Excellent sound, low price for audiophile quality speakers, they get VERY VERY VERY loud if you push em with enough wattage, and still maintain clarity.

VERY LARGE to be classified as bookshelf speakers, I had some trouble trying to find space for them.

Being a student, and on a limited budget, it often becomes hard to also feed my audiophile cravings for immaculate sound reproduction. But the time came when I had the money to replace my old front speakers, and I began to scour the net and local stores for a sub $500 pair of exceptional speakers. I was shocked when I discovered all the clarity, power handling and range on a set within my price bracket at none other than Best Buy. Upon discovering the S38, I knew I couldnt live another month without a pair, and so I restarted my search, but this time I was simply searching for the lowest possible price. Etronics finally got the s38''''s back in stock, and I didnt hesitate to order a pair. I am still amazed by the smoothness of these speakers, they reproduce sound superbly, and have an amazing amount of bass output for a set of bookshelf speakers. This set is probably not for most people, as you could probably get an entire home theater set for 300~600 dollars, and just this set of speakers costs from 300~500 depending where you buy. If, however, you are an audiophile on a budget, I would highly reccomend adding these to your list of considerations, they were well worth the money for me.

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JVC, Sony, Pioneer, Infinity, Boston Acoustics

beautiful clear highs and reasonable bass

very big for bookshelf speakers and hard to position.

buying the s38 is one of the best decision one could make, especially if you are a home theatre buff.first of all i was very surprised by the increadible bass thesre speakers provided,voices now sound awsome and the highs are increadibly crisp my system:sony starde945 receiver :sony 5disk dvd changer center:jbl s-center fronts:jbl s38 rear :jbl n26

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Good looks, good price, good sound.

Not shaped like most bookshelf speakers, so finding a good speaker stand was hard to do.

This is a head''s up to S38 owners who are looking for a good speaker stand. Check out www.wood-tech.com and look at their stands designed for a center channel in front projection theaters. It has a nice 16"W X 8"D top plate that matches well with the S38''s dimensions of 17 1/2"W X 11 3/4"D. The stand also measures 28" tall which should put the S38''s tweeter right at a seated listener''s ear level. Most stands that I''ve seen have a measly 6" X 7" top plate (or smaller) and aren''t the right height. I think the Chuckster from a few reviews below could use a pair of these (see his pics).

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$80 Sony speakers from 1990

Great sound for the price and very good looks.

Not a bookshelf speaker...but I already knew that!!

First let me say that I have 2002 models, the ones with the silver drivers, not the gold drivers. These speakers are great!!! The price is great and the sound is great. I was introduced to these speakers at Best Buy and really like the sound they produced. I also have the JBL S-Center and together the movies have a really balanced sound. They say the S38''s are of a bookshelf design. If you ask me they are not bookshelf speakers. I have them positioned on 30" wood speaker stands. This really helps fill the room up with sound when listening to music. And while watching DVDs they are at head level giving us every thing the movie has to offer. Before you buy them at Best Buy(last years model) I would highly recommend you check out e-bay. For $299 you are getting this years, brand new speakers! They guy I got mine from was out in KC area.... Audiovideoman or Audiovideoman.com. Fast shipping and he sells you what he is advertising. 360postive replys.

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Other JBL and Sony speakers

Everything you''d want in a speaker. You can lay them down horizontally or stand em up vertically. The sound is great, no muddy bass and no twangy highs.

I kind of wish they sold 1-2'' stands for them. That would be great. The speakers themselves...can''t find a damn thing wrong with em.

Etronics rocks and Best Buy sux!! For $40 more I got the pair, compared to what Best Buy was selling them for each!! Anyhow, I love these speakers, very cool looking and great sound. I use these things for my main speakers. Etronics has em for $249/pair now.

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Doesn''t really matter...I researched speakers for ever and I don''t think I''d use anything else now. For the money you can''t beat it.

Smooth

Too smooth??!!??

These are either the worst or most spectacular speakers I have ever heard. I can not decide. I am not used to such clarity. Like listening to the raw music. I thought some of you were crazy. Tightest everything I have ever heard. Very smooth. Almost too smooth. But I am for sure keeping these babies. Brings me a new joy of rediscovering all my cds all over again. Have not felt that joy in a long time. Awesome transients.

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JBL 4311 and L100s

Great Bass. Clear highs and lows alike. Great Price. All around amazing.

A little bulky for a small dorm room.

Absolutely Incredible. I''ve been researching speakers for awhile, and it was between the S38''s and the Paradigm Monitor 3''s. The Paradigms had better clarity at higher frequencies, but they also cost about 100 dollars more. I live in a dorm and this guy across the hall always dwarf my system, but with these new babies, I''m in control now. I''m using them with an old JVC recieve, but I plan to upgrade it to a JVC RX-8010 later on in the year, and start building my hometheater system from there.

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Bose 301v2

Beauty, Price vs. Performance Ratio, Tight, I prefer the sound of Studio Series Titanium Tweeters to that of my old speaker's soft-dome fabric tweeters, more to come.

Awkward size, more to come.

Welp, I just wanted to clear up some of the frequent e-mail questions I've received concerning the pictures I have listed a few slides below.

Here's my answer to one e-mail:

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Dear friend,

>>

I'm afraid the S38 positioning I have is the best I can do. If you can suggest a way to position them horizontally without the right one being in my face (that's where I sit) and the left one sticking about 9 inches over where I sleep, I'd love to hear it! They produce a nice image as is, and for the next 3 months, I'll just live with the vertical placement. Also, the stands are merely temporary. I have them weighed down with some bricks I bought at ACE hardware.


>>


I just ordered a second pair of S38s for the rear, and they should be here this week! I plan to mount them horizontally. At the time of this writing, I'm using a pair of Mission 701 bookshelf speakers.


>>


I have a sub...a Velodyne VA-810x behind the left stand. It handles all but the last octave very well. The Velo is also an interim solution until I can get a nice sub (most likely a sub from SVS).

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Just wait until next year when I and seven buddies of mine move into this house we leased for next year...it should be a hoot! I'll have an in depth review one of these days, but for now, there are only a few points I can make about this speaker (listed in the Strenghts and Weaknesses columns)

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sounds even better when its turned up by a 2000w car amp.(wait, car amps are at 2-4ohms then its about 1200 watts to the jbl) I recommand this product (also an audiobahn amp)

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quite alot

After much research, picked these up new for $300 online at bestaudioandvideo.com. I can only say that I hear things now in music that I never heard before!! The tweeter is so clean and crisp. The mids bring out guitar plucks, twangs, drums sounds, etc. that I have been missing for years!!
The bass is great, for an 8" woofer. If you are cranking rock, jazz, or most any other music, you will be *very* pleased. If you are a house dj and expect to throw parties with these speakers, look elsewhere.
And the copper colored woofers are really cool looking with the real black ash wood finish. Overall, an excellent purchase. I am stoked!! I am running them on a Harmon Kardon AVI200ii amp and they just sing!

None. Again, if you are a rap fiend, look elsewhere. Any other music sounds incredible!!

Overall, great buy. Don't expect window shattering rap bass, but perfect for all other music. Will be happy.
Best speakers I have owned in 10+ years of hi/fi listening.

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Looked at JBL N series, klipsch (too much $), infinity (not enough bass, but nice), bose (lame, imho)