Clarity, punch, accuracy, efficiency, studio-looks...

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I ordered these after reading the reviews online. I had a more expensive pair of speakers coming to me already, but I was very intrigued by the reviews. I connected these speakers to an NAD C320BEE integreated amp (highly recommended at only $325 street) and was very impressed by these speakers. If you approach these speakers with the right set of expectations, you *will* be very impressed. The bass is tight. The mid-range and highs are very clear. I have owned bookshelf speakers by NHT and towers from definitive (both costing substantially more) and the JBL's are by far my favorite. The detail, clarity, and punch are truely unbelievable. With a decent amp these will play LOUD without distorting... something that can't be said for 90% of all bookshelf speakers. The entire frequence range will hold up at a high volume. THe specs say that these go down to 38 hz. But, not only do they go down that low, they are *solid* to 38hz. The only reason to add a sub to these would be for the LFE movie effects, or for a sub 40hz kick (hardly a necessity for most music fans). I've been buying buying audio/video equiptment constantly for 10 years now, and these have been my favorite purchase.

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NHT bookshelf, DefTech towers, Polk bookshelf

Strong presence Excellent mid's and high's If you like female artists, these speakers ROCK!

Sometimes can be a bit high.

I am on a very tight budget for my Home Theater system. In fact, there was no budget. I was skimping on many things just so I could purchase some decent speakers. I found a good deal on a pair of these baby's and I jumpped on it. I have read the reviews and these seemed to be perfect for me. And......they are. I know there are better speakers out there for more money. Maybe even some at the same cost. But I am extremely happy with these. I use 2 S38's for my main speakers. 2 S36's for my rear channels. I have a S-Center for my center channel. I also have an awesome Velodyne 10" forward firing and downward radiating powered sub. When hooked up to my Onkyo TX-575x 100W x 5 Channel system and a Toshiba SD-5700 DVD player, my little 36" TV just seems so small. This system rocks. My friends all admit that my system is one of the most impressive they have heard. And all of it for under $2K, including the JVC TV. Yeah, I'm happy!

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AR Floor Standing Speakers, Energy Take 5+1

Crisp, clear, detailed, tight.

If you are lookig for a bright speaker like klipsch this speaker isn't for you. Klipsch in my opinion are great party/loud music machines.

I was looking for a speaker that wouldn't break the bank, yet produce good sound in a wide range of music and movies. Mission accomplished! These bookshelf speaker perform great as a music and HT mains wihtout a problem.

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Klipsch, infinity, wharfedale, AR...

The 38S II's sound good for music listening at higher volumes.

The 38S II's are not meant to be used for surround sound at normal volumes, and the tweeter projects a small sweet spot.

I was looking for a nice sounding book shelf speaker which I would use four, mounted on my walls, for my surround sound system in my den. I decided to try the JBL 38S II's, because there was so many good reviews. I have a Onkyo 787 receiver, and a Toshiba DVD. I found that these speakers, are NOT ideal for this application. The bass was somewhat lacking, for a 8 inch woofer, and the tweeter projected a small sweet spot, even from 12-15 feet away. Also, the dialoge which came from these speakers, got muddled, and lost, when music or effects were also playing. I had also used the S-centers II speaker. Now this was at a somewhat loud volume, but still low enough that you could talk to someone else in the room. I would nudge the volume up a little to hear voices, or adjust the tone, then music would come on, and I would have to hurry up and turn the volume down. I was always searching to find the right compromise. However, when I used them for music only, while I was alone in the room, and could turn up the volume, they did sound very good, considering their size. Played at loader volumes, for music, they have a smooth, well balanced sound, that was not fatiguing. They are somewhat lacking in reproducing horns, and still have a small sweet spot, even at higher levels. I came across the Klipsch, Synergy 3 speakers at a dealer, and bought two, to compare them to the 38S. They are slightly smaller, and slightly cheaper. I hooked both of them up to my left channels, and used the 38S's on the right channels. What a difference, in a surround sound application! The Klipsch had a very wide dispersion, I could clearly hear voices, over the music and effects. The voices seemed to be out in front, and did not get lost, even at lower volumes. Also, the Klipsch had better bass. There was really a big difference in using the Klipsch on the surround channels, many effects that I had never heard before, would clearly project. I compared these two speakers for over three weeks, so both of them had time to break in. The Klipsch in the way to go, for surround sound.

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Kliphsch Synergy 3, Bose 301 series 4.

Excellent sound. Value.

Can still be a bit bright on an already bright digital recording.

I just bought these speakers along with the JBL S Center and a Yamaha receiver about 3 weeks ago. I was at first a bit disappointed and didn't know if I would keep these speakers. The problem for me was an overly bright upper midrange and tweeter. The sound that I got at first was very harsh and hurt my ears. I realized some others mentioned the same type of problem and that a somewhat lengthy break in period was needed. Well 3 weeks later and these speakers really do sound very very good. The tweeter really calmed down and the woofer and midrange have broken in nicely. No fatigue now! I really believe JBL is offering the best sound for the money the last 4 years or so. I have the JBL HLS 610's for my rears and the HLS series with the horns are darn nice also. The S38 can compare to any $1000 pair of speakers out there. All the professional reviews that I have seen including Stereophile , ETOWN, and Sound and Vision have been very positive on the S38 with good reason. The dynamic range and the loudness capabilities is unbelievable for these "bookshelf" speakers! Midrange is superb. The tweeter goes to the sky! I'm very happy with my purchase.

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Polk Audio Monitor 10b. (I really miss these! They were my all time favorite)

Good bass, articulate. highs can make your ears bleed(if you want them too), mids a clean and clear. Price!

hehe, size, if you are really tight on space, these probably arent the speakers for you.(although id recomed making space) These are probably the biggest bookshelf speaker ive seen, but WELL worth it.

I'm actually writing this review on the S38II's the new model of the s38's. I have had these speaker for a few weeks now, and they rock. I was on a very tight budget for a good home theater, and i had done months of looking around on the internet. I had it narrowed down to a few different speakers in my price range, and finally went out to audition them. I auditioned the JBL's last because they are "mass production" speakers, and i wasnt expecting much. boy was i wrong, even with all the background noise and crappy acoustics at best buy, these speakers won my heart over. The highs are crisp and clean, the mids are nice and warm, and the bass is tight and articulate, and not boomy.(although of you push them hard enough they will get boomy) I also have the s-centerII to go along with them(also nice speaker), and they create a practically seemless sound field for hometheater. They are great for stereo music also, i find myself listening to all my old cd's again. My brother in law has a $20,000+ system, and i have no problem enjoying these every bit as much as his b&w's. For anything with $200-300 of this price range, they are awsome. and thats that. email me if you have any questions on them. P.S. I am powering them with the Denon AVR 1803, wouldnt want much of a smaller reciever to power them.

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jbl s-centerII acoutic research bookshelf sp.

good bass when powered by a good reciever or amplifier "Harmon/Kardon"

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I just love these speaker they sound so good. When I first bought them I had a pair of bose bookshelf 8" I thouhgt they were the best of the best until i listened to these S38 then i was feeling the music instead of just listening to it like i used to I would definitely recommend anybody who is on a tight budget and still want the best of the best to go ahead and stop thing about it and go ahead and purchase these speakers. good highs great mids and awsome clean tight bass.

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I used Bose Bookshelfs, Ifinity Towers, cerwin vega towers. These will go head to head with my 12 Cerwin vegas and will not lose

clean sound and they look great.

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I received my s38ll hot off the shelf before they were even in stores. The reviews on this set of speakers helped me to make my buying decision. I would have wrote this sooner but wanted to really break these speakers in before I did that. These speakers are clean and sometimes a bit bright depending on the source. Bass is deep wheen needed but not boomey at all. the e.o.s wave guide really provides good imaging. I sell speakers for a living and I think for the price you can't go wrong with this product line from JBL!

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all

Great investment. My wife is amazed when we watch movies. She couldn't tell you the difference between 14 and 18 gauge wire, but loves to demo our system to our friends.

Can't decide on wall mounts or speaker stands for the S-38s. Size must be taken into consideration. This is not a bad thing.

LISTEN!!! These are some very fine speakers. I would recommend them to my family and friends twice over. I had some huge sony floor speakers and wanted to upgrade my sound stage for home theater and for music. Plus I wanted something to take up a little less space but that produced just as much sound. NOTE; I am one of those guys who has to listen to everything atleast 4 to 5 times before making a decision and even after making a purchase, I will go back to listen again just to make sure that what I got was the right thing. I can say with all honesty that these JBLs are some of the best speakers I've ever heard to date. Crisp, Clean, very Clean and Alive, with base to spare for music. I REALLY enjoy listening them. I was so pleased that I bought the S-Center and a pair of S-36 for the rear. Beautiful combination for home theater. My friends always coment on how great the movies sound. I just eat it up! For the money you will not go wrong, you can't. Just for kicks I added an SVS PCi Sub. I'm in heaven..... Pioneer dvc-603 Pioneer vsx-810s JBL S-Center JBL S-36 rear SVS PCi 20-39 (awsome!)

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I've listened to, tested and in some cases owned comparable Polk, Infinity, Bose, Sony and Yamaha speakers and subwoofers. I'm your average guy.

I guess a that the 122 other people who reviewed this speaker must be wrong.