Our guide to the JBL 104BT audio monitors for content creators

Perfect for recording musicians, producers, podcasters, gamers and vloggers, JBL’s 104-BT’s offer powerful audio performance in a sleek, elegant package. Available in both black and white options, the 104-BT and 104-BTW make a stunning visual and aural statement in any studio while conserving valuable work space.

The 104-BT’s draw upon over 70 years of JBL innovation to deliver compact, flexible, and feature-rich reference monitors designed for both creative professionals and music lovers. Optimized specifically for desktop placement, their smooth frequency response allows you to listen to your audio confidently across a wide listening area with a punchy 60 watts of power.

Designed to integrate with a plethora of devices, the 104-BT’s feature multiple connectivity options for computers, turntables and audio interfaces using dedicated RCA, 1/8”, and 1/4” jack input connections, plus Bluetooth v5.0 streaming.

The addition of Bluetooth gives content creators/podcasters the ability to analyse their audio and ensure it translates well to common listening scenarios. The Bluetooth streaming and consumer-level RCA inputs also allows the 104-BT’s to work well as a standard listening devices for home cinema or in other creative applications.

Any of the input connections can be selected individually using the front-panel switch on the Master speaker, or alternatively all audio sources can be monitored simultaneously by selecting the ‘All’ option which means that all audio sources can be monitored without the need to constantly change the input sources to match your audio devices

In terms of the speaker design itself, the 104-BT’s feature a coaxial speaker design that features a high-frequency driver perfectly aligned with the centre of a low-frequency woofer cone to deliver an accurate sound scape from a smaller surface area than a traditional speaker with separate LF and HF components.  The speaker components themselves consist of a 4.5-inch (118 mm) low-frequency driver and .75-inch (19 mm) soft-dome tweeter.

Their pill-shaped enclosures have also been developed for maximum acoustic performance in mind by utilising sleek, curved edges rather than straight, square boxes. These curved edges diffuse the acoustic reflections that echo around the room and prevent audio refracting off of the speakers, merging with the direct sound, and interfering with the stereo image. The enclosures also feature rear-porting for consistent and powerful low-end at all volume levels.

The 104-BT’s feature JBL’s Master/Slave system where one speaker (Master) houses both power amplifiers, speaker controls, and input connections, whilst the other speaker (Slave) is a passive design that connects directly to the Master speaker using terminal connectors. This condenses the power outlets down to one and reduces audio cabling down to a minimum.

With the new 104-BT’s, JBL have squeezed the fidelity and performance synonymous with their bigger studio monitor designs into their smallest form factor ever, perfectly designed for all creative professionals and music lovers who want the flexibility to stream wired and wireless sound into high-quality studio monitors.