Oops I meant the marbl indoor-outdoor speaker - it's a different speaker, please ignore this review

Oops I meant the marbl indoor-outdoor speaker - it's a different speaker, please ignore this review

Price, Build quality.

Harsh sound when played loud.

Buy a pair if you live near a costco, at $50 pair why not. I bought 3 pair and have tried them with my 5.1 system(1 pair for the center). They sound great for $50 but you are constantly reminded that you are listening to small speakers. When played very loud they can be a little harsh, but if you need to play them that loud you need bigger speakers. I now use them with my computer mated to a pro-logic receiver in a small bedroom and they are perfect for that kind of use. These speakers should be used in a small environment or for playing backgound music. Do not expect them to perform against full size speakers and if do you use them as main speakers add a sub. Overall these speakers are great performers for the price and are enjoyable to listen to.

Similar Products Used:

JBL 3" 2-way, Speco 4" 3-way, computer speakers ect.

Value

None

I also picked these up at Costco based on the reviews I read on this site. Wasn't totally convinced, but I wanted some speakers for the deck and there's not a whole lot of quality stuff available via the mass retailers in this area. I saw outdoor speakers at Circuit City but they started at $150 a pair.

So I got them...and they sound great! I don't play them real loud, and my primary music style is smooth jazz, but I love 'em!

Their mounted directly to the vinal siding under the eave over by deck. Installation was a snap with the factory mounting brackets. Their designed to angle downward and pivot, so you get a really nice stereo image in a large outdoor area. I have mounted about 40' apart and 9' high. My amp is an Sony, circa 1990, with 100 watts per channel.

BTW, is it me or is the last reviewer talking about something other than the Advent Marbl's? I looked at my speakers and they seem to be a sealed design, no bass reflex port. I love my Marbl's!

Similar Products Used:

None

Price

Sound

Well I did what everyone suggested here and went a bought a pair of these speakers. I am sorry to report that I am very disappointed. Everyone seems to think that the lack of sound is ok because of the cheap price. I listened to a pair of Polk speakers (Circuit City) that cost $15 more a piece, but sounded 10x better.

The only way these speakers can be used is how they were intended to be used, and that is as cheap outdoor speakers. I guess I can see one other way; if your using them as surrounds with a pro-logic system where the surround sound is extremely week. If you try using these in a Dolby Digital / DTS format, you will be very disappointed. Especially considering that most good receivers have a form of 5 ch. stereo.

I used them in my HT as surrounds and was very disappointed. I have since taken them back and replaced them with some JBL surround speakers. The results are way beyound obvious as far as an improvement. For the JBL's I spent $130 for the pair (they retail for $399). Search the internet and you'll be amazed at what you can find.

So, if you want a good outdoor speaker that is cheap, these are it. But for any other purpose (other than computer use) you will regret having purchased them.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Polk, Bose

Take the grills off! Thay sound much better.

Price; mounting bracket

very bright, a bit light on bass

These speakers are very bright and you do have to boost the bass a bit to get some punch out of them, but man o man, you cant beat the price/value ratio @ Costco. Beats hauling a stupid boom box out onto the deck. Mounting brackets are extremely versitile, allowing all sorts of mounting positions and angles, on the wall or under the eaves. If you can afford and/or justify spending $200+ for outdoor speakers to your significant other, then you will be disappointed with these - go out and get some Niles or other fancy brand.

cost,looks,sound. they feel substantial

compared to what?

i have an infinity HT system. CC-2 center, RS2 fronts, KLH Sub, Yamaha RX-V495 reciever. i was looking to upgrade my surrounds from the kenwood's that were left over from my original venture into HT. i bought the US-1 infinity surrounds. i hooked them up and after watching a couple of movies, i didn't feel they were as good as the old kenwoods. so i took them back to CC and got a refund.
in the back of my mind i remembered seeing the Advent Marbl's at costco. i thought they were $50 bucks each. so on a whim i went back and when i saw they were $50 for the pair, i almost didn't get them because i thought, how in hell can anything this cheap be anything but crap. but i took a flyer and got them. originally hooked them up at the surround connections. i wasn't that impressed so i re-connected to the main terminals, which gave an additional 10db of bass. then i watched Double Jeoprady with my daughter.
for the first time since i put my system together i had big sound and full bass coming from my surrounds. the sonic contribution that these speakers made for $50 (that's one third what the us-1 infinity's cost) is mindboggling.
simply put, they improved my system way far beyond what i had any right to expect for what i paid for them. fifty dollars won't even buy the front grill on most speakers.
BUY THEM

Similar Products Used:

kenwood, infinity,polk

cost/performance

none yet

I had these speakers kicking around the house after picking them up at Costo for $50. I connected them to my HT fronts to have something to compare my Polk 6500 HT speakers to.
All I can say is WOW- they were hands down a much better sound for HT or music, carrying the low/mid/high range quite well though a little bright, though some tuning can mask that.
I packed up the Polk's, got my $850 back and picked up another set of Marbls for the rear. I combined them with a nice center and sub from Mirage and saved over $100 and the sound is awesome.
a great grab for the cash!!

Inexpensive. Includes decent mounting bracket.

Extremely bright. Very brassy sound.

At the point that I purchased these speakers to test them, I owned Advent speakers for my front soundstage. I like the warm sound of the Advent's. I hooked these little guys up and was dissapointed with the overly bright sound that came from them. I do realize that they probably are best used in outside applications, but thought they would make decent rear speakers. Wrong. For the money though, $80 a pair, they aren't horrible. I think I would have to give them a 2 for performance, because even my little Energy take 2 satellites sounded substantially better at around the same price. I do think that they would be acceptable in outdoor use, so I would probably rate them as 4 for value and outside use. You can definitely do better, but the price is right.

Similar Products Used:

Energy take 5.

Performance, Price, Mounting bracket

Lots of trebel, not much bass

I picked up these speakers at Costco, and then read these reviews before opening the box. I'm using them as rear speakers in my home theater, and they sound fantastic. I also tried them alone with a powered subwoofer, and they weren't too bad. I'd guess that in a small area, four of them with a subwoofer would work out fine.

These speakers are great at any price, and an unbelievable deal at $49.99 a pair.