powerfull bass,sexy styling,strong cabinet (heavy)

front heavy

I should be known as the infamous tweeter blower! My advice is if you hear that annoying crackling sound (we all know as distortion) TURN IT DOWN! Ok im NOT saying there is anything wrong with this product, it's actualy the best thing you can find for the price,but just be wise with that knob and you will have a perfect system. I'm not kidding, I fully recomend this product for any kind of music at any volume and/or music. They're getting fixed now. I say 5-5!
OH and by the way, compared to sony, (my old peaces of crap)they blow them right out of the water!!

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Great sound and looks, especialy for the price! Simply wonderful!

Front heavy, speaker grills are a little on the fagile side. No weaknesses as far as sound go.

Solid construction (save for the grills) and excellent sound quality make this speaker a winner. Crisp, clean highs. Smooth transition all the way to the bottom of the frequency range. Bass is realativly tight for a ported enclosure.
These speakers are a good deal even at their retail price of $199.99 ea. (Best Buy) but are an absolute steal when purchased from Consumer-Direct.com for $124.xx ea.
I give these a five on overall eventhough there are "better" speakers out there, you need to spend at least twice what these cost to better your sound quality (and only marginal at that).

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Older modle JBL speakers.

- Clarity
- Adequate bass
- Price

-Front heavy, needs shim on carpet (no big deal)

Purchased a pair after reading the reviews and testing them at Best Buy. Dynadirect had them at $135 each. Clarity is superior over other brands at this price range and has plenty of bass. No need to get a sub woofer, unless you want the real deep bass. If you do, I'd suggest getting a pair of JBL N-26 and add a 8" - 10" sub woofer depends on the size of room. I've been pleased with N-38 so far. Its more than adequate for my 15'x18' studio apartment.

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Price, appearance, excellent sound and dynamic range, quality

Front heavy, grill could be more stylish

I've had these for only a couple days now but am extremely satisfied with my purchase. Brings to life all of the different types of music I listen to. Suprisingly deep bass from only an 8 inch driver. I will purchase a pair of 16 inch speaker stands to compensate for the frontward leaning as well as placing them at an optimum listening position. For the price, these are second to none!

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Yamaha, Cerwin Vega

Crisp, clear, clean sound. Quite adequate bass from the 8" woofer. Have had my Denon receiver almost maxed and heard no distortion. Small footprint and isn't too tall. It just fits under a standard height window. It sounds great for music and movies.

Somewhat front-heavy. If it gets bumped too hard it will fall forward.

For the money, a great speaker. Looked at many speakers in the $200-$400 range (Sony, Yamaha, Bose, Acoustic Research) but for the money, the N38 at $300 delivered for the pair, was the best bang for the buck. The bass was the key for this speaker over the others I looked at.

Excellent design and quality of materials used except for the grill. Beautiful and stong sound from only an 8" driver. The price is very attractive. You'll be amazed by the low bass that it can reproduce!

Ugly grill, tips forward.

I am extremely pleased with my purchase. I'm a little reluctant to turn up the volume because I live in a high rise apt. building. But when I do crank it up every so often, I hear nothing but clean crisp music with no distortion. Surprising deep bass from only an 8"! I placed on 13" stands and it sounds even better, tighter bass. For the money, you'll have a hard time finding something comparable. If you are on a budget like I am I would highly recommend these beauties.

My budget minded audio setup:
Receiver:Yamaha 5460
Mains: JBL N38 (2)
Center: JBL S-Center
Surrounds: JBL N24 (2)
Sub: HSU VTF-2 (will purchase in the very near future)
Speaker Wire: Monster 100ft. Spool – XPNWMS-100
Connectors: Acoustic Research Gold-Plated Banana Plugs (5 Packs)
Video Connections: All Acoustic Research Brand – component video, s-video, digital optical, etc…

As a rookie to Home Theater, I am very pleased with the outcome. Of course, it will be an ongoing saga since there is always room for improvement.

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Yamaha, Cerwin Vega, Polk, Infinity

Clean, open sound, incredible bass for an 8" woofer. Good sound stage.

tips on carpet, could be taller, not quite as good as the more expensive JBL ND310.

After my venerable 23 yr old EPI 120's died, it was time for speakers. Coincidently, it was also time for a new receiver. After checking speakers at Best Buy's sound room, I decided that the JBL N38's were the best value. I could have picked them up cheaper via the net, but w/ speakers and most audio, where taste rules and nothing takes the place of a home audition, ease of return is king.

As it turned out, I didn't need the 30 day, no penalty return policy (and no need to pay for return shipping since BestBuy is about a 15 min drive). The N38's were a perfect match for my Onkyo TX-8511 and the room. With the Onkyo, these speakers make me feel as though the performers are in my living room. Because I was also auditioning receivers, I tried the speakers with several other receivers (HK, and Yamaha) in a similar price range, with good, but less spectacular, results. Perhaps those receivers will match better with other speakers or other rooms, but the JBL N38 is just an excellent match for the Onkyo TX-8511 and my room.

If you're looking for speakers in this price range, check these out. Not every speaker will sound good with every receiver or room, so it pays to home audition.

BTW, I'm aware that I could have saved a bundle by ordering the same speakers from etronics or the like and returning the pair to Best Buy after I decided that they were a good match. To me, however, that would have been an abuse of the penalty-free return policy.

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EPI 120

High and Mid Frequencies, range, clarity, speaker design

Grill is flimsy

Thanks to everyone who submitted reviews previously, these are the best speakers I have ever owned hands down! I researched many other brands and looked at a million other reviews before taking the leap into the N38's. When I finally decided, I looked for the best price and I would recomment consumer-direct.com, they handled everything very well and offered an excellent price. Considering my previous speakers were $200/pr from Circuit City and I got these JBL's for only $100 more, this is an absolute steal! There is no comparison whatsover between them.
The highs come across cleanly and without over-accenting. It is a cliche but you will certainly hear new sounds across your old CD's that you may never have heard before. Even subtle tones come across clearly and cleanly. I re-listened to "Abbey Road" and the infamous drum solo stares at you right in the face as it drifts from left to right then back and forth with notable changes in the sound of the drum that I never heard before.
Yes I was reluctant to offer any weaknesses on these speakers since I have placed them in a large room thus the bass does not come across as well. However, I have temporarily remedied the situation by using my CSW sw. I have these hooked up to a SONY STRD575 but I am waiting on a delivery of the Yamaha HT-5460 to replace it.
These speakers are better than the crappy Pioneers I owned before. They are also much better than the CSW satellite speakers I had set up for HT. I'm considering sending those back.
If you are on the fence about getting these speakers, trust the other reviewers, these are a great value and they sound awesome.

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Cheap $99 each Pioneer (model?) from Circuit City

Clear highs

Narrowly focused midrange

I bought these because they sounded good at BestBuy. I was looking for new main speakers for my home theater system. I wanted to replace the speakers I currently have which are Polk Monitor 7's I purchased for $550 back in 1992. I just figured newer speakers, even if a LOT cheaper, should be at least what these things are, if not better.

Well, I was very disappointed. The JBL N38's did have very nice and clear highs. Made some particular instruments, like acoustic guitars livelier. But the imaging paled in comparison to my almost 10 year old Polk's. I was impressed that my 10 year old speakers still sounded good when compared to newer technology.

As far as the N38's, I didn't expect much bass as they are not developed to push big bass. In fact, I planned on using my sub more often on purpose so I am not even comparing the bass of my Polks to the N38's.

The midrange of the N38's was a bit too focused and changed the voices and sounds in music and movies to something a bit unrealistic. It was not as pleasant to the ears. My wife compared them with me and had the same opinion. The soundfield created during movies was not full and blended. So I will be sending them back. I realized for this price ($115 a piece), I was taking a chance, but I didn't realize what a poor choice I made.

My test method: I hooked the N38's up to my home system (Kenwood 7070) on "B" and my old Polk's on "A". I then switched in between them on different music and movies with and without my Infinity 12" Sub connected. Both pairs were standing on the floor, focused in my direction or focused wider. I even switched the wires so the N38's were my "A" speaker and the Polk's my "B" and no difference.

I was just disappointed. The price was awesome, but I got what I paid for. An expensive lesson... it pays to evaluate speakers locally in your own listening environment which makes buying speakers online an expensive endeavor. I will spend a little more to get what I want next time... and probably not go w/ JBL's.

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Polk Monitor 7 (pre 1992)

clean crisp highs and mids, cost (etronics is awesome, and from surfing, i found that they have the best price)

need a good eq to get clean bass, but it will do without one if you are a casual listener, or dont care about the lows

thank god they created these... they are really good for their price and deserve at least 4 stars on overall rating, and from etronics, they get a 5 star for value. i definitely recommend buying these, and make sure you get a good amp and eq. also, they dont take very long to break in, but if you aren't careful, you can fry the tweeters quickly when you first get it. (i know from experience that these fried the easiest of all other speakers ive owned... i did it 1 time and my friend did it 2 times lol). anyways, have fun all you other audiophiles out there. if you dont know what you are doing, you will easily spend $80 a pair on the replacement tweeters and more than $100 apiece for the woofers( research from a friend)

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