JBL N-38II with S Center II ? (1 Viewer)

[Josh Varghese]

Hey guys,

I am currently in the process of making piece by piece upgrades to my VERY modest college-budget home theater. I recently purchased an Infinity IL100S subwoofer to replace a crappy sony HTIB sub.

Now its time to work on the front soundstage. I will be replacing RCA fronts (8"-3"-1") and an RCA center (the one with the special material cones).

What I'm looking at is a pair of JBL N-38II floorstanding speakers for ~$300 shipped and then rather than the N series center getting the SII center for ~$150 shipped.

http://www.jbl.com/home/products/pro...NOR&sCatId=BFS

http://www.jbl.com/home/products/pro...STU&sCatId=BFS

Does anyone have any experience with any of these JBL speakers? Is it a bad idea to mix a center channel from the Studio series with mains from the Northridge series? Will I have issues with voice-matching or anything like that?

Thank you all in advance for any replies.

 

[Mark Hedges]

I would be more inclined to stick with the same series - the tweeter is different between the N and S series and that difference may cause problems. I would get the S-Center and a pair of S38's. You can get the S38's for $300 or so shipped.

Mark

 

[greg baker]

I agree with Mark. I would either go all N center or all S center. I have 4 s26's and a scenter and they sound great.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

I generally don't recommend mixing the JBL N- & S-Series speakers - reasons covered by Mark Hedges & greg baker.

Now, I've received emails and read posts where some said they contacted JBL Customer Service and they said it's OK to mix the N- & S-Series! (Well, I say, ... what did you expect them to say??)

Many above wrote that are happy with the combination where the JBL N24 is used in the surround location and the Fronts & Center are S-Series speakers. That combination answers their space restrictions, budget, etc.

I had the above setup for 3-days (JBL S26 Fronts / JBL S-Center) and after I REF Calibrated (Video Essentials DVD) my setup, ... I could hear the difference between the N24 3/4" Titanium-laminate dome vs. S-Series 1" Pure-titanium dome!!! (Semi-pro musician) Once I installed my surround JBL S26's, ... the 360-degree timbre-matched seamless surround was Most Glorious!!!

The JBL NSP1 is a keeper though, and when I'm @ my vacation house, ... I don't miss my JBL S-Series/SVS watching my blockbuster DVD's with my NSP1/AudioSource SW15.

JBL brand manager Paul Bente summed up the N- & S-Series differences very nicely when he wrote ...

"Voice-wise, the two series are similar," Bente said, "but the Studio series offers more detail and guts. It's a sharper lens on a very good camera."

Phil

 

[Steve Goolsby]

I had the same setup for a while (except I had the Series 1 speakers). I agree with Mark and Greg, I think you need to either go with all "S" speakers, or all "N"'s.

The S-center is a great speaker, but it doesn't match-up well with the N-38's. It seems to be a lot brighter in sound, and seems to play louder as well. I had to set my center output level in my receiver to "-2" to keep it equal to the level of my mains at "0".

 

[Josh Varghese]

Ok, well thanks so much for everyone's replies so far.

I was just really looking at the S center because it wasn't that much more money and seemed like a significantly better speaker than the N center (and better looking).

But from the sounds of things around here, just because it may be a better speaker, the differences in the two tweeters would detract of the seamlessness of the front soundstage.

So unless anyone else thinks I wouldn't notice the difference, it looks like I will be going with 2 N-38s and an N center.

 

[KyleGS]

I'd stick with the same series. I think you will be very happy with the N-center anyway.