JBL N-Center

The JBL N-Center is a center channel loudspeaker from JBL's "N" series of the Northridge line, alongside the N38, N26, and N24. It was designed for center channel duty in home theater setups. The documentation shows a plain, no-frills approach: a box housing a pair of 5-inch woofers and a 1-inch titanium-laminate dome tweeter, crossed over at 5,000 Hz. The crossover network was designed to minimize interference from television sets.

The specs are well-corroborated across JBL's own product literature and period documentation. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms. Sensitivity is rated at 89 dB @ 2.83 volts/1 meter, and frequency response is listed at 60 Hz - 21 kHz (-6 dB). Recommended amplifier power runs from 10 to 150 watts per channel. It's a compact box, 7" high by 14-3/4" wide by 10-1/4" deep, and it weighs 12 lbs.

Beyond those figures, the record is thin. No production years are documented, and no original MSRP is confirmed (one eBay listing suggests $250, but that's unverified). No period reviews of the N-Center have surfaced in the usual audio press, and no owner commentary has been found. HiFI-Stereo (October 1995, p.113) featured the N-Center in its product listings. It appears to have been a workmanlike component in JBL's home theater push, a period when the company was producing a full range of N-series speakers for both stereo and multichannel use.