Bass, vocal/mid clarity, value, clarity at volume, appearance.

size and weight(for a bookshelf speaker)

These speakers are AMAZING. When I unpacked them, they were a bit larger than I expected. However, after pluging them into my Rotel RSX-965 I found the size to be an acceptable sacrifice(if it is one at all). The first thing that struck me about these was the bass. I had turned off my sub and surrounds to isolate them but I couldnt even tell the difference. I have a small room, but they were shaking my couch at somewhere around 40-50 watts of power. I was literally blown away. After that, I began to realize the clarity of the vocals and midrange instruments at very high volumes--simply incredible. I am going to leave my receiver in stereo mode except for dvd's where you need the other channels of sound.

The guy next door to me has a set of JBL northridge floorstaning speakers which are about 3 times the size of the S38's. I have heard them on multiple occasions and quite frankly think that the S38 is an all-around better speaker--even the bass sounds better.

I bought these at Consumer Direct Wharehouse for $315 including shipping, which was the cheapest price I saw anywhere. They are on sale until July 31st.

These speakers perform far better than I had expected; and after reading the previous reviews, they had some pretty hefty expectations. Five stars all around.

Bass!!

Not One!

I purchased these speakerS due to the positive reviews on the site.I have not been disappointed.Please if you purchase these be sure to break them first, then judge at first everything sounded so muddy to me.Now i cant say enough great things!.I cant tell you how many time s i have to look around for the singer in the room.If you are a JBL fan BUY THESE,YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!!.

Similar Products Used:

JBL control monitors

Sound, Price, JBL Reliability and Service, Attractive Looks

Not a $2000/pair speaker

If you want great sound and don't want to spend at least $700 for a pair of speakers, go no further. This speaker plays the music like it should. You'll hear things you didn't know were there.

The highs are crystal clear, the midrange is awesome, and it actually delivers a nice bit of bass. Of course this is a bookshelf and you need a subwoofer.

I've compared them when I was buying to Paradigms, Yamahas, Klipschs, Infinity, Cerwin-Vega and none come close at this price. In fact it whips many brands that are twice the price.

Let's get one thing out of the way. These speakers are great even if they were $500/pair. They are better than their big brothers the S310 and S312. Team them up with a JBL SCenter and I guarantee that you will be happy, plus have some extra cash to buy some other goodies.

If you just want Home Theater, and music is not a consideration then you might find comparable speakers. But to me that's like having a car that you can only drive to one place.

Again, unless you need auditorium size sound and love full accurate reproduction this is the one.

BTW, I have a pretty good ear. I've played the guitar for 30 years. Trust me on this.

Similar Products Used:

Almost every major brand over the years

Highs and Mids that never existed before; very acceptable bass

Can't quit my job to stay home and listen to them all day.

(I hope that Audioreview will allow this message to be posted, seeing that this IS my second review of the S-38's.) However, I feel as if I am obligated to write and apologize to JBL and all those who may have read my April review of the S-38's. In that review, I questioned the bass response of these speakers...I now realize that this was a "brain-freeze" on my part and NOT a problem with the speakers themselves. When I hooked up the new S-38's to my receiver, I left the subwoofer output "on" since I enjoy using my powered subwoofer for Home Theater use. When I tested the S-38's for their bass response, I turned down the volume and frequency controls on the subwoofer itself, but did nothing with the receiver's output. Because I left this sub output "on", the electronic crossover was not allowing bass frequencies to travel to the S-38's (DUHHHHHH!!!!!!). This is why I couldn't relate to the other reviewers who stated they were having a great deal of success with the bass response. After completely turning the receiver's sub output "off", I finally realized what I've been missing. I can now say whole-heartedly that "my hat goes off" to JBL for creating a remarkable speaker!!!! I am now MORE THAN SATISFIED with the bass range of these bookshelves, and continue to remain astounded by the awesome mids and highs these speakers recreate. I can't recommend these speakers enough!!!!!!

Quality, style, elegance, affordability, and pack quite the punch.

Too big for my bookshelf.

I can't stop looking at these speakers(without grill). They are absolutely beautiful. They also generate near perfect sound. As others have said, they are very unforgiving for poor recordings though. DDD produced cds sound awesome compared to AAD and ADD recordings. But these issues are irrelevant, as the speakers are as honest as I've ever heard. They handled everything from cd audio, dvd movies, to computer games exquisitely. They stress with deep bass, but that is why sub-woofers were created.

Great sound for the size, they compliment my S-310's very nicely.

None for the money

Can you tell I like Jbl? Used and abused my L-45's & my L-100's,bought them in 1974. From what I hear, I missed Jbl's years of not so good products. Well, I'm glad my old one's lasted 27 years.I listened to the studio series and loved them. I know there are better speakers out there but I listened to all kinds and for the money I bought these, you'll love them! If they last as long as my other ones that will be a bonus. GREAT SOUND!!! I'm looking for a good sub, never had one. Reading the reviews can get confusing on what to buy. Would appreciate some suggestions, I would use it for music only.

Similar Products Used:

Jbl-L45's,Jbl L-100's,Jbl-S-310's

They Rock ... Good highs , nice lows . full sound .

Me or the speakers ?

These where bought as a replacement for my rear surround system .I'm at a loss , my Yamaha amp can't break them ... The S38's can stand alone with my amp cranked ( 110 watt's x 5 ) . I'm in Canada so the price is set for what I paid here . All I can say is , listen to them . ( P.S. I decided to buy a complete JBL spaeker system after listning to them .S-38's , S-center and S-312's )

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood , Sony , Cerwin Vega ,

Price, good overall sound, well built.

Can be very bright.

Let me start by saying if you want good,loud, awesome sounding HT speakers for a low price, these are great.Much better than satellites. I suggest buying an extra pair for rear surrounds and the timbre matched S-center. This sounds soooo much better than using smaller rears, you should do this with virtually any HT speaker combo, trust me! I'd also recommend a good sub as the S-38s just don't have the very deep bass punch needed for good DD or DTS sound reproduction. It just so happens the PB-12 sounds great with these speakers.
The only gipe I have is when playing music cd's. During certain songs or at higher volumes the highs are bright to the point of inducing headaches. This is most likley due to the POS kenwood receiver I'm using but I've read similar complaints on this page. Just be aware of the sonic qualities of your existing equipment before you buy anything to go with it, especially if you plan on using it for an extended period of time.
As for the kenwood, I'm giving it to my younger brother,... pity him.

Similar Products Used:

pb12, s-center.

Everything! Bass, Mids, highs, construction

Flimsy grille.

These are the best sounding bookshelf speaker for the money bar none. I auditioned klipsch rf5 and rf3 and these jbl blew them away in terms of sound quality. The klipsches were louder but then again they have horns. The bass id very responsive and smooth. the mids crisp and warm, and the highs are perfect....not too harsh and not to mellow. Overall a great, awesome, fantastic speaker for $290. These are soo good i might even put these as my main channels with a jbl pb12 subwoofer. Very pleased!!!

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301, wharfedale opal 30, acoustic research, valdus500, klipsch rf series

Sound, Price and Size

None

Great speakers. I bought mine based on all the recommendations here. Thanks everyone for those reviews.
(Also, checked them out and listened to at Best Buy, which alone sold me on them.)
I use these as my front speakers for my home theatre system and could not be any happier!
As I can't add any more to the already accurate reviews here, my input here is more for the place I purchased them at.
I bought these online from www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com
for $298.00 & $15.00 shipping. Ordered at night and these came 1 1/2 days later. Shipping was much cheaper than the other online joints. Although this company is based in Cleveland and shipment was to here, in Michigan.