Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL Venue Series Arena 6-Inch 2-Way Speakers (Pair)

I love loud music, bottom line____. Wasnt on a huge budget just didnt want to spend a lot of money on me when i have a newborn son, but i am happy with this purchase. They handle my request for loud guitar very well, of course you need a sub...thats why i have one and thats why anyone who wants bass should have one, people who said " they dont hit lows very well"...well no crap they handle mids and highs nicely. You wont be dissapointed....JBL duh....

After shopping for a set of bookshelf speakers for quite a while, I decided to purchase these from Amazon. I've owned them for several months now, and can provide the following feedback...

Pros:
-The sound on the low end is not boomy. These speakers do not try to overextend themselves, and do not go into ranges where they cannot provide quality sound. This is one of the reasons I enjoy listening to them more than other speakers I previewed (Bose 301, for example).
-The treble is crisp, considering that these speakers are not overly large.
-Also considering these speakers' size and relatively low cost, I've found the sound transparency to be better than I expected.
-The speakers I received were in perfect condition and appear to have been made very well.

Cons:
-These speakers do not overextend themselves to become boomy, but as a result, they also do not provide an overwhelming amount of bass. Thus, I'm currently looking into the possibility of purchasing a subwoofer. If you're looking for a good, comprehensive sound, you may want to add the price of these speakers with a good subwoofer. If the cost of this is more than purchasing a nice pair of floorstanding speakers, you may wish to look into that option as well.
-I wouldn't mind a little more in the mid-range out of a pair of speakers. Since you get what you pay for, I'm not disappointed in the value for my money. However, this may be something to consider if you're carefully weighing your options.

All in all, I think this is a very good set of speakers, especially for those who like good sound but aren't willing to part with a large amount of money. I use mine primarily for music, but I imagine they would be a good part of a home theater system as well if you so desire. Since sound preference is a highly-personal thing, please take my comments only for what they are - just one person's opinions.

This was my first speaker upgrade from my old sony 500W home theater sistem bought way back in 2002. It came with 5-100W bookshelf speakers and a 50W sub. I wanted to try better speakers and a bigger sub, before upgrading to a new reciever. So I decided to begin with these and positioned them in the front right and left channels. Most home theater sistems come with very small speakers in order to give you a better price, but if you really want to get the best of it, you need better quality speakers and this is a good option without spending a lot of money. Standard speakers almost always come the same size and you can't tell wich one is for the front, center and surround channels. This speakers are much bigger and heavier than my old 2 lb bookshelf speakers included with my sistem, so I needed to change the position to a lower point, but not on the floor because they are not as big as tower speakers (my opinion). I also got new 14 gauge wire, because the connectors were too big for the old 18 gauge wire used on the other speakers, and of course they were going to need more power. Their performance is what I expected, electronic, heavy metal, classical, pop, live concerts, movies, etc. they all sound great in these, I can increase the volume and not hear any distortion, I should have done this upgrade a long time ago. My old sistem came to life!, cant' wait to get a new reciever!. In conclusion, it is better to set up your sistem by buying the reciever, front, center, surround speakers and subwoofer individually according to what you want and how much can you invest. Of course there are much better (and expensive) speakers out there, but this is a great deal of a purchase if you ask me.

After reading ALL the positive reviews posted here, I decided to listen to them and purchase these speakers! I feel compelled to prevent anyone from making the mistake I did without reading a HONEST Review. Please read the entire review and look at the pictures I posted to determin for yourself if I speak honestly and have solid understanding of what makes a GOOD speaker. I have a 20+ year knowledge on speakers and on speaker building and have made audiophile quality speakers for a fraction of the cost to purchase from the High-end manufacturers.

They are nothing near a quality "Bookshelf" speaker. They have no low end nor low midrange to them and they are a good example of bad DRIVER selection and or bad Cross-over point and slope. At best they are fair rear surround speaker where fidelity almost doesn't matter! I got them as a quick fix to a sound issue ( delayed Speaker rebuild project of older custom made 5 way towers and new 60" Plasma is speaker-less ). I'll try to describe sound quality of these JBL's for you. The tweeter is very bright and tinny ( Bee buzzing around in empty soda can )and sounds better off-axis then straight on and are a great example of why I prefer to use soft dome tweeters over metal ones. Sound quality did improve when I put Scotch Tape across the middle to cause off-axis type response but then why am I even doing that in the first place? The 6.5" Driver is impressive looking but lacks almost any quality in sound. It's not a good 6.5" woofer, isn't even a good Mid-bass and has a very pronounced higher Freq output (1,500-5000 Hz Range)so it's a poor driver selection for a 2 way! Gets muddy fast if you increase the bass in a attemp to over power the efficient and tinny tweeter and you lose any lower frequency midrange sounds that are there. Vocals sound "sucked-in" between the harsh metalic tweeter and the 6.5 driver being asked to do something it simply can't! All in all they SUCK and shame on you JBL! I had higher hopes and was too lazy to go to a good Sound dealer and listen to a few Bookshelfs myself so I figured " well they're JBL so they should sound good". Boy was I wrong there! If u care about sound look elsewhere please!

Since I'm stuck with them; not sure about the return policy after box opened, they are a immediate speaker rebuild project! Look at my pictures ( BACK Button to Amazon, JBL Venue ARENA page and look under Speaker picture ) to show current owners my solution to the obvious sound problem. Parts are on order at the time of this posting and its about another $130 so facter that into your new purchase decision if ure looking for new speakers.( $130 for JBL/K-Mart quality Speakers and $130 to fix them = $260 ) So look at Bookshelf speakers in the $260-$360 a pair range if u care about sound.

3-13-08 For those of u who have these speakers and feel the same as I do then they can be fixed to sound as good or better than those costing way more. I had tried to leave very specific information with URL's but found it was in conflict with the Amazon "Review Guidelines" so I'll try to help u and meet their guidelines. You can get the replacement drivers from a few suppliers but 2 I like are "Parts Express" and "Madisound". I got mine from the 1st and they have 2 ( 6.5"ers ) that will do the trick. I bailed out of the JBL cross-over since it was too high for the driver I selected. If u're knowledge on speaker building is limited or not at all than here are 2 high quality 6.5" replacement drivers that u can use and will not have to change the existing JBL cross-over. If u need a Shielded one for A/V situations ( Speaker cabinets within 6" to the TV/CRT ect.) then the Vifa P17SJ-00 will be great and if u dont have the speakers close to A/V equipment, then the Dynavox LW6004PMR will be great with the added benefit of very high power handling (140 watts RMS/200 Peak!) Both will get you around 45Hz and shake the floor like a 10"er. Mine do! You will however have to solder the wires to the new replacement driver. Blue is (+) and white (-) FYI. Give it a try and u can thank me later. They're a whole new speaker with some real attitude!

Just redid our kitchen - a 13' x 13' space - and I bought these to provide sound (sourced by an old but adequate notebook computer through an Audiosource AMP 100). I'm a JBL fan; have a nice older pair of 4412 studio monitors as well in my "office" so I knew what to expect: extraordinary clarity and flat response from the titanium dome tweeter and solid, tight lows. That's what I got. The clarity and volume (much to my wife's dismay) in this relatively small and relatively enclosed space is extraordinary for the price. For rock, dub, jazz, even classical music these speakers (while not the most attractive in the world) produce.