Price, size, sound.

None when used as the manufacturer intended.

If you are looking for an excellent, economical surround speaker system, I highly recommend this system. For movies, these speakers will provide all the sound you need - anything else is overkill. They also disappear into your room. Just remember, this is JBL''s Simply Cinema Series. These are not designed for music listening, even though they are not bad except for some loss in the midranges. For those who have had difficulty with these speakers - "blur" (sic) sound or having to turn up the volume to 50% to hear them, you are obviously not doing something right. Overall, great speakers for the money.

Compact speakers and all hardware needed. Excellent Bang for the buck.

Subwoofer is only 8 inch, could be a 100 watt 10 inch powered sub and make a huge impact

Excellent sound from these little speakers. I have the newer SC125a's that increase the power handling ffrom 50 watt to 75 watt so they handle my Onkyo TXDS474 perfectly Very nice sleek setup and very good sound even with the eight inch sub.

Similar Products Used:

JBL AS6, AS5, Bose Acoustimass (any they are all the same.)

A lot of sound for such a little speaker, and the sub sounds wonderful.

Poor sound reproduction in the high midrange.

I really love JBL speakers, but I'm dissapointed with these. At first I was amazed by how much sound they were able to produce, but after listening to them for a while I am not so happy. I noticed that the speakers are very weak around the 14,000Hz range. Most of my friends couldn't care, but it is a continual annoyance to me when my favorate music doesn't sound quite right. If you are picky about the quality of your music, don't buy these.

Similar Products Used:

Yahmaha

Wins both ways in a Price Vs. Performance war!!

Center channel....

I bought the SCS125A from a local Best Buy for $279.99!! I had reviews of it on audioreview before I decided to go for it. I purchased a JVC RX6000vbk recevier from uBid.com for $157 (+$35 shipping). The JVC has built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding and also has 2 digital in's. One of them goes to my Sony DVP-S500D DVD player (2 yrs old now). Ny first REAL test with a DVD was with Saving Private Ryan - Dolby Digital version. Man, I was blown away...the BASS is really really kicking!! So are the surround speakers...one can hear the bullets whizzing past by!! The next test was Top Gun....and I must say, it passed with flying colors!!! I would VERY highly recommend these speakers for anyone on a small budget!!! Heck, I would even recommend this system if one has a decent sized room and wants pretty crisp sound. The connections are very easy to make and the JVC has a RCA out for the subwoofer which plugs right in to the JBL sub. All other speakers are hooked straight to the receiver. The center channel is slightly under-powered I think...but luckily the JVC has a really neat feature of being able to amplify the center channel independetly of other channels, so I was able to get it to sound really convincing!! By the way, to REALLY REALLY get good performance from ANY system, I really recommend tuning your amp/recevier with DVD Essentials. Its a DVD that speciafically helps you in calibrating yout TV and A/V system for optimum reproduction. If you are jumping onto the DVD bandwagon and want a moderately expensive and GREAT sounding system, THIS is it for you!! Buy anything more expensive and I think its not worth the money......THIS IS!!

Similar Products Used:

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I am seriously disliked with my purchase. It is connected at a 325's Sony, which is prepared to a system like this. The final sound is poor, and you can't separe the mid sounds from the bass. The satellites sounds like a cheap computer's speakers.
Good points: excellent aesthetic, easy-to-use components.
Definitively non for an exigent audiophile.

Great buy for the money. Purchased from Consumer-Direct for $299. Speakers are tiny and produce a nice full sound. The sub has great bottom-end. The sats come with wall mount brackets which is an added bonus!

Dont come in white, otherwise for my purpose, no other weakness

Would recommend to anyone looking for great home theater sound without a huge budget

Similar Products Used:

Bose AMIII

PRICE! - Small size (OK with my wife!) - Great sound for DVD's

Only in Black - but they're so small it's not a big deal

I first hear these at Best Buy and was amazed by the sound when comparing them with other systems on display such as Bose. After reading the reviews here I decided to buy them and found them at the amazing price of $275 at Buyitnow.com (+ $15 shipping, no sales tax). What a deal! The choice was a no-brainer at this price and now that I've set them up, I am thrilled.

I also bought a Sony DE-835 A/V receiver with dolby digital/DTS and with my DVD player the system souns amazing - friends can't believe I got the speakers & receiver for under $600 combined.

I was first concerned that the surround satelites where in black (at least, my wife was concerned)and would be an eyesore on our white walls - however once installed with the neat included mounting brackets they make very little visual impact because of their tiny size and clean install.

The powered sub-woofer sounds great for our average size room (20x30ft)- no more power necesary in my point of view. It's modest size (abount an 18" cube) allows placement out of the way behind my TV stand.

All 5 of the satelite speakers are the same (front l&r, rear l&r and center). The center channel speaker could be larger than the others but at this price who's complaining. The center speaker sits horizontally on top of the TV (the otthers stand vertically) and as someone else mentioned in their review this is achievel with a little "foot" that is attatched to the center speaker - I didn't find a problem with this and you cannot see it unless you liik at the side of the TV.

As you can probably tell, I am really excited by this system - if your plan is to watch dolby digital movies this is a fantastic way to do it & get the full experience

Very compact, everything included in the box

Satt speakers can only take 50w max. Small center speaker

I bought this system (a while back) brand new from Wards with the warranty thing for a bit less than $500. I've loved it so far. I was about to go with the Bose, but of course, they cost an arm and a leg. I'm very happy with what I got. The sound is great. It cant take much power though. The highs could be a bit higher, but that might just be my reciever (Pioneer VSX-D498). The 8" powered sub is enough for a small room. The satalite speakers are great. They are tiny enough to stick on any wall. The included mounting brackets are great! If you don't use the center chanel bracket, it can be used as a coat hook ;)
The center channel foot peg thing is a bit odd looking in my opinion. I feel like watching a dvd now.

small size makes them cool and easy to hide, the price, wall mounts for free

small center channel

When I first got these speakers I was running them with an old Kenwood receiver that I've had for about 14 years now, and I thought to my self, "hey, not bad for an old Kenwood."
Within the last two weeks I've hooked up these JBL's to my new Sony 935 (luckily it works properly), and I'm blown away!!! The ultimate test for me was the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" DTS cd. It's an amazing listening experience and I highly recommend the DVD and these speakers to anyone. Great value, great looks and great sound.

Good looking, DEEP bass, brackets AND enough wire to tie up a water buffalo, and all for under $300!! What else can you ask for

Haven't found any yet...

Let me begin by saying that this system sounds surprisingly good for the money. The demo I heard at Besy Buy wasn't the best, but I figured what the hell...if they sound nasty I can always take them back, right?

I got them home and started setting them up, which took only a few hours (because I had to run wire under the floor through the basement). I can't believe how mush wire they give you. I have a rather large room (about 25 x 30 something) and I STILL have wire left over. The brackets work well and allow the cubes to be rotated for the best sounding position.

Next came the fun part...testing them out. I was amazed...the sound that came from these SMALL cubes was great. I figured that they would be fine for home theater use, but even the music sounded good. From classical to grunge, they produced well. The ONLY gripe I have is that the center channel could be twice as big, but it still sounds good. You can always pick up a decent center channel if you want later on, but this one is fine for me. I may even buy another set for my other reciever...

Similar Products Used:

Bose AM15, Boston Micro90's, Polk...