Jbl S 38 Ii

[rcmoto]

I'm fixing to be the proud owner of these babies. What does the board have to say about these little boys.

I searched and found a couple of threads, but what the heck, lets get new information and opinions.

[vettedrummer]

I have two pairs of these. My daughter has a set in her bedroom in the beech finish and I have a set in the cherry finish. We power hers with a full Adcom set up. All white faced GTP 500, GFA5400, and GCD 575. In her room they sound very good lots of punch and very good midrange. (She's 16 and we got her hooked on the Beatles and British invasion bands so we can deal with what she plays) I'd say it is a very good little guy. I play all sorts of music material through mine in my sound room. I think you'll be happy with what you hear!

[DMMD]

This series were also pretty nice for the price. The Beech vinyl was acceptable and nicely molded to the MDF. It's not vintage and its not pro, but the lineage was there in the sound. I sold a pair of S-38II's, but I still have a pair of towers from this series- the 310II's, which had the low end lacking in the little one's. Best part, they are female-friendly. Far better sound than the Northridge, but at their mid-consumer pricepoint hard to sell to the "joe off the street."

I liked the sound overall and recommended the sytem to a lot of people looking for something better than could be found in most stores, but who did not want vintage issues.

I guess I could just part with them as a matter of fact. I probably won't be needing them, so a good home is better... So, I've got a pair of S-310IIBE that are in need of a home if someone local is interested. Shipping would be cost prohibitive. PM for more info. They are like-new.

[jblnut]

If you wanted to buy something new from JBL, these are a pretty good speaker - especially for the money. At last count I have 3 friends all using the S38-SCenter-S38 setup for HT. Some also have the S26 in the rear while others are using existing speakers for the surround channels. I really like the mids and highs of the S38. It's very smooth and has great clarity in the vocal range which is a must for HT. It's not terribly strong in the low end but it is a small speaker after all.


Now, if we are to be fair and compare these to the older stuff money-wise, there are better deals to be had. For instance the LX44 and LX55 from the early nineties are selling for $100-150 a pair. These have much better bass extension that the S38 (and are of course larger) but aren't quite as clear and smooth in the upper mid/highs. For about the same money ($300/pair) you can get into a nice set of 4410 or maybe even 4412 if you get lucky. These are substantially better than the S38 if audio is your goal. Of course there is no matching center for HT so using the old stuff presents some challenges in that area. All of these are much larger than the S38 and may not fit into your decor or WAF.

Overall the S-series and even the new "E" series are very fine sounding speakers for the money. But this is the Lansing Heritage site after all and the "house that JBL built" rests on some very impressive sonic achievements.
Any of us with the older stuff will smile and say "that sounds pretty nice" but in the back of our minds we're thinking "if they could only hear my Ti/XPL/43xx/44xx setup..."




jblnut

PS - the new Performance Series stuff ROCKS !!!

[DMMD]

True enough, it's all in the frame of reference. The 4406 would be my choice for substitute over the S38II in the same size range. Probably similar in price too. If you could get 4410's or 4412's in good shape for $300- GO FOR IT!

I think $400 and $500 respectively is more realistic for a pair in good condition. $300 pairs are out there, but expect on $200-225 in surrounds/cones/etc. The foams on 90% of what I have seen are shot.

The 4406's on the otherhand are polyfill cone/rubber surround, so they tend to be in better shape. Easy to ship/refinish/position too.

[4313B]

You should hear charge coupled 4406's...

[Don Mascali]

You should hear charge coupled 4406's...

Now I'll have to tear into mine.
I have too much crap going now.

[rcmoto]

Thanks for the replys. I like what I am hearing so far. I aquired these speakers via trading. I traded Northridge ND 310 II for the S38 II. I'm hoping I will be happy with trade. What I didnt like about the Northridge is the bottom end. It has 2 10 inch bass and with my powered sub, I was just overloaded with lows and no highs.

With that in mind, what's the general opinion on the trade?

[DMMD]

In general? I think it's a move up. The S-series is cleaner and more balanced than the ND's. The two lines really are a bit divergent. The ND310II was and entirely different beast than the S310II, which was very traditional single 10" ported JBL design. The highs and mids were MUCH cleaner and the components higher quality in the Studio line.

Now all you need to do is add a clean low end to the S38's. That's all that the S38II is lacking- and in a very small room they sound quite nice all alone. There's value to the line indeed, and you don't have the ageing issues that come with the vintage drivers.

Welcome and good luck in your further adventures in JBL-land.