Customer Ratings & Reviews

Once I received these, they seemed taller than what I imagined, and yes I did measure. They are kind of strange looking, yet elegant at the same time. I've gone through lots of speakers in my lifetime and never heard any as crystal clear as these, and the real shocker is the bass they can produce! I use them mainly for HT, but have started listening to them more than my dedicated 2 channel stereo system. Crystal clear vocals, highs, mids, and tight thumping lows. I really don't think there is a better buy out there for under $2000. Anyhow if you are on the fence about buying them, get them, I promise you will not regret it, and if for some odd reason they don't agree with you return them, but you really got to try them. Trust a stranger this one time!

I really like these speakers. If you like a lot of bass, you'll like these speakers.

I own and have listened to many speakers in my home which includes PSB, NHT Definitive and many others. In five minutes I knew the JBLs were special. Large soundstage, very smooth and great dynamics. The Studio 5 Series bookshelves are simply amazing. At under $500 they are astounding. I spent much less for my pair and I can't help but be wowed by them. The 530s are very open and detailed They produce honest rendering of male and female voices. They nail strings, piano and percussion. They have a clarity with the human voice that is fundamentally genuine. I have never heard Willie Nelson sound as real through home audio as he does on the 530s. Having heard him live a number to times it was uncanny how accurate the JBL Studios present him. His album Stardust is a revelation on these. The 530s deliver with all genres be that jazz, rock, blues, folk, whatever. They sound good without a sub. People often worry about horn loaded speakers being harsh and fatiguing, not these. put those thoughts out of your mind. Think smooth, really smooth. Pair them with a good sub and you won't ever be thinking I should have spent more. These JBL bookshelf speaker can easily hang with almost anything in the thousand dollar an under a pair class. In fact they can hang with some at $1500. Sonically they are gems. Visually they are quite unique handsome in a raw functional way but they are not furniture pieces that's for sure. If you are interested in the best speakers a reasonable amount of money can buy, try them. They just might steal your heart away from something more conventional. I went through a lot of speakers in that room including some highly regarded towers before I found these. I bought a $200 set of stands to mount these on and I could not be more pleased. If I had any idea they were that good I would have bought at least 2 more pairs at the sale price I got. I will likely buy the matching center and maybe even a pair of the tower versions before I get enough of these.