For those on a budget looking for a pair of floor standing speakers that deliver room filling sound, look no further than the JBL Venue Series and the Stage speakers. With a surprisingly low retail price, just about anyone can afford to enjoy that famous JBL sound. JBL has been building speakers for over 60 years and the JBL name has been synonymous with quality and affordability. JBL, of course, also makes high-end products, but they seem to recognize the fact that not everyone has a high-end budget. Their trickle-down technology and design methods do well to ensure those without a lot of money to spend also get to partake in good sound reproduction.

The JBL Stage speakers are a 3-way design featuring a 6-inch PolyPlas woofer, a 4-inch PolyPlas midrange and a 3/4-inch titanium laminate dome tweeter. All parts are magnetically shielded as well. The cabinets are finished in a black wood-grain veneer and have removable silver grills. The speaker boxes have a very solid feel and weigh in at heavy 31.2 lbs each--certainly not the usual speaker cabinets one would find on most budget speakers. The Stage Venue speakers employ JBL's elliptical oblate spheroidal (EOS) waveguide system for improved dispersion throughout the listening area. On the back, there are standard quality binding posts that will except large gauge wire.

In our listening tests, we found the JBL Stage speakers to be decent performers for the price. Highs were clean and never distorted even at louder playback levels. While not as smooth as one would find on a more expensive product, midrange was clear and certainly right in line with the price of these speakers. Bass was tight and well-controlled, but did not extend very low due to driver size limitations. A subwoofer is definitely recommended if these are going to be used in a home theater setup. Overall, we found these to be very listenable speakers and could not find any real faults for the asking price. There are speakers that cost a lot more that do not perform anywhere near this good. For far, far less than the cost of a big name cube system, the JBL Stage speakers offer real performance on all music material. These are a good choice for those on a budget or a great gift for that college student looking for a small dorm room system.

Pros: Good sound at a low price, solid cabinets
Cons: Midrange could be a little smoother

Warranty
5 years