Is the JBL S38 Studio Series bookshelf speaker any good for $500/pair? (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Danny, thanks for the Polk tip. Note that J&R ships to anywhere in the US, so you don't have to live in the northeast to buy from them.
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KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

 

[Danny Tse]

I think they'll only ship the Polks to a NY, NJ, and CT address.

 

[Mike_Ped]

I love mine and got them for $251. (That's cause I'm one of those annoying sales people at Best Buy )
Mike

 

[Jo_M]

I'm considering the S38's for fronts as well. Do they have any mounting holes for screwing them on stands or do they just lay on the stand?
Mike_Ped: know any sales people in Maryland who could hook me up?
[Edited last by Jo_M on November 07, 2001 at 06:20 AM]

 

[BryanZ]

For $500, I'd look more at Paradigm or B&W. Both of those are better than the JBLs. I'll still take my nOrhs over either of them.

 

[Ruben Zamora]

I have to add my .02cents. To me, I'd have to say that the S38's also sounded a lot cleaner than the floorstanding.

I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm going to go with a JBL studio series setup.

 

[Trey Jones]

For Sonny T.

I listened to both the Polk 55i and the JBL S38's(as well as some B&W's and Paradigms, and Def Techs) when I was looking for a home speaker setup a few months ago. I got to take home some 55i's and a pair of S38's. After less 5 minutes of listening on each pair, I preferred the JBL's. The Polk's were much thinner especially under 150 HZ. The JBL's just sounded better all around. Warmer, not muddy, and more spacious.

now I didn't get either as I went with the paradigms. I decided on Floor Standing Speakers and went with Monitor 9's, mini's and ADP's, and CC-350.

 

[KeithH]

Ruben, if you do go with the JBL S38s, then by all means, don't pay $500 for them. J&R Music World sells them for $300/pair. At $500, there are many better speakers out there than the S38s. Also, at $300, I think you could do better, but $300 is more reasonable for the S38s. Just my $0.02 and certainly not intended as an attack.

 

[BryanZ]

Ruben,
I have to agree with Keith. If you are going to get the JBLs, don't spend $500 for them. Go to an authorized online dealer and add shipping. Take your printed price quote down to BB and have them price match.
I now have the nOrh wood 5.1s. They go for $500 a pair normally but are currently on sale for $400 a pair. I would get those over the JBLs. The nOrhs have a more refined and much cleaner sound. They are also better looking, IMO. However, if you indeed decide to go with the JBLs, save as much money as you can for that extra $100 can be used for new cds and dvds.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

The new JBL speakers have some serious research behind them. They have tricke down technology from Revel. Stereophile also reviewed them favorably.

 

[KeithH]

Bhagi, obviously opinions vary, but I was very surprised to see Stereophile review the JBL S38s. Although JBL is a well-respected speaker manufactuer historically, I think someone at Stereophile got curious as to what JBL was up to these days. There was a time when you could not find JBL products at electronics superstores, so maybe someone at Stereophile was curious to see if JBL could still make a good speaker. Alternatively, and perhaps very likely, someone at JBL with some pull pushed Stereophile very hard to review the S38s. As for the S38s being 'Recommended', I don't think it's that big a deal. Once a product is reviewed in Stereophile, it is bound to appear on the Recommended Components list. However, one should note that there a number of comparably priced speakers that are better than the S38s that Stereophile did not review and cannot put on the Recommended Components list as a result. Stereophile's Recommended Components list can only be used as a guide.

Again, opinions vary, but my brother bought the JBL S38s (for $500!) to go with a Sony DVP-S330 DVD player and Yamaha RX-V3000 receiver, and he and I were most unimpressed with them. The sound was muddy and lacked focus, imaging, soundstaging, etc. He returned them after two weeks.