBL Stage 220P 12-inch subwoofer. The system is leveraging CEC in all devices to allow interoperability via eARC. This means if I turn on the 4K player then the MA710HP and the TV will power on. If I press the volume control on my TV remote then the AVR’s volume will change. If I turn off the Xbox after playing my game then a signal will be sent throughout the system to also turn off the TV and AVR. Generally speaking, CEC and eARC are not perfect systems and have their limitations and quirks. It took about 10 minutes for me to install the MA710HP into my existing home theater cabinet. The HDMI, Toslink (fiber optic cable), RJ-45 (home network), wireless antennas, and my subwoofer connects were tight and secure. The 14 3-way speaker binding posts were loose and improperly secured my banana plugs. A good bump or lightly adjusting the location of the AVR would cause the banana plugs to slip out. My recommendation, if this is to be a permanent solution, is to go bare wire to the binding post or use spade connectors. Avoid banana plugs for this specific build. The software configuration proved to be a mixed bag. First, JBL needs to increase the quality and quantity of documentation. The menu system is easy to use but lacks description or reference. There is no onscreen help or descriptions. This could be frustrating for a new user. Second, room calibration is a must to extract the highest quality sound and performance from this system. Room calibration is handled via a combination of cell phone and a phone app named EZ Set EQ. The AVR does not ship with the appropriate documentation to assist with room calibration. The application has rudimentary instructions but nothing adequate to provide proper instruction. JBL’s website has a document titled EZ Set EQ_CalibrationGuide. Download and read this documentation first. It fills in all the gaps you need to extract optimum performance. Except the following. Be sure to remove your cell phone case prior to calibration. For best performance, measure around your listening position, microphone first, by slowly flying your cell phone around your listening position like a toy airplane. Slowly perform, with your phone, figure eights, loop de loops, dives, climbs, and be sure to allow the phone’s microphone to point at the walls, ceiling, front, and back walls a few times. Finally, eliminate sources of noise such as: open windows, operating LED lights, talking, washing machine, refrigerator, furnace, air conditioner, etc… Make the room as quiet as possible. Next, using a tape measure, measure the distance from each speaker to the center of your primary listening position. Enter these numbers into the AVR’s speaker distance page. In EZ Set EQ, set all speaker crossovers to 80hz. This is a good starting point. Finally, set all your speakers to small. This is related to speaker frequency response and has nothing to do with physical size. === Performance === I would rate the performance of the JBL MA710HP about average. The unit has enough power to respond to immediate explosive action of a high impactful AAA blockbuster movie. However, the MA710HP cannot sustain this intensity over time. Ready Player 1, Scene 2’s city racing scene is a good example. We have angry car engines, explosions, a T-Rex, King Kong, exploding cars, and non-stop action that keeps things cranked to 11 for about 4 ½ minutes. The MA710HP was able to maintain volume. However, the longer all seven speakers were driven full tilt the thinner and more distressed the audio became. The climax of the scene sounded more like a cacophony than it did a fully realized and detailed scene. Fast forward to final showdown of Ready Player 1. Nolan Sorrento, our big baddy, detonates a world ending device that generates a pressure wave rolls across the landscape and destroys everything in its path. This pressure wave builds, and builds, and builds, and seems like it just keeps getting louder and stronger over 15 or more seconds. The scene ends with the wave dissipating into the background. This is a shake the house kind of scene. Unfortunately, the MA710HP tops out quickly and sacrifices detail for volume. This example was repeated over and over again with other high octane AAA blockbuster movies that I watched. Less demanding content such as made for TV content is easier for the MA710HP to produce a more consistent, higher quality experience. A good example is Netflix’s anime series, “Warlord”. Dialog heavy and character focused is how I would describe the season 1. The dialog is clear, concise, and textured. The ambiance, music, and effects scenes are short lived enough to avoid the behavior I experienced with AAA blockbuster action scenes. Regular TV, like the Olympics, sound clean and without any audible stress to the system. Music was another bright spot for the MA710HP. Not audiophile quality music but still enjoyable for non-critical listening sessions. The system performed very well when running in both 2.0 and 2.1 channel stereo. The 280F towers are big enough to throw out a wide sound stage that enveloped my entire listening position. I played through my typical demo playlist such as Meghan Trainor, Boston, Indigo Girls, PSY, The B-52s, Bach, John Williams, and many others. The Dun-Dun-Dun of John Williams “Imperial March” felt menacing. The a cappella version of Megan Trainor’s “Made you Look” was rich with vocal harmonies and demonstrated that the MA710HP has good control over content when the content is not thumping the MA710HP over the head. Multi-channel audio was a different experience entirely. At low volume, under 30 on the volume knob, the performance was like 2-channel stereo; just more of it. The system simply fell apart at louder volumes. Movies, TV Shows, 4K Blu-rays, video games, and streaming content that leverage Dolby or DTS play well in play as native Dolby and DTS. Forcing non-native surround sound content into Dolby or DTS suffered from poor processing. I found setting each input, such as 4K Blu-ray input, to “native” produced the best experience. Xbox games in full surround was fine. Most games are ambient noise, background music, and quick hard-hitting effects that typically last less than a second. Finally, this is a noisy system. I can hear static on my speakers from seven feet away in a quiet room. Multiply this by 7 speakers and the room quickly fills in with a low volume static sound. A THD of .5% does not help either. In all fairness, unless you notice you, you won’t notice it. And t of us will not notice this in the middle of a movie, TV show, or music session. === Conclusion === I feel JBL made a good attempt. Overall, the MA710HP feels underpowered and supported by a not-yet-ready-for-prime-time documentation and software implementation. The shipping documentation is too thin to allow a user to get any meaningful use out of the room calibration software. And there are zero explanations of the AVR’s features, how they work together, or how to use those features to produce the best home cinema experience possible. Add on fourteen banana-plug-challenged speaker terminals and I cannot help but feel this is a “throw it out the door and we’ll fix it later kind of product.”