Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL Northridge N24AWII 2-Way Weather-Resistant Bookshelf Speakers, Pair

These speakers are true to my past experience with JBL : fabulous sound with crisp highs, rich midtones, and tight bass (for their size-- you can always add a subwoofer). I think they're the best value out there in bookshelf and compact home theater speakers. And as a bonus, they look really cool with a nice grill design and sleek white finish. The material and build quality is very high-- much better than average.

If you want some great compact speakers for home or even for a portable setup, with full sonic clarity, these are the deal.

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I went to Best Buy to test all the outdoor speakers in person, and these did better than the BOSE and other high end brands. These are the best speakers for the money. They have great high and mid range sound, but lack much bass, which is to be expected with most outdoor speakers with speakers smaller than 4". If you have the money ($400+) go with the Klipsch speakers. These are the best alternative.

you gotta love these speakers ! small but powerful----easy to connect and wall mount----or shelf ---- can be easily turned in the direction of whatever or whoever needs to listen to REAL music.

I purchased a pair of these speakers for the surrounds in a 5.1 channel living room system. I mounted the speakers slightly above ear level on the back wall, behind the couch, facing forward.
These are very good direct-radiating speakers for the money. They are not too big and fairly lightweight. They will blend into your white/off-white wall. The included wall brackets mounted easily and securely into the wall studs (you need to buy your own screws). The mounting brackets allows a great deal of aiming adjustments.
I have not seen any measurements for this speaker, however I did not hestitate to buy it. I have not heard anything other than neutrality, and I have full confidence in JBL as well as all Harman International brands. Harman has the most sophisticated measurement and testing facilities in the United States (if not the world), and they design speakers based on science. Trained listeners then evaluate the speakers in blind tests where the speakers are repeatedly rotated in and out of position behind a screen. I'm not saying these particular JBL speakers were so tested, but the point is that you can be sure you are buying a quality loudspeaker--even when it is a satellite speaker that embodies numerous compromises. For example, Harman manufactures the speaker's drivers in house. Such economies of scale allow them to offer a high quality product with which smaller manufacturers simply cannot compete.
A nice feature of these speakers and all JBL consumer speakers I believe, is the waveguide around the tweeter. Essentailly a horn, this improves horizontal directivity beyond the stereo sweetspot.
Again, I have mounted these speakers indoors and cannot comment on their weather resistance.
In summary, I would not hesitate to recommend these speakers to someone for an application similar to mine where room size, budget, and spousal acceptance preclude larger rear surounds.

*I have the black pair of these speakers, so I cannot comment on the appearance or finish on the white set*

I bought these speakers several years ago to be used as outdoor wall-mounted speakers. They worked out very well for almost a year outside before I took them down and brought them inside due to noise ordinance issues. The sound outside was very good, and handled medium to medium-loud volumes without any trouble, even with the speaker wire running perhaps 40-50 feet. Mounted outside, these speakers dispersed sound very well and I was often asked where the speakers were because the sound seemed to be all around.

I pretty much forgot about these speakers for a few years, and then found myself needing a set of speakers since my son took mine for his room. I dug these out and hooked them up and was surprised at the quality. I wasn't expecting much from a set of indoor/outdoor bookshelf speakers but these exceeded my expectations. I pulled off the grill and looked at the speaker components, and everything was in tip-top shape and very high quality.

These speakers handle mid-range exceptionally well, especially voices, drums, and guitars. Also, even with the volume turned up extremely high the sound remains clear and strong, with little detectable distortion.

Although these handle the higher notes found in classical music very well, they sound very directional due to the small size.

Bass handling was acceptable, but these speakers would benefit from a subwoofer if your music has a lot of bass.

Overall, for bookshelf speakers, these are very impressive for a wide range of musical tastes. I would recommend these if you need indoor/outdoor speakers, have limited space, or want to enjoy quality speakers on a budget.