Are These Finds Good Deals?

[Eppie]

You're fast Eppie! Raha I'm still here looking at vinyls...here's the back.

I'm a web search master.

Looks like they used rubber surrounds, so no foam rot on the woofers but check the surrounds carefully for damage or signs of degradation. The S&V article made it sound like the S-Series was a starter home theatre setup. Why do they use terms like "studio" series and "monitor" for stuff that's not studio monitor level. Bah! Like I mentioned, $300 retail on the center. They didn't like the bookshelves for music, but said the speakers performed ok for movies and they liked the center better than the bookshelves. If it's something you could really use, might be worth a try, but if you're just curious I would wait and see if Mark has anything to add.

EDIT: Hahaha... and there's Mark ahead of me. Sounds like you found a good one again.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Thrifty looking...Look Mark JBL three way center! Worth getting?
View attachment 50677View attachment 50678View attachment 50679
View attachment 50680

Yes indeed I used one just like this in my rig for years it is a perfect voice match for your HP-520’s same type of titanium tweeters and mid drivers you will not get a better match for them I’d snag it . What’s the price ?

 

[Mark E. Long]

I'm a web search master.

Looks like they used rubber surrounds, so no foam rot on the woofers but check the surrounds carefully for damage or signs of degradation. The S&V article made it sound like the S-Series was a starter home theatre setup. Why do they use terms like "studio" series and "monitor" for stuff that's not studio monitor level. Bah! Like I mentioned, $300 retail on the center. They didn't like the bookshelves for music, but said the speakers performed ok for movies and they liked the center better than the bookshelves. If it's something you could really use, might be worth a try, but if you're just curious I would wait and see if Mark has anything to add.

EDIT: Hahaha... and there's Mark ahead of me. Sounds like you found a good one again.

I’ve got 5 of the s-38’s in my garage rig and a set I use for front heights in my main rig in the big room.
S/V never liked the book shelves for what I never understood lol There designed as a matched studio monitor and are really very good sounding I think there’s several guys here that have them or did . They still bring a good price on eBay. You are correct on checking the rubber surrounds for sure although mine are twenty years old and show no signs of degradation yet . I’ve found that about once a year take a rag and soak some armor all on it and gently wipe the rubber keeps the soft and pliable.

 

[Mark E. Long]

You're fast Eppie! Raha I'm still here looking at vinyls...here's the back.
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Man 34 bucks snag it you’ll thank me later !

 

[Pogre]

Why do they use terms like "studio" series and "monitor" for stuff that's not studio monitor level.

I agree! Manufacturers have diluted the words "reference" and "studio monitor" so much that they've become pretty much meaningless descriptions to me. I've seen those terms used for every level of speaker from entry to top of the line by different makers so often that "reference studio monitor" might as well just be "speaker".

 

[afterlife2]

Man 34 bucks snag it you’ll thank me later !

Got it and got a discount for my Bday. It would be my first 3 speaker center. Seems to be the topic these days on the forum. I'll probably use it with the 520s. Needs a good cleaning. They will shine. The woofers are in great condition. Thanks alot Mark.

 

[Pogre]

Got it and got a discount for my Bday. It would be my first 3 speaker center. Seems to be the topic these days on the forum. I'll probably use it with the 520s. Needs a good cleaning. They will shine. The woofers are in great condition. Thanks alot Mark.

That is a cool find, and a nice match for your 520s. I think it's cool as hell that you managed to cobble together a very competent system with good gear for pennies on the dollar! Craigslist out here is pretty solid, but your local thrift stores have way better goodies than mine do.

 

[Pogre]

I did just stumble across this offer for a really good DCM 5.0 speaker set for $600.

DCM Home Theater Speakers - electronics - by owner - sale

If you are reading this listing, home theater system speakers available (sold as complete system) Beautiful, proven DCM home theater speakers in cherry cabinetry. Used for about 10 yrs but recently...

sierravista.craigslist.org

Not bad at all for a complete matching set, and those are the upper tier DCM speakers too.

 

[Mark E. Long]

That is a cool find, and a nice match for your 520s. I think it's cool as hell that you managed to cobble together a very competent system with good gear for pennies on the dollar! Craigslist out here is pretty solid, but your local thrift stores have way better goodies than mine do.

If will sound very good with the 520’s Iam envious of the rig he’s put together for what he’s got in it that’s quality gear .

 

[Mark E. Long]

I agree! Manufacturers have diluted the words "reference" and "studio monitor" so much that they've become pretty much meaningless descriptions to me. I've seen those terms used for every level of speaker from entry to top of the line by different makers that "reference studio monitor" might as well just be "speaker".

I agree jbl is really bad at doing this the s-38’s in this series are great speakers but not reference level gear like there real pro studio gear is . I also didn’t like how they reissued the l series and changed the line to a synthesis product and jacked up the price really high .
I had a original pair of l-100’s at one time as well as others in the L series make no mistake all very capable speakers but not worth tripling the price with a synthesis tag on them .

 

[Eppie]

Finally got around to checking out these two Canton subs. They took a looong time to power up. The relay clicked on and off and LED blinked for over 30 seconds. I thought they were broken. Left the power on and the LED eventually went green.

I ran them a little hot at first to give a good listen. The bass in Cosmic Hippo was smooth and clear. Got the closet door vibrating! Nice little sub rated down to 25 Hz. Haven't pushed them really hard yet with subwoofer candy but so far I'd say they're keepers for smaller rooms.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Seen this on eBay I remember reading a review on this when it was in there lineup seems quite large and looks to be a wall mount design .

 

[Trell]

Finally got around to checking out these two Canton subs. They took a looong time to power up. The relay clicked on and off and LED blinked for over 30 seconds. I thought they were broken. Left the power on and the LED eventually went green.

I ran them a little hot at first to give a good listen. The bass in Cosmic Hippo was smooth and clear. Got the closet door vibrating! Nice little sub rated down to 25 Hz. Haven't pushed them really hard yet with subwoofer candy but so far I'd say they're keepers for smaller rooms.
View attachment 50690

I had a Canton subwoofer a decade or so that was replaced with a SVS SB-12 NSD that was smaller, cheaper and more powerful. The replacement was due to failing plateamp.

Canton subwoofers are not a good value, in my opinion.

 

[Pogre]

I had a Canton subwoofer a decade or so that was replaced with a SVS SB-12 NSD that was smaller, cheaper and more powerful. The replacement was due to failing plateamp.

Canton subwoofers are not a good value, in my opinion.

Not bad for free tho, right?

 

[Pogre]

Finally got around to checking out these two Canton subs. They took a looong time to power up. The relay clicked on and off and LED blinked for over 30 seconds. I thought they were broken. Left the power on and the LED eventually went green.

I ran them a little hot at first to give a good listen. The bass in Cosmic Hippo was smooth and clear. Got the closet door vibrating! Nice little sub rated down to 25 Hz. Haven't pushed them really hard yet with subwoofer candy but so far I'd say they're keepers for smaller rooms.
View attachment 50690

I actually think they look pretty nice in white. They're very clean too. How do they measure up with your sealed sub?

 

[Trell]

Not bad for free tho, right?

True

It just reminded me of an unfortunate purchase.

 

[John Parks]

Not bad for free tho, right?

I know, right?

 

[Pogre]

I know, right?

@Eppie will have to pop in and confirm, but I think I remember he either got them pretty cheap with something else or they were free... I'm fuzzy on the details. Maybe I'm remembering him saying he was gonna give them to his daughter free and confusing some details. Either way I'm pretty sure someone's gonna end up with them for free, lol.

 

[Eppie]

Yes, these are the subs that I got from my daughter after I gave her my KEFs. Was going to try and sell them for her but I think I'll keep them for my den. Maybe try one in combo with the SB2000Pro. I have my Umik mic on a stand and laptop connected to my AVR. Just need time to review the REW video before making any measurements.

@Trell, the build quality on these looks to be pretty good. It took the protection circuitry a minute before they would turn on the first time, but they had been stored for months. I have them set to auto now and they power on and off as expected. These have spun aluminum 8.5" drivers, are ported and have curved metal grills. The grills slide into a groove and have soft pads in several locations so that they don't rattle. Box is MDF and there is a gloss plastic trim on the front to hold the grill. They look nice for what they retail for.

Lots of controls and connections on the back. There are two levels of room compensation (normal and narrow) and two levels of auto-on sensitivity. Level control runs from -54dB to +12 dB. Crossover range is 55Hz to 200Hz and phase is adjustable from 0 to 180 degrees. There are two sets of RCA and speaker connections, both input and output, so these can be easily daisy-chained without any Y adapters. They retailed for 480 Euro or about $550 USD in 2015. They are rated from 25Hz to 200Hz, but I think that's pretty decent given the size of the driver and cabinet. I would not have expected these to go down to 20Hz.

Too early to say how they compare to the SB2000Pro. Had them playing back ground music most of the day today, so nothing with super deep bass, but enough to keep them humming all day. For the typical alt-rock that I listen to they do very nicely. Had the system running at around 90dB last night and did not notice any strain from the subs. I have yet to try the resampled songs Pogre recently posted in the subwoofer candy thread; those will be a good test.

BTW, do not place your subs in front of your mains. The sound reflections off of the tops were so bad I had to place cushions on top.

 

[Pogre]

Yes, these are the subs that I got from my daughter after I gave her my KEFs. Was going to try and sell them for her but I think I'll keep them for my den. Maybe try one in combo with the SB2000Pro. I have my Umik mic on a stand and laptop connected to my AVR. Just need time to review the REW video before making any measurements.

@Trell, the build quality on these looks to be pretty good. It took the protection circuitry a minute before they would turn on the first time, but they had been stored for months. I have them set to auto now and they power on and off as expected. These have spun aluminum 8.5" drivers, are ported and have curved metal grills. The grills slide into a groove and have soft pads in several locations so that they don't rattle. Box is MDF and there is a gloss plastic trim on the front to hold the grill. They look nice for what they retail for.

Lots of controls and connections on the back. There are two levels of room compensation (normal and narrow) and two levels of auto-on sensitivity. Level control runs from -54dB to +12 dB. Crossover range is 55Hz to 200Hz and phase is adjustable from 0 to 180 degrees. There are two sets of RCA and speaker connections, both input and output, so these can be easily daisy-chained without any Y adapters. They retailed for 480 Euro or about $550 USD in 2015. They are rated from 25Hz to 200Hz, but I think that's pretty decent given the size of the driver and cabinet. I would not have expected these to go down to 20Hz.

Too early to say how they compare to the SB2000Pro. Had them playing back ground music most of the day today, so nothing with super deep bass, but enough to keep them humming all day. For the typical alt-rock that I listen to they do very nicely. Had the system running at around 90dB last night and did not notice any strain from the subs. I have yet to try the resampled songs Pogre recently posted in the subwoofer candy thread; those will be a good test.

BTW, do not place your subs in front of your mains. The reflections off of the tops were so bad I had to place cushions on top.
View attachment 50706

I think they look really nice, and I'll bet you can coax some pretty decent performance out of them in your room. You don't have a big room, right? I'd be experimenting and comparing to see if I get a smoother response having the 2 of them over a single sealed sub, or even an interesting opportunity to compare and contrast the *gasp* musicality between sealed and ported!

Seriously tho, the Cantons may not dig as deep but I'll bet with a li'l tlc you can get them to sound really good in there!