Today JBL is a unit of Harman International Industries and it is one of the biggest producers of audio devices in the world. It was founded many years ago, in the 1940’s by James Bullough Lansing (JBL). The company evolved a lot since that time, changing owners and managers but always producing high quality speakers, for  home users, concerts and events and also for the automotive industry. So who knows…you might have enjoyed the great sound from JBL in a car, in someone’s apartment or at a concert or public event, without even knowing it.

There are many kinds of speakers in the JBL home audio speakers category, and today we are going to discus about some of them. Usually the home speakers from JBL are really powerful and can give anyone a great audio experience. These speakers are not affordable for everyone but they definitely give everyone something to aspire to. In the offer of home audio speakers from JBL you will find devices like: bookshelf speakers, center channels, floor speakers, in-wall / in ceiling speakers, outdoor speakers and subwoofers.

Now let’s begin with some bookshelf speakers. As the name says, these are pretty small speakers (that can fit into a bookshelf) and which can be very useful in a surround sound system. If they are place correctly, they can give you some great surround sensation, for example you can feel that someone attacks you from behind during a video game. But the bookshelf speakers from JBL are powerful enough to be used by their selves , not  just as a part of a surround sound system. It is not even necessary  to place them in a bookshelf, you can place them wherever you like, on your desk or even mount them on the wall (because they come with mounting brackets). Now let’s discuss a bookshelf speaker fro m JBL, for example the ES 20 BK.

These speakers are designed to sound great, but also to look good, and they come in three colors to choose from: black, beech and cherry. They are pretty small, with dimensions of 318 mm H x 174 mm W x 203 mm D (12-1/2 " x 6-7/8 " x 8 ") and a weight of 10 lbs (4 kg). They have a frequency response between 60 Hz and 40.000 Hz, so this means they will give a great sound, through all of the sound ranges (high, mids and lows). Like we mentioned before you can combine them with other  components and make a surround sound system, but you can just use them alone, and you will still have a great and complex sound.  The maximum recommended amplifier power is 125 watts, which is pretty good for some satellite speakers. Like we mentioned before the JBL speakers are not affordable to anyone, and the price for these speakers is somewhere around 200-350 dollars. So you will have to spend about 1.000 dollars or even more to make a surround sound system out of ES20 speakers (satellites, a center  channel and a subwoofer), but the sound quality that you will get will definitely worth the money.



Now let’s talk about some floor standing speakers from JBL. These type of speakers can vary from small and unobtrusive boxes to high tower speakers that will really attract your eyes. They can be made in different finishes such as cherry wood, black ash or white gloss, and they will easily blend in your room. They are usually heavy, so you can consider them as a part of the room’s furniture. Let’s take an example of floor standing speakers from JBL, and we’ll go for the CST 55. These are equipped with reinforced woofers and titanium laminate tweeters and they will bring a really professional sound to your music  or movies. You can use them as they come, covered in a black grill, which makes them look very simple but elegant. Or you can take off the grill, and let everyone admire their woofers and tweeters.

The CST 55 are tower speakers, with dimensions of 1168 mm H x 286 mm W x 286 mm D / 46 " x 11-1/4 " x 11-1/4 " and weight of 17 lbs (7 kg). They also have a wide range of frequency response, between 55 Hz and 30.000 Hz. So you can also combine them with other components and make a sound system, but you can definitely use them alone, and still have a great sound through all the sound ranges. The power for these floor standing speakers is actually smaller than the previous speakers (they have 50 watts RMS), so the price is also smaller – around 150 - 200 dollars.



A device that can not miss from any sound system is the subwoofer. This is the speaker that is specially designed to bring just the low and deep sound frequencies (in a single word – the bass). These are usually placed under the desk, and if they are powerful enough they can easily make your desk, your windows and your entire house to vibrate and shiver. A good subwoofer from JBL is the ES 250 P.

It is a really powerful subwoofer, with a power of 400 watts and an amplifier peak dynamic power of 700 watts. The frequency response goes from 150 Hz all the way down to just 25 Hz – this means the bass will be really deep, with sounds that you could not hear on a regular set of speakers. It has a nice black design with dimensions of   502 mm H x  400 mm W x 428 mm D / 19-3/4 " x 15-3/4 " x 16-7/8 " and a weight o f 19 kg (43 lbs). The price is as high as the quality is: somewhere around 500 - 600 dollars.

Like we said JBL is offering many more other home audio speakers, but we just don’t have time to discuss them all. So if you own some JBL products and you are happy, or disappointed with them, just share your opinions with us. You can buy the JBL products from a retail store around you, but you can also get them from online retail sites such as Amazon.com, Apple Store, Buy.com, eBay.com and others. You will also find them in the Harman Audio Store from harmanaudio.com