Amazing centre for the price. Punches way above its weight. Very clear and precise voice reproduction without losing warmth. Still great to this day January 2019

Only weakness would be the depth of bass frequencies, but that's what a subwoofer is for!

Excellent value vs dollar. When Fry’s Electronics was selling it for $179.00, I purchased my SC305 thru Sound City for $99 + S/H.
I've lived with the SC305 for almost a year now and I'm still impressed by it's sound quality. It is best described by living up the JBL's roots & tradition of playing loud and clean. I can easily 'clean-off the cobwebs and melt the termites" w/blockbuster DVD Movie SPL Dolby Digital peaks reaching a clean 106dB + . . . .“sounds better than our local Century Cinema Theaters” is the most common response!!

The timbre was fairly smooth across it's intended frequency range, especially the upper end. After obtaining the JBL J820 to be my Mains, . . .the Dolby Digital 5.1 ambiance sound effects and panning with seamless transitions all around is now outstanding! I attribute this to the 14mm Titanium Laminate tweeter in the SC305 & J820 speakers, and the J520 10mm Titanium Laminate tweeter for the surrounds, . . .with it's smooth, accurate highs and wide dispersion.

Dragonheart’s DVD scene: 360 degree flight (20’ x 30’ room) by Draco around Dennis Quaid is just most glorious and with much honor!! (one of my many Reference Demo DVD's!)

Music CD's & FM is also surprisingly listenable with this JBL HT setup. Vocals, by male, by female and Jazz keyboard, sax, flute, guitar, drums & cymbals, string sections, etc. is accurately played with delicate impact coupled with satisfaction and enjoyment. Classical and Movie soundtrack’s CD’s dynamic range can be showed-off and played for hours @ near-Reference levels with no stain, sound compression or fatigue.

SPECS: (Whole JBL setup for $240)
* CENTER: JBL SC305 ($99.00 + S/H @ SoundCity; 5/98)
-- 14mm Titanium Laminate tweeter
-- 5" x 2 High Polymer Laminate woofer
---- 87 dB sen. / 100 watts
=====
* MAIN L & R: JBL J820 ($99.00pr/incl. S/H @ Red Tag Outlet; 3/99)
-- 14mm Titanium Laminate tweeter
-- 8" High Polymer Laminate woofer
---- 90 dB sen. / 120 watts
=====
* SURROUND L & R: JBL J520 ($39.98pr + CA tax @ Fry's Electronics; 5/98)
-- 10mm Titanium Laminate tweeter each
-- 5" High Polymer Laminate woofer each
---- 87 dB sen. / 75 watts
=====
For LFE:
* SUB-WOOFER: Sherwood SP-210W ($129.99 + CA tax @ Fry's Electronics)
------10 " High Polymer Laminate woofer
------100 watt Amplifier
=====

5 Stars/Speakers for SC305 (and my JBL J series!)

drivers are american made

spring clips. this is a minor problem.

Hey! It's me almost three years later. I just purchased one from a guy up north. I am using it for my rear center channel. I love this speaker. I now have a THX-EX set-up, which was different from the last review. No difference. These babies continue to hold their own. Anyway, I had nothing else better to do. Here's my set-up:

Onkyo 787 THX-EX receiver
JBL J-2080's for mains
JBL SC-305 center
Paradigm ADP-170's sides
JBL SC-305 rear center
JBL PS-120 sub
RCA/Radio Shack 8" sub (rears)(surprisingly well-built, with a few tweeks)
Sony cd player
Sony cassette player
Yamaha DVD player
Toshiba VCR
Dish satellite system
Monster interconnects
Radio Shack Gold interconnects (including optical cables)
Monster THX certified speaker cables/sub cables
Monster gold tips all speakers
Adcom/Panamax surge/enhancer protection

Similar Products Used:

none can ever compare

great sound reproduction

none

I have had mine for over a year now. Great speaker. I am looking to sell mine for $60.00. I have just purchased the entire JBL studio series suround system,so I no longer need this speaker

I use it with JBL good speakers (LX600 for front and cheap $100/pair J520M for surround) and ONKYO Surround receiver. I paid around $100.00 J&R, NY 3 years ago.I love this center channel. Maybe too precise and sharp. you get all the sounds, it isn't warm but that is the beginning of real HiFi. For this price, I never heard that good. Matches perfectly with other JBL speakers type of sound.
Oh yes... It's also quite resistant. I moved 4 times and it still looks great. I like it. I wish I'd get a warmer center speaker but I haven't found one. You will easily find a lot of more expensive center speakers that don't give you the same quality of sound. Good Luck.

I have had this speaker for a while now and I must say it is great! I paid under $200 canadian for it because I think the newer model was just coming out. This sound is good, not great. But for the money it is a great speaker. Exceptional value. If anyone is looking to buy a center speaker and doesnt have a huge bugdet I highly recommend this one if you can find it.

This speaker has done a fine job in my home theater. It contains two 5" high polymer laminate drivers and a sweet sounding 14mm titanium laminate driver. Once again spring clips are acceptable. I soon forget about this minor detail when it is producing sound. The low drivers are the same material my subwoofer driver is made from. I had chosen this preferance when I purchased all my speakers.
I feel the J-series,PS-series,and the SC center channel speakers were the last of the better desighned(inexpensive)models JBL made available to the consumer population. I think the SC305 is still available thru mail order companies. I have yet to see these speakers reviewed in audio magazines. This is too bad. I think they would have faired well. This owner highly recommends them.

Clear vocal, deep midbass.

When I was searching for a center channel, I was aiming at Sony SS-CNX7S spec. says fr 70Hz-20KHz (I have no idea within what dB range). I listened it at the store, and I yes it was clear but poor in midbass (hey, it's a center channel). Not far from it there's JBL SC305, I asked them to compare it and the sound was like there's no tweeter, very bad. I was surprised, JBL!??? But then of course, there's no tweeter...I close the tweeter with my hand and open it, no difference, the tweeter fried, someone has abuse it with high power amp. So they try a new one, the sound was clear, brighter than Sony SS-CNX7S, titanium vs silk, JBL will be brighter. But JBL has deeper midbass, although the spec. only says 100Hz-20KHz. I definitely choose JBL. I was lucky JBL was on sale, $111 compared to SS-CNX7S, on sale too $133.

I've heard a lot of JBL center speaker tweeter got fried. I don't know JBL spec. power handing was in RMS, PMPO or something else. So becareful.

I think the SC305 is a great sounding loudspeaker. It covers all the frequency ranges a center channel should cover and then some. It reproduces sound with clarity and quick responses to lows and extreme highs at loud levels. The Titanium tweeter sounds precise in every aspect of the word. The JBL SC305 is well designed both inside and out.
Good work JBL