Computer speakers have had a pretty bad reputation for years now. This comes at no surprise to anyone that has had the misfortune of listening to some of the early models out there. Little bone-colored boxes emitting spurts of muffled and boxy-sounding audio; this is no way to listen to music! However, with the proliferation of MP3 sharing, the computer has become a serious entertainment tool and computer audio has made great strides in recent years. The JBL invader is a perfect example.
Ripping open the orange/silver box was a great thrill. Each of the four sleek silver satellites (or speakers) sit in a molded tray carefully protected in plastic. The first thing you notice is how light the satellites are. You begin to wonder if something this light can produce the full sound you are craving. The subwoofer doubles as an amp for the satellites and takes up most of the weight, but it is still compact enough to hide away almost anywhere. The satellites plug into the subwoofer, which features bass and treble controls, and the another cable plugs the subwoofer to your stereo surround sound audio card (not included). I plugged everything in as quickly as I could and blasted some Live.
Now I think I should mention that I am and have been an audio engineer since '92. I have recorded and produced numerous albums including 3 of my own. I have a set of Event 20/20's connected to my computer as my standard setup. So as I sat there it took a few minutes for my brain to process what I was listening to. At first I thought that I had made a mistake configuring the speakers and that I was still listening to my Event monitors. To my total surprise, I was wrong.
These little alien-spacecraft-looking speakers produce some massive sounds! Although the highs were somewhat artificially boosted and the low mids cut somewhat, this is to be expected on a consumer system. Accuracy and flatness are not the goal here, power and fullness are much more important. The JBL Invader definitely has a frequency curve, but it sounds damn good for a consumer system. In fact it sounds better than many of the home audio systems I've heard. I have not switched back to the Event monitors in over a week and I certainly plan to use them as a reference next time I do some recording.
The subwoofer gets down to about 40Hz. That's low enough to produce a pretty rounded bottom, but I kinda hoped it would go lower to at least 30Hz. These are the frequencies you feel much more than hear. If you're into the real bouncy bass, you may need to look towards another system. The JBL Invader makes rock, pop, and even classical sound great, but the bass doesn't seem to get deep down into that shake-the-walls-of your-apartment hip hop range. Even after cranking the bass knob all the way up, the walls didn't budge.
Now, I'm not really an avid gamer, but I was not going to write a review on a surround sound speaker system without putting myself in a world of sound. The game that immediately came to mind was Myst III Exile, because of its immersive environment and because it is one of the only games I own. What an experience! I don't think I could ever play a first-person game again without surround sound. It simply puts you inside another world. You hear and react to things in every direction. This is what the game makers intended.
Once you get over the initial shock of the ridiculously full sound quality, you are slapped in the face by the price tag. The system which includes four satellites and a subwoofer is only $179.95. That is pretty impressive for what you get. My only complaint is the lack of a center channel, but the rich fullness of the sound makes up for it. JBL could have also thrown in a surround sound card, but that would have increased the price of the package substantially. Besides, the system sounds great even with a $30 surround sound card and even better with a high end card, so you have the freedom to choose what fits your budget. The JBL Invader is compatible with any 4.1, 5.1 or 7.1 card.
