JBL N24 Bookshelf Speakers

JBL N24 Bookshelf Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

Wish you could afford that great pro JBL sound? Give a listen to Northridge. JBL's leading-edge research into sound, hearing and speaker design has enabled the company to create moderate-price loudspeakers with anything but moderate performance. From their titanium-laminate-dome tweeters with EOS waveguides to their PolyPlas woofers and midranges, Northridge speakers are loaded with technology to bridge the gulf between the science of sound and the art of music and movies. They are available in

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 48  
[Oct 24, 2009]
soundsurfer
Audio Enthusiast

Wow...I can't believe the deals at pawn shops in Phoenix on stereo gear these days. I just bought 4 N24's and the N24 center, 5 speakers, for 60.00 dollars out the door at a shop on Scottsdale Rd...I don't think little old lady knew what she had or someone miss marked them..Hee,hee! Drove down the street the next little dirt bagger shop, I mean land of oppurtunity, and to my surprise there they sit. A Velodyne 10" subwooer on one shelf and a OnkyoTX-SR600 on another and both in pristine condition!..smirk..smirk...135.00 out the door..for both!...Smiling and fist pumping the whole way home..I spent about 20 minutes hooking it all up turned it on and smiled even bigger with a little dance! I have been in complete amazement of my system for the last 6 months! Whatelse do you want for a most incredible old scool set up for under 200!!!! Bose.smose..

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 08, 2006]
MaximaGuy
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Small size, excellent clarity and sound dispersion, high quality materials, same tweeter used in more expensive models, electronic crossover inside, high quality wire terminals, smal and nice looking.

Weakness:

Lack of bass at HIGH VOLUME, on some bassy songs wjth less high notes sometime there is noise coming from the bass duct.

I purchased these speakers in conjunction with N26 fronts, and The N-center (which are all OUTSTANDING SPEAKERS!!) I used them as rears..and they have very good clarity and detail. The bass is not room rumbling..but I don't know what people are complaining about here, Thats what a sub is for!! I have another set downstairs as a 2 channel system just for music. Compared to what I had here before (some Aiwa speakers) The sound dispersion is GREAT and very good musical clarity also. Of course...these dont sound great when the volume is turned up loud...unless you lower your bass and turn on a sub..than they are acceptable. I am running these through a new Panasonic Sa=He100 (also an outstanding reciever, not the best but good for the price)

In Conclusion, one whp should buy these speakers is someone who is looking for a space saving speaker but does not want to have unforgiving sound quality. Great for rears, or casual music listening. I wouldnt recommend for someone looking to get loud sound out of these

Also, the wall/ceiling mounts that are included with these speakers are GREAT and a cinch to use.

Similar Products Used:

JBL N26II, N-CenterII, MANY SPEAKERS from othet brands.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 02, 2005]
tryn
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Size. Value for your money. Pretty good for a home theater set up for movies only. Descent bass response from such a small speaker. Nice to have the wall mounts coming with the speakers.

Weakness:

Highs and mids seem muddy to my ears.

I purchased two sets of these at $70 per pair. I already owned an N-Center and a pair of S-38's; but I wanted to match the front and rears for the best possible home theater experience. Although the sound is pretty good, I'm a bit disappointed in them. Both the highs and mids are not as good as I expected. They sound muddy to my ears. The other thing I noticed is that they seem to need more power to get them moving. I'm not talking bass, just sound in general. I have to have the sound up much higher than with sole of the other speakers I've tried. Overall they are not bad for the price I paid; but if I paid $200 per pair I'd be pissed. Actually, no I wouldn't, I would have returned them. But it still would have been a waste of my time. I'm not totally ready to give up on them however; I should be getting a better reciever in the near future and the power thing may not bother me as much as it does now with the limited power I get from my Technics SA-DX950. I will probably be making some custom cabinets for these also which may change my opinion slightly too. Either way they will be used in my home for now, so I'm gonna make the best of em' and get the looking better than they do in thier original boxes. As for matching up with the N-Center, they do wonderfuly. They blend very well for movies and tv. I really notice the muddiness when listening to music. My other option was to use them as surrounds and keep either the S-38's or a pair of Cerwin Vega VS-150's as mains. The Vegas offer the best high end clarity and deep bass, but I have to sacrifice lots of space in a limited room. Guess I have alot of experimenting left to do. If size is a major issue for you, these are not bad but shop around. You can still find some really good prices on them and they wont be around too much longer from what I've read. These are not bass speakers. Dont expect them; or any other speaker in this size range to be good with bass. If you do your, well, use your imagination.

Similar Products Used:

JBL N-Center JBL S-38's Cerwin Vega VS-150's Technics SA-DX950 AV Control Reciever Yamaha YST-SW215

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 05, 2004]
jkdesigns
AudioPhile

Strength:

Great price, great sound!

Weakness:

Little muddiness in the mid range, but barely noticeable depending on what you are listening to.

I've owned various speakers from JBL over the years (along with other brands, Altec Lansing, Bose, MK, etc..) and I've always been impressed with JBL and use JBL in my current systems. I just got these NS24's to replace a couple of speakers in one of my systems, and I think they are great. High ends are crystal clear, mids are good, and the low hits close to the 75 - 80hz rating JBL gives them. I know there have been a lot of complaints on here about these speakers and not dipping low enough, but I think they are fine. If you want lower bass response thats what your sub is for! I know some bookshelf speakers hit as low as 50hz, but realisticly the spread between 75hz and say about 50hz isn't audibly that much. Plus with most powered subs you can set the response to somewhere around 50 - 60. I'm using the NS24's as front speakers with my JVC receiver pushing a max of 100 watts through each which is typical, and they sound great in a 5.1 set up, and just as good in a 2 channel setup. The midrange can get a little muddy at times, but nothing to gripe about. The best part is I got these speakers for $56 through Harmon Kardon's e-bay store, and they are remanufactured (by JBL) and you wouldn't ever be able to tell. The construction is top notch, and the sound is great for a pair of speakers which originally had sold for about $200.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 02, 2003]
Big Rome aka Dutchmaster
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

the brackets and the design. and sound excellent in the back for surround..

Weakness:

not good as front speakers

these speaker are great for the rear they dont have what its takes to be in the front but are excellent for the rear..they just didnt have the highs to match up with that bose center channel speaker the bose would drone them out..

Similar Products Used:

klh,infinity,jbl

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 23, 2003]
JCOSU
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Handy wall mounting, everything you need is included.

Weakness:

Not sure if they would be great mains. Must be mounted on a wall.

I purchased the N24s on sale at HH Gregg to be used as surrounds (rears) in a Home Theater set up. They handle the ambient noise well as are excellent as surrounds. I'm not sure I would have them as mains (fronts). They seem a tad weak for that purpose.

Similar Products Used:

Fisher, JBL S38s

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 04, 2003]
Weister42
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Really nice imaging, small and portable, looks great.

Weakness:

Plastic molded enclosure might produce rattles.

*This is the second post* At First Glance: When JBL first came out with these speakers I was struck by its rather simple and elegant styling, the silver tweeter plate and woofer's frame looks really good over the black enclosure, and topped off with very light brown-colored woofer cone; it won't blend in with your wood furniture too well, but it sure looks hip! The tweeter is a 3/4 inch titanium dome flanked with wave guides shaped on the tweeter's plate, and the woofer cone is a material JBL calls PolyPlas, a material that is both strong and light. The woofer also uses rubber surround for durability, and a FreeFlow port sitting right above the right hand side of the enclosure. The connection is made via heavy duty 5-way binding posts, which allows the use of heavy guage wire. The rubber pads that comes with the package attaches to the bottom of the enclosure for grip on slippery surfaces, or you can use the wall attachment kit to mount them on the wall. Listening: My setup consists four N24s for main and surround and a N-Center sitting on top of my 27 inch TV, a custom-made subwoofer box for a 12 inch driver and a 150 watts amp handles the bass, a Pioneer DV-333 DVD player, all hooked up to my awesome Technics SA-DA10N receiver in a 14'x13'x8' room(I moved into a dorm room later on). The speakers were crossed over at 100Hz, the left and right were mounted on the wall at the same height as the N-Center, the surrounds were mounted high on the side of the room a foot behind my listening position, and the center level was reduced four decibels to match the N24s(I borrowed a Radio Shack SPL reader). The main and surround speakers were pointed straight and not inward. I used to have a better subwoofer setup but it was way too loud for my neighbors and the house; the inner wall now has a rattle that cannot be fixed without tearing the wall off. I first ran the two N24s in stereo and played some classical music, and the pair produced a very pleasant image in front of me, I can pretty much pinpoint where the instrument is sitting at and the cymbals sounded really smooth, not overly bright, just at the right volume. I then put in a competition CD made for car stereo evaluation and the mono female voice was solidly locked in the middle, as if the sound was coming out of the center speaker! I then played The Matrix DVD, known for its awesome sound effects and the complexity of the sound, the 5 speakers produced a real sound stage with bullets flying all around me, without any evidence of strain within reasonable volume level. The speaker did started to sound saturated as if the speaker can no longer absorb power, but that was at a level when you have to shout into someone's ear to talk! I did ran these little JBLs at a even higher level, and watching the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan was more than I can stand(my ear started to ring). I once played music using a pair of N24s from my dorm room, pointed outside so we can hear the music while playing volleyball, but as stupid as I was I seriously cranked my receiver, with the treble boosted all the way. Because the speakers were pointed outside, it didn't sound too loud in my room, but it was a different story when I went outside; basically the little JBLs were blasting so loud that it can be heard through the whole dorm building, inside and out. I was warned by my hall director and off I went to "the office." I was just trying to have fun...I didn't know it was THAT loud! Conclusion: These speakers are very capable for their small size, with sound quality to spare. Consider that I got all five of these babies for 280 dollars, it's a steal. I love it.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer and sony tower speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 27, 2003]
NakedBoy
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Plays Loud, clean, fills a large room very well. Mounting brackets are not anything special, but they work flawlessly. Wide, accurate soundstage. Size is small enough to keep the wife happy.

Weakness:

A little lean in the bass department. Not bad enough to take back to the store, but the eventuall addition of a sub of some form will definately help.

After blowing my hard earned cash on a new Dennon 3802, I realizes that I did not have enough speakers for full out surround sound. At least not small enough to make the wife happy. So I went in search of a good sounding, inexpensive speakers to add to my Boston Acoustics sub/sat system. Well, what I found was the NSPII system from JBL This system included 4 N24II speakers for front and surround and the N-Center for center. After some serious wire runs though the walls (no wires show to the rears!) I fired them up. Well, I was pleasently supprised. for the little money I spent on 5 speakers, they pumped out some serious sound. By the way, I have a rather large room with cathedral ceilings. I was immediately pleased with my purchase minus one thing, bass, or lack there of. Now, it wasn't terrible, it wasn't even bad, but you get used to having a sub in your system (even a passive like mine) and you miss things. So, after rigging up my passise sub through my old receiver, wa-la. This system will, rock, play loud and clean. Whenever a dog barks on the TV through the surround channels, my dog instantly runs to the window barking to protect the house, quite humorous. Remember, the price above is for the whole system not just a pair of N24II's

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustic Sub/Sat 6 CerwinVega Phillips (mini system speakers)

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 12, 2003]
baseballgod
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Small size Play loud and don't distort Great midrange sound Value

Weakness:

Insufficient bass for stand alone use Not nearly as attractive as other JBL speakers Low sensitivity (not an issue in my system, however with less than 50 watts could be) For less than a Benjamin no serious flaws

I bought these as the surrounds in my home theater set-up, they also get some use when I listen to DVD-Audio discs and when I choose to listen to music with ProLogic II or DTS Neo Music modes. This is my audio set-up: Reciever: Sony STR-DA4es Front: JBL S-26 Center: JBL S-Center Rear: JBL N-24 Sub: Sony/Rockford Fosgate SA-WM40 modified "subzilla" These little speakers come with high impact molded enclosures and include wall mount brackets which arent much to look at but work very well and are simple to install. The sound they produce is clean and clear the imaging for surround effects is very good. I have the crossed over at 80hz via my recievers bass management and have never hear any distortion from them even at high SPL I was worried because their RMS handling is 100w and my reciever pumps out 110w but they seem to shrug it off with no problem. These speakers in my opinion are fine for surround sound in a small to medium room but would strain in a larger environment. I don't know if I could use these as mains most likely because I have a killer sub but I have not tried it. All in all I like how these sound, the price is right and I would recommend them to anyone needing a cost effective pair of speakers for surround sound. For 80-140 bucks you'd be hard pressed to find a sweeter speaker.

Similar Products Used:

Sony satellites NHT Zero JBL S-26 JVC Mini System speakers

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 07, 2002]
Kevin Lo
Casual Listener

Strength:

Good mid and high range. Good bang for ther buck!

Weakness:

Lack of bass. Did I mention that these speakers have no bass???

Really good speakers for its price (Price posted is in Canadian). This little speaker can push the sound to fill a room very well. Good mid and high for such small size. Bass is lacking and adequate at best. The casing, however, makes the speaker looks cheap. JBL could have done better.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 1-10 of 48  

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