great sound quality, good base for a center channel

large footprint

For less than 100 bucks this is a fantastic center channel speaker. my system is powered by a yamaha dts receiver and all the speakers are bose. I looked at the bose center channel, alond with several selections from infinity, yamaha, jamo, ect. Most of what i saw was twice the price of the jbl with minimal gain in sound quality. I highly recommend this product.

Similar Products Used:

bose, yamaha, infinity, jamo, kenwood

It has a strong mid and bass, the tweeter is very good.
Over all the speaker can also be used as the main speakers.

it doesnt look as if it suits the main .

first of all , i would like to thank the people to who have given me the oppurtunity to express my wish.
This spk is a good one if it is connected to a good amplifier.
I have connected it to a Mission amp which is 346 years old.The amp weigh about 145kgs. This Jbl speaker is used as a main spk in the system.

good for listening old music and quite movies.

Similar Products Used:

i use many products, i cant tell that here.

great sound

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A great center channel speaker with good sound. Matches well with the JBL northridge series.

Similar Products Used:

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

Crystal clear, great sound, sturdy built, good performance, good value

Awkward design, kinda big

Since I already have two front speakers in JBL N28s and two rears in JBL N24s...I thought it was logical to choose the N-Center as my centre channel speaker (well...I think it was the only one they had for the Northridge series). The sound on this thing is crystal clear. The sound was very rich and pleasing to the ear. Good efficiency (90db) for such a inexpensive centre channel speaker. The only thing I didn't like about the speaker was its design...it is rather awkward looking and big. When I first put the speaker on top of my 27" Sony TV...it made my TV look like a 14" monitor.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CH-110V

Poor Magnetic Video Shielding???

I just bought this center channel and threw it on my Magnavox 32" TS3259 and just as a couple of other reviewers experienced I got some serious color distortion on the top two inches of my screen. I followed the troubleshooting advice posted on www.jbl.com and unplugged the TV, plugged it back in, and the distortion was gone. Here's JBLs posting:

"This speaker is shielded, and does fall within shielding specs. However, many times, because the speaker is large, as it is being placed on top of a TV, it will cause some distortion. There are a few ways to deal with this. First move it around slightly until you get the least amount of distortion. Now (if you have a newer TV), simply turn the TV off, unplug it for a minute or two, and then turn it back on. Most newer TV?s have a demagnetizing process that happens when you first turn it on. This should get rid of the distortion. If it does not, look in the TV display or menu for a demagnetizing feature. If it does not have a demagnetizer, you may have to purchase a demagnetizer (available at most electronic stores) to demag your screen."

Great Highs and Midrange

nothing.. except that its inferior to the S-Center

I knew ever since about JBL's popularity in the speaker
markets but I havent tried it until I bought this N-Center.
I wanted to compliment this N-center to my Wharfedale
Diamond 7.2 fronts. But when I listened to it at home
I realized that it sounded way way better than my Wharfedale
fronts. It was louder(150watts), clearer and capable of driving the midrange all by itself, without the help of the fronts. Now I'm planning to change my front to JBLs too
(preferrable the N28 model). Its a good thing I havent
bought any subwoofers yet, coz Im planning to buy a JBL subwoofer too (PB10 or sub10). All in all, this is a really
gteat center speaker whose value is worth MORE than what I
paid for. I know that the S-center sounds better, but the price for it was twice the price of the N-center. And I read on an article that 2-way was still better than 3-way
setups. So N-center will do fine for me.

Similar Products Used:

onkyo TX474
Wharfedale Diamond 7.2
Toshiba 32"
Pioneer DVD-535K

VERY clear highs/mids. Very good price.

Poor bass response, needs subwoofer.

I purchased the JBL NCenter as part of the JBL NSP1 five speaker Northridge system and a JBL PB12 subwoofer, and I must say that I am EXTREMELY HAPPY with my purchase. This system sounds especially good on movies. For the $300 price I think you would have a hard time beating these speakers. Other reviewers have mentioned the poor video shielding, but I did not have a problem placing the speakers directly on top of my TV. AOKNET does not sale JBL speakers anymore, but the NSP1 system can be purchased at http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com for about $300 also. Every place else has them for $450 to $500.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha bookshelf speakers.

3/4" Titanium laminate tweeters (with NSP1 package all 5 speakers), coupled with JBL's latest technology, the Elliptical Oblate Spheroid (EOS) waveguide; seamless soundstage and wide dispersion @ REF Level; Timbre (voice) Matched w/JBL N24s and other N series

None

(The following N Center review is really part of the JBL NSP1 [qty -4- N24s & qty -1- N Center] package*)

Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD Blockbuster Movie:
My kids joined me to watch GalaxyQuest last night (5-1-00) and I'm just going to jump right in and say that this system is amazing.

I was expecting it to sound really good in the first place, especially after reading Brent's glowing review, but not this good. As we watch GalaxyQuest DVD, I immediately noticed that the tonality is perfectly matched from speaker to speaker. Front-to-back pans were seamless, and dialogue sounded very natural and centered on the TV (yes Brent, the mids are GREAT!), yet still ambient, the way it would sound in a real room with a real actor. The dynamics filled up the room and the soundstage was extremely expansive. (the NSP1 & AudioSource SW15 system effortlessly reached 106 dB -- pod transports and space battle scenes)

Of course, Brent's review specifically addresses a pair of JBL N24s, and my review includes the JBL N Center. JBL has successfully voiced matched (timbre) the N Center to the N24s, where together, they provide a much more convincing, extremely wide front & surround stage. The N Center locks the dialog in the center of the TV clearly with realistic impact. Tim Allen & Sigourney Weaver sounds like they are in your living room!!

A/V Receiver: Yamaha RX-V995 @ Calibrated DD-5.1 REF Level
DVD Player: Panasonic DVD-A115

*My entire JBL NSP1 review, is posted @ my website http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/3401/JBL_NSP1_RV.html

5 stars!!!

Similar Products Used:

JBL ARC Center & JBL SC305

Asthetic and tonal balance. Matches well with the other JBL Northride components.

Video shielding problems.

First off the Northridge line is a decent sounding line of speakers considering their price. Very affordable in my opinion for the sound output that you get. However I had major problems with video shielding from the N-Center. My first one gave about a three inch line of discoloration along the top of my brand new 32" JVC set. I went to my local Best Buy and had them try three other pieces in their inventory on the display TV there and all three had the same problem to some degree or another. This worry's me as it reflects a serious quality control issue in Harmon's overseas manufacturing. My first N-Center came from a completely different source online so I can't even say that it was a local batch problem. Luckily my online dealer understandingly took the defective back. I was considering upgrading to the S-Center hoping that would alleviate the problem, but then saw a similar review complaing of the same shielding problem, which made sense since the same overseas factory, according to my dealer, produces the same so-called "video shielded" drivers for JBL. My background is in car audio and professional sound reinforcement and sorry JBL/Harmon but what to me was the premier reputation of JBL just got severly tarnished by all of this. The words bullet-proof and JBL go hand in hand in my sound reinforcement business but my first step into home theater using JBL (at least with the entry level Northridge and Studio Series) was very disappointing. Every call I made got routed to a service center that said they would replace the drivers but it would take 3-4 weeks and they still couldn't guarantee the results.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics, Bose, Cerwin Vega

decent sound quality, reasonable price

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I used to have a Bose vc-10 center speaker. I thought it's an OK product. At least it's stylish. The sound is not clear and I need to turn up and down the volume during viewing DVD movies. After checking the reviews of the speaker here, I realized that it's shame of the name "Bose" and decided to replace it. I used pricescan and got the N-cneter for $100. The sound immproves a lot and I can setup the vloume at the begining of the DVD movies and watch it all the way without turing up the volume for the dialogue part. As for the problem of video shielding, it works perfectly. It sits on top of my 32" Toshiba TV and I don't see any discoloring on the screen. I guess I am lucky.

Similar Products Used:

Bose VC-10