The OFFICIAL JBL Owners Thread - Page 16

Hey UCFKevin, I'm probably a little behind you in researching but I'm also considering the JBL Venue line and the BIC H-100. Who's selling the BIC?

I'll just throw this out for your consideration. In our price range there is the Velodyne VX-10, VRP-1000 and HSU STF-1. Happy hunting.

Never heard the BIC, but yes, most people speak highly of it. The dayton that is highly regarded is the model about 3 years old at this point. The new model isn't as highly regarded.

If you have 200 to spend, get the x-sub if you want accuracy, and the BIC if you want pure volume.

Hi Kevin,

Concerning the sub suggestions, I did reply with the caveat ..."if you can afford it". The Hsu and SVS subs are not the "best of the best" by a long shot. But you should get general agreement about these brands being what you and I were saying .... providing the best bang-for-the-buck performance. There is nothing wrong with the BICs. But I wouldn't put too much credence in (any) reviews, as they should be seen only as general guidelines. You can find good reviews on every piece of audio equipment made. That doesn't mean they will all satisfy your preferences.

I understand being broke and doing the best the pocketbook will allow. But in the price range you stipulate, I agree with eugovector. Explore the X-Sub or Hsu STF-1 if it's on sale.

All the best.

Mud

I'm not quite sure why but I'm hesitant to get the X-sub. The STF-1, however, is one I'm considering. At the moment it's between the Bic H-100 (a bunch of places sell them, Google it, Overstock is one) and the STF-1, which are made by the same manufacturer if I'm not mistaken?

I dunno. I've come down to two possibilities of speakers. A set of JBL Venues or Polks, and the H-100 or the STF-1. I could go either way, but price wise, I wish to go no further.

I have JBL E50s in the front and E10s in the back, what center do you all think I should get? I have been trying to find a good one that matches and isn't too expensive for a while now, thinking bout just using a Balboa center thats on clearance now, I think the other center I saw on clearance was either an LC1 or LC2 for around $200 which was a bit expensive for me and im sure is gone now.

No, I daily drive a 300ZX Twin Turbo, Stage 3 mods. Good to see a Z guy on here...

I have a Sub 10 and it is adequate.

I sent you a PM. You also need to look on eBay under JBL center channels. I wish they had an 8' driver on one of the L series surrounds. That would really match the L890s!

Balboa = ok
LC1 = very good
LC2 = awesome
EC25 = good
EC35 = awesome
E50 awesome

E50 is mest match, EC35 next best. The L series are great speakers, but not a timbre match to the E series. Try and stick with the Es if you can.

Ditto to EC25 or EC35. You want your center channel to match your fronts. Unless you're going to upgrade your fronts to the L-series in t near future, get an E-series off ebay.

Which polks? They make many speakers.

On the sub, I'd get the HSU for accuracy.

Hi all,

just a shout out from down under... JBL thread wow, down here most people in the HT world tend to look elsewere for speakers, probably because the main stockists are just box mover type super stores, with poor sound rooms, but I like the JBL's.

Currently I have like so many i see here a Pioneer VSX 815 reciever( probably has a differnt model over there)
6.0 system
Mains are E80
centre is an EC35
centre back is an LC2
and I have L820 as surrounds

Plans to get some L890's and move the LC2 up the front, but working on my DIY sub at the moment.

Good to see a healthy JBL movement!

The Polk R50s for front surrounds, the CSI3 for center and the R150's for rear surrounds.

And I'm pretty sure the STF-1 is what I'm gonna choose.

Likewise, it's good to see the label getting some lovin' from down under! JBL has gotten a bad rap because of their association with the big box stores. These are fine loudspeakers whose dynamics make them wonderful for HT applications, especially. For the budget minded, they are really hard to beat...they just aren't in the path of the boutique or flavor-of-the-day loving lemmings that go from Ascend to AV123 to Axiom to .... etc.

I've (with 100% consensus of others attending) A/B compared my Studio S312's against some fine and expensive speakers. They are still with me!

Tell us more about your sub project!

The EC35 is a fine center channel speaker!! It has much more presence than the EC25 and is to be preferred. It will timbre match your set perfectly. The cc is an important speaker in the surround setup. Get the better one.

These can be found all the time on fleabay for under your targeted price. Good hunting.

I'll give you another personal experience, Kevin. I've owned the JBL S120Pii (400 watt, 12" driver) and traded UP to a little ol' Hsu STF-1! I got much better performance from the 8" Hsu for half the price of the JBL sub.

Not a fan of the R150, R50 (I've been meaning to switch out my r15s on my desk with my n24iis for quite some time, night and day). I'd stick with the venue series. Audioholics did seem to like the Polk Monitor series though, if you wanted to check those out.

Nah, if I go any higher in my budget, then the whole thing will go to hell in a handbasket and I'll keep wanting something better and more expensive. I'm sticking with these two choices. Honestly, my gut tells me to go with the JBLs, I dunno why.

And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get the STF-1. The Bic just seems to be a bit too much. I know, someone here saying they DON'T need a powerful subwoofer! Hell hath frozen over.

My DIY sub project, i have a link here, and a link within this one to the forum in Australia, which has a few construction pics, and heaps of ideas that have been changed a few times, basically it is a duel front firing, 12 inch peerlees 830952 drivers in a sealed enclosure, amp is still to be decided, waiting on a few replies from some one here with some amp experience..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=907932

Other reasons JBL are not so popular here is the price, a pair of L890 will set me back about $2500 australian ($2000 US) not sure how that compares to in the US..

My L820 were $880 AUs for the pair, at these price points there is a huge selection available, A lot of people here in that price point opt for Krix speakers which are a local product, so you get a lot of speaker for your coin.

They are much nicer to look at, have a great forward sound ( can be a tad bright ) They use peerless and vifa drivers in most applications, and veneers!

The L890 goes for US$1400/pr @ retail stores. On the net, at an unauthorized (ebay store) dealer, they are about half of that.

The L890s are very good speakers for the cost of $1400/pr, and even a better bargain for less.

The JBLs are not impressive IMHO. The Polks had better imaging and stronger midrange and bass. When I auditioned the different speakers it was no contest. If you don't like the polk you almost certainly won't like the Venue series.

That statement is a pretty broad brush stroke. I don't know where you heard the Venue and Polks. But if it was in a typical BB its almost impossible to tell how any speakers sound.
I listened to the Venue and Polks floorstanding speakers in the local BB. Both were side-by-side sitting on a bottom metal shelf. I could only stand as far back as the isle was wide, and that wasn't far enough. Plus there was too much noise to get a good listen anyway.
Plus you may have been comparing apples to oranges. The Venue is JBL's low end system and the Polk model may have been an up scale system in their line.
The only way to get a good audition is in an enclosed room w/o any noise from the surrounding area. Which is why at BB the Magnolia corners are enclosed to be able to listen to their more expensive speaker systems.

Boy, wouldn't this all be so much easier if we were happy with simple HTiBs from Target for a couple hundred bucks and needed nothing else?

Ignorance is bliss.

NO, there is nothing happy about HTiB or any small speaker systems!

Yesterday I went into a new movie theater, just opened last week, saw Bourne Ultimatum. Of coarse the speaker system was JBL THX. When you're running high quality JBL at home, you recognize that JBL signature sound, right off, before you even look up at the surround speakers for the JBL logo.
You don't get that experience from HTiB.

Sorry I should have clarified. I looked at a bunch of systems at stores. I subsequently bought a JBL venue setup, brought it home...toyed with it for a while. It was decent but I thought it should have sounded better. I returned it and took a gamble on the polks. In my ~3000cu foot space the polk setup sounds better in almost every way i can think of. Now these are my ears, and everyone else's may be different.

I would say the Venue series is not geared for 3000cuft. They're JBL's low end.
I use the JBL PT800s and two JBL SUB1500, that total almost 2900w, in a 3130cuft room.
The Studio L series with a pair of L890s would work very well in a room of that size.

What model Polks did you get? I'm considering the JBL Venues, Polk Monitor and RTi lines and the Infinity Beta's.

I have heard the venue series and I would take the L890s over them in a heartbeat. If you go tot the right place, you can find the studio Ls at a lower price that the venue series. For starters, I use a dealer on eBay and he has great prices.

Where can I find new Studio L's selling for less than new Venues?

Well they're not for less, but almost the same price @ The E Warehouse, compared to the msrp of the Stadiums.