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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  lots of sound in bookshelf size

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  If JBL stands for Just Be Loud, they are doing it right. These bookshelf speakers put out more sound than expected from a pair of this size. The solid enclosures resist unwanted vibrations, while the drivers and port in the back put out plenty of sound. I would say that they are a great balance between smaller size but still big enough to make music or movies fun and exciting. I tend to be a little bit of a snob when it comes to audio quality, but listening to these speakers was not disappointing. They have more bass response than I expected for speakers of their size. Almost too much bass (my partner says there’s no such thing). The frequency response is decent down to 50Hz or so, meaning that these speakers could hold their own in a small setup without a subwoofer. But JBL makes a powered subwoofer in the same product line that looks and works great with these speakers! If you do use a sub, JBL recommends a crossover frequency of 80Hz to blend the sound nicely. The upper end of the frequency range felt a bit lacking, though, with a weak response and lack of clarity in the mid and upper treble. The styling is sleek enough to be worth showing off in your living room or den. The woodgrain look and cloth grille give it a classy appearance. JBL snuck in a strip of their bright orange brand color just behind the grille, which I thought was a spiffy way to give a nod to their youthful party reputation while still being subdued enough to be appropriate for a more mature decor. The cloth grille is held in place magnetically, which is a neat touch too. My only complaint with these is that the wiring terminals are recessed into the back. I suppose this is nice if you want to wall-mount them (but would you want to, with a rear-facing port? Doubtful). But for me, it just made it really difficult to get my speaker wires positioned properly on the terminals. It was quite an awkward angle. Fortunately, this is not something I have to do very often!

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  Posted 1 year ago by Kenneth

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  High value, Budget Friendly Bookshelf Speakers

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 100 Contributor

  The JBL Stage 2 250B bookshelf speakers are high value, budget friendly bookshelf speakers that provide a satisfying home theater experience when well placed, configured correctly, and paired with the right equipment. The 250B has a single 1-inch anodized aluminum dome tweeter set in a wave guide. This configuration is also known as a horn tweeter. The wave guide on the 250B takes up the whole top front of the baffle. The wave guide helps ensure the tweeter has a wide dispersion when playing higher frequency content such as female vocals, stressed metal in action movies, and instruments such as trumpets. The wave guide also helps the speakers achieve an efficiency rating of 91dB. In layman’s terms, these speakers will play louder at the same volume than speakers with lower efficiency ratings. The 250B also sports a single 5.25” Polycellulos ribbed woofer. The woofer is crossed over with the tweeter at 1.7 khz. The total frequency response of the speakers is 55hz to 25khz. The rear firing port ensures that this tiny bookshelf can reach down to the 50hz region. === Performance === I configured the 250B Bookshelf speakers as surround left and right speakers for my home theater. The theater consists of JBL Stage 2 280F Towers, 240H height speakers, a 245C center channel, and the JBL Stage 220P 12-inch subwoofer. The system is being driven by JBL’s MA710HP AVR. I calibrated the room using the MA710HP AVR’s room calibration software. During calibration I set the 250Bs crossover to 80hz. Using a measuring tape, I noted the distance from each speaker to my listening position and recorded those numbers in the AVR’s speaker configuration screen. Finally, I stuff the 250Bs rear ports with microfiber towers to limit the bass output. This is because each speaker was pushed up against a wall. This was to reduce any unwanted boomy or bloated bass. Besides, I was shunting the bass to the subwoofer so there was no need for the 250Bs to produce bass. For home theater, my test 4K movie for any new speaker or gear is Pacific Rim, Scene 2. This is the first fight between Gypsy Danger and a kaiju. The scene has everything from rain, splashing ocean waves, stressed actuators, ship horns, distressed metal effects, angry animal roars, screaming male voices, and action music! Sometimes all at once! This scene can really stress a system. The 450B bookshelves did an admirable job of filling surround effects and the movie’s soundtrack. Occasionally, a high-pitched sound effect would pierce the sound field and hit me straight in the temple. This was after room correction and a -6 treble tone control was applied to the whole system. I ran into a similar issue during two-channel listening in my home office. I have the Technic’s SA-C600 stereo receiver in my home office. I swapped out my office speakers for the 250Bs. I ran these both in stock and after running the receiver’s room calibration software. In short, my home office is an audiophile’s nightmare. Partly because of “mystical audiophile reasons.” I am also listening near-field, about 3-feet from each speaker. The speakers are about four feet apart and three inches from the wall. They also sit on my desk, flanking my monitor, sitting on a pair of angled foam speaker pads. See included photo. I listened to a collection of Jazz, classical, rock, metal, pop, and Boston. The band, Boston. I focused mostly on Boston’s debut album, “Boston”, simply because I think it clearly illustrates the limits of the 250B. The keyboards and screaming guitars gave the tweeters a real work out. For example, the last 20 seconds of “More Than A Feeling”, the singer, Brad Delp, belts out, and holds, one of his famous high notes. All the instruments join in to hold that note with Mr. Delp. The results are a harmonious wall of sound that I swear forced tears of agony from the 250Bs tweeters! The tweeters hung in there but really sounded stressed and fatiguing. I was also hearing some ringing, across different content, whenever the tweeter got saturated in this way. I did resolve this. Keep reading. On the flip side, the woofer sounded very well controlled. The singers and instruments were very clear. However, the woofers struggled to provide the power behind the music. A good example can be found with the Indego Girl’s, “Closer to Fine.” The song starts out with a single guitar leading with the brighter, higher chords. The second guitar joins in at about the 30 second mark. This guitar is playing the mid to mid-bass notes and carries the power of the song. The bass was there but without the depth or power needed to carry the emotions of the performance. So, what fixed my setup? First, I adjusted the speakers tow-in to about 5 degrees. This equalized the interaction between the tweeters. Next, tone-controls. These tweeters need limits. I turned the treble down to -6. This really cooled off the tweeters and removed brightness. It was like a different speaker. Next, I turned the bass up as far as the receiver would allow. This restored some of the punch, depth, and power missing from my earlier listening sessions. Finally, I turned down the bass tone control to +2 from +6 and then turned on my sub. Ahhh, this was the JBL 250B performance I was chasing. To illustrate the point, I played Jacques Loussier Trio’s rendition of Bach’s “Fuge in G Minor (arrangement for Jazz Trio)”. The bass was punchy both with and without the subwoofer to support the 250Bs. Probably the best I heard up to this point. The piano chords were strong and authoritative. And the piano high notes were sharp, controlled hits without the brightness or harshness I experienced before. I even went back to Boston’s, “More Than A Feeling”, and played the last 30 seconds of the song. The tweeters did not cry for mercy this time. Things were much more controlled, even-handed, and enjoyable. Bottom line, the 250B bookshelf speakers can take some work before you can extract their best performance. === Construction and aesthetics === The 250B bookshelf speaker is a well-constructed speaker even by budget speaker standards. The vinyl espresso wood wrap is very well executed and matches my entertainment center. For the 250B’s, this is less important to me than my front stage speakers simply because the 250B’s are serving as my surround speakers behind my listening position. However, it is nice to have a single unifying theme for the whole theater. The front baffle of the 250B is matt black. The baffle’s edges extend beyond the sides and top edge of the speaker cabinet by a few millimeters. This may be to help accommodate the huge wave guide. The oversized baffle helps create the illusion that these speakers is slightly larger than they are. The baffle also gives the speaker grills some depth by framing the grey grill fabric with a recessed black boarder. This gives the bookshelf speakers an extra sharp look when the grills are on. The speaker grills are smartly constructed, attractive, and really help the speakers pop. The grill frame is constructed of a single piece of JBL Orange molded plastic. Gray toned textured colored acoustic fabric is stretched across the plastic frame. JBL brand is silk screened onto the front bottom of each grill. The fabric appears machine cut and glued to the back of the frame. The design and construction are very clean and give the speaker a professional look. The grills attach to the baffle with strong magnets. Simply brushing the speaker during a walk-by will not be enough to knock the grills off. The back side of the speaker grills have soft felt to protect the speaker baffle from scratching due to removing and replacing the speaker grills. In my opinion, these speakers look fantastic with grills on or off. The binding posts are as no-frills and budget as they get. They will accept bar wire, spades, and banana plugs. I use banana plugs for all my equipment because I am constantly swapping out equipment and components. For the Stage 2 speakers, in general, a small plug needs to be removed from the top of each binding post before the binding post will accept a banana plug. Please note, bare wire will make the best possible connection between your AVR/receiver and your speakers. I performed the knock test on the front, back, side, and top of each speaker. Essentially, knock on the sides of the speaker like you would a door. The top and sides sounded hollow as one would expect from a budget speaker. The front baffle sounds dull compared to the sides and top. This tells me that the front baffle is thicker and more inert than the sides and top. Which is what I would expect from a budget speaker. Overall, the fit, finish, and construction of these speakers are fantastic. === Conclusion === Normally, high value, budget friendly speakers look slapped together and cheap. The JBL Stage 2 250B bookshelf speakers look anything but cheap. These speakers are very well thought out, purposely stylized, professionally executed, and look fantastic in my room. The binding posts are the only thing I would call out as cheap looking. The overall results are handsome speakers that look great in my home theater. The JBL 250B speakers are fussy about positioning, room placement, calibration, and tone controls. But, when configured correctly, will provide a very satisfying experience in both stereo and home theater applications. Just keep in mind that they will need a subwoofer, like the JBL 220P, to maximize performance.

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  Posted 1 year ago by ITJim

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  These deliver BIG sound for a small package.

  • Top 500 Contributor
  • Tech Insider Network Member

  I’ve been using the JBL Stage2 250B bookshelf speakers for about a week now and I love them! If you are in the market for a pair of bookshelf speakers that pack a punch without taking up too much space, you should move the JBL Stage2 250B speakers to the top of your wish list. These 5.25-inch 2-way speakers deliver a rich, full sound that defies their compact size. I’m using them in my living room connected to my record player and my television, and they’ve done nothing but impress me with their ability to handle both music and movies, delivering rich, high quality sound. The speakers feature a polycellulose low-frequency woofer and an aluminum dome tweeter, which together create a balanced sound that covers a wide range of frequencies really well. My first impression was being surprised at how robust the sound quality is for being bookshelf speakers. The highs are clear and crisp, making these speakers the perfect addition to any audio setup. My living room is a midsize space and they perform exceptionally well. In a small to midsize room, their sound can fully envelop the space without overwhelming it. I imagine they work well in a larger room too, but I can’t speak to that personally. With that being said, these speakers might not deliver the same level of bass as a larger floor standing model, which is to be expected given their size. However, pairing them with a subwoofer can easily fill out the lower frequencies, providing a more complete and immersive sound. One of the things I really like about these speakers is their build quality. They are heavy enough that you know they are constructed with strong materials, and also light enough to know they feature modern technology and lightweight materials as well. The Espresso woodgrain finish looks great in my living room and matches my decor perfectly. I think these will look great on any shelf, with or without the speaker screen covers, which, btw, are very lightweight and easily removable, as they are attached with magnets. I think these speakers are going to be easy to place and integrate into most existing systems, and they’ll perform well as both standalone units or as part of a larger setup, depending on your individual needs. Overall, the JBL Stage2 250B bookshelf speakers offer excellent value for your money. They deliver high-quality sound in a compact and stylish package​ that should fit well in any room. I recommend these to anyone looking for a high quality pair of bookshelf speakers, either as a standalone for a turntable or stereo, or to add to your existing system for a fully immersive surround sound experience.

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  Posted 1 year ago by Orion