jbl s38 (sides) jbl s-center (center) w/ onkyo sr507 vs. bose lifestyle 1800

[abar20]

http://www.amazon.com/JBL-S38-3-Way-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/tech-data/B00002EQBU/ref=de_a_smtd

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-STUDIO-SERIES-S-CENTER-SPEAKER_W0QQitemZ140361988362QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSpeakers_Subwoofers?hash=item20ae39f90a

These speakers are rated at up to 175 watts. And the onkyo 507 is 80w/ch
Now, I am just one person and the speakers will be very close to me, so I don't have to play them to loud. Is 80 watts sufficient. Also, the onkyo is 80 watts at 8 ohms. How about the speakers?

With these three speakers and an onkyo sr 507 will I have a batter system than my current bose lifestyle 1800? For which I paid 1300 dollars 8 months ago, back when I knew less than nothing about this stuff and was simply impressed by the store demo.

The new system will have cost me 500 dollars and it is simply those speakers plus a receiver. It will be 100 percent for movies. And I can live without a sub for a while bc the speakers seem pretty wide ranged. Anyway, do you think this is a smart move?

I also had my eye on this 5 speaker system: http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/products/take-classic-5-pack-overview/

It's a lot cheaper? but is it worse than the jbl's?

PS: I will eventually make it 5.1 when I have the cash.

 

[Knucklehead90]

This would be a big step up from the Bose you now have but you'll need a sub to get the full sound spectrum.

I've owned the S Center and used it with JBL E50s which are nearly identical to the S38s. These are pretty good sounding speakers - however they are a hard dome tweeter design and can sound somewhat harsh to some ears. You might go out and try out a few titanium tweeter speakers first.

Oh yeah almost forgot...the JBL Studios are rated at 8 ohm and you should have no problem going deaf with them even in a large room.

 

[MatthewB.]

I've owned the S38's and the S-Center and they are very efficient speakers but the 8" woofers will take up alot of of your 80 watt per channel real estate. I would definately cross them at say 60Hz to a sub. Mine sounded great (but I had mine hooked up to an outboard amp) You should be fine with your current reciever just set to small and cross over accordingly.

The jbl s38's are very loud and clean sounding speakers. Sound and Vision did an article on them many years ago and they rated them very well. The good thing is that you can always find matching s38's on various selling sites (I see them on craigslist all the time) They are very heavy and well built speakers (except the fact the s38's have to be placed sideways instead of vertical like most bookshelves.

I loved mine and hated selling my set, but a co-worker really needed a set and he had done a lot for me, so glad somebody got some great use out of them.

and I agree the jbl's will blow those Bose speakers out of the water, your gonna love how much better the jbl's are compared to the Bose.

 

[tcarcio]

And on the 5th day Abar bought a Bose sytem. Audioholics said, forgive him lord for he knows not what he does...... I think you will find you like the new system better. You can alway's ebay the bose and put the money towards more upgrades....