Advice on JBL S36II (on sale $150/pr) (1 Viewer)

[EricJD]

Please bear with me, I am new to HT and Audio and have tried to gleam information from other threads. Any advice is appreciated.

I currently have JBL MR26 bookshelf speakers up front and some KLH center/surrounds that I got for free with my receive 8yrs ago. I just upgraded my receiver to a Marantz 5300 and was looking at getting some new surrounds and center speaker.

The JBL S36IIPM are on sale a Best Buy for $150/pr and was considering picking them up. Should I put the S36's up front and then move the MR26 to the back or should I replace the MR26 and use the new speakers front and back. Also, from other threads it seems the S-Center is impossible to find and so I might want to get a 3rd pair to use as the center front and center surround. (or use the MR26 as a center?)

I also have a 10" BassCube from cambridge soundworks.
This is mainly for Home Theater usage. I currently listen at -25db from reference and am looking for a more unified sound.
Am I going to want to upgrade the front speakers to larger floor models at a latter date? or will the S36 plus sub keep me happy?

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Your safest bet for perfect timbre match from front to back is 3 pairs of the S36IIs, using them as mains, surrounds, 1 as center, and one as back-center since your 5300 has the decoding and amplification for a surround-back channel. Identical speakers all around is prefferable to a "timbre matched" center speaker since nothing could be a better match for a particular main speaker than another of the same speaker! You could probably get away w/ using hte MR26s as surrounds without much noticable mis-match in front-to-back pans, but I would definitely go with an S36II as your center to match the mains, especially since you can't find the S-Center anymore.

At the price the S36IIs are available I wouldn't hessitate to get 3 pairs and be set for quite awhile. For HT, the S36s and an adequate sub will do fine. 2ch music w/out a sub is where large full-range floor-standing speakers make the most difference. If you don't do much or any 2ch listening w/out a sub, i would go with the S36s and not look back. Hope this helps

 

[Joe Szott]

I have S36IIs in my HT setup and they work great as front L/R, rear L/R, back speakers for 7.1, whatever you want. I have mine set up in a 5.1 configuration with an S center as the center.

I think I paid around $150 on eBay from the Harman Kardon closeout store and they have been worth every penny. I would suggest getting at least a pair to try as front L/R speakers, maybe two pair and setting them up as front and rear L/R. For a center speaker they will work, but you might be happier with a dedicated center speaker (maybe see what is available on eBay for JBL centers?)

Anyway, these are great speakers for that price. Buy them, try them, enjoy them...

 

[EricJD]

Thanks Stephen that helps. I don't listen to 2-ch stereo very often so I will probably get 6-speakers.
Next I just need to get that Front Projector and 100" screen.

 

[Mike_HT]

I just did last week....and ordered the S36's yesterday. Looking forward to them myself.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

If you decide to get them, please consider using this link, so that proceeds go to help this forum:

JBL S36-II PM for $149.99 with free shipping (HomeTheaterForum Link)

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

link doesn't work...

 

[Mike_HT]

Works for me

...and Gabriel I used your link...do with almost everything I buy hah

gotapex is going to make me go broke :wink:

 

[Dah-Dee]

Warning: YMMV story below:

Well, now that everyone (including me) has picked up the JBL S36IIPMs at the excellent price of $149.99/pair ..... the S36II speakers are available at Best Buy B&M (IF STILL IN STOCK!) for $129.99/pair. DOH! I went to my local Best Buy at lunch, after reading about the S36II deal at Anandtech, and sure enough, there were 2 boxes of S36IIs hiding up on the stock shelf. I bought them both. One of them was even an open box, so they sold that one to me for $109.99. Sweet!

These are the *same* speaker as the S36IIPM, just a different color -- dark gray. JBL no longer makes it under this model number, and it is no longer on display at Best Buy or available on their web site, but it would be worth your time to check if you've been interested in the S36IIPMs.

Happy Hunting.

 

[John Garcia]

Cool, I know two people who need speakers and that is right in their price range. Thanks.

 

[Dah-Dee]

Heads up, all who recently bought the S36IIPM speakers from BestBuy.com during the $149.99/pair deal -- I just got an e-mail from BB.com thanking me for participating in their Home Audio promotion...and giving me a code worth $50 on BestBuy.com!!!! It expires 3/27/04, no minimum purchase though, so I gotta do some shopping in the next couple of weeks. Woo Hoo!

 

[Aaron_S]

I've been looking for 2 pair of the 36s as well but can't find them on bestbuy.com and am looking for them anywhere else and can't find them at the 149 price. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks