buy.com sux

Looking for someone who owns or know about JBL's S-series who might be able to advise me on this system:

JBL S-312 (x2 for front)
JBL S-Center Speaker
JBL S-38 (x2 for rears)
JBL PSWD112 Powered Subwoofer

I am contemplating the Wharfedale Emerald 97s, as well, although I can't seem to get any information whatsoever on their suitability for home theater applications. Any thoughts?

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I've found Classicman's level of political understanding, and I'm living far above it!

GO LOOK AT MY EXCITING DVD COLLECTION BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CARE!

ZenDog

I own the:
JBL S-312 (x2 for front)
JBL S-Center Speaker
JBL S-26 (x2 for rears)
Acoustic Research ARS500 Powered Subwoofer

I power all these with a Sony 555es reciever. The reason I went with this setup was easy. I am a college student and on a very fixed budget. At the time I started putting my system together I could only alot about $800 for 5 speakers, but wanted at least a pair of full range speakers for the fronts. I auditioned this setup at a friends house and was amazed at how good they sounded for their price. The JBL S-Seris are really a great bargain.

The S-310's are really amazing. I wound up paying about $400 for the pair and they were well worth it. The highs are crystal clear and are very pleasing to the ear. I was also very impressed by the 10" woofer. They provided plenty of bass until I got my sub. Once I got my sub I set the crossover at 80hz and the transition between the sub and mains is perfect. These speakers have been able to handle everything I could throw at them and sound great for both music and HT.

The S-Center is also an amazing speaker. It performs just as well as the S-310's in every department but bass. I origonally had the center set to large setting on my reciever but the dual 5.25" woofers couldn't keep up with the sub and 10" woofers at very high levels so I set it to small. At the small setting it can take anything I can throw at it with no distortion and is the best center channel I have heard in the under $200 price range.

I decided to go with the S-26's for my rears because I had to go with a smaller speaker. Orionally I had wanted the S-38's for my rears but they were just too big for my application. These speakers are perfect for rear channels, but other then that they don't perform too well. I hooked them up as mains to see how they would perform and while they sounded decent they just weren't as good as the S-310's. There was only a small amount of distortion at high levels but to me that is unacceptable. My friend has the S-38's as his mains and they perform almost as good as the S-310's. They are a little big for bookshelf speakers but sound awesome.

If I had to do my system again on the same budget I wouldn't change anything. The fronts and center exceed what I expected from them and the S-26's sound great as rears. If you have any other questions about these speakers feel free to email me. Good Luck.

M i c h a e l

Also FYI:
http://www.goodsound.com/speakers.html

buy.com sux

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like most everyone who owns the JBL S-series is quite happy. I have heard a lot of great things about Klipsch speakers but at the moment have a much better deal on the JBLs.

I'm still looking for someone who knows anything about Wharfedales (or who can compare JBLs to Klipschs for that matter).

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I've found Classicman's level of political understanding, and I'm living far above it!

GO LOOK AT MY EXCITING DVD COLLECTION BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CARE!

DavidY

If you are living in Canada, Canadian-made speakers like Paradigm, Paradigm Reference, PSB, Energy, Mirage, Sound Dynamics, Totem, etc. generally offer excellent bang for the Canadian buck (i.e., value) IMO. Also, subs and possibly speakers by Mission are very good buys here in Canada. In other words, buy Canadian.

Let me what kind of budget you are considering and I may be able to recommend some speakers.

Dave

hahn

quote:<HR>Originally posted by DavidY:
If you are living in Canada, Canadian-made speakers like Paradigm, Paradigm Reference, PSB, Energy, Mirage, Sound Dynamics, Totem, etc. generally offer excellent bang for the Canadian buck (i.e., value) IMO. Also, subs and possibly speakers by Mission are very good buys here in Canada. In other words, buy Canadian.

Let me what kind of budget you are considering and I may be able to recommend some speakers.

Dave

<HR>

i'd like to know how good a deal too. i'm partial to energy since i have their take 5 system. but i'm looking to upgrade because their speakers aren't enough for the apartment i'm in now. (i'm in a big loft and the speakers just don't push enough air)...
let's say my budget is $1500 for all 5 speakers. i'm happy with the subwoofer...

buy.com sux

quote:<HR>Originally posted by DavidY:
If you are living in Canada, Canadian-made speakers like Paradigm, Paradigm Reference, PSB, Energy, Mirage, Sound Dynamics, Totem, etc. generally offer excellent bang for the Canadian buck (i.e., value) IMO. Also, subs and possibly speakers by Mission are very good buys here in Canada. In other words, buy Canadian.

Let me what kind of budget you are considering and I may be able to recommend some speakers.

Dave
<HR>

The issue is that I have several thousand dollars worth of Amazon gift certificates to spend and thus am trying to do my purchasing through there. Given that I can only sell Amazon gift certificates at about 80 cents on the dollar, anything I purchase via cash-converted Amazon gift certificates lands up costing me 25% more. Realistically speaking, would I get Canadian-made floorstanding fronts significantly better than the JBL S312s for $1000 CDN?


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I've found Classicman's level of political understanding, and I'm living far above it!

GO LOOK AT MY EXCITING DVD COLLECTION BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CARE!

DavidY

Hahn,

For a US$1500 (CDN$2300 approx.), you can get some very good speakers here in Canada. For example, I think that you can get a Paradigm Reference speaker system (e.g., Studio/40 or Studio/60 mains, Studio/CC centre, Studio/20 or maybe Studio/ADP rears) in that budget range. Or maybe PSB Image system (Image 5T or 6T mains, Image 9C centre, and Image 1B or 2B rears). Currently, I am not that impressed with the current Energy models in your budget range. The Energy Connoisseur series is nice, but is now discontinued. The Veritas is suppose to be very nice, but is more expensive. IMO, I find that the Energy e:XL series is very bright sounding.

Paradigm Monitor 7 mains, and Mini Monitor rears, and the matching CC-370 is a popular setup that many have. Personally, I would much rather prefer the Paradigm Reference series. Currently, I have Paradigm Reference V.1 setup (Studio/60 mains, CC-450 centre and Studio/20 rears for around CDN$2200 including taxes).

Buy.com sux,

For CDN$1000/pair or less, I would seriously consider the Paradigm Reference Studio/40, a large bookshelf speaker. Others that I would look at include: PSB Image 6T, a floorstander; Mirage OM-12 bipolar; Energy Connoisseur C-6 (discontinued, but may still be around at some dealers). IMO, a lot of HT enthusiasts would probably put the above speakers in a class above JBL. That's just a guess since I have not personally listened to JBL speakers. However, I have done quite a bit research...and JBL's name does not come up often for speaker quality.

Hahn and Buy.com sux,

Remember to audition as many speakers as possible and to trust YOUR ears. They are the only ones that really count. Note that system component matching can be important. Combining a bright sounding receiver with bright sounding speakers is usually not a good idea. For instance, many would regard Yamaha receivers to be bright; Paradigm to be on the bright side of neutral. As such, a Yamaha/Paradigm would IMO not be a good match. However, a Marantz (warm) or a Denon (neutral) matched to Paradigm (bright) would likely be a good combo.

Dave

[This message has been edited by DavidY (edited December 07, 2000).]

ZenDog

quote:<HR>Originally posted by DavidY:
Buy.com sux,

For CDN$1000/pair or less, I would seriously consider the Paradigm Reference Studio/40, a large bookshelf speaker. Others that I would look at include: PSB Image 6T, a floorstander; Mirage OM-12 bipolar; Energy Connoisseur C-6 (discontinued, but may still be around at some dealers). IMO, a lot of HT enthusiasts would probably put the above speakers in a class above JBL. That's just a guess since I have not personally listened to JBL speakers. However, I have done quite a bit research...and JBL's name does not come up often for speaker quality.<HR>

I agree that the spekers you mentioned do outperform the JBL Studio seris, but they are in a completely different ballpark. The PSB Image 6T for example cost almost twice as much as the JBL S-312's. I agree that JBL is not a name that belongs with the other brands you mentioned. In fact up until I heard the JBL S-Seris I hated the way JBL speakers sounded. The JBL S-Seris speakers are great sounding entry level equipment. You can pick up an affordable pair of floorstanding S-Seris speakers that sound great without blowing a whole lot of cash. As far as full range entry level speakers go I think the JBL's are really the best bang for the buck. Just my 2 cents