JBL is not what it used to be. In 70 and 80's JBL desinged awesome cost-benefit loudspeakers (like L100 and 4312) but things have changed from 90's. The last JBL's speakers I audiotioned were veiled on the mids and overbright on top end. Overall JBL's entry level products sound uneven, unnatural and overbright.

I auditioned the S38 and unfortunately they are not exception. There are better options for sure.

Picked a pair of S38 speakers for $120 to go with my S312II mains, S-Center, and Sub10 (looking to upgrade to a S120PII or L8400P soon). These replaced my old Polk S8 surounds and the difference in sound is outstanding! I was not expecting near the sound quality increase overall in the system by replacing the S8 surrounds with these S38 speakers! Simply amazing, VERY stylish too (just like the rest of the Studio series).

Great sound throughout. Superb bass from a shelf speaker. Solid construction good porting. And more......

It doesnt matter when you have too replace parts at least three times in ten years.

This is my second review of this product and well over-due. I won't complain about the sound from this product at all. Its superb. My complaint comes after 2 blown tweeter, a cross-over and now a mid. WTF? My dad had some old Teac speakers that would put the endurance of these to shame, and let me tell you; as a teen I pushed the heck out of them. Of coarse my extended warrenty is over now, and I could have the part replaced for $45.00 plus shipping, but do I trust they will make it another, ohh.... how long before soething else?

Shame on JBL for producing products like this. A well known quality company like that making these to sell to the average guy..... I know now my money is worth taking else where. Maybe thats why the local Best Buy no longer carries your brand.

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Cerwin Vega, Yamaha, Teac other JBL

Clear, transparent, detailed sound. High's to the ceiling, lots of very, very tight bass (slaps ya if you're close enough). Mid-range clarity unlike any other bookshelf speaker I've ever heard.
These are great for HT..... as well as Music (when EQ-tamed.)

Fit and finish is slick to me (I have the Beech color). Beautiful to look at with the small, adonized silver addition.

PRICE !

Highly recommend an EQ or running under Midnight mode if your setup has it to take out sometimes slightly too much brightness on some digital recordings. This isn't so much a weakness to me because one has to work with any speaker to get the best out of it in any setup.

As others have said, horizontal positioning is best in my experience with these.

I've had the S38's for several years now and I can say they are fabulous. I was getting itchy to possibly upgrade from them and auditioned a few recommended speakers at home against them, included Paradigm Monitor 5 v.2's
The 5's sounded....deeper...but almost like a reverb on a guitar amp. Yeah, I could fall asleep to the Paradigm's but I'm kind of awake when I want to listen to my music. Maybe Barry White listeners would like the P's better ?
The crispness, tightness of bass and detail weren't there like with my S38's. My S38's blew these Paradigm's away and I was very surprised.

I will say this about the brightness issue of these speakers...it's absolutely true that these can be too bright with some digital recordings. However, I recommend if you have an amp/receiver with a "midnight" mode or equivlent, (EQ) to use that setting or use an EQ to take out some of the treble. My Pioneer VSX-1015TX receiver (a steal of a receiver , I might add, if you're looking into newer HT receivers under $400) has a midnight mode and it makes all the difference in mellowing these speakers. But like another review perfectly stated: don't get brightness and detail/clarity confused. The clarity and detail of these speakers are really almost unbelievable. Brightness can be tamed - clarity cannot be magically added. Other reviews stating any muddiness or midrange issues must have gotten a bad pair - ridiculously wrong and ludicrious. The bass if very tight and slaps nice and swiftly.
I liked these so much I bought an S-Center a few years later when putting together a home theater setup. The Center is also terrific and clear, obviously a perfect match. After now knowing I'm not going to question them any longer, I've recently purchased S36AWii's as rear surrounds to match the fronts on a smaller level. Excellent ! As with any speaker, placement of surrounds means a lot.

I would seriously put these speakers against any other upward of $1000 or more if you want clear, detailed, transparent bookshelf speakers (need a good sub for HT, recommend Mirage-tight bass match). You'll love these speakers. Your search is over, believe me. I will not get itchy for a new setup for at least another ten years now; I give.

Similar Products Used:

80's Cerwin Vega D-3's (don't bash them - okay if used with proper vintage receivers), Paradigm Monitor 5 v.2's (reverb to me, not depth..colorized versus S-38's).

Great highs, mids, and powerful lows... very powerful lows.

Size mabey? they are very big but I had no problem setting them on my bookshelf.

Well I bought my pair of S38II's after ordering an S-CenterII and loving every aspect of it, so lodgically I wanted to match my whole system. I bought a pair of N26II's to hold me over for the 2 weeks before I could order them and they are also great speakers so I could not wait for my S38II's. Once they came I hooked them up put it on Stereo mode, cranked Sublime/Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd with 100 per channel and all I really noticed was it as like having to center channels hooked up and a clean sub. The highs where crisp but not harsh the meds for clear and i could acually feel the bass, I didn't miss my sub. I play MP3's off of my iBook connected through a custom made adapter from the headphone out to a line in on my AVR, and even with the poor quality of MP3's they still sound great. I also use a 5.1 Zeppelin DVD and they sound good on that to. Im very impressed with these speakers and for $230 pr brand new, I got more that my moneys worth.

Similar Products Used:

JBL E50, N26II

Solit Construction. Covers audio spectrum well.

Dont like the looks. I dont thing its very musical.

I bought a pair of the S38 II a week ago after reading all the positive reviews. I dont really care for them. They have great highs, good midrange, and real strong bass for JBL--so whats the problem. Well, I finnally decided I just dont think they are musical, at least not to my ear. I have a pair of JBL bookshelf MR-28's. They dont go as high, or as low, but after comparing for a week, they just sound better. If anyones interested in the 38's, their brand new, mint condition, and for sale. Ya can reach me at roclmn@hotmail.com.

Similar Products Used:

JBL MR 28

Tight and clear at any Volume, A price that can't be beat, Look in recording studio's and modern theaters and nine times out of ten you'll find that JBL name!!! They can't all be wrong :)

Not really a weakness but these are not "Bookshelf Speakers" These are Professional Studio Monitors with a home decore friendly finish on them.

I bought these speakers after over 3 months of ear testing at every high end A/V store in my area. I tryed Klipsch, Boston, B&W, and many others. All I can say about these speakers is if you don't buy them than you must be NUTS!!! I have a friend (who has a lot more cash than me) that has a complete M&K system and when we hooked my speakers up to his equipment at his house his jaw hit the floor!! These JBL's sounded so close to his M&K's that he could not believe he spent that much more on them! I've read a few people here saying that these speakers are bright or forward. I would say instead these speakers are Acurate and detailed. As far as Bass Responce it is tight and right where it is ment to be. I meen how much Bass do you want from an 8" woofer!!?? Full range speakers are a thing of the past. If you want Bass add a Subwoofer. I have 4 of these S-38II's and the S-Center and could not ask for more performance at any price range. Try these speakers you won't be sorry!!!!

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You name it and I've used it or owned it at one time or another :)

Decent Lows, build quality.

Almost everything so far.

I have tried and tried on these speakers and I've just about given up. The sweet spot is extremely narrow, speaker placement is a pain, highs and mids are muddy, and lows can be a challange. I bought these speakers based on the reviews, even Stereo Review gave these speakers high marks. I don't have the greatest stuff in the world, I've tried these on two Sony DB series receivers, with two different CD players, good interconnects, nothing seems to make them sound good. I'm moving to seperates, so before I give up they'll get a stay of execution. But I'm very disappointed so far. I personally think the tweeter and mid being side-by-side was a mistake.

Similar Products Used:

NEAR Audes

Good all around speaker. Amp friendly. relatively neutral and revealing. Musical and engaging with the right equipment.

Weakness are as strengths are subjective. For me it would be that they are arkward to place. No major complaints sonically at this price point. Perhaps a little more neutrallity and transparency if i wanted to nitpick.

I think that there is only so much one can expect from a $500.00 pair of speakers. And i thing for around $500.00 this set delivers. I've had speaker as expensive as $3000.00 (Monitor audio Gold ref 20's). When it comes down to musicallity and involvment the excellent dynamics and bass that these speakers have make them winners in that department. I would like to remind people that sometimes having excellent equiment doesn't always get the best out of a particular speaker. A system has to be carefully matched. I would wager that a well matched $2500.00 system can sound more musical and involving then a poorly matched $10.000 system. Anyway, these speaker have their short commings (which speaker doesn't?) but matched with the right system they can give you a lot of bang for the buck. In short be carefull with universal statements. -T

Similar Products Used:

Monitor Audio,B&W, paradigm, Klipsh.

A lot of bass

not for music listener,not enough highs,the midrange is clear but you will miss the sound of a brilliant tweeters

These are the worst speakers that I have ever heard. The crossover sucks. Not enough highs. If you like to listen the music of Pink Floyd, BB King, Mark Knopler {Dire Straight} Madonna and Trans music don't bother to buy these speakrs. Is the worst quality of sound. I own a stage 3 Kenwood system Amp & preamp really good quality of sound with coaxial cables running thru my DVD and Rotel CD player running with RCA cables audio quest (ruby)and believe me you will loose that soft bass you subwoofer reproduce when you are listen bluess, jazz, trance, rock or techno. I believe the engineer who made this speaker need to go out more often to a places where you can here people playing jazz,bluess,classical music and listen how real the quality of music sounds on those places (there a lots of good night clubs and pops I been loyal to jbl since I was .18 Im now 45 and my ears still around 25/25

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jbl,bose,b&w,yamaha,canton