Quality sound and a bargain too!
Written: Feb 13 '02 (Updated Feb 19 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Quality materials and great sound
Cons: Not the prettiest looking speakers
The Bottom Line: If you want accurate sound and a great bargain then look no further than these JBL Media 200s!
|
|
|
| roostrfsh's Full Review: JBL Media 200 |
These speakers are the exception to the rule that computer speakers are not made to sound good.
The speakers are an effective 2-way, woofer/tweeter design that integrates sound beautifully.
Enclosed in a so-so looking case are a 1” aluminum dome tweeter and a 4” mid-bass woofer. All speaker drivers in the Media 200 are quality units. Although I am not a fan of aluminum tweeters these tweeters blend very well with the mid-bass drivers.
The mid-bass drivers are hefty, high excursion, quality rubber surround units. This is opposed to other computer speakers cheap foam or non-existent surrounds. The JBL units are heavy-duty and built to last.
JBL added extras to compliment these speakers. The impressively powered, 20-watt (10-watts per channel) amplified speakers include separate treble and bass control that sit next to the lighted volume control on the right unit. With the decent sized amplifier the speakers will impress you with the loudness and quality without distorting the sound.
If these speakers do not have enough low bass for you the speakers have a subwoofer output to make these units a nice three-piece multimedia system. The Media 200s would make a great basis for a tremendous sounding multimedia system with a decent well-made subwoofer. I haven’t tried the subwoofer option yet, as these speakers are smooth and more than adequate on their own.
The speakers have auto turn on/turn off feature. This is good because when they are on and there is no signal there is a low hum coming through the speakers. As long as there is an audio signal the hum is not noticeable. The speakers turn off automatically after not being used in about fifteen minutes.
These are speakers that do what they are supposed to do-play sound accurately. They aren’t dramatic speakers that impress you with overblown sounds from the first moment you turn them on. The Media 200 speakers are very natural sounding with impressive, accurate, bass and treble. The JBLs are not like most multimedia speakers that have overblown, one note, bass; Media 200 bass gets lower while maintaining their accuracy. The treble is subtle, as it should be, not squeaky or over-powering, as cheap speakers are famous for. "Standard" computer speakers give a one-note, louder but no lower bass. The JBLs have a very tight bass output that you could enjoy for hours.
The tweeter is very capable of high frequencies. On the Beatles CD, Sargent Pepper, after the end of the song "A Day In The Life" and before the whimsy song there is a 16,000 Hz high frequency burst tone "to annoy your pets". Most people don't hear the tone because the frequency is so hard to recreate it simply isn't heard. Most speakers cannot get this high at all. Even first-class home speakers have a hard time recreating the tone. On the Media 200s this tone is heard CLEARLY ringing and not sounding like a "puff" other speakers make. The JBL tweeter is smooth and capable of high frequencies so I imagine the harmonics coming a flute, a horn, a whistle or cymbals crashing would sound equally clear and accurate. With the clarity of the tweeter the stereo separation is beautifully recreated. These speakers amaze me more everyday.
They are a bargain. I bought them new for $20 and I'm thinking of buying a second set.
If I had something to complain about it would be two things.
First the JBL description of the color of speakers are “dark-bronze-metallic”. My personal description of the speakers would be medium-chocolate-dull. JBL, you need a better color for these nice sounding speakers.
Also, the speaker boxes are not trendy. They are shaped in the angled straight design with bases holding up the speakers at about a 10-degree angle. The base on the right speaker does serve the purpose of holding the electronics for the speakers. The speakers buck the trend of other speakers having the round organic look.
The second complaint would be the cheap build of the enclosure. They have a flimsy feel to them. The first thing I did to the speakers was open them up brace the internal walls of the casing and put synthetic insulation in the box. The bass had even tighter, controlled, bass after these simple modifications.
Great bargain speakers; I should buy another pair soon.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
roostrfsh
|
|
Location: Stockton, CA, USA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
STILL living in and loving California.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.