Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL Northridge E90 3-Way Dual 8-Inch Floorstanding Speaker, Single (Black Ash)

JBL's Northridge line is their entry level mass market line, so you will not get the same quality of their higher level professional lines. That's why they're relatively inexpensive.

Because these are mass market speakers, the construction and internal components are not great. You can get far better quality for about the same money or maybe just a tiny bit more, by going with an Internet-only speaker company like Ascend or Axiom, which have 30 day return policies. Google them for all the glowing reviews by both consumers and professionals, especially the Ascends.

I would strongly recommend going into Best Buy and hearing these E90s first. They are good if you do a lot of pop/rock listening and HT, not so good for more subtle and detailed music like jazz, classical, vocal-dominated or instrumental music. Some people find them "bright" and "shrill" especially when paired with a "bright" receiver like a lower-end Yamaha or Denon or (God help you) Sony.

Lastly, remember that the bigger a speaker is, the more quality power it is going to require to sound its best. If you were looking at these speakers hoping to get good bass, you would actually be better going with a cheap powered subwoofer like the Dayton 10" sub (partsexpress dot com, 150 clams shipped) and a pair of quality bookshelves like the Ascend 170s and set your receiver's crossover to send all the low frequencies to the sub and have the bookshelves handle only mids and highs which they are designed to do.

Now of course if you have an SUV-buyer's "bigger is better" mentality then that's a different issue altogether. In that case I would invest in a high quality separate amplifier or if you have less cash, a quality receiver like the Marantz 5500 or Harman Kardon 435 or 635.

A few years ago, I wrote a review of the JBL 412P's as my new front end speakers. I loved them then and I love them now. They replaced my teen-aged Bose 501's. The 412P's as front speakers have served me very well on several fronts. They are as beautiful as they are impressive esthetically. They produce clean sound that is satisfying in every range that I can perceive. The (2) 200W powered subwoofers have helped me settle the foundation of the house a few years early!

Unfortunately, just as I was ready to remove the 501's (which were now my rear speakers) and replace them with another JBL Studio series product, Harmon Kardon (which owns JBL) killed the Studio series line. Not good!

At first I was hesitatant to even consider the Northridge line for my rear speakers. I never liked the look of the Northridge line in comparison to Studio Series line. However, considering the price, quality and company reputation, my needs are very well met. The look is much closer to the Studio line now.

I'd be happy with the E90's as either front or read speakers. I would recommend them to anyone with the possible exception of high end audiophiles. If you like to listen to music, especially DVD-A or SACD, these are some beautiful and more than adequate rear speakers!

Current Surround System
Front Channel: JBL 412P 200 Watt Powered Subwoofer/speaker
Center Channel: Klipsch RC-3
Rear Channel: JBL E90
Stereo: JVC
TV: JVC
I'm waiting for the competition to gear up on these large format LCOS TV's

Price is all over the place on these so shop around.

I am a bit of an audio buff, but on a budget. I also believe in diminishing returns as you go higher in price. For me I hoped these hit the sweet spot. I am happy with the sound. I have JBL E10 Surrounds E90 Mains, EC35 Center, and a Velodyne DPS-12 sub paired with a Yamaha 5760. Movie experience is as good as I could hope for. Sounds fantastic! Music is great, but could be better. At high volume levels (close to 0 DB for rock CDs) they sound harsh/shrill to me, but are really great at normal and even loud levels. I tried to audition speakers and receivers but just got too frustrated, so I bought this system based on reviews and price.

If you are not going to have a sub or like tons of bass, Get the E100 with the 10" woofers. The E90s are nice with a sub and were the right size for my set up (I considered the overall hieght and position of the tweaters relative to the screen).

I cannot emphasize enough how important the Center Speaker is for movies. This was my first surround system and I am glad I bought the best center channel I could in the Northridge series (EC35). So much of the movie sound goes to the center.

The E10 surrounds were a real surprise for me: Great sound for such a little inexpensive speaker. I was going to get E20s but they are just to big to put on the wall.

Amazon recently dropped their price for these speakers (to about half of list), and offers free shipping, too. For items that weigh 50 lbs. apiece, that's a really good deal. I've had these for two weeks, and they sound great. I mainly use them as part of my 5.1 surround sound setup, but I tested them with music, too. I checked out the E60 and E80 models at a local store, and liked them. The E90 is better!

The jbl E90 is a very good sounding speaker system.At 400 bucks for the pair,this is very good deal.The speakers are a little bright and are best used with neutral sounding seperate amplifers or a high current receiver rated for more than 100 watts at 4 ohms...If the amplifier has a 2 ohm ,high current rating,thats good too.Most amps clip or limit without 4 drive,and contrary to popular belief,A low powered or current limited amp can damage your speakers more easily than a amp. that is loafing along.You will need a good subwoofer with these speakers..I highly recommend these speakers. !Enjoy!.I thank you Stewart L.