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• General Goods

The JBL ES80 speaker system can be at home as the main speakers in a high-quality home theater setup or as stereo speakers for excellent music reproduction. They arenrrs"t in a class with JBLers"s legendary studio or audiophile speakers, but they are more than sufficient for the large majority of consumers. For objective reviews and side-by-side comparisons of other highly rated products in this category, please see our floor standing stereo speakers review site.

JBLers"s frequency response specs for the ES80 floor standing speaker indicates 45Hz to 40kHz. The figures indicate exceptional treble performance but drop off sooner than they should in the lowest range. That/rs"s rather surprising for JBL, a manufacturer that is known for exceptional bass performance. More significant is the fact that it doesn

The JBL ES80 is a very musical speaker with great detail in the high ranges and surprisingly tight bass. We were particularly pleased with the powerful and tight bass performance. These speakers need to be fed high quality power, so they doners"t pair very well with lower-end receivers. With the right power source though, theygrs"re great for home theater use or as standalone speakers in a good stereo system.

On the top, the design employs a 0.75-inch Titanium-laminate dome tweeter mounted in a JBL Elliptical Oblate Spheroidal™ (EOS) waveguide, which improves frequency response and imaging, according to the company. The tweeter crosses over at 12kHz at 18dB per octave to a 0.75-inch Polyester-film ring-radiator supertweeter, also mounted in an EOS waveguide. According to the company, the supertweeter plays out to 40kHz. The tweeter crosses over at 3.6kHz at 24dB per octave to a 4-inch PolyPlas™ midrange. PolyPlas™ employs a special polymer-coated-cellulose-fiber to increase stiffness. The midrange crosses over at 700Hz at 24dB per octave to two 6-inch PolyPlas™ woofers. The ES80 employs a rear-firing port that fits neatly into the cabinet with a silver outer ring. The ES80 provides a high level of fit and finish, with the side panels looking very much like wood and the curved baffle, trimmed grills, and protruding, webbed feet adding a nice touch.