Clean, crisp, sound - solid speaker design

flimsy grill - you have to be carefull, the grill can't take very much abuse before the connector pegs break off. No adjustable cross-overs, but that's very minor, IMO.

Most of the reviewers here have these as mains to their home theater system. As a music lover, I decided to focus on hifi stereo instead - like they say, if you're a true hi-fi buff, you can't have the best of both worlds (HT and Hi-fi) unless you want to spend big bucks - you're talking thousands upon thousands of dollars. So after considering the options, I chose to go Hi-fi - I've been a semi-pro musician for 15 years, have recorded professionally, and all of my musician friends are always telling me I have a very discerning and picky ear - they're right. I listen to a lot of orchestral, ambient electronica, jazz, stuff that pushes the limits of a sound system. Plus, I like to throw in some Foo Fighters, etc. every once in awhile and really crank it.

I've had the S412's for about a week now and tested them with every genre of music, and I love 'em - the sound is very balanced across the frequency range. Of course, much of that has to do with your amp. One of the most impressive aspects of the S412's is the cleanness and transparency of the sound - first of all they're very neutral in my opinion, not warm, not bright, so you get faithfull sound reproduction. I'm one who likes a warmer sound, so I chose to go with a somewhat-warm solid-state amp and connectors. Also, there's no signal leakage in the least - the things are dead quiet, no problems with buzzes or hums at all - that's probably due to the shielded properties of the speakers, as well as the quality of connector cables/amp, and electrical wiring of your specific home. I've cranked the speakers up to ear-bleed levels, and I still get a tight, dynamic sound. My neighbors are probably cursing me at this very moment. I have to say that the first time I powered up my system with these speakers, I wept out of pure joy. I'm hearing beautiful things in recordings that I've never heard before - as well as mixing errors - ahhh, the importance of a good sound engineer.

Here's what I'm running:

- Parasound PLD Line Drive Preamp
- Parasound HCA 1000A High Current Amp - Class A, discrete, 2-channel, 125 watts/ch., 45 amps/ch., THX-certified
- Panasonic RV20 DVD/CD player - Not a lot of bells and whistles - the only weak link in my system, but it does a fair enough job for now
- JBL S412p's
- Everything connected with various grades of Ultralink directional gold-plated rca cable
- Monster speaker cable - good enough for what I'm running, although I'll probably upgrade soon

I've got Ultralink cable going from two r./l. pre-outs on the pre-amp (so as to not divide the signal) to the rca sub input on the S412's for greater sub precision.

So far I'm very pleased - The detail, and dimensionality of music listening is all that I hoped for and more. It's definitely more accurate than even the best multi-thousand dollar HT receiver out there. Although I'm operating in 2-channel mode (actually 2.1), my Parasound amp is THX-certified, and my DVD player has virtual-sorround designed for 2-channel environments, so movies still sound great - I watched The Abyss last night and was lovin' every second of it. In fact, I was running 5.1 out of a JVC before this, and my 2-channel set-up stomps all over it. The sound literally fills the room and sorrounds you - I've been trying to find the sweet-spot in my living room, but I can honestly say that the sound is balanced to the point where it sounds great from anywhere.

For the money, the speakers are a great value. The jbl dealer told me that the design is similiar to what Infinity has done with some of their speakers. Considering the fact that the two companies have merged into the same family, it's a plausible explanation. I bought them online and saved a lot of money - paid under $500 per speaker. Some people think that if you buy online, it voids your warranty. That's not true for JBL's. They'll honor the warranty as long as the online vendor is a legitimate reseller.















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Hello,

Quick question for all of you...How would you compare the S-312 and S-412? I am still undecided in choosing one of the two. I believe the main difference is that the S-412 adds a powered subwoofer. Which would would you guys recommend? Money is not too much of a concern, because I plan on keeping these speakers for a LONG time. Thanks for your guys' time.

Pat

Similar Products Used:

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Everything about this speaker is a strength. The clarity is unreal and the bass is incredible, BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHY YOU NEED TO BUY THESE SPEAKERS!!!!! I am in sales and sold a product to a customer of mine, he was in the audio business, I asked him what the best speakers were and he told me. I went to the local hi-fi store and was blown away. The hi-fi store wanted way to much, so my customer and I worked out a deal considering that I he was in the business. He told me that the "cherry" color was a dark cherry, I said great it will match the rest of my living room. Well, when the speakers arrived, I had a very light colored speaker, that obviously didn't match anything in my house. I called the customer back and he insisted that pay an additional $400 to do the exchange. I simply called jbl and I returned the speakers and got the black ones. The point is that even with the great sound, jbl has great customer service and that my friend, IS PRICELESS!!!!!!

nada

Great Buy!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

fisher,bose,sony,encore,yamaha

These speakers ROCK! 400 watts of incredible bass going to 2 12" subs! These are movies you HAVE to watch with these speakers..Twister and U-571 and Saving Private Ryan. Be Careful though, lots of bass!!!!

Um, none

Awesome speakers. I also like the lights on the front indicating that the speaker is off or on. They are BIG! MAke sure you have room for them. I am going to be getting a HDTV Big screen, but I have to go to a smaller size becuase these speakers are 18" a piece!

Similar Products Used:

H/K AVR 510
JBL S-Center
JBL S-26
Toshiba DVD SD-2109
Just need a TV bigger than my 27" SOny!

Can shake the futon and padding.

Are you crazy?

I have been building the sound system upto this piont, waiting to purchase these speakers. They are wonderful. I have been imagining a speaker setup like this for awhile, just didn't have the budjet for it yet.

I have only had the 412's for about 3 days. I have heard of settling time period, so I'll wait to hear what they will sound like then. I listened to the 312's at Best Buy, they sound good. I couldn't believe what I got with the 412's. You can hear the power difference between them. I would go for the 412, buy them online, they are too expensive in the stores.

This is my first audio setup. I wanted to wait until I could do it right. I know there are allot of other equipment out there that you can buy, but look at the price. Infinity speaker, sound great, but I think you might be paying more for their name than the hardware.

I haven't read or seen a review yet that says you should think about some other speaker set, there's a reason why.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 845 (Receiver)
JBL S38 (2-Rear)
JBL S-Center
Sony Playstation 2
Sony Wega 27"

EVERYTHING. THESE THINGS ROCK!!!!

NONE NADDA ZIP

WHEN MY WIFE SAW THESE SHE SAID "WHY ARE THERE A SET OF SPEAKERS THAT LOOK LIKE THEY BELONG IN A NIGHTCLUB IN MY LIVING ROOM" THAT MAKES ME LOVE EM EVEN MORE. THEY CAN HANDEL AOLT OF POWER.

MY SYSTEM.
RX-V596 YAMAHA REC.
HITACHI DVD PLAYER
S412P JBL MAINS
J50 JBL REARS
NCA2 YAMAHA CENTER
VCR (WHO CARES)
YAMAHA 10" SUB (DONT NEED ANYMORE WITH S412P)

Similar Products Used:

YAMAHA,JBL

4-Way design, damn near flat response, awesome bass output

treble gets a little bright at times, BIG speaker

Had these things hooked up to a harman/kardon avr7000, a sony dvp s7000 dvd player, and watched twister on it, man these things rocked the house - and the neighbor's house. The detail of this speaker is amasing and the midrange is well toned and defined. As i've already stated, the bass was SOLID, and a subwoofer really wasn't needed.

Music sounds great on them too, have near perfect tonal balance and are clean and crisp at super high volume levels. the bass driver gets rid of the need for a subwoofer, but if this speaker costs too much for you, you can get a pair of the smaller studio series speakers and add a sub for a similar effect.

Similar Products Used:

cerwin vega, fisher

Amazing clarity, bass and accuracy

Big, flimsy grill.

If you read the Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, February 2001 issue you will see a full review of the JBL S412p, S-Center and S38 speakers.

The author is using the words 'astonishing sound', 'incredible value' and others words to describe how accurate the speakers are and how well they blend with each other and how well they are suited for stereo and for home theater applications. He also stated that this combination actually sounded better than a subwoofer / satellite combination.

He compared the ATC ($93,000) speaker system to the JBL and said that the JBL came close and indeed JBL did a magnificent job with those speakers….

My full review was posted here some time ago, check it out.

These speakers are incredible. And certainly are the best value for money on the market (at least compared to many other speakers I heard).
I love them (and I do not work for or related to JBL in any way).

Accurate, responsive, great lifelike sound, sub input, very powerful bass response.

Heavy, rather flimsy grill

I'm happy to be one of the firsts to review these speakers here. I hope that many other will purchase them and do so too.

I have been listening to music for over 20 years now and I consider myself to be somewhere between an audio enthusiast and an audiophile… does it really matter?

I have recently sold my Bose based speaker system (701s, 301s, center) and also the receiver (Denon 2800) and purchased a new receiver (Denon 4800) and a new speaker system by JBL.

Although many people hate Bose, I bought those speakers knowing that they are not highly regarded because I appreciated (at that time) the very colorful sound that you experience from Bose. With time, I grew tired of it because it was plain and simple - inaccurate, lacking in midrange, and boomy and uncomfortable bass. 'nuff said.

When auditioning various speakers, I spent some time listening to vocals, classical and soft rock music. I found that the new S series from JBL has an accurate sound, with very no coloration. I got the S Center, a pair of the s38 for the back surround, a pair of TLX271P for the mid surround (I had them for sometime), and the S412P's as the fronts. I also auditioned the S312 but found it a bit lacking in the low mids.

A word of caution - you need another person to help you carry the S412's because each weighs about 90 pounds and getting them out of the box is not an easy task. They are also very large in size and will not fit in tight corners...

About the looks - I found them nice to look at because of their sheer size and the nice copper colored components, however with the grills they look just big and heavy.

Connectivity - Hooking them to the system is easy, you just connect your speaker wire and a subwoofer wire. For some reason JBL did not include a line / sub selector switch as they did with the TLX271P speakers, I guess that this is because most HT systems today have a subwoofer output. What is interesting also is that JBL advocates defining them as 'large'. This is because I thought that the system will simply output too much bass this way, however, after trying them now for a few days I see no reason to change the settings. I pushed them really hard (I mean really hard) with the AVR 4800, and their own amplifier set on just about 3/4, and they did not distort the sound at all.
In my current setting I have 4 built in subs (S412Ps and the TLX271Ps) and so I retired the 10" sub I used with my old Bose speaker system (never believe anyone who will tell you that the Bose 701s do not need a sub…)
I strongly advise anyone to calibrate his or her system using a sound level meter (Radio Shack or other), because not all of us have the perfectly symmetrical living room and once you test and calibrate your system you will appreciate the uniformity of the sound. A 1 to 2 dB inequality makes a major difference.

Sound - plain and simple - accurate, lifelike, well defined from the lowest bass to the highest pitch. Many people on this site already said much about the S center, and the S38s. I agree with every word. The S38s are very accurate, but need a sub (they start responding around 45Hz) and the S Center is accurate and sounds wonderful too. The S412Ps complement the system such as also in stereo mode (but do prefer the 5/7 channel stereo mode over the pure 2 channel stereo mode) they sound simply magical. It is true that there are better speakers out there, but not for that price / performance.

Value - I got mine for just under a grand, and shipping was extra (you can not have them shipped with USPS / UPS…). I consider each of them as 2 speakers because each has a sub and so you do not need any other sub. I think that this is an excellent value consideration and therefore a great deal. I also suggest that you look into the S38s, and the S Center, for about 1600 you can have a dream system…

5 stars for the sound, as well as 5 stars for value. It is true that they cost more than 2 bookshelf speakers, but boy they sound better...

Similar Products Used:

Bose x01s, KEF, JBLs, Polk, Klipsch and others

Just thought I would update my review - If you buy the S412's, make sure you test the amp/pre-amp first. After a week or so of running the speakers on my Parasound equipment, I noticed that the signal from the preouts on the preamp running to the sub inputs on the S412 weren't doing the lower frequencies justice. Long story, but the point is this - make sure your pre-amp/ receiver will work with the S412's before you buy these speakers, as they won't work correctly unless you have a receiver/pre-amp with a dedicated LFE/sub output(s).