clarity of sound

very difficult to maneuver

Out of the box I was disappointed with these speakers. I thought the sound was very hollow and severely lacking in bass. But what a difference a few days of listening and expensive speaker wire make! Now, these speakers are crystal clear with tight and realistic bass. I immediately threw out my Wharfedale Modus Eight whose sound stage pales in comparison: ugly (hardly existing) mids and boomy bass. The S312's need, however, a powerful receiver that can thrust out a lot of bass (such as the Nakamichi AV-400). The speakers seem to be made pretty well. As other listeners have noticed, the louder you play them the better they sound (same with my JBL SVA180s). For some people the beech color is an acquired taste, I think it looks classy. I want the grills off, but my wife insists. I bought these from ubid and they arrived within a few days. Yes, shipping costs an arm and a leg, but at $380 total these speakers are a steal. Don't hesitate. You won't be disappointed.

Big powerful sound

size, week bass, I think the crossovers need to be tweeked because like a couple of other reviews have mentioned lower midrange is missing

These are even bigger than the Valdus speakers, I bought them for use for dj speakers but the finish was too nice to do that so i hooked them up in the house.. Well let me say these really shine at loud volumes... they do lack the bass that the valdus speakers out out.. but they are better looking. the beechwood ones at that,, but i dont mind. they do not sound real good till you get them loud.. maybe too loud for late night listening where neigbors are nearby.
I think these are nicer speakers than the valdus.. however the valdus were pretty cheap too and are a better rock and roll, techno, and hip hop speaker. But these are furniture grade cabinets and for that i give em a 4+ since my taste in music isnt laid back and for lack of detailed lower midrange a 3 for performance.

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Valdus 500 (DJ speakers)

look cool, high frequency response, tight bass

huge and heavy, mids could be sweeter

Just unpacked about two hours ago. My system:

JVC RX9010VBK receiver (100wx5, DD/DTS, digital inputs)
JVC XV523 DVD Player
Sony CDPCX-400 CD Changer
Sanyo VWM665 HiFi VCR
Technics M222 Dual Cassette Deck
Sony WEGA 27FS12 TV

Speakers:

KLH 1238B fronts
dbx/Soundfield 3x2 RS Plus Satellite/Subwoofer rears
Acoustic Research PSC-25 Center Channel
JBL PB-12 powered sub

Now, what I thought maybe could use improvement is the fronts. After all, I bought the old KLH's when I was a starving intern! I gotta say, they have served me well over the years and have held up well. They don't sound too bad, either. But anyway, I wanted better mids and highs, especially a sweeter midrange; and something that looks a little less cheap. (OK, I admit it, I'm a little vain). So I did some comparison shopping and read some reviews. I noticed 800.com had all their speakers on sale with free shipping. Considering these weigh 79 lbs each in shipping boxes, this is a considerable savings. The other speakers I was considering were Polk RT800i's, which I noticed were also Consumer's Digest Best Buys. I opted for these because, deep down, I like to get big, substantial things for my money. Not that Polks are badly built; on the contrary, they are built rock-solid too. But my gut told me to go for the tanks.

So far I have listened to some Paul Simon, Boston, ZZTop, Cars, and Elvis' remastered Hawaii concert in Dolby Digital, plus some of his older stuff. I did a side by side comparison with my old KLH's. The bass on these is a little tighter, and the highs are much crisper. But that beautiful sweet midrange spot, that elusive thing I've been searching for, isn't quite there yet. I've screwed with EQ settings and such, no luck yet. These speaks sound decent, and I'm gonna have to put on some Jazz and Classical before I completely make up my mind as to whether I like them or not. I'd like to thank all of the previous reviewers for helping me decide. I have decided these speakers are superior to my old KLH's, but they are not quite broken in yet(obviously) so later I may post a better review.

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KLH 1238B, old Radio Shack Mach I's with add-on supertweeters

Amazing clarity, unique looks and awsome size.

None

First thing is these speakers are not for little girls or the faint of heart and probably not for apartment dwellers. They are for someone who is not ashamed of their Home Theater or Stereo system and has or is willing to make the room for them, cause there is no hiding these babies. These speakers sound good at low and high volumes. They go very low and tight, down around 32Hz I believe, and most humans can not here frequencies below 28Hz, so these speakers do not require a subwoofer unless you like to listen to music or movies unlike the artist or director intended. I do use a 15", 1000 watt Carver Sunfire subwoofer for LFE only. They have plenty of bass if your receiver can produce it. The S312 has a large 12" woofer with a heavy magnet and driver, thats why they weigh so much, so a weak receiver will not do these justice. These bad boys will move a lot of air, the cone moves in and out a good 2" overall when cranked up. They are neutral and natural, not to much midrange and not to much bass, like so many speakers tend to be anymore, with nice sweet highs and no distortion at any decibel level. I've been listening to all kinds of music for forty-some years, from Classical to Hard Rock, which I used to break them in with and these can handle it all very well. I've been through a lot of speakers over the years, just as a hobby, and I wasn't looking to replace my present speakers when I stumbled onto these, but the price was so good I thought I would give them a try. I purchased these about 3-months ago and at first I was a little dissapointed until I played around with the reciever and equalizer and took most of the bass and treble out and then broke them in for a couple of days with some good loud rock music. Now they sound great and I'm listening to a lot of old music that I haven't listened to in years. I like them so much that I purchased the JBL S38s last week. I'm breaking them in now. I'm thinking about getting another pair of S312s for the rears and use the S38s for center channel speakers and then upgrade to a 6.1 Receiver. I like the Beechwood finish and so does my Wife. We both got tired of ugly black speakers. I seriously auditioned the $3,000.00 Infinity IML60s just before I purchased these and thought they were good but not great. In my opinion the S312s sound cleaner and better. If you've got the room and a good ear you won't be dissapointed.

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Polk, Mission, Cambridge Soundworks, Klipsch, Boston Acoustics, Sony, Bose, Cerwin Vega, and many others.

Powerful sound (not burned in yet)

size, and like mentioned below, appearance

I only got these yesterday and the fed-ex guy said "My god"
and he was right on the money.. they are real heavy.. cost more to ship them than it did to buy them. Let me warn others ahead of time. you really need a large room for these to have a home a 12x16 wont get it. I hooked them up in our living room and had to remove em.. just too large for the living room.. So they now reside downstairs in our game room. (was gonna put the klh's down there but...)
These are not broken in yet and are attached to an old pioneer (74 vintage) 75 watt receiver.. and they sound excellent, I want to also say that these speakers need to find the right room decor.. The people below are right they really didnt fit in our living room anyway and my wife sooner or later would have told me to take em downstairs.
If you have a choice I also agree not to get the beechwood model.. Im not gonna spray paint them.. it dont matter down in the basement.. just dont want anyone to use them to set their beers on... yes they are the size of an end table.
I agree with the other reviewers these are not a HT speaker but one dynamite of a stereo speaker.. and they will shake the house.. no doubt.. If you need speakers for a stereo set up and have the room these will make you very happy.
But in my opinion these are a prime example of "too much of a good thing"

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KLH

Great sounding speaker.

None. But not designed for a small apartment unless you want to go deaf or insight a riot with with neighbors.

I saw a set of these beechwood S312's at the HK outlet store last summer. I was sick of the black and dark wood look. And these stood out. Well actually the sound stood out. They wanted more than I could talk the wife into at the time. So when Ubid starting selling them below $400 total I got them. Nothing even comes close for that price.
Would I pay $800 - $900, I wouldn't pay that much for any
speaker period. Too many other things I desire.

Needed big speakers for a big formal room with high ceilings and these are perfect. They stand at least 15 feet apart and a nice distance away from the listeners. In a small room they would overwhelm. These are for my stero only setup. My home theater setup in the family room runs on
my 1974 L26's. Fit the smaller size perfectly.

I always play somewhat loud. Never have like the bass boost on any receiver. It always muddies up the sound. Only..maybe at low levels. But most of time it is not needed since I always run these at higher levels. My 1974 L26's have an oak finish. So I like the light colored look of these. Our decor is not 1950's. Really a matter of taste.
I'm kinda sick of black speakers and the dark look. JBl has always offered something different. Look at grills on the old L100's. Many people did not like them either. I know I did at the time. Except for orange. That was a bit too much for me. But more importantly, these speakers just sound great period. They play all types of music well.

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None even come close. Well I used my friend's L100's a long time ago. But couldn't afford a set in 1974

Sound Pretty Good

Big

Let me say I agree 100% with the review below. These are much larger than I thought. You need a large area to put these in. Better, I think for a 2 channel setup. Don't buy sight unseen or for use in a HT setup. You could be dissapointed. These sound best with my nad amp. Bass is there but needs loudness button on at low volume to compensate for the way we hear. Never could figure out why this button is eliminated from newer equipment. I not sure of the sensitivity of these, but a 50 watt amp will rock the whole house and the neighbors. I rated the speakers for what they are and not what I thought they were when I purchased them.

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All

Solidly built, XLNT sound

Like others have mentioned.. Too dang big and not very 21st century looking

First let me comment on the sound of these speakers. they are excellant.. thats why we bought them. For about $700 total.. including tax. they were the best that the store had to offer.. didnt like the bose nor the polk audio.. which were in the same price range... the Paradigm speakers that were $1400 didn't really sound any better. at least not in the sound room at the store. So we went with these.. yes they are real heavy (we have them on castered platforms so we can move them around when we clean. Yes they do remind you of speakers DJ's use, big and boxy you really have to have room for them. The coloration that is present.. yes there is some coloration..like it is missing some of the lower midrange, noticible if you play music like Pink Floyd or Kraftwork, but not enough to really bother us all that much. Just stating the fact since we didnt really notice this till we had them for awhile. Also the sound that comes from these JBLs really is a bit too much for a home theatre setup and is more for true home audiophile system.
It would be about impossible to match a center channel or rear speakers to match the sound these produce. If you want good stereo reproduction than I would say you have a solid 4/5 here .. Home theatre use a 0 for the reasons i have mentioned above.. not because they sound bad. We have looked into a home theatre setup and there are a lot of combinations out there that will work.. these just do not fit into that catagory. BTW ours came black so I cant comment on how ugly or not ugly the beach wood finished enclosures are... We wouldn't have bought them if that was the only color offered... Everyone is right.. beachwood is out of the late-50's art deco era.

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Cerwin Vegas

good sounding speaker

....

I got on here to evaluate another set of speakers I was thinkin about buying and just was curious about the ones I use now... never gave it much thought but the person (wilma) is right.. these speakers are big and ugly.. and they do resemble a couple of milk cartons stacked together in height. very good finish. I had them refinished in epoxy black and they fit any room style now.. but she is right you need a good sized room to get good placement.. at least 6-8ft of seperation or the sound stage isnt there. As far as the coloration of the bass... now that ive read this I have to agree,the bass isnt very powerful but it isnt natural either. Im looking at them right now and if you you put a couple handles on the sides they sorta do resemble a bands ampifier speaker boxes. I agree they are built like the big speakers everyone was craving in the $70s. Now adays the 6 1/2 in woofers do a very good job in a box 1/2 the size of the old style enclosures with 10 12 in woofers
If I had to do it over again I would not have paid this much for this set of speakers.. do your homework. I agree that at less than $300 they are a good buy. Dont pay big bux for these jbl's there are better speakers out there for the same price and arent gonna take up half the space as these jbls. I need to move them. Wheres my Roadies LOL.

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.....

Good sound

Size, color,

First I want to say these speakers have very good sound. not $800 good but $280 good. I work with musicians and studio equipment everyday and can not say these sound close to that. As a monitor I give them a C+ and an overall rating of a B. Let me comment that these speakers are Colored with bass that is overstated. Since the midrange and highs are perfect it tends to disguise this fact. If you listen to monitors everyday you will definitely notice this coloration.
Now the speakers themselves are Big! (1970's) big. which makes placing them problematic in an apartment. They (the beachwood model) is also a nonconformity for most living environments. AKA Ugly!. If you are thinking of buying a set... anything but beachwood.. Unless your into some 1950's retro motif. My neighbor suggested these to me and
was he wrong. He purchased a set of AR-S# (dont recall the #) that are cosmetically more apealing, acoustically more like a studio monitor, and the dont have the appearance that it would take a couple "Roadies" to move them from place to place. (worse of all he won't swap speakers with me) .. he also believes they are a sonic anomaly.

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milk cartons in college