price/performance. Hands down best overall performer in the under $1000 class.

none yet... to be continued.

...so I go to Stereo Advantage... see, they had this scratch and win scam for discounts on JBL stuff. %5 - %50 off. I wanted to check out how legit this was, and seeing as I live a couple of blocks from the place. I get there and head straight for the speaker room. Immediately I recognise the beech 312's from the rest of the mahogany/rosewood speakers that populated the room. But man they were beat. All the dust covers were punched in and they had assorted scuff marks. The other had the grille still on, but broken in several places. They sounded worse than they looked. I tried the N310's, but they needed the help of a sub, and lacked a certain personality that says "Hey, I'm a JBL, and proud of it!" Oh, ya, the discount. The salesman hands me a lottery style scratch of ticket and... to make a short story long... %40 off. "I'll take the S series ceter please." The temptation to dig deep for the 412's... I cannot tell you. If you have seen the 412's you'd know what I mean! WOOT! $999/pr. Too steep for me. The wife would have my nads in a jar. I truly was only going for a center channel speaker, the Bose, but they no longer carry Bose. The salesman comes back with my s-center and proceeds to tell me that the 312's are being pulled cuz they were burnt and that one of the other salesmen found one pair of 310's in boxes in the back and is setting them up for another customer, do I want an audition... It took all of one minute to convince me. I leaned over to the salesman and whispered "I'll take 'em." I RAN to the checkout! I literally stole them. List price $798/pr, Stereo Advantage price $399/pr. My price after 40% off: (I'm ashamed... hahahaha) $239.40 for the pair! My system: HK 525 ($540 refurb, onecall.com - is an authorized vendor for HK, full warrantee) JBL S-310 ($240/pr. Stereo Advantage, new 5/17/03, %40 off sale) JBL S-Center ($120 Stereo Advantage, new 5/17/03, %40 off sale) JBL N26AW ($99/pr Best Buy, new 5/11/03) Infinity RS-2000 ($199/pr Stereo Advantage, new 1988) Bose 201 ($199/pr Best Buy, new 4/17/03) JVC XVF85GD 7-Disc progressive scan dvd changer ($81 refurb, CompGeeks.com) Apex AD-5131 3 disk dvd changer (Circuit City, new March 2002, $79) JVC HR-VP606U vhs vcr (stereo advantage, new 1995) Panasonic S-video vhs vcr ($79 Best Buy, new 12/02) Sony TC-WR465 dual tape deck ($99 Silo's, open box ?/??) JVC XL-F108 5 disc cd changer ($99 Silo's, open box ?/??) Sylvania 32" ($229 Sears, floor model 11/02, 3 line comb filter, not the cheap one.)

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auditioned Klipsch, Bose, Polk, Infinity, Mission, and a couple others that escape me at the moment.

Crisp tweeter, better than average low end, attractive cabinet and good driver, enclosure build quality.

slightly harsh midrange, very large size.

I recently purchaced these speakers as an upgrade to my existing home theater system which is anchored by an Onkyo TS-XR600 receiver. I auditioned several mid-level speakers when I was shopping around. I listened to JBL, Kef, Klipsch, Dali, Def. Tech. and Infiniti. My intial intent was to find a pair on mains for under $1,000. When I started to narrow things down, I was left with the KEF Q5, JBL S-310 II and the Klipsch RF-3 II. The KEF was my favorite, with a very warm, natural sound. The Klipsch was "exciting," but I never got aclimated to the bright horn sound. The JBL fell somewhere in the middle. The tweeter on the JBL is brighter than the KEF's, but more subdued than the Klipsch. I feel that the upper end on the JBL's is as accurate as either speaker. Light symbol taps are very distinct and crisp. The midrange on the JBL is very prominent. On my not-quite broken in 310's, it can be almost harsh at times. Female voices sound excellent, but certain male vocals can be a little more forward than I like. In this respect, the KEF has a much warmer, "fuzzy" midrange. The low end on the S-310 II's is admireable. In the listening room, I auditioned KEF Q5's side by side with the S-310's. In that environment, the 310's didn't seem to offer much more bottom end extension than the Q5's. That changed once I got the 310's home. The low end really blossomed in my listening room. Low bass drum hits, and bass guitar slaps are accurately reproduced. As it was mentioned before, these speakers don't have an abundance of low end, but it is proportional to the character of the speaker. You can make them boom if you want, but they have a very balanced sound under normal listening conditions. For home theater, a sub would be beneficial. The 310's do a great job by themselves, but they can't quite keep up with the ultra-low crashes and explosions on modern DVD's. I will say that I did prefer the sound of the Q5's to the S-310's. Why did I buy the 310's then? PRICE! I bought mine for $430 shipped from www.vanns.com. When I listened to the Q5's and 310's side by side, I couldn't justify spending roughly twice as much for the Q5's. That said, I am very satisfied with the 310's. The midrange is the only aspect of the speaker that I notice right now. I am hoping that it will calm down in time.

very good sound production use with a high quality receiver

LARGE

After reading the negative review posted i felt compelled to respond. I have used these as the mains in my home theater for almost six months now and i am very pleased with them. They are excellent speakers. In addition to the reviews on this site i also utilized the reviews of professional audio magazines. They all praised the performance of the speakers, especially given the price. They took a while to break in but after the "break in" period, they sounded perfect. Although they are a large speaker, the bass is not overwhelming and is very balenced. GOOD SPEAKER.

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M&K, sony, altec-lansing, yamaha, pioneer, polk

Excellent sound at all volume levels. No clipping at higher db levels. No need for a sub-woofer. Very stylish and sturdy cabinet. Out-performs any speaker in its class.

none at this price

After reading the reviews here, I just purchased a pr of the new JBL S310II's in beech. Awesome color! These speakers are everything and more than I expected. The soundstage and timbre are equal to speakers costing 2-5 times the price I paid for the JBL's. I've tried Klipsch, Bose, Energy, B&W, etc., and those brands were all too neutral sounding for my taste. Those brands all needed a sub-woofer to achieve what theses speakers do with a single 10" woofer. The bass is deep, clean, and tight with great separation between the mids and highs. I am driving these with a Denon DRA-685 2 channel x 100w rms stereo receiver/amp. With this combo I am now experiencing the way music was meant to be heard. By that I mean I not only can hear every instrument being played, but "feeling" and "seeing" it like in a concert setting. These speakers are proof to me that you don't need to spend $1000's on hi-end models to achieve tone nirvana. JBL has incorporated their world renown technology into an affordable speaker that all can enjoy. Also, for HT use I watched "Signs" last night on DVD and these 2 speakers were enough to fill my living room with a theater like experience. I am a musician and worked as an audio tech, so I know when I hear something I like. The S310II's satisfy my pallet for my needs. In conclusion; Don't get caught up with all the audiophile hype that the so-called "experts" try to impose upon you. Save your money for your CD and DVD collections. You won't be disappointed!! Also, my price included shipping for the pair.

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Klipsch, Bose, Energy, B&W, KLH (old models) and many others.

The words 'strong' and 'clear' immediately come to mind. They can handle any style of music with an equal degree of proficiency, so they're suitable for all musical tastes.

You're kidding right??

I wouldn't give much credibility to the review below me. I don't know who would spend only 5 mins listening to speakers, and then decide to buy them even though they weren't happy with them. Strange. Anyway, I did a speaker run recently, going to many stores and listening to my cd's through various speakers, which consisted of some heavy metal and some more 'delicate' sounding groups. Went through Jamo, Dali, Richter, AR, Athena, Magnat, and one or two others I have forgotten. While most had their strengths and weaknesses (and some only had weaknesses!!), the JBL's scored top marks in all aspects. The bass is strong and yet doesn't try to be overpowering, which can completely ruin a heavy metal song. The mid and high ranges are in a class of their own in this price range, absolutely no contest. Accoustic and vocal reproduction in particular are simply beautiful. They're so clear, and carry a lot of presence without being in your face. I cannot recommend these speakers highly enough. I have only ever run these through a Yamaha receiver, and I don't enable any of the DSP modes because the sound is brilliant as it is. By the way, the price I paid is in Australian dollars.

I msut say that the weight was ok.

Alomost everything.

I have to say that I was carried by the reviews from this site. So I went into the local dealer store and I have listen them for 5 minutes and I decided to buy them, even though they didn’t sounded what I expected. I went home, connected to the amplifier Marantz PM 78, and the sound was terrible. I couldn’t believe that the sound was so bad. The range of the sound was not good at all. I could have hear only the bass. Even the bass was not so clear and powerful. I was using Tannoy M2 before and I must say that the quality of the sound of those was 10 times better. I have changed them only because they were not powerful enough. Back to JBL, I went to the store and returned them. I bought Infinity Alpha 40. They were 150 euros more expensive but the quality and the build, you cannot compare. The Infinity was all I expected.

Ballanced sound, seamless crossovers, WELL built, Great looking! and PRICE!!

NONE

I have had these for 3 days, They replaced a pair of home built 15" 3 way speakers in old technics boxes. These had Drivers in them from VIFA and I thought they sounded pretty good. Well these JBLs are a thousand times better!! They are hooked up to a Yamaha AX-592 amplifier (100wpc) and a DCM100watt subwoofer and will handle anything you throw at them from Bach, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Future sound of London, Kitaro, Nanci Griffith. Fleetwood Mac, Enigma, Deep forest Etc. They sound SUPURB at all volume levels even with my amp at KILL levels like it is now (playing Vangelis cd now) Great price bought online fron B&H for 369.90 (for the pair) and the shipping was FREE yes FREE ( only on JBL speakers) What a steal!!

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Technics sbl95, Bose 201, 301, 501

Faithful reproduction. Great price/value. Impressive appearance.

None

I've had these behemoths for almost two years and have never found them lacking. Highs are presented accurately and clearly. Mids are clean. Lows are good, although I've augmented the lower frequencies with a JBL sub. These are sharp looking speakers as well, especially with the grills off. I drive these with a Denon AVR-3300 and have them married with a JBL S-Center and Cambridge Soundworks The Surround speakers. I believe I'm set with my HT/music setup for years to come!

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Bose 10.2/Bose Acoustimass

Amazing well balanced sound. Great price.

LARGE size. My wife prefers the "nice little" Bose cubes.

I was in the market to set up a home theater system that would also sound good playing music. I did a lot of research and listened to products from Bose, Polk and Klipsh at stores like Best Buy, the Wiz, Circuit City and J and R Music World (which has the most selection by far). I also read a lot of reviews on various sites and found that audioreview.com had the largest number of reviews on the most products. Based on my research I narrowed down my search to the JBL Studio series which seems to have the excellent performance in the sub $1,000 range. I checked out the JBL S312 II floor standing, S center channel and S 38 bookshelf speakers at Best Buy and was immediately impressed (and impressed on my 2nd through 5th visits at various stores). To my ear they had a better midrange than my brother-in-law's more expensive Bose Lifestyle 12. But I found the S312 a little pricey. So I went to J and R Music World in Manhattan (great prices and a web site - JandR.com for those of you that don't live near Manhattan) to listen to the S310s and I thought they actually sounded better than the 312s. The 310s are better balanced while the 312s seemed to lean towards the lower frequencies. As a bonus, the 310s were $200 cheaper than the 312s and I can use this money to get a better subwoofer. In the end I ended up with the following system: Sony 36 inch XBR Onkyo TX-DS797 receiver JBL S-Center speaker JBL S310 IIs front speakers JBL S38 IIs surround speakers I'm still shopping for a sub. Any suggestions?

Clarity is fantastic, outstanding highs ,quite satisfied with the mids too. Alot of people say the bass is lacking but I don't think so plus I run a sub so it really doesnt matter

none at this time .I'll post again after I've had them awhile

Well I,ve been looking for awhile to upgrade my fronts . Was using four JBL N24's and an s-center. It sounded Pretty good but not getting the umph i needed when listening to music . So, after much debate and listening to Polks and Infinities at Best Buy,I began reading the reviews here for the s310s and my wife asked me what i wanted for my birthday . Well it was tough because i had a choice between the SVS 20-39 PC sub or a pair of these s310s . I picked the s310s for now figuring that they would give me the most improvment to my system for now and I am certainly not disappointed though i have to admit that straight out of the box I was a bit disappointed . Admittedly these are far from being broke in as I just received them 3 hours ago but are sounding better already. Cant wait til about a month has past and they are broke in well. Can't imagine them sounding better . My wife agrees . These things are crystal clear even at high volumes. I don't claim to be an audiophile but I do know a good sound when I hear it and I hear it when I play music or dvds through these s310s .Everything I'm saying has been said so if you don't want to or can't afford to spend a mint on speakers and still want a big clear sound get yourself a pair of these .I'm glad I did.The prcie Ipaid includes shipping . Ordered on monday, at my door friday morning .

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JBL Northridge, Sony Bose