Help with JBL speaker purchase (1 Viewer)

[Josh Varghese]

So I am a few days away from ordering the following:

2 JBL N38II for mains @ 149 each
1 JBL NcenterII @ 99

First of all, I'm pretty sure thats about as good a price I can get on these. Anyone seen 'em lower?

So last I need to buy a new pair of surrounds. I was going to order 2 JBL N26IIs @ 149 for the pair when I noticed that the same site (JandR) was selling JBL S26II for the exact same price!

I have already been advised via to forum to stick with an N center vs an S center because the front soundstand would be more seamless if all speakers were from the same series. Well what about this surround situation? Should I stick with the same series or go ahead and get the studio series for the same price???

ALL COMMENTS WELCOME and thanks for your time.

 

[greg baker]

If you are going with the N series I would go with them all around. I would personally recommend the N24's for surrounds. They are small, they sound great and they come with mounting hardware. I have the S26's as my mains and they are much bigger than they look on the internet. I had 4 of them but I sold two because they were pretty beastly to hang on the wall. I went with N24's for my surrounds and could not be happier

 

[Josh Varghese]

Well I know I want to go with N38II mains. I definitely have read how amazing the S38IIs are but space restrictions of a college dorm room really lend themselves to a taller narrow floorstanding speaker like the N38 than something like the S38II.

Now, I COMPLETELY blanked on the N24IIs. I forgot about them. I can get those for like $92 for the pair at JandR and that would bring me back to my $500 budget I was trying to stick to. THANK YOU for reminding me of its existence

Anyone else second the N24s are good surround match for my setup?

 

[Bill_Wil]

One thing to worry about....the N-center has had problems with not being properly shielded so that it causes distortion with the TV. Not everyone has reported this but enough people so that you should be concerned if you're going to be putthing the center speaker directly on top of your TV.

 

[Josh Varghese]

Ah crap! I thought that was only a problem on the original Ncenter and that they had fixed it in the newer NcenterII model.

Can anyone clear this up?

 

[Bill_Wil]

Josh,
Maybe you're right and they corrected the problem. I dont know for sure. You could always buy the N-center from Best Buy, take it home to test it, return it after you find the results and then order from jandr.

 

[David_Stein]

i think i can be of assistance here as i also live in a dorm room with jbl N-series speakers. i use the n24s as surrounds (i have 3 of them mounted to walls, and a 4th mounted to a shelfing unit. viva la 7.1!) and n26s for mains. i cant imagine mounting the n26s. as it is the n24s are wonderfully easy to mount (i screwed them right into our drywall and they are very sturdy up there) and more importantly they sound quite good for home theater duty. i have absolutely no regret buying them.

as for the n-center, i did have shielding problem (with my N-center I), but i didnt really have space on top of my sony tv anyways, so i just built a little stand for it to be attached to the tv stand and its fine now (about 3 inches off the tv).

 

[greg baker]

I don't think the shielding problem is exclusive to the N center. I have a s center and I cannot get rid of the shielding problem. Jbl even sent me new drivers and it did not help. I put it on top a sanus tv shelf and moved it back a bit and it helps. I think that is just a trait of JBL centers

 

[Josh Varghese]

I don't like this news at all :frowning:

In the dorm room I have the center resting on a shelf below the TV so it isn't an issue now but when I go home the only option is on top of the television......what to do?

 

[Pablo Abularach]

For some it had problems for other dont.

You can get the two N38 and a NSP1 package, thats selling around $209, this package contain the N center and four N24, so you will have two N24 to spare if you decide in the future to go with 6.1 or 7.1 and you are not spending a lot more.

Also the NSP1 package comes with the wall mount for the N24 so you could hang the surronds in your dorm. I dont know if the a pair of N24 includes mounts.

 

[Edwin_C]

I say go with S26II's all around and an S-Center. If you're in a dorm, you don't want floorstanding speakers. The S26II's will be suffice and will give better sound then the N38II's.

 

[Angelo.M]

I disagree. If space is a limitation, and if you're going to be listening to music without a subwoofer, I'd pick the N38IIs (over the S26IIs), which are excellent and quite underrated. I have the N38IIs in a theater setup and the S38IIs in a music setup and like them both.

 

[Ferdinand*T]

I use to own some N24's in a previous setup and there pretty nice for the price range. Looked really nice with the cover off, more high tech. If you don't have alot of room I would recommend these speakers.

 

[Greg-ST]

The N24's should work great for your surrounds. When properly placed they image very nicely.

As for the N-Center shielding problem, my N-CenterII does not produce any magnetic interference when it sits on top of my TV.

 

[Josh Varghese]

Now THATS good to hear (about the NcenterII)....THANKS