Customer Ratings & Reviews

Nice center channel speaker. Pretty large and heavy. Sound has good quality and not bad for the sale price.

Awesome speakers. I haven’t had any issues with the speaker. Been using as intended.

Looks and sounds great. Solid build and heft. Store bought speaker had some minor damage on one corner so I returned it and Best Buy shipped me a new one in a couple days time, good service. worth the $.

I was replacing an older one and this works perfectly. it was very easy to install I was able to do it myself without any assistance.

Much better than a sound bar. Quality sound and great look.

The center speaker provides great quality to your sourrpund sound system. It is loud and provides great spund.

Sounds great and easy to set up and use. I love my new setup

The MA310 powers my JBL stage 2 surround speaker with ease and great clarity

Sounds Great!!! Would recommend JBL sound system to all

Very nice product. Sounds great! Will always buy JBL

I really got the whole sound system because my surround sound system went out

Makes syncing the entire house much easier. Love the ease of setup.

Sounds good. I still have to play with the settings onto get the right sound for tv and cd player.

JBL from a marketing perspective absolute hit the nail on its head with these new speakers and receivers. Gorgeous and modern takes that blend in with your decor. Turn them on though and it is one disappointment after another. These are not nearly as bad as their new subwoofers or towers, likely as the smaller woofers are harder to mess up when developing, but they still lack any bit of clarity and brightness.

I am writing this review on the JBL Stage2 245C, 2.5 Way Quad 4.5’ Center Channel Loudspeaker. I have had the very distinct privilege of testing out all the other speakers in the Stage2 lineup. Every single one of them are true ambassadors of JBL’s (Harman-Kardon) decades-long standing as the producers of extraordinary sound equipment. The 245C is another example of JBL’s commitment to providing the listener with the ability to experience sound, not just hear it. Reading the specs you will notice that the 245C comes packed with quad 4.5” polycellulose ribbed cone woofers, and a 1’ anodized aluminum tweeter in a Next Generation HDI waveguide. The speaker also boasts a precision 2.5-way crossover, a wonderfully designed magnetically attached grille, and a dual rear-firing tuned port. I have come to realize that it is important to understand a lot of these specs, especially when making a decision on which speaker to buy. The 245C (as well as all the other speakers in the Stage2 lineup) utilizes a polycellulose ribbed cone woofer. As I did my research, I realized that this particular marriage of material and design came about to ensure that the listener can “feel” the sounds as well as hear them. In other words, to become immersed in the experience. The polycellulose “proprietary” mixture improve the rigidity of the design, as well as the ribs echo. So when you look at the speaker itself, just know those ribs aren’t there for looks. They prevent warping at higher volumes, they increase stiffness which allows for accurate detail and frequencies without distortion (like you might experience in speakers made from inferior materials), and they improve stability, delivering deep, clear and resonant bass. I have said all that to say that there isn’t anything at all about the 245C that is accidental. JBL has gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure our listening experience is as amazing as possible. The cabinet and other components of the 245C are top-notch in design, build and appearance. I have the Espresso model, and the woodgrain finish is beautiful. It exudes an air of superiority. Adding to the visual appeal is the magnetic grille which not only snaps the grille precisely into place. But hey, it has just as much visual appeal without the grille in place! The speaker weighs in at a fairly hefty 26.4 pounds. And, at W29” x D8.5” x H6.1” it is an impressive and significant addition to the overall atmosphere of your listening room. Okay, so enough about all that. The real issue here is how does it perform? Although the JBL 245C is not really designed as a standalone speaker, I have to give it its props. I was super impressed by the clarity and range with which it delivered sound. It has a low-end frequency response of 80 Hz which allows for a lot of deep resonant bass, and a high-end frequency response of 25 kHz, which allows a great delivery of upper range audio sound. For just the average person not interested in more than simply listening to music or video, the 245C would be perfect. But for an audiophile, the 245C is a worthy addition, capable of working in unity with almost any full-fledged audio system. After incorporating it with all the other speakers, it helped to create a multi-dimensional listening experience. I was transported into a different world, hearing and feeling sounds unable to be discerned in the soundbars I had once thought sufficient. It is exactly as the proverb states, “Once you have tasted the honey, it will always and forever be impossible to be satisfied with sugar.” And now that JBL has allowed me the privilege of tasting the sound-experience honey, I will never be wholly satisfied by simply listening to music or videos ever again. I am hooked by the high of immersive experience. If you are truly looking for something more than mediocrity, the 245C center speaker coupled with the other Stage2 offerings is where you need to look. I know that for myself, I will not have to look anywhere else. And I wont have to try and convince my friends and family to invest in the 245C… I’ll just let them experience it…that will be all the convincing they need.

The sound was flat, lacking clarity even after upgrading the wire, and generally underwhelming. Center channels in general are not quality under a pretty high price point. I recommend using a bookshelf speaker (in place of center)

Over the years I have gone from a partial AV setup, to sound bars, and now back to a more complete AV setup. Some of that was ease of use, moving, space, etc…but through it all, this is my first experience with a true center channel in a full setup. I never knew what I was missing (well, besides clear dialogue) and I could not be happier with what this speaker has added to my system. Design-wise, the speaker has a clean, modern and minimalist look. Dark brown with a black grille/front. I really like the look. It is fairly “plain,” but that is exactly what I was looking for. Build-wise, it has some weight to it, and is put together well. It is not small. It sports quad 4.5 inch woofers and a single 1 inch tweeter. There is some nice tech here which blends the frequencies for a more balanced natural sound while still providing a full low end. I have already mentioned it a couple of times, but i never truly realized what I was missing by not having a quality, dedicated center channel. I could not have imagined thinking this beforehand, but it very well may be the most important speaker in one’s setup. This speaker delivers, for sure, but it doesn’t overpower any of the other channels. It is there when needed but sits back when that is needed as well. It performed well with music, but what I was really interested in was what it did for me in movies. I was nearly floored. I have always struggled with dialogue in films, be it without a setup, using a sound bar, just in every way. I am sure this has to do with the mix of the source, on some level, but I never really understood what a difference a center channel could make. It has presence. It is forward. Dialogue is clear, crisp, and has a power behind it. I always tout what a sub can do for adding immersion into a film, but I think this has a similar effect. All in all, despite perhaps not expecting it, I am very pleased. It gave me a real life improvement. I will add, definitely take the time for proper calibration, spacing and equalizer tweaking to dial everything in to your liking. It is hands down worth the time and effort. You will get the sound you are looking for while making the most of your equipment. In the end, I feel this is a quality speaker. It looks good and performs very well. For what it provides and where it sits in the market, I think it is a great value. Further, as I have found, it may be the piece that brings your whole system together and really unlocks what it can do and what you can get out of it.

I love the look of this center speaker. It has great sound at a good price.

Oh the days of massive center channel speakers are back. This thing is a beast. Honestly, if one of the primary concerns is aesthetics or decorating, this will be a hard pass. There is no way to mount it on a wall. It takes up a ton of space below the television. Because it is a rear ported design, it requires space behind the speaker to function properly. With any type of panel television, there has to be a cabinet underneath it (at exactly the right height) to place this speaker. Floating wall mount television, not possible to use this speaker. Of course it works beautifully with an acoustically clear screen and projector. Decorating aside, it sounds excellent. Dialog is super clear. When watching television that isn't in surround sound, most of the sound is directed to only the center channel, and everything is crystal clear. The cabinet is MDF with vinyl wrap. The speaker grill is nice fabric. In black / espresso, the speaker doesn't look terribly elegant. Although that JBL orange ring behind the grill is nice. I imagine white looks a million times better.