JBL Studio Series (1 Viewer)

[NickC]

I am looking into buying some speakers from the JBL Studio Series for my new system, I have a Yamaha HTR 5490 receiver, and I need all of the speakers. I was thinking of going with either:

Center- S-CENTERII
Front- S38II
Rear- S38II
Rear Center- ?????

or
Center- S-CENTERII
Front- S38II
Rear- S26II
Rear Center- ?????

Does anyone know what the best combination of these speakers would be and what woult be a good choice for the rear center? I would like to stay with the 26II's or 38II's.

nick

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Quote:

Mark Knight (HTF member also recently contributing to the Receivers/Separates/Amps - "*** Official *** Outlaw 950 questions thread") bought 3 - JBL S36 sets for his 7.1 setup (w/S-Center / Dual SVS subs) and never look back (replaces his Atlantic 270TX setup), ... He finally reached his sonic Nirvana (also previously owned & reviewed Energy Take 5; Klipsch Quintets).
Email Mark Knight (tell him I sent you ) and ask him questions about his JBL S36 HT setup, ... I convinced him to purchase them even though he couldn't audition them personally! He's glad he listened to me!!!
Food for thought,
Phil

 

[NickC]

thanks, so would you suggest going with this?

Center- S-CENTERII
Front- S38II
Rear- S36II
Rear Center- S-CENTERII

I am going to listen to JBL speakers shortly, would these speakers also be a good choice for my receiver, yamaha htr 5490?

nick

 

[ChrisMatson]

I am happy with my my JBL Studio Series speakers and Yamaha HTR5250 receiver. I think you will be very pleased!

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Yes to both questions! My present Main AV Receiver is the Yamaha RX-V995, powering my JBL S26s & S-Center / SVS 25-31PCi.
FYI: Mark Knight asked the same question (limited side and rear space) but I recommended All S36's since he had Dual-SVS subs. My recommendation was based on the following Dolby Labs 5.1-Channel Production Guidelines:

The 5.1-Channel Production Guidelines was the main reason why I recommended to Mark Knight to get ALL JBL S36's (which he did) and I bought four JBL S26s, to anchor the Front & Surround corners. I choose JBL S26's because I had no room for the JBL S36 in my Right Surround Side Location.
When and 'If', ... I upgrade to 6.1, I will probably add another JBL S-Center (II) for the Rear Channel duties. If Yamaha has a 7.1 setup, I'll get another set of S26's since I do have the rear wall room in my HT/family room.
NOTE: Because my website is 'free', hosted by GeoCities, if too many HT enthusiasts visit, GeoCities will shut it down for an hour or so because it exceeded the specified 'freebie' Data Transfer Rate. Sorry about that, just bookmark it and visit my site an hour later or when everyone has gone to bed!
Have fun auditioning,
Phil

 

[NickC]

I went to a best buy today and looked at the studio series...I really liked the S38II's but I wasnt really impressed with anything else, I listened to the s26II's and S36II's and just didnt find them as clear. I don't know what receiver they had running or whatever, does anyone know if there would be a better place to listen to these speakers besides best buy?

nick

 

[David King]

and S36II's and just didnt find them as clear

Sadly, as the owner of 2 Pair of this set, I feel the same way. I assumed because of the price compaired to the S38s that they would sound similar and be almost as good, but is not the case. To be honest, I highly prefer the sound of the N24s over the S36 line as far as cost to performance goes.

Current setups:

Theater:
S-center
S38-mains
S36-surrounds
S36-rear surrounds

Bedroom
N-Center
N38-mains
N24-Surrounds
N24-(Extra set in the closet for future rear surrounds)


If I had the room, those S36s would be out the door and replaced by S38s. But Sadly, I need wall mounted. The S36s are certainly good enough, just not for the price.

 

[NickC]

How does the S-Center II sound, it wasnt connected when i went to listen?