Price Paid:  $138.00 from Harman Audio store o

Summary:
This is one of the better shelf systems available. Sound is good - quite close to my "big" system Yamaha 5140 receiver, Pioneer DVD-525 player, JBL HLS speakers, although midrange is a bit lacking. I prefer to listen to my Sennheiser HD-600, or AKG K-501s headphones, than the speakers - I found bass to be a bit boomy. I definitely prefer the sound of my HLS-610s speakers, even the HLS-410s sound better, but each of those cost more than this whole system. Lack of treble and bass controls is a weakness. No Dolby B, C (yeah, that costs money, and who uses the tape player anyway). Has INs and OUTs, a rarity today... Yamaha PianoCraft series shelf systems (for example) sound better, but they also cost 3-4 times more.

Strengths:
Good amplifier, clean power. Good connectivity. Decent sounding, well built speakers. Excelent value.

Weaknesses:
No treble and bass controls. Unnecesary complicated controls. Boomy bass, lacking midrange.

Similar Products Used:
Tons of Sonys, Aiwas, Panasonics etc.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from N/A

Summary:
Great to see a few good reviews on this SG2020. I was the development engineer on the speakers for both the SG2020 and SG3030. If you can get a pair of these things or at least check them out and compare them to the competition definitely do so. We spec''d and designed the whole system in the US - and it''s made in Korea; hence it doesn''t look like a cheap transformer toy, we spent a lot of time on industrial design. The important thing though is the speakers. We were able to convince the Korea team to go with a slightly larger speaker box AND actual second order crossover networks for all corrosover points (actually a 3rd order on the tweeter for the SG2020 - hence it can hadle a lot of power without distorting or burning out the tweeter). As A result they sounjd good, they play deep bass, and they playu loud. The speakers in the competitors systems has no network components at all, except possibly a capacitor on the tweeter. These speakers sound miles better than any other system in its class. The sad thing is it hasn''t been available in many retail stores; mostly sold online; so it''s sort of a cult minisystem thing.

Strengths:
Good frequency response, play deep, plays loud

Weaknesses:
in some instances the RDS text can display funny characters. I think maybe the RDS sensitivity was set too low. This problem was reported after production and it was confirmed on 2 of 30 or so units tested. Simply changing the station to refresh the RDS fixes it.

Similar Products Used:
tested all the competitors over a 3 month period...

Price Paid:  $98.00 from Harman Direct via Eb

Summary:
I purchased this unit from JBL brand new, via their ebay store. I stole it for $98. This system sounds great right out of the box, and only gets better as it breaks-in. I''ve been playing it almost constantly the past 2 days (been off from work), and some visiting friends and even my wife have been impressed with it. This is the best-sounding minisystem I''ve ever heard by a wide margin. It does have very forward and punchy midbass (fine with me), but unlike other minisystems, the bass can go very deep too. I played some pipe organ music yesterday, and these speakers really do reach their rated 45Hz extension. Highs are crisp, clear, and detailed without being harsh. Also unlike other minisystems, these speakers have great off-axis response. They sound nearly as good to the sides as they do in front. In my experience with the Studio Series from JBL, this produces a wider, more open soundstage with precise imaging, and wider sweet spot. Voice reproduction is better than many component systems I''ve heard. Certainly better than anything JVC or Aiwa has to offer. And, while it has the bass boost, treble boost, super boost, rock, pop, classical, and jazz EQ modes; it sounds great with everything "flat." Any good audio enthusiast likes to keep everything set flat, because a good speaker system has good, flat response, needing no boost or cut anywhere. It sounds great set "flat," while other minisystems do not. With other brands, not only does the EQ go flat, so does the sound. :) The speakers are not just pieces of junk like you find with other systems. These are true 2-way bookshelf speakers, with current JBL enhancements like PolyPlas cones, titanium laminate tweeters, EOS waveguides (a major reason for the great off-axis response, which other systems lack), etc. They have dual ports, and are really nice-looking. So is the main unit. The main unit has a powerful amplifier, with 75 real watts (other companies cheat the spec sheet) per channel. In a small room, a very low volume setting gets very loud. I have the volume set very low, and I can clearly hear the music in my back yard with all windows and doors closed. And, like other JBL products, you can turn it up as loud as you want, and the sound stays clean without distortion. It has plenty of inputs and outputs.

Strengths:
Lots of real power. Great voice reproduction. Crisp, clear highs with great detail. Deep bass response. Very punchy midbass that makes you want to dance. Plenty of inputs/outputs. Real bookshelf speakers.

Weaknesses:
I would have liked regular speaker terminals, so I could use longer or heavier wire. The wires come out of the back of the speaker like they do with many other minisystems. Everything else is a cut above the rest, so why not this?

Similar Products Used:
Mostly component systems: JBL Studio Series S-38 and S-center, Paradigm Reference Studio (auditioned with side-by-side comparison to my S-38''s), Acoustic Research High-Res series (auditioned), KLH to

Price Paid:  $200.00 from jbl website

Summary:
I originally bought a $200 Sony at Circuit City but brought it back because the CD player didn't work. I then hunted around on the net and bought the JBL. The JBL sounds much better (really no comparison) and plays surprisingly loud without breaking up. Only bad thing is you can't set the equalization directly, but there are enough preset variations to get the sound you want. I have it down in the basement for exercise music, but the truth is it sounds better then the stereo in my living room (guess it's time to replace those old speakers). This is a really good product at a very good price.

Strengths:
Sounds great for price. Looks cool.

Weaknesses:
equalization paramaters pretty rigid.