JBL Duet Speaker System for Portable Music and PC - Aluminum (Pair)
by Harman Kardon
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Our Price: $42.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $29.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of JBL Duet Speaker System for Portable Music and PC - Aluminum (Pair)
Customer Review: Good for the price, not exceptional speakers
Summary: 4 Stars
As might be expected from a computer speaker made out of plastic parts, these are lightweight and sound like a good quality mini computer speaker. They have pretty good voice placement, clear sound but lack mid-range separation and "warmth".
I like to listen to blues, classical, pop and metal. I usually like to test speakers out with Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time CD...don't know if it is audiophile quality recording compared to some other CD's since there is a lot of mixing done on the CD. But, I know when I've heard "Cry on My Shoulder" on a great pair of B&W speakers and even budget B&W's my hair stands on end...the sound effects and vocals really have "feeling" to them.
With these computer speakers, some of the effects on the beginning of Cry on My Shoulder(rainsticks) are almost lost. "Nobody's Girl" electric acoustic guitar sounds good with these speakers, but again Bonnie's voice is a little hidden with the lack of midrange.
I will try some creative mixing with my soundcard, but compared to my headphones with the same soundcard settings, the lack of midrange is pretty noticeable with these speakers.
I am debating whether or not to keep these because I am dissappointed after reading the accolades from audiophiles. Yes, they are good for the size...for the price...for being computer speakers...for being plastic, etc. Every item of praise needs to be qualified - "good...for a (fill in the blank)".
If you have a limited budget and want something to give you good (not excellent, blow you away) stereo sound that can go plenty loud (assuming you are sitting the typical 3 feet from these speakers), then I'd say go for these speakers.
If you are listening for hours on end while working at your computer and want something worthy of true praise, that brings out the best in your favorite music you better bump up your budget and get true audiophile quality speakers.
Customer Review: Nice Office Speakers
Summary: 4 Stars
Amazon has a nice price on the JBL Duet Speakers (July 2006 - 36.95) dealmac is a site I used and returned to amazon.
I purchased these for my office desk where I wanted a crisp sound for low volume daily listening. Anything from Ambient, to Rock and Jazz. They produce sounds nicely, nice tight crisp. If these came with a woofer unit these would be ideal speakers, as the 2-pieces alone do not produce any significant bass at all. Just the "hints" of bass in the music but no thud, if that's what you are hoping for. I did turn these up loud to listen to their full sound and they do sound good. These are perfect for offices and just daily music, sound is superb. Not for audiophiles or for people who are expecting to shake everything on their desks.
Build quality is "ok". I got the white speakers and they are the nice "Mac" white plastic. The JBL logo on the speaker itself is awfully big. And the silver volume knob is made of that cheap silver flake paint over plastic which is abit tacky. One of the soft rubber pads on the bottom of these (meant to not scratch your desk) did fall off during opening but they are glued on so no big deal in placing it back on.
The design is very modern and cool tho. They look nice on my desk.
You will need to keep these on for abit to let the speakers fully... break in. They sound awful right out of the box and after maybe one hour of keeping these on they will sound better.
On the low end of speakers out right now, these will probably sound the best and are most modern design, compared to the black boxes out there.
Customer Review: Sounds great, but cheap construction feel and no audio out jack
Summary: 2 Stars
JBL Duet PC Speakers (2-SpeakerS, Aluminum)
I bought this speaker from Amazon. I thought about buying the logitech x-140 2.0 Speaker Logitech X-140 2.0 Speakers. I will review the JBL duet and compare it against the Logitech one.
The JBL speaker sounds great. No question about it. Even though I am only a casual gamer and listen only to online classical music, I can tell the sound quality is pretty good on this speaker.
However, this speaker has 3 things I find that made it lose 3 stars.
1. The speaker comes with a power converter that require extra space on my extension cord. It is the biggest one among all my PC components now. On the other hand, Logitech X-140 combines the converter into the speaker itself so no extra bulky converter.
2. Speaker is light and feels like cheap plastic. The front knob that adjusts the volume is very hard to turn with just two fingers. Oftentimes, I need to use both hands to get enough grip on it to turn it on and off. It is a bad design.
3. There is nothing besides the volume know that doubles as power switch on the speakers. On Logitech X-140. There are two easy to use knobs for volume and treble (if i remember correctly). And 1 audio out for headphones and one in for microphones.
Overall, X-140 is definitely a better buy at 29.99 than JBL Duet at 41.99.
Customer Review: Clean High End, Adequate Bass
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with some of the earlier reviewers that these speakers are well worth the cost. JBL and Harmon have gotten together to create a cheap speaker set for people who care about sound and don't have a lot of money.
Qualification: I bought these speakers to install in my truck as mp3 player speakers--I live in a neighborhood with a lot of tweakers, and my stereo was stolen out of my truck twice in a month--and I would not recommend these for car use.
Perfect for computers indoors, as there is enough bass to hear the entire spectrum, but definitely not for bass players who want to hear their own playing!
BUZZING: Some people have complained about a buzzing sound with these speakers. When I plugged them into my truck, they buzzed very badly. If I were to keep them in there, I would have had to ground them out somehow. That is why they're buzzing...They are not grounded. If you take a piece of wire and wrap the metal tip of the cord bridging the computer to the speakers, and then attach that wire to a grounding agent, like a table leg or something, the buzzing should go away. There was no buzzing when I plugged them into my laptop.
I am listening to them right now, and they have depth, clarity, and more low end than I am used to from pc speakers, although again, really these speakers do not have very much bass at all. Just below the level I would consider enough, and that's why I only give these four out of five stars. The mid to high end are superb.
Overall a good product.
Customer Review: Nice speakers at a good price
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted some external speakers to use with my iMac 24" computer. These speakers had good reviews, the price was right (under $40), and the aluminum trim was a nice match for the iMac. The hookup was trivial, and they sound perfectly fine when used with the equalizer controls in iTunes. Without an equalizer, you might not be as satisfied. I wasn't expecting audiophile level sound with this setup, but I'm very well pleased with these speakers for computer and iTunes use. No regrets, I'd buy them again.
UPDATE: I'm using these speakers with an Apple iMac 24" computer. After connecting these speakers, iTunes began to randomly open and play music or podcasts from my iTunes library. I researched in on the web and sure enough, connecting external speakers to an iMac can cause iTunes to randomly startup. I believe this is caused by a poor connection to the headphone jack on the rear of the iMac. On closer observation, the plug from the JBL speakers wasn't making a solid connection to the jack on the iMac due to interference with the plastic on the plug. I was able to trim this plastic with a pocket knife so that the plug would fully seat in the jack. No more problem. I think the iMac also uses this jack for earbuds with a remote control, and a poor connection to the remote interface maybe at fault.
BOTTOM LINE: If you are using external speakers with an iMac and iTunes begins to misbehave, look closely at the plug on the external speakers.