HOT: JBL Studio S36IIPM speakers $149/pair (UPDATE: S36II $129/pair Best Buy B&M) ***CHECK EMAIL FOR $50 GC***

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

Here at Best Buy

do a search on pricegrabber...these sell for $400/pair everywhere else

UPDATE NOW $149/pair

ok it is now out of stock as of 2/21/03

But you may be aboe to find the JBL S36II for $129/pair at your local Best Buy B&M. It is being discontinued. so look up around the shelves and in the back.

The only difference between the S36IIPM and the S36II is the color and different grills. THe speaker is exactly the same.

UPDATE: Best Buy is emailing everyone who got in on this deal a $50 GC!!! YEAH

 

[smw]

Not everywhere, you can find them online for a lot less than $400. $200 is still a deal, though.

One thing to take note of: JBL lists two versions of this that have indoor/outdoor capability; S36IIPM and S36AWII. The former is the one being sold by BB; the latter is actually listed as "weather resistant". It's not clear from the JBL website where the differences lie; my suspicion is that the PM can be used outdoors but in a "protected" space such as under a porch ceiling, but the AW version could be mounted on the side of your house without any cover.

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

so this ain't hot? I bought 2 sets

 

[Apex]

I believe the PM stands for Plasma Monitors, though I'm not positive.

Specs and info:

JBL S36IIPM

Good bookshelf speakers for the price. The titanium dome tweeters in the S series are clear and dynamic. They may seem too tilted up for those more used to warmer sounds (ie. Rockets, B&W Nautilus, etc), or not bright enough for those who like piercing highs (Klipsch). For those who like the Axiom sound, might be pretty spot on.

Phil Iturralde put together a good collection of JBL reviews and information, mainly focusing on the S & N series.


JBL info & reviews

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

Ok it's back in stock and even better price! $149/pair!!

 

[xchangx]

Never will there be studio quality monitors at Best Buy... But for $150 this isn't that bad.

 

[Heinrich]

can I round a 5.1 based N26II system to 7.1 with a pair or is this a bad idea?

 

[Kuhlman]

First of all, thanks for posting this. You just saved me over $100! This deal is blazing hot. I just ordered two pairs. These are excellent speakers. Many places sell them for $499/pair.

Link

Secondly, Best Buy are run by morons. Last month (within 30 days from today) I bought two pairs of these speakers from BB.com for $199/pr with free shipping. BB policy is that you can return speakers within 30 days for a refund. Ok, so I call BB.com and ask for a price adjustment. They won't do it!!! They told me to order the speakers again at $149/pr and return the ones I bought to my local store for a refund. Oh my God. This means that since shipping is/was free on both orders they are now paying to ship these speakers to me twice for free. They also have to spend time to process my return and they have to sell my speakers at a discount as open box items. How stupid is that???!!! With policies like this I'm suprised they are not bankrupt. I wonder what their stockholders think of this policy.

 

[DahDee]

I almost bought these when the OP had them at $200, so it was a no-brainer for me when SSLB updated the price at $150. Thanks for the update! I hope these will make nice surrounds to go with my new Infinity Alpha 50 fronts and Sony SA-WM40 sub. I currently have a JBL ARC center but plan to replace it next month with the Infinity Alpha 37. I really hope these surrounds work well with the Infinity speakers, am mildly optimistic as JBL and Infinity are both Harman companies. Any thoughts?

 

[flot]

Has anyone received these yet? I'm a little concerned, as the specs and photos clearly show silver speakers, yet the BB description says "off white" ... ?

 

[DahDee]

Originally posted by: flot
Has anyone received these yet? I'm a little concerned, as the specs and photos clearly show silver speakers, yet the BB description says "off white" ... ?

I really think that's a Best Buy typo/error, somebody there just eyeing the picture of the speakers and creating a description. The S36IIPM *only* comes in silver. The S36AWII (all-weather version, not sold by Best Buy) is a lighter color. Maybe somebody there went to the wrong product page at JBL.com when they were writing up the specs. I don't know. The S36IIPM picture at BestBuy.com is correct, though, so I'm not concerned. They'll be silver.

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

I bought 2 pairs of these speakers when they were $199/pair

They are silver, and the performance is awesome. You can even use them as main speakers if you have a good sub like the HSU VTF-2

 

[indd]

Reading a lot of great reviews about these things as surround speakers. If I had the room, I'd get a pair of S38's as fronts with a sub, but unfortunately I don't have the room. Instead I want to get some floorstanders that have decent enough bass to work in my crowded living room. Looking at the JBL S312 mains at JandR for $225 each (shipped!!). Anyone heard these mains?

The other setup I'm thinking about doing is getting the Wharfedale Diamond 8.4 to match the 8.1's from the eCost deal. Anyone have any experience comparing the Wharfedale series to the JBL S series (ie sweetsweetleroybrown )?

They are probably definitely gonna be in different leagues given the price, also assuming I can find the S-center shipped for the listed price:

Wharfedale = $100 (8.1's) + $550 (8.4 and center) = $650
JBL = $150 (S36IIPM as rears) + $450 (2x S312 mains) + $200 (S-center) = $850

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: indd
Reading a lot of great reviews about these things as surround speakers. If I had the room, I'd get a pair of S38's as fronts with a sub, but unfortunately I don't have the room. Instead I want to get some floorstanders that have decent enough bass to work in my crowded living room. Looking at the JBL S312 mains at JandR for $225 each (shipped!!). Anyone heard these mains?

I had the S312's a little while ago. People tend to prefer the S312's over the S310's (and in fact the S38's over the S310's). Great speakers for the money. They are kinda big though. If you can, audition what you are considering before you buy.

 

[indd]

Apex: thanks for the response. I live out in the sticks leaves me several hours from any major city that will probably have the stuff audition so instead I just wave around my magical credit card and hope things work out. I may head out to a bestbuy in a few weeks, so might get a chance to hear the S312 then. Also the nearest Wharfedale dealer unfortunately is 5 hours away, and I'm willing to bet this deal with be dead within a few days

As far as size goes the Diamond 8.4's are a bit smaller than the S312's. Phil Iturralde said on hometheaterforum that these things could be used as a center. link Argh! Maybe I can make room and just buy 6 of these with a sub

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

indd,

I had a pair of Wharfdale 8.4 as mains and Diamond center 8 (look at my HT link below). I actally moved the Wharfedale's to me bedroom HT because I like these JBL so much better. I am using these JBL's as temporary mains while I audition some Onix Rockets. But the more I listen to these JBL's as my mains, the less I feel the need to buy the Rockets.

 

[indd]

SSLB: Thanks! Curious though, do you listen to more movies or to more music? How do the S36's do for each? I'm into music just as much as movies, so I'm wondering. The S38's as Apex said are supposed to be pretty awesome themselves; may be worth trying to fit a set of these into the budget as fronts instead (an extra $100 at bestpriceaudiovideo). I'm also guessing that my HK AVR110 would match the less-demanding S36's more than the floorstander 8.4's or S312's.

Last a bit of an oversight when I was considering the wharfedales. The 8.4's only come with a WH-2 center instead of the probably much better Diamond 8 center.

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: indd
SSLB: Thanks! Curious though, do you listen to more movies or to more music? How do the S36's do for each? I'm into music just as much as movies, so I'm wondering. The S38's as Apex said are supposed to be pretty awesome themselves; may be worth trying to fit a set of these into the budget as fronts instead (an extra $100 at bestpriceaudiovideo). I'm also guessing that my HK AVR110 would match the less-demanding S36's more than the floorstander 8.4's or S312's.

Last a bit of an oversight when I was considering the wharfedales. The 8.4's only come with a WH-2 center instead of the probably much better Diamond 8 center.

Actually, the S312's are easier to drive. Both the S38's and the S312's have an 8 ohm impedance (meaning most if not all receivers can drive them), however the S312's have a 92dB sensitivity and the S38's have an 89dB sensitivity. What this means is you need 2x the power to drive the S38's at the same volume as the S312's. This being said, H/K puts pretty good amps in their receivers, so you should be fine with either.

 

[aldamon]

Wow, nice deal. Too bad I have the N-Series all around. I don't want to cause timbre matching problems.

 

[Lawranch]

Thanks for the deal, I auditioned these at Best Buy last month and they sound great.

 

[eyeguy]

interesting how many are now popping up all over ebay - buy it now for 300.....

if only they were the wood 38's with the nice Stereophile review

 

[istvan]

This price is crazy!!!!
Some of the best HT speakers around.

 

[lordofdeath]

hi everyone,
I am not an expert on this but i love to watch movie and listen to music.
I would like to ask a question relate to speaker setup.
if i have 7.1 channels receiver, can i just use these speakers on it ? I currently have Bose 701 floor speaker. Can i hook 2 JBL S36II in my ssystem and later on add more into the system? would it cause any problem on doing piece by piece like this ?
thank you in advance

 

[flot]

Oops, ok, back up - so these *are* silver and they *are not* outdoor speakers?

 

[namx]

Originally posted by: indd
assuming I can find the S-center shipped for the listed price:

Wharfedale = $100 (8.1's) + $550 (8.4 and center) = $650
JBL = $150 (S36IIPM as rears) + $450 (2x S312 mains) + $200 (S-center) = $850

Dude, if you can find the s-center, let me know. I'm in the same boat. Just bought the s312 for the fronts. Now, I have to find the s-center. No one has it except e_bay (which are all used or refurbished). One refurbished on e_bay is being sold by harman (maker of JBL, HK, and Infinity) so that would be a good buy. But I just hate bidding on auctions. No one has the s-center. I've already called onecall.com and jandr.com. Nothing. Best Buy can't order it. Nothing. Amazon.com. Nothing. All shops in Yahoo! Shopping. Nothing. Someplace local to somebody must have it. Just don't know where.