Smokey,

I was also in Best Buy a month or so ago and spent a lunch break listening the their speakers just for fun. There were not that many people in the store and I was playing the only music to be heard in that area. I also found that I liked the JBL alot. I can't remember the model it was, but it was the largest floorstander they had. It sounded good given the poor acoustic environment. Actually the model just under that sounded pretty good as well. I also listened to the Klipsch and Athena and Yamahas. The Athena and Klipsch sounded pretty good but I really liked the JBLs.

I hear a lot of people always state, "Best Buy is a poor place to listen". They are absolutely right. However, the majority of people who have a HT or stereo system don't have a dedicated room for it. Most people put the HT in a large living room which often have high ceilings and big openings on many sides. Many rooms blend with kitchens, dining rooms, offices etc. Many people have a lot of background noise such as kids to deal with. In other words, precise "sound" is not always what most people look for. Maybe in these environments JBLs have an advantage? I am not in the market for speakers but I have fun listening to different ones when I can. I would like to see how the JBLs do under a more controlled environment. These newer models may be a big inprovement. I have listened to the last models JBL and I was not that impressed. They sounded muted and kindof boomy. These new models sounded really good. Maybe someone will review them soon. I would like to see JBL improve there US/consumer lines to what they once were.

JSE