JBL CS6100 5.1 Home Theater Speakers

JBL CS6100 Build Quality

As with most systems in this price category, JBL has built all of the speakers with injection molded plastic cabinets. With bookshelf speakers this would not be the material of choice for a cabinet because of resonance and coloration issues. However, with micro speakers it is less of a problem because of the small surface area involved. Provided the plastic is thick enough and constructed correctly, it should not be much of an issue. JBL has built these little speakers with a nice thick front baffle to help alleviate these problems. Overall, the little speakers have a solid feel and look good.

Each of the 5 speakers has dual 3.5-inch mid-bass drivers and one 0.5-inch titanium-laminate dome tweeter arranged in an MTM configuration, and all are magnetically shielded. Turning them around reveals real binding posts, which is a feature almost always overlooked on speakers systems in this class.

The subwoofer is built from 0.75-inch MDF and has a thick front baffle. Internally I would like to have seen more bracing as rapping on the sides does reveal some resonance. Also, the use of T-nuts instead of just wood screws holding the sub to the baffle would have been nice to see as well, but that is a minor complaint.

The sub sports a fairly typical 10-inch driver and a 150-watt amp that has a nice hefty size coil. Of special note is the fact that the driver uses a vented pole piece and decent magnet structure. Also, the feet on the bottom are tipped with rubber to prevent scratching and sliding around on wood and tile floors. The amplifier panel has one LFE input, left and right line level inputs, phase switch, level control, power switch and a fuse. You won't be able to use this sub with speaker level outputs, so make sure you have at least some kind of preamp or subwoofer outputs coming from your receiver. Overall the fit and finish is good and the sub is sharp looking.

JBL CS6100 Setup and Listening Tests

Everything came nicely packed and well-protected, and JBL was nice enough to send along two pairs of optional stands as well. The stands were very nice looking and also weighted at the bottom. I used these beautiful speaker stands for the surrounds. All the speakers are threaded at the bottom for various stand types and also have a rubber ring for furniture protection and to keep from sliding around on smooth surfaces. These are all nice little touches so kudos to JBL for including them.

The center channel is designed to sit horizontally, but this is not necessarily the most optimal position for an MTM speaker alignment because of dispersion issues for any listeners that are not seated in the center. MTM alignments were designed to limit vertical dispersion of the tweeters to help alleviate reflection issues, and the result is a very narrow focus of the tweeter vertically. This is a good thing. However, when an MTM alignment is placed horizontally the opposite happens - though some speaker designs do a good job at smoothing out this phenomenon. Also, the center speakers little feet allow the speaker to tip forward very easily. If small children or pets are in the house, I strongly recommend using the included wall mounts if at all possible as well as mounting the speaker vertically for optimum coverage throughout the listening area. I would like to see, at the very least, a future design that provides a custom center channel speaker which offsets the tweeter.

Listening Tests

Once I had everything connected, positioned, and had the sound levels set, it was time to get things rolling. Before moving on to movie soundtracks, I always like to start off with some music that I am well familiar with. It's a matter of personal reviewer choice, but old habits are hard to break. The first piece I listened to was the song "Mr. Chow" off the Acoustic Alchemy CD Arcanum. This is my favorite cut off the CD and it has a lot of "demo" material to use when reviewing a loudspeaker system. The CD is superbly engineered and the song has a lot going on sonically. It will very quickly reveal any speaker's shortcomings.

The first thing I noticed was very strong bass response in the 40 to 50 Hz range. I stopped the CD and did a quick check with my RTA. It revealed a large bass peak at basically the same frequency as my other subs. I engaged my parametric EQ, and things flattened right out. This is due solely to the room and not the subwoofer itself. Room correction for subwoofers is a beautiful thing to hear. I restarted the song again. Bass response was very good for a single 10-inch sub. The subwoofer was very musical sounding and lacked the boomy sound that so often plagues budget systems. While not particularly "room shaking," it did provide adequate bass even in my fairly large room. It should perform well on most music.

Next I focused on the midrange and high end: Houston we have a problem! The highs lacked any real detail and sounds were really smeared in the highest octaves. Cymbal crashes sounded particularly bad. Never was the sound grating, raspy or distorted, but disappointing nonetheless. Likewise, midrange really lacked punch on the lower octaves, but this is typical of most speakers with such small drivers. Upper midrange was also on the thin side but not too bad.

Overall, the speakers imaged fine and soundstage and placement were not an issue either. The speakers also blended well with the sub. Aside from the lack of mid-bass punch, I noticed no obvious problems between the subwoofer and speakers. While there were problems in the mids and highs, it should be noted that this system is right in line with many other systems in this price range and better than some. There is better news coming though so keep reading.

After listening to several more music tracks and confirming my initial thoughts, I moved on to movies. I decided on director Peter "The Hobbit" Jackson's monumental epic version of King Kong. Love it or hate it, this movie delivers the goods when it comes to audio and video. I happen to be in the 'like it a lot' camp. Of course, I skipped forward right to the T-Rex battle.

To my delight, the system performed admirably on movie material. The sound was immersive and clean, and pans across the room were seamless. The subwoofer never gave out - even at louder levels - and while it lacked the real tactile feel one gets from a more expensive subwoofer, it filled even my large room with enough bass to make for a satisfying movie experience. In smaller rooms the system should have plenty of oomph. Skipping back to the beginning of the movie, I listened to some of the quieter passages. Again, I was happy to find the dialog clear, distinct and well focused. Little details could be made out, and I never strained to make out what was being said. Overall the system performed very well on movie material.

JBL CS6100 Conclusion and Ratings

With an MSRP of $999, the JBL CS6100 home cinema speaker package is a tad pricey, and there is a lot of competition at this level. The only real issue I think that needs correcting is the tweeter and/or the crossover between the midrange and tweeter. At this price range, JBL should really be using a better quality tweeter. Also, the use of T-nuts and a little more internal bracing on the subwoofer cabinet would be welcome. A slightly larger base on the center channel would be nice to see as well and would stabilize the speaker. If movies and not music will be the prime concern then this system is sure to please and can easily be recommended on that basis. With a good build quality, very stylish looks, decent subwoofer performance, and attention to some small details, this system should serve those well who are ready to take plunge and add a 5.1 speaker system to their new or existing display.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value