JBL Control 2.4G Wireless Speakers Review

JBL has long been associated with both pro audio as well as solid home theater systems. Now, they are breaking into new ground with their Control 2.4G Wireless Surround Speakers that guarantee anyone can enjoy surround sound - even without wires... or at least without speaker wires... or at least without speaker wires going to your surround speakers from the front of the room... OK, here's how this works...

Let's say you want real surround sound, but you absolutely can't run speaker wire from the front of your room to the surrounds in back. If you can afford the $229 cost of entry, JBL can offer you a couple of speakers, barely 9" tall that can be placed almost anywhere. BUT the left speaker (the one with the amplifier) needs to have access to a power outlet, and you need to run a pair of speaker cables from that speaker to the right-channel (or passive) speaker. You also need to wire an output from your A/V receiver or source to the analogue inputs of the transmitter. You still with me? OK, so the left speaker contains a 15W per channel stereo amplifier that powers both speakers and receives its signal from the included transmitter. There is also a line input in the event that you simply want to use these as desktop powered speakers and there is even a subwoofer output, an 1/8" mini jack. This output is full-range, so make sure the sub you connect it to has a variable low pass filter.

As you can guess from the name, the JBL Control 2.4G speakers use 2.4GHz technology to receive a signal from up to 70 feet away. The speakers are rated to play down to 50Hz and they are two-way, meaning they have a 1/2" titanium tweeter and a 4" mid-driver. Both are magnetically shielded, though that doesn't matter unless you have an older CRT-style television. If you do have one of those, pause this video and go look for one of our television reviews... It's a video - we'll wait.

Each speaker is tiny, measuring roughly 6" wide and deep and standing just 9" tall. They weigh less than 4.5 pounds each, making them extremely easy to place.  Wall mounts are included in the event you want to get them up and out of the way. The transmitter is miniscule as well, no larger than a small portable hard drive. This system was fairly reliable in our testing, and it even exceeded the 70 foot claimed range. We did find that it got a bit dicey at long ranges when we introduced more wireless networking devices in its path, but overall we were quite pleased.

JBL has some very cool speakers in the Control 2.4G's. You can place them just about anywhere and they seem perfect for those living in an apartment or where you simply can't get wires to the back of the room without a major renovation. They also sound very good - better than most wireless speakers we've heard - and that's likely due to the JBL Control One series name, upon which these were built. Wireless speakers for $229/pair that do what they claim and sound good to boot? That's not a bad deal. Not in the least.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.