ability to re-create rock and roll energy

None if you like rock

I have owned Wilson Cubs, Pro AC 3.5's, and various other speakers in my search for a transducer that would bring rock and roll to life. I have used Aragon, Mesa, Conrad Johnson, Krell etc. to amplify rock and roll music. The JBL's are able to produce rock and roll energy. You do need good amplification. Which mean HIGH POWER amps. NOT to play loud. But to allow the music to be pushed through the JBL's with authority. In my opinion this type of set up will produce what rock and roll music lovers want to hear. I don't care about any other type of music for this set-up. I also use them to power my home theatre. I do not use any other sub. It is not needed in my listening room. (34 by 20) Remember, Amps must be at least 100 TRUE Watts.

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B&W, Wilson Cub, Pro Ac 3.5

Transparent, great soundstage, highs and midrange, accurate bass.

Wont play wall shaking sounds below 35hz.

What a bargin, I bought these for 480.00 for the pair open box. I was in Best buys looking for dvd's bumped into these and could not pass them up. First of all my modest system consist of: H/K AVR520 receiver B&K AVR5000 amp H/K FL8370 cd player Sony DVP-NS500V SACD/DVD player JBL S412P Mains JBL S-Center II center Vandersteen 1C surrounds DH Lab interconnects and speaker cable When I got the JBL's home and connected I was pleasantly surprised, they sounded okay at Best Buys, but I suspected with better electronics they would sound alot better. I was correct! They played with the same transparency and accuracy as the Vandersteens but not as laid back, but not too "in your face", also I find the sound very neutural. I listen mostly to jazz and watch an occasional movie. So my test cd's were David Sanchez "Melaza", Charlie Haden "Nocturne", and DeeDee Bridgewater "Dear Ella". I chose these recordings because these recordings are very well recorded, everything is there and they have that "live in the studio sound". Also these recordings have a wide veriety of instrumentation primarily acoustic. I was very happy after listening to these recordings, these speakers reproduced the sound of the instuments accuratley, if the sounds were there on the recordings they were played back without any coloration or boxiness. These speakers seem to "disappear" like vandersteens with its transparancy. For movies I find this speaker adequate,dialog and sound effects are clear and effective, however it will not produce sounds below 35hz, so you may want to add a sub. I am very happy with this purchase and would consider them a good buy for $1000.00

Similar Products Used:

vandersteen,energy,infinity

Price

These speakers only sound good if they are turned up real loud. I live in a condo, so I can't play them loud. They are too heavy. They're not good for Jazz or classical music.

Above average midrange and bass capabilities.

Poor treble performance.

I don''t know if this is an updated version of the JBL or if they are the same model from 2 years ago, but I went into Best Buy''s and listened to them and they had a very dull high end. Their bass and midrange capabilities are above average (esp. for rock music), but when it comes to challenging music like classical or jazz, they are lacking. Their high end is almost non-existent. They can''t reproduce classical music accurately at all. They do look kind of cool and they are heavy. They have a low sensitivity, so the volume needs to be cranked up. All in all, they''re good speakers for the casual listener or for the rock/movie enthusiast, but for anyone else who listens to other styles of music or anyone who is an audiophile, look elsewhere

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Klipsch reference 8.5

Crisp and sharp sound! Great bargain for what you get! Powerful, and too many things to list......

Just a bit too heavy and big!

I went through 3 different speakers and these are by far the best! They sound very crisp and sharp... The bass needs some fine tuning. It''s best if you can hook up the LFE input on the speaker to the front pre-out of your receiver, if your receiver has one! This set-up will give you the best advantage for the bass. These speakers are simpley the best!!! Also, I was very satisfied with the staff at BestPriceAudio; they very very helpful, and the shipping was prompt and well done...

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S-Center S-38 Sony STR-5ES Receiver

Everything from tight bass to extreme highs. my favorite is the midrange. They look cool too!

Weight.

Best speakers I have ever heard. They even sound better than the $4,000 dollar speakers!

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JBL S-38

Excellent coverage of spectrum. Very smooth and silky transitions throughout all octaves. Bass shakes my house when intensity is turned up on each speaker. Pure joy!

For music listening you need to ensure you have a high power amp. Nothing lower than 75 watts per channel to get tight and responsive bass at lower volume. With lower wattage you need to turn volume considerably higher and it may be too loud overall to enjoy.

These beasts are incredible. The 5.1 input for digital surround is unreal. The bass is deep and tight and moving when listening to movies in digital surround. When listening to music via CD''s or the radio the midrange and high end are great. I have no qualls about the grills and love the look of the speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega - subs and satellites Polk - tower front speakers

Great sound.

Huge, and heavy. LFE amps pop very slightly when detecting a signal and turning on. The size is both a stregnth and a weakness -- hard to carry, but they look absolutely intimidating once they''re in place (if you care about such things).

These speakers sound incredible. Someone below said that they sound good at all volumes. This is absolutely true. These speakers are rich and clean at high volumes and low. The bass is big and clean, and not boomy. You can run an LFE RCA directly into the built in amps and adjust the LFE levels manually on the back. Very satisfying sound! The amps have little green/red LEDs on the front of the casing. Unfortunately, one of my 412s had bad LEDs and they never lit up. I had to take the speaker back and get it exchanged. No problem, except that I live in a fifth floor walk up in New York City and these giant freaking behemoths won''t fit in my little Honda S2000 (even with the top down). It *really* sucked getting them downtown to J and R, but now all my little lights work, and I''m happy! (The lights look really cool, BTW, and they switch from red to green when an LFE signal is detected). Big props to my roommate for helping carry these buggers up and down the stairs three times!

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None. These are the first floorstanding speakers I''ve had. I know good sound when I hear it, though!

Amazing clarity for the volume they produce, price for the previously mentioned strength.

heavy--Oh well...
grills could be better built.

Wow. I debated spending the extra money for the s412p compared to the s312. I couldn't have made a better decision. The s312 sounded good, but the s412p shines in the low and mid-bass section compared to the s312. I am powering the towers with a new Yamaha 5280 (110 watts by 5). I have pushed them to the point where my ears are pleading for me to turn it down, and these towers take everything I can give em. One concern I had was how I was going to set them up. I already have a good powered sub, so the extreme low end was taken care of. I started by just connecting some monster cable Z1 speaker wire to the towers. The internal amp taps into that signal and still powers the 12" woofer even without using a dedicated RCA input, but bypasses the volume control of the woofer. This effectively turned it into a full range speaker, the woofer portion being powered. I set my receiver to "large" speakers. The internal amp has a built in crossover, it just isn't variable. The towers sounded great, but I noticed a little coloration in the deep bass at very high volumes. Perhaps I should elaborate on that point. I occasionally listen at volumes that damage the ear if listened to over a period of time. At these volumes, they still sounded awesome. Only when I actually pushed the speakers to nearly full volume of my receiver did I notice the coloration. Probably due more to the distortion of the receiver at that level of output since the speaker's amp was tapping into that signal. I tend to be somewhat of a perfectionist, so I attempted to clear up this little coloration by using the dedicated RCA input for the internal amp. It worked. I really don't notice much difference at actual listening volumes, but when they occasionally get showed off to friends who want to "test" what my system can do, they now play perfect all the way up to the point when my friends can't help but reduce the volume because soon their ears will probably start to bleed....
The drivers that make up the towers are very well matched. Transitions between all four components (woofer, mid-bass, mid, and tweeter) are smooth. Without my sub, the powered woofer of the s412p still produced enough low end to make the door to the room rattle (which was easily fixed with a weather-stripping kit for the door). The only minor weakness I have found was the grill for the tower is slightly flimsy. Granted, the display models at Best Buy probably get more abuse than the average home user would give, but I found several grilles broken at the stores...
I know there are other speakers capable of this volume and even slightly better clarity, but not for ANYWHERE near this price range. I can't stand any amount of distortion in my music and movies. My JBL s412p towers delivered up to my expectations. They also happen to be able to produce that clarity at extreme volume levels as well.....

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NHT, DCM, Eozone, Cerwin-Vega

JBL S412P Studio Series 4-Way Floor Standing with Powered Subwoofer Section (Each)

Clarity - the accurate reproduction of sound with a minimum of distortion - has always been the singular goal of loudspeaker design. For fifty years, JBL has been the leading practitioner of the art - in concert halls, recording studios and movie theaters, as well as in homes.
Get a Pair: $519.95 NEW