Low cost, high efficiency, clarity

Excessive midrange

I posted the first review for the JBL N26 several months ago. Since then, I have had a change of heart about these speakers. What I initially thought was exceptional clarity I believe is actually due to excessive midrange emphasis. I started noticing that I could not tolerate their sound without the subwoofer on and that the dominant midrange was at times getting on my nerves. I now own a pair of infinity interlude IL10's which are now my main speakers. I have relegated the N26's to use with the computer. I think the new IL10's have a flatter (and less fatiguing) response which I enjoy more. I also notice that they sound fine without the subwoofer on, unlike the N26's.

great mid's and nice bass output for this size speaker
cute design...i espec like the rubber feet

the tweeter's are known to blow out...my tweeter went out after a week!

my n26..blew after a week of use.the tweeter on the left speaker went out ...they are known to do this...but luckly i got the 4 year bestbuy warr...so they are in the shop now.
when i get them out i will use them as surrond.....they should do great on this...

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polk,,cambridge sound.bose.cerwen vega

Clean look & full low frequency reproduction

Oblong style

For a solid front stage speaker, look no further than the JBL N26. These speakers have served well as a compliment to the N-Center speaker in my home theater. The bass is full and deeper than expected for such a small woofer. Despite these pluses, I would have prefered to shop for some stand-alone speakers and scrapped the idea for a separate subwoofer (powered, of course). A good speaker for the money and a nice purchase for a novice on a budget!

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Bose 141 bookshelf speaker

Good cosmetics, solid construction, excellent clarity

Doesnt include wall mounts in the box

I understand these technically are bookshelf speakers and not surround sound speakers, so it doesnt bother me too much that they didnt come with wall mounts, but they do have the screwholes in the back, so youd think JBL would have included cheapos. I use these as my surround sound speakers. They are hooked up to a Sony STRDE845 receiver, and the match is excellent. I listned to a DVD with a DTS soundtrack and when you start the movie, it does that little DTS demo where it does the The Digital Experience thingy. Well anyways, I had the volume cranked once through that, and these speakers sounded awesome, even when the circle explodes and turns into a bunch of dancing dots (for those of you whove seen this know what I mean). Many people complain about lack of bass, but since Im not using these as main speakers, I dont have that problem. I think these would be more than adequate as small bookshelf speakers, yet they kick butt as surround sound ones. Considering I got these new on an auction for only $125, I am definitely happy with my purchase.

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None

Surprisingly solid bass.

Seem cheap with the plastic cabinet.

I purchased these as a temporary fix thinking they would go in the garage later. They still will, but I'm content now to wait because they sound much better than I expected. I'm
using a Carver CT-6 pre-amp/tuner and Carver 65 WPC amp, and I'm quite surprised at the solid bass produced with these. Eventually they might find some use in a home theater
set up if I do that, but my heart and most of my money will
still be dedicated to 2 ch. stereo seperates for my serious
listening. Then they will have to find somewhere else to
live. If I have a complaint besides the seemingly cheap cabinet construction it would be that the highs don't seem
to have enough clarity. Overall though, a great buy at 99 bucks!

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None

This is a good low dollar speaker for the performance. I found a pair at YourInsider.com for $133.99.

Nice stereo imaging. Decent bass. Excellent tweeters. 5-way binding posts. Price.

Doesn't include a wall-mounting kit as the N24 does.

I bought a pair of the JBL N26's for my parents to use in their living room to replace a pair of Sony towers with (15" woofers) from the early 1980's. My mother was sick of looking at two huge and ugly tower speakers in her living room, but she and my father didn't want to sacrifice any of the bass that the towers were able to pump out. So, I decided on the N26.

Installation was quick and easy with banana plugs and placement proved itself to be just as easy. I fired up a recording of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" to test them out. The orchestra sounded very airy and natural. The strings sounded airy and natural. The woodwinds and brass also sounded very open and detailed. The speakers never sounded too bright or muddy. I threw in a DVD of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". During the fight scene between Jen and Michelle Yeoh's character, the speakers really shined. The high frequency sounds of swords clashing and clinking together were reproduced effortlessly by the N26's magnificent tweeters, while the drums playing in the background were weighty and wooden in the mids and upper-bass frequencies. The occassional low-bass effects during more powerful attacks managed to rumble the room a bit and I was impressed with how much bass these speakers were able to produce for their size.

These are definitely not earth-shattering speakers, but when played loudly, they are quite capable of breaking your lease. It takes a hell of a lot of volume to distort these speakers and they will have no problems filling a modest sized living room.

With a JBL Home Theater speaker system, N26's in the front, N24's for the rears, N-Center, and a subwoofer, you can have a very excellent sounding home theater system for relatively very little money.

I feel quite safe recommending a pair of N26's to someone who's looking for a competent bookshelf speaker at a budget price.

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Paradigm, B&W, JBL N24, Infinity

Great bass, great volume, GREAT value

Haven't found any yet

These speakers are great! I bought them based on recommedations on this website, and i haven't been disappointed. These speakers are perfect for me right now. I am running a dorm room system, with the N26's as my "front" speakers and a Technics SA-GX470 as my reciever, and i get extremely good results, much better than I expected. The bass is VERY good coming from MP3's on my computer with the equalizer bass and the reciever bass set up high. I use them for DVD's as well, and the highs come in clear. I would recommend these for a small system since they give such a complete sound, or as fronts (rears in larger systems). I got them for $139 with free shipping when J&R was having a special, and for that money, what do you have to lose? I'm now convinced that you don't need those huge ground speakers to get huge sound, these things are amazing.

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Old JBL's

Surprisingly good bass and clarity for the price.

maybe looks

I compared these bookshelf speakers to Cerwin Vegas,
Bose, Yamahas, and Sony speakers in the same
price range and thought they where the best
sounding for the money (under $200 for the pair).
I've used them for about a year as rears in my HT and
have been very happy with there performance.
I would recommend these for use as economy
fronts or satellite speakers without reservation.

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These replaced a pair of KLH

Good clear sound gets better when you punch it up.

none

Great speakers for fronts. Initially purchased Yamaha fronts but returned because these sound better. A perfect set of speakers when combined with the Yamaha YSTsw305 subwoofer and good enough to stand on their own without a sub.

Similar Products Used:

JBL N24 rears and B speakers for office, JBL N26 fronts, JBL N center, Yamaha YSTsw 305 sub, Yamaha HTR5460 reviever, Panasonic CT36D11 TV, Panasonic RV31U-K DVD