JBL Venue Monitor - left / right channel speakers price and reviews

I bought a pair of these on Ebay for $61 including shipping. My home theater consists of: Harmon Kardon AVR 125, JBL Venue Stage floorstanding (fronts), JBL ES25 Center Channel, JBL Venue Monitor (Surrounds), and 2 subs. When I received them, I immediately hooked them up as the mains and played some stereo music through them. First thing I noticed was how neutral they sounded. For this pricepoint I know of no other speaker that is so adept at hiding its bad habits. Secondly, these speakers have a wonderfully broad soundstage and thanks to the EOS (Elliptical Oblate Spheroidal) waveguide the sweet spot is basically anywhere remotely close to the horizontal axis. The PolyPlas woofer may just be a really nice way of saying laminated paper woofer, but I don't care what they call it sounds superb. These speakers replaced a pair of Sony SS-1000 bookshelfs that a friend had purchased for me some years ago. But since I have recently upgraded my fronts and center, I figured it was only prudent that I voice match my surrounds as well. Compared to the Sony's these speakers have first incredibly more depth and charisma. While the SS-1000's were not horrible by any means, they sounded like what they were: cheap speakers with a nice cabinet but outfitted with a paper tweeter and a paper woofer to match. So naturally they were less than involving when it came to sound reproduction. To sum it all up they sounded terribly 2 dimensional. Every note was played and none were skipped but they all sounded so terribly lifeless and boring. In comparison, the JBL's nearly leap off of the shelves with personality. They emote the tiny nuances that make music art. I am very happy with these speakers and if you buy a pair you will be too.

I got these speakers setup in my 7.1 speaker configuration as my main channel speakers. They offer the responsiveness and clearaity to make any movie come to life and any music fill the room and ears. I love the speakers with the grills off, but i have kids so I leave them on. A great set of speakers, from a great company with a great price.

When these are bought by the pair and paired together in a surround sound system, they are phenomenal. I have the JBL Voice center and Sub-10 and they are the best thing I could have bought. They are made very well and they are very strong. The wood case with rubber bumpers on the bottom help provide awesome sound. I would recommend for any size room, for surround or just stereo sound!