Good overall sound and look. I really enjoy hearing bass for the first time!

One of the original pair I purchased came with a cabinet coming apart. That one and the replacement also had broken grills. The cheap plastic cover is pathetic and JBL should be ashamed they let this piece of sh*t out the door. The user manual is terrible as well, and the person I spoke with at JBL had no idea how the speaker was built... Other than that, it's a great speaker. Also, don't buy from Etronics.com if you ever need to send anything back that is broken or defective. You will pay the shipping charge! I got hit with a 50 dollar charge to ship after they sent me a defective speaker initially. READ the fine print. It is probably there somewhere, but I didn't see it.

These speakers sound very good. I was skeptical at first, but they either broke in or just grew on me.

I have added a pair of FMOD 200Hz lowpass filters to the subwoofers. I did this when I realized that the powered subs don't get the benefit of using the speaker's crossover if you hook them up with a dedicated RCA cable. The RCA input needs to be from a sub-out or LFE channel. The crossover only works in the sub range if splitting off the speaker wire. Since I am using an NAD 370 without a sub-out, I ran into a snag here.

After a week long search which included calling JBL, many audio stores, and the incredibly intelligent people at Crutchfield, I happened across a website that mentioned the FMODS. Crutchfield had these listed in their car audio section, so I called to see if they were suitable for home stereo use. They said they won't work but couldn't explain why. Two different people there assumed they wouldn't work only because they were in the car audio section. I called the maker (Harrison Labs) and they told me they WOULD work. So I spent a few dollars more than Crutchfield sells them for to buy them from the manufacturer.

Regardless, the FMOD helped the bass greatly. I now don't get the high frequency range piped into the 12" driver and they have a much better bass response. Also, I can adjust the volume of the sub section independently of the main volume. This is the reason I wanted to hook the powered subs up with the RCA cable in the first place. If you just use speaker cable alone, the volume knobs are blocked out of the system and they are only controlled by the master volume at the amp or receiver.

I hope this is clear enough to understand and it might help others with their decision to buy or not to buy. I wish I could have gained this knowledge from the speaker booklet, the people at JBL, or anywhere else. I put many hours into figuring this out. While fun in a challenging way, I bought these speakers to listen to, not to do research for.

Anyway, Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon sounds awesome on this setup. It consists of:

Amplifier - NAD 370
Speaker wire - Kimber 4TC
Speakers - JBL S412P's
CD player - Old Sony changer that will be replaced
Interconnect - Homegrown Audio Super Silver II

Again - beware of Etronics.com. I have never had to pay double shipping before due to defective merchandise. It might be in the fine print somewhere, but this is a bad policy and I wouldn't buy another thing from this company.

I won't let this get in the way of my review of the JBL product however.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, other garden variety junk

Great clarity, definition. Tight bass, great tonality and midrange vibrance.

Are you kidding me?

WOW,

I LOVE THESE THINGS. First day out of the box with old zipcord speaker cables interconnects, bad cd and these things STILL sound better than anything I've ever heard. They are amazing.

So after making real speaker cables (Per the Chris Venhaus recipe: http://www.geocities.com/venhaus1/diysilverinterconnects.html )and new interconnects these speakers are great. I purchased after the review in SGHT. I just don't have that audiophile language developed yet to explain how marvelous these speakers really are! I'm rediscovering my music collection all over again.

Just am waiting now for that Jolida 1501rc AMP.

Similar Products Used:

KLH, Bose (God forgive me), homegrown 3-ways

These speaker rock!!!

none... some have mentioned the weight of the speakers as a weakness, but when moving the volumes of air these are capable of, I believe the weight is a benefit.

I did a lot of shopping and a lot of comparing. I was settled on JBL s312's, then I read the previous reviews on this site on the S412's. Our local store got one in and after a listen, I was convinced. I traded in a Cervin Vega 15" subwoofer I had bought 30 days prior.

The difference in the sound I have now and the sound I had with the Infinity's and the Vega sub is astounding.

These may be a little expensive for the average Joe, but I consider myself an average Joe and I am really glad I shelled out the bucks. I may never leave the couch again.

Similar Products Used:

1980... bought Pioneer CS-922
1994... bought Infinity SL520(???)

First of all, DON'T BUY THESE FROM ETRONICS.COM. I they shipped me four of which three came in pieces because they weigh nearly 90 lbs each and they ship by UPS with no additional packing material other than the origional manufacture box. Not only that, they hit you with the return shipping every time you send one back. So after paying over $100 of return shipping charges I went elsewhere.

Now to the review. These speakers are AWESOME! They are incredible at everything and the higher you turn up the volume the better they are.

Great Speaker!

Similar Products Used:

S38 for rear surround, S-Center for front center.

First of all, DON'T BUY THESE FROM ETRONICS.COM. I they shipped me four of which three came in pieces because they weigh nearly 90 lbs each and they ship by UPS with no additional packing material other than the origional manufacture box. Not only that, they hit you with the return shipping every time you send one back. So after paying over $100 of return shipping charges I went elsewhere.

Now to the review. These speakers are AWESOME! They are incredible at everything and the higher you turn up the volume the better they are.

Great Speaker!

Similar Products Used:

S38 for rear surround, S-Center for front center.

pretty good sound and bass

these things are butt ugly and weigh a ton

Heard some pretty good things about these babies and decided to purchase them without even demoing. that was a mistake. the sound is pretty good but considering the thing is the size of a freakin cow how can they sound worst than smaller units. bass was ok. listen to them before buying

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Magnepan,Acoustic Research, Nakamichi

Terrific sound, crystal clear, fills the room, any diffusion effects are wonderful.

Bass is a little boomy, not very punchy. I'd consider a stand alone subwoofer.

This is quite possibly the best $900 I've ever spent in terms of bang for the buck. I wanted something for my 15x21 room, and they're terrific (if even a bit large for it). Their appearance is very imposing and noticable, and everyone is impressed with their looks. I don't see why people hate the grilles so much, I don't think they're that bad.

I have an Onkyo TX-DS696, the JBL S412Ps as fronts, the JBL S-Center, and the JBL S-38s as rears. This is a terrific setup, and only cost me $2000 shipped from bestpriceaudiovideo.com. I can now listen to terrific music, enjoy clarity that I never heard before, and really get into my music in all new ways.

The bass is the only weakness of these speakers, but since the rest of the package is such an excellent deal, I'm not going to include it. The bass just seems.. wrong. That's the best way I can describe it. A good $400 sub will have much better punch and rumble.. these seem to not be the best at certain bass effects. Again though, you could include a separate sub for a total price of $2400 and have an incredible system.

I reccomend this setup to everyone I know, and I'd buy it again in a flash if I had to. Kudos to JBL for introducing a well performing, well priced beast.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Boston Acoustics

Wide,deep soundstage..quality build(cherry)..great looking.

None at this price range,or any other for that matter!

First off,I cannot say enough good things about bestpriceaudiovideo,the sales staff and care given to both me and my shipment was first rate!
These speakers give my HT a new,full theater sound that my om7s were not capable of. With the built-in subs along with my stand alone sub,well im in awe.
One note to all about hook-up ,though. Since these speakers only go down to 35hz I felt it necessary to use my own sub for the "under 35hz"fill-in. If you have left and right front pre-outs on your reciever,I highly recommend using them into the lfe inputs on the jbls'. This has proven to give quite a dynamic effect since this method of hooking up dose not overwhelm the bass and gives great impact and panning effects. And yes,it allows volume control on the speakers also! Great JOB JBL!

Similar Products Used:

Mirage OM7,HLS series(garbage) and many others

WOW!!! Great frequency width. Great soundstage, crisp and clean sound even at much higher than normal volumes.

Heavy if you want to call that a weakness. Nahhhh. Flimsy grills.

Gotta say even though I am still in the "burn-in" stage and I could have probably found them cheaper, these speakers are AWESOME!!! These in combo with the JBL S-Center is great. Now just can't wait to get my S-38's to complete the setup!

Similar Products Used:

Sharp, Pioneer

everthing bass midrange and treble

no way jose

i have a pair of AR312HO and a pair of MAGNEPAN 2.7 speakers now i own the JBL S412P i love the way they sound even better then the first two pairs. good job JBL