I have had a pair of these for about a year and half, and couldn't imagine having another speaker now.

So another person who reviewed these speakers said that they have little or no low end - which could not be farther from the truth. They actually have incredibly tight, accurate, and if you want, overpowering bass - but they absolutely need to be paired with the right electronics! I had used a pioneer amp with these at first, and the low end simply wasn't there (it was a 120 watt/channel amp which SHOULD have done the job). So I borrowed my friend's Harmon Kardon two channel amp, with I believe the same power rating (it was around 120 or 125 watts/channel), and the speakers did a 180. They will sound good no matter what, but to get them to sound great you really need to be careful with the electronics pairing. I purchased the same HK amp I borrowed from my friend off of Harmon Kardon's web site for really cheap refurbished. If you want a general rule of thumb for pairing an amp with these speakers - go with a Harmon Kardon. NO SONY, YAMAHA, PIONEER amps - they sound like crap.

Anyways, regarding their sound, they are some of the most perfectly balanced speakers I've listened to (especially in this price range). The mid-range is perfectly articulated and open, with crisp but not fatiguing or harsh highs, and unbelievable low end performance.

They are worth every penny and more. Also, if you like it loud, you can absolutely crank these and not have to worry.

Originally I was not going to consider the JBL Studio line, based on my past opinion of JBL speakers. I looked at JBL 20 years ago - they were very popular, so you could find them in any audio store - and back then they were simply too bright for me. Unnaturally so. That was then.

The JBL studio line is a great series of speakers. They tend to be large physically, so take the measurements into account when you start to research them.

I was originally going to get the L830 speakers, which matched the amount of money I wanted to spend. Before long, I started to realize that I would need a powered Sub-woofer eventually, and that the ~$225 L830 package (From Harman direct) would soon mushroom to way over $500, or so.

So I started to look at the L890. It's a full-range speaker, so it doesn't need a SW to reproduce low frequencies. But what it does need is a big room. You need to be able to place them about 3 feet from the wall to keep the bass from getting muddy. This isn't a huge problem if you don't have the room, unless you crank them up. But sooner or later you'll wish you had them sitting in the middle of the floor of a big empty room. This is what they deserve.

The imaging is quite quite good - I give them a strong B-plus there, and the accuracy is thrilling - I rate them a strong A-minus.
It's hard to grade these speakers, because you get so much for your money.
Sure you could spend thousands more to get an even more spectacular experience, but I just could never justify that kind of expense.

I spent about $680 (shipped) on two of these from Harman direct.These come via freight, the boxes are large and heavy, and I dread the day I'll have to move them to another house. Also they are tall speakers and the footprint is somewhat narrow, so if you live with earthquakes or rambunctious St.Bernards then you will want to find a way to tether them somehow, and I'm not sure how you would do this if you agree with me that they should be placed away from the wall.

If you have the room for them, then I can't imagine you'd be unhappy with these speakers. They are surprisingly good, and it will take me a long time to outgrow them. I would also recommend any speaker in this product line - the L830 is also a very good deal in a very large "bookshelf" speaker.

As a trivial point, these speakers do not have aluminum feet as described. The feet are plastic that has been painted silver - whatever, they work fine and are sturdy enough to take the spikes that screw into them if you want isolation from your carpet.

It took me some serious research, shopping, shipping coordination, and setup to get these babies in place in my home. Now I get to enjoy them for years.

I bought L880 from Harmon Kardon and loved the speakers. There are six speakers in all with two 6". Sound was crisp and tight. Then I bought L890 and the sound was even better. More mature, FULL RANGE. I have a heavy duty JBL 12" subwoofer. But with L890, you definitely don't need a separate sub woofer, unless you want to damage your ears. L890 have two 8" speakers. You get a lot of bang for the money and I think it would take thousands, perhaps $4,000 speaker to get a better sound. Unless you go to a specialty/boutique shop and be willing to pay at least 400-600% more you won't find a better sounding speaker.

By the way, I have an old Onkyo Receiver TX-860 (the sound is incredible--have not heard a better sounding receiver yet), and this receiver is so powerful that around 1/2 volume the limits of L890 seems to reach. By the way, at that sound level my ears want to drop off anyway. I have hooked four of these L890 to my system, with two L880 as rear and one L880 as center (much better, full range sound than the Studio Series Center Channel Speaker with 4 speakers/drivers).

Buy these and let your body (vibrations) have the time of your life

:) Good Luck!

Well I finally purchased them after doing some research. Im am very satisfied and got a great speaker for the amount of money spent! Very happy! and they sound great! I recommend to anyone. Do your research and make your decision wisely. Do not get discourage by anyone. To be honest, I coudnt find a decent jbl center channel, so I complimented the L890s with a Klipsh center. Anyways I hear alot about the Klipsh this and that.......Just get yourself a HTS3600 power center and youll make any speaker sound as a high end product! I think the L890 is just as good as any high end speaker out there! Also it has one of the most attractive designs! i love it! remenber! the key is the HTS3600 TRUST ME!!!!!!! it gets the full sound clearity out any speaker!!

I have just unpacked my newly purchased JBL L890 from Datavision.

Words of warning these units are refurbish units. They are NOT factory new. They are factory refurbished units.

Shipping boxes show lots of wear, missing are factory manuals and the carpet spikes, the fiberglass sound damping mat is loose in one unit. This may be the reason they are not new. Internal box packing had extra packing around the sides. It is only luck they arrived unscratched. The units did not have the usual internal plastic bag around the speakers; this is used to keep moisture out of the speakers.

When your units are delivered be sure to inspect the box closely for damage. Normal procedure is to have the factory box inside a tri-wall shipping box for protection did not happen here.

I honestly do not mind refurbished units as long as I know they are refurbished.

I have not hooked them up yet that will take two more weeks as my entertainment center is being rebuilt.

EDITED August 17, 2008

I contacted Datavision and they did a serial number search and their tracking indicate these are NEW speakers and NOT refurbished. I have no reason to doubt them. They also offered a full refund and to get the missing parts.

The speakers did arrive with damaged boxes and missing internal packing, manuals etc. so it is possible some were in the transport chain from JBL -> Datavision -> to me the damage and missing parts happened. After unpacking and close hand examination the speakers are unscratched.

Moral of this story be at home to receive the speakers and do not sign until you have had close inital inspection. ... sign here ... sorry not until I inspect for damage.

I did hooked the speakers up to an alternate system to test function and they sound very good. So far confirming all the listening reports I have read.

Execellent value for money. And I give Datavision an A+ for quick responce, over a weekend with the Olympics on.