Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL N24 Northridge Series Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Dark Gray)

There's a popular misconception that the higher priced speakers in a line sound better than the lower priced ones. . . . but after comparing the N24's to the Series more expensive siblings, . . .the speaker with the best imaging (the JBL's titanium-laminate tweeter is definitely doing something very right) & midrange was the humble little N24.

But here's what amazes me about it. First is the bass, which sounds surprisingly full for such a small speaker . . . -- unlike the SuperZero XU or the ProMonitor 80, this speaker is very easy to match up with practically any subwoofer.

When you get a listen to the mids, though, you'll forget how good the bass is. I think the midrange of this speaker may be the cleanest...

The JBL N24 front left & right ..... 89 Hz to 18.9 kHz ±2.7 dB (Sound&Vision JAN 2001 Mag)

Matt Nelson (JBL Associate Engineer) revealed that the N24 use a significantly different crossover design -- first-order (6 dB/octave), as compared to second-order (12 dB/octave) in the other Northridge speakers.

So, for a speaker of its size and price, I can't find anything that the N24 really does wrong, but to get that full Cinematic DD-5.1 sub-sonic impact, I recommend that you get a nice 10" - 15" Power Sub. I use the AudioSource SW15 - 200w 15"... ...

Got these speakers as surround for my new home theater system, but also use them as 'main' speakers by using a mode on my AV receiver that replicates front L-R to the rear L-R speakers from 2 channel inputs (like CDs and MP3s) and set front to minus 10db and rear to plus 5 db. Reversing the main from front to rear works well for me when I'm at my desk, which is off to the side of the front speaker locations.

My other speakers are JBL S-38s, older re-coned JBL 12" 3-way (until recently also had older AR towers).

Like the S-38s, the N-24s are extremely tight and clean in the midrange and highs; but the N-24s obviously don't have a booming bass. Neither do the S-38s, but both have bass notes that are not noticeably muddy or loose. However, a subwoofer can easily fix this.

I am really enjoying the heck out of the JBLs (and of course my new AV receiver). In retrospect, I'd consider getting the N-24s as front L-R and a good subwoofer as a 2-channel stereo setup.

Once I got over the idea of the plastic enclosure and small size, I saw these speakers for the gems that they are. Admittedly, the N-24s are not rock-the-house party speakers; but they do sound good loud.