Are these worth the asking price ? (1 Viewer)

[Richard Ferns]

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone here knows how old these JBL Flix2, are and how good they are. I am looking for a new 5.1 set for my Denon 2808. I listen to a lot of music (Jazz, latin, Salsa, rock and the usual) plus watch movies/tv/digital HD cable. Thanks for your time. specs attached in picture for these.

Also, wondering how old these are and whether they are worth $500.
"Pair of Paradigm Monitor 9 v.2 speakers. $550"

Thanks for your time,
Richard

 

[Robert_J]

You asked this 2 days ago in the Basics section - http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...-speakers.html

-Robert

 

[Clinton McClure]

I'm not sure how old the v2 Monitor 9s are but I have a pair of v1 Monitor 9s I bought about 9 or 10 years ago for right around $1000 new.

 

[LanceJ]

According to this the Flix 2 series was manufactured from '96 to '97.

IMO JBL doesn't make junk no matter how inexpensive they price it but not all their gear is equal in quality (they go from Chevy quality [no-frills but still good basic stuff] to true hi-end speakers like their K2 model).

That being said.......just going by the specs I think these speakers probably won't be all that great with music - they are just too small (4.5 inch "woofers"?) and playing with a subwoofer's crossover frequency to compensate won't fix that. Certain instruments and males voices will still sound thin and unconvincing. But for movies & TV in a bedroom or small living room IMO they should be fine.

No matter what they cost, personally I have yet to hear small speakers using woofers smaller than 5.25" sound full/rich with music.

If you need small and/or inexpensive speakers, I would check out these little Pioneers:

"Pioneer S-HF21-LR Loudspeakers" (full review)

I was able to listen to them at Circuit City (R.I.P.) last year and was surprised at how good they sounded for their cost, but not too surprised since Pioneer builds their own drivers and can price their speakers lower than many other companies for that reason. Parts-express.com also sells them.

Other than looking rather plain with their nearly-featurless matte black rectangular boxes, which could be a plus since they can "melt into" a bookshelf because of that quality (my Minimus 77s do exactly that) there's not much to complain about. BTW paired with their big brothers which are equipped with 8" woofers, all these together could make up a nice little quadraphonic HT system - just make sure to choose "No" for the sub and center channels when programming the receiver so it knows to re-direct those channels' signals to the front mains.