JBL Encounter 2.1 Speaker System

Reviews: Multimedia

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Bradford Day
Kurtis
JBL
Aug. 3, 2005

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Testing

I wasn't sure what to expect from these 2.1 speakers. Sure, they looked interesting, but the rather scrawny 34 watts of subwoofer juice didn't sound all that impressive. Those Logitech Z-5500s spoiled me with their 188 watts of bass. But, never the prejudiced soul, I pressed on with the testing.

As per usual, I put the speakers through their paces. Cutting right to the chase I went for the Sir-Mix-A-Lot!it was Rich's MP3, I swear. I was nicely surprised to hear that the rude bass emanating from the mother ship woofer wasn't nearly as weak as I had expected. In fact it was quite smooth. And this was par for the course throughout my testing regimen. Rock, techno, rap, reggae!they all purred with smooth, but not overpowering bass. At extreme volumes the sub just couldn't spit out the low end fast enough to recover, but at moderate to loud settings the bass was unrelenting and a pleasure to listen to.

Mid and high range sound were produced equally well. Full volume rattled the little drivers into vibrating buzzers, but at normal listening levels all was well. Sound clarity rang true presenting guitars and voice in realistic, clear waves. I left these speakers on my desk at work for a few days, and now that I'm back to my $30 set of 2.1 speakers, I can really tell the difference in sound quality. Granted, the Encounters are considerably more powerful than my generic Creative Lab set. Additionally, when it comes to adjusting the bass/treble setting knobs on the back of the sub, I would suggest turning the bass to nearly full and leaving the treble on the middle notch. The smooth bass tones are lovely at the highest setting but the treble sounded too much like white noise when cranked up.

I also played a few rounds of Counter-Strike: Source and Need for Speed Underground. Not for testing purposes, just because I felt like it. OK, well I did manage to squeeze in some testing. These speakers performed just fine for gaming, nothing outstanding, just reliable sound quality and that good old smooth bass. Engine revving came across realistically and gunshots thumped with resonating goodness.

As with the On Stage unit, I was completely happy with the light touch volume buttons. The muting feature is very handy as well...especially when gaming. However, one small draw back to this system is the fact that you can't immediately tell what volume setting your speakers are set to. For instance, you could be rocking out hard and heavy and have to quickly turn off your music. The next time you go to fire up some tunes, there is no way to tell what level you left the speakers on. Unlike a dial-type control system, there is no indicator of volume level other than your own ears. And since the Encounter speakers remember what setting they were left at, they will power back up at full bore if that is where you last left them. Can you see what I'm getting at? We've all done it. Casually powering up your machine at 3 am only to be rudely assaulted by that damn operating system start up jingle!at 90 decibels!

The only other complaint I am capable of registering with the Encounter speakers relates to the bass/treble adjustment knobs. While that unique input system I mentioned earlier is a fantastic design feature, it tends to interfere slightly with bass and treble adjustment. The knobs aren't much taller than the input backings and it takes a little fiddling to get used to adjusting the settings. Although JBL was smart enough to put the sound settings on the outside of the arrangement and the power button in the middle, so most problems are avoided unless you're a ham-fisted Neanderthal like myself. Neanderthals beware.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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5 User Comments

1 - Posted by mike on August 4, 2005 - 2:53 pm

If you can only make it say "Take me to your Beaver" they'd be the coolest alien speakers out there.

2 - Posted by J2T on August 5, 2005 - 7:57 am

Ok, your link is screwy. ;-) And those are the ugliest damn speakers I have seen. I guess I just prefer speakers that look like Logitechs or Klipsch

3 - Posted by CTM420 on August 5, 2005 - 11:45 am

Meh. I like these Infinity reference monitors I get to use while mixing. Loud and clear. 1000 watts of clarity. Expensive as hell though.

4 - Posted by handrail on August 5, 2005 - 12:49 pm

thanks for catching the link error, J2T. link fixed.

oh yeah, and nobody said anything about the groovy new black background in the pics! that iPod white plastic stuff is a royal pain to photograph with a white backdrop.

5 - Posted by Eagelbarret on April 17, 2007 - 3:42 am

Do any body have problem with the volumn control?
Like it doesn't work sometime...??

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