If I were to single out any drawbacks it would be that the rear speakers don’t draw a huge amount of attention to themselves, and the centre speaker could do with more vigour in the lower mid-range. Voices, while remaining clear, are slightly thin.
To bring out the best in dialogue tracks the centre speaker might benefit from some equalisation
Although the system expertly delivers the ominous spooky rumblings, crackling forest fires and the plaintive score of The Road, Viggo Mortensen’s voiceover can get rather lost. However, optimising the set-up of the AV receiver you'll need to power these speakers can squeeze more vocal definition from the centre.
Also, using the SUB 260 in extremely busy and low-frequency-effects-heavy films like Inception may swamp the dialogue unless you rein in the sub. The system works very efficiently without it, but for deeper impact during movie viewing, it’s definitely worth having, providing you tweak your system’s sound levels.
The SUB260 certainly makes an impact
For both stereo and 5.1 music, vocals zing with crispness and hold their own in the mix. Its overall musical performance is pleasantly warm rather than overly brash. Using just the two S 426s for two-channel music shows how good the floorstanders are, particularly with an evocative song such as Running on Fumes by King Creosote and Jon Hopkins.
The S 426 floor standers are an impressive inclusion at this price
Verdict
A good match for the increasing number of affordable but decent quality AV receivers now being made, the Jamo S 426 HCS 3 is extraordinary value for money. Although a few economies have been made, notably with the centre and surrounds, it’s a skilfully engineered package overall. Compared to the compact sub-satellite combinations that dominate the market at this price – and that make a subwoofer do all the heavy work – the Jamo system is a fully rounded proposition, if you have the floorspace. ®
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Jamo S 426 HCS 3 home cinema speakers
COMMENTS
Talking about turning down the Sub
What I'm waiting for is separate sound channels for music, effects and dialogue. It has become fashionable in films to make you work to weed out the dialogue from the other sounds. They also like to shock with huge orchestral stabs after whispered conversations. That's OK in the cinema but some of us don't live in splendid isolation in country houses in their own extensive grounds, courtesy for the family and the neighbours is sometimes required.
Late at night I'd like to be able to turn down the helicopters, car crashes and blaring music a bit and still be able to follow the story with resorting to subtitles.
erm...
just turn up the center speaker...? that helps.
dynamic EQ (like night mode) basically reduce the high top end and low bottom end. bass isnt as prominent and neither is high trebble.
it does work if you have a decent system.
Yes, it might stop the overall levels getting too high but you still lose the dialogue in the ridiculous effects and over the top mood music.
Night Mode
Most AV receivers have had something by the name of Night Mode (or some such) for quite some time - all it does is compress the dynamic range of the materiel, so that you can hear the quieter parts without being blasted by the loud parts. Not surprisingly, they market it for people not wanting to wake the kids and neighbours...but it's also good for those that are hearing impaired or have trouble with low dialogue. My Sony receiver had it well over 10 years ago..it's pretty common, but you may need to look in the menus.
