Leviton (JBL) AEH50 5.1 Speaker Set. Looks good for the price. Opinions? (1 Viewer)

Well just as I almost settled for the BA XS5.1 speaker set until I saw this setup on Amazon.com which is getting rave reviews.
It is the Leviton (powered by JBL) AEH50 speaker set which retails for $110-$140 less that the Boston Acoustics system.

Anyone here familiar with the Leviton/JBL system.

Took a while to dig up some detailed specifications on those speakers, but I found a datasheet on the "Specs" tab here.

At 86dB sensitivity, they are woefully inefficient. The subwoofer is only an 8" model and because the satellite speakers only reach down to 150Hz, the subwoofer is either going to lack in lower end, or will leave a glaring frequency gap.

Is it good for the price? Well, it is technically a "surround speaker package", at a bargain of a price, but at a sub $300 price point, you really shouldn't expect a good performing 5.1 set.

Take this Focal Sib set from accessories4less as a contrasting example. Yes, it's another satellite/subwoofer set and the sub is still small at 8", but at 90dB sensitivity, these speakers are much more efficient, requiring less than half the power of the Leviton sats. In addition, the satellites will reach down to 75Hz, meaning the subwoofer is able to focus more on the lower end of the frequency spectrum (granted, at 8", it's not going to get sub 30Hz at much volume anyway).

That Focal system is twice the price, but a MUCH better system.

I haven't followed your other threads too closely, so I don't know what else has been recommended to you, but I would think you could do better than the Leviton system.

Thanks so much Jason for this info as I learn something new here every time. That Focal sure looks nice but a bit much (unless I can find a discount). I did some cross checking against the BA XS 5.1 system I'm considering. The dB sensitivity rating on those is only 85 (JBL's is 86). Either system would be excellent for our setup as would the Focal system ( if it came in white). Decisions, decisions.

I DON'T SPEND LOTS OF CASH ON HT, so this is a non-audiophile's review, I guess. I asked my wife to pick this set up for Christmas if she got it cheap, which she did for about $120. I connected them to my Denon AVR-E300 receiver and tested a few movies and some vinyl. These small speakers sound like small speakers. They would probably work well mounted high on walls, and might provide some good ambient noise. I was fairly impressed with the handling of television shows. Uncompressed movie soundtracks, however, were a bit lacking, especially with dialog. With music, the tiny drivers' limitations became even more obvious. Pink Floyd and Billy Joel records lacked full detail. One thing I couldn't find fault in was the subwoofer. The 8 inch down-firing box seems well made, and provides some nice low-end. Granted, I don't watch movies at extremely high levels. But in my small den, I get some solid rumbling from action movies. I tested out some classical, jazz, pop and rock on the cable music channels, and the sub offered some clean detail. In fact, I put the sats away and decided to keep the sub! It blends nicely with my previously garage-exiled Bic DV32B and DV32CLR speakers.