Customer Reviews

JBL WEM-1 50-Watt Wireless Amplifier and Expansion Module (Black)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This unit feels professional and solid (it is metal!). It is GREAT. I am using this with some moderately cheap KLH satellite speakers with a subwoofer that I bought maybe 15 years ago.

Granted that there are no speakers with this. If you you think you are getting a deal because there are speakers attached to or are included with other products in the same price range, you may find them to be of inferior quality and sound tinny and/or muffled. I have tried several wireless transmitters and wireless speakers to get sound into my sun room from the main house and I have been disappointed with all of them. Mostly the other items have just picked up too much interference (general static and also noise from my wireless router).

What makes this unit different
- It delivers sufficient power (to your own speakers).
- There are no audible clicks and pops as I have experienced with other products (winter static from carpets are notably an issue with the others).
- It sounds sufficiently clear (and it creates really good sound if the aux input is used with an iPod or other portable device).
- There is no interference with from WiFi (wireless router). This can be a REAL problem with some devices but not this one.

I was surprised to find power connectors for other nations in the box... at first I did not know what they were for:-) I guess I can take this with me if I move to the UK:-) It is also flexible on the transmitter end; it has line level inputs and speaker level inputs.

This item is worth what you pay for it. There are of course freakishly expensive devices out there also, but this should do for someone who wants quality sound for a reasonable amount of money.

I bought this once it first came out and I've been pleased. It works effectively to expand your listening area wirelessly between zones or even between 5.1 and 7.1 setups.

I use this across my house - a house that is also set up with a wireless network for my computers as well as both cordless and cellular phones. The interference from these units is minimal, if present at all. Surprisingly, I find the most interference from either myself or others walking past it. Wierd. Though, there are 4 channels available to sync the transmitter and receiver seamlessly (or close to it).

The sound is great. It has a built in 50W amplifier and provides crisp sounds. The subwoofer output allows you to make this mini system a sharp 2.1 surround sound system. Note - use a non LFE sub (or just bypass the LFE option on your sub) since the receiver has its own volume input.

Obviously, the best results are for when you connect an outside music source to the receiver via the mini-jack input. If this is your sole reason to use this product, you don't even need to hook up the transmitter at all. Though, to fully enjoy this product, you should.

I have it hooked up to a 7.1 receiver with 2 zone capability. It works fine and I'm very happy with it. The built in amp definitely helps the performance.

The JBL WEM-1 work as advertised. Very straight forward and easy installation, I used this unit to connect my rear surround speakers and the sound is crystal clear as if they were wired. Power / volume output is ok for normal listening with no noticeable distortion. The signal starts fading around 30 to 40 feet away.

The system was also connected as a stand alone speaker extension for another room, and the results obtained were not as satisfactory as before. Maybe because the unit was underpowered for the speakers I used (Bose acoustimass bass and sattelite system). However, the sound was still crystal clear but volume was not enough...My guess is it should work fine with shelf speakers. (output advertised is 50W per channel)

The system was also connected using the line in input and speaker in input. Using the speaker in input, the volume is controlled from your main stereo receiver/amplifier unit. The JBL WEM-1 comes with a remote control for volume adjustment and input adjustment (more on this feature below). Since the receiver unit was stashed away hidden from view to conceal the placement of my surround speakers, once it is setup it is inconvenient to use the remote provided, however this has nothing to do with the performance of the system but you should consider this depending on your intended installation. The system also has a nice feature that it powers on on-demand and goes to stand-by after 10 minutes if no music is played.

I could not get it to work using the line in connection. It could be that my receiver out signal is too low or the JBL WEM-1 input sensitivity is too high. Either way I could not get it to work this way, but since this type of use was not for my setup I didn't mind. The receiver has an aux in input at the front of the unit which can be used to connect anything with a headphone output (MP3, Ipod, etc) This feature is controlled by the remote control input selection.

Now for the but....in the tittle...Wireless comes at a price. My receiver has a wireless feature which can be used to pair any laptop/pc computer. I also have a bluetooth wireless connection to stream music from my ipod to my stereo. When the JBL WEM-1 is connected and working, it knocks out all other wireless connections from my laptop and bluetooth ipod. Again, this has nothing to do with the performance of the JBL system and thats why I still gave it a high rating, but these are facts that you should keep in mind depending of your intentions.

WEM works well as a wireless device but cannot expect the sound from the use of a wired system. The system works well in provinding those extra speakers in the master bedroom(20x15) with out triping over wires and without too much ghost signal interference. When I expand the distance between the WEM transmitter and receiver there seems to be an increase in signal noise.For critical listening and home theatre the the hard wired sound room is used.

For several years, I had speaker wire draped over my fireplace mantle to connect my side surround sound speakers. I was hesitant to buy a wireless adapter, as I've read a lot of negative reviews about most. Although I was worried that this one operated in the 2.4ghz spectrum, it's performed better than expected. I sit near the receiver with my laptop using 802.11g (also in 2.4ghz) and get minimal interference between the two devices. I've heard maybe two pops/cracks after having used the speaker adapter for a month now.

Although I'd prefer it to use 5.6ghz to further reduce interference, I'm happy with my purchase and would buy it again.

I just received this product in the mail today and used it to connect two speakers from Klipsch HD 300 Compact 5.1 High Definition Theater system (Set of Six, Black) to Samsung HWC700B 7.2 HW-C series 3D home theater receiver, with a distance of about 10 feet.

Setup was easy - connect the speaker wires from the receiver to the wireless transmitter, and connect the speaker wires from the speakers themselves to the wireless receiver. The clips felt strong and took the wires with no problems. Power was easy to hook up as well. Once I turned on my receiver and sent test tones, it turned on perfectly and I got perfect sound out of them - the only adjustment I made was to reduce the overall volume of the rear speakers to match my system. I did this using the remote with the JBL system, but this could have easily been done at the receiver as well.

The only caveat - which is mentioned in the manual - is that since it's on a 2.4 Ghz wireless band, it can interfere with home wireless networks. If you have 802.11n-enabled systems, this won't be an issue, as they can operate on the 5 GHz band, which is what I've done.

Easy setup. Really plug and play simple. Remote control does not function at all. Not my prime concern but could be an issue. I bought a house with speakers pre-wired throughout. I didn't like the central distribution point as a setting for my entertainment center. The wall I chose to put it on was isolated. Wiring back to the original house speakers would have been really not convenient. I chose the JBL WEM-1 modules to send the stereo source across the room to my speaker selector/controller, where the rest of the house speakers were wired. It works beautifully. Great sound with no static or other audible interference.

I bought this unit to drive (2) rear channel speakers in our surround sound setup. Our Onkyo AV Receiver and JBL satellite speakers connect and behave beautifully thanks to this unit. The transmitter and receiver in my setup do not have a direct line-of-sight, are approximately 15' apart and function flawlessly. Once the JBL receiver/amp levels are set, you will never need the remote unless you change or add components. I did find that the subwoofer output was inferior to the direct output from my Onkyo receiver (duh). I would only recommend using the subwoofer output on the JBL unit if you have no other means to connect your subwoofer to your AV receiver. I've had the WEM-1 in continuous use since late April 2011 and highly recommend it!

Basically had no problems hooking this thing up. We use it in the kitchen and it's right next to the microwave and there is no interference or sound dropout at all. Does an excellent job turning itself on and off when signal is present or absent. Highly recommended to get speakers across the room from your system without wires.

I use the WEM-1 in a 4 speaker setup. I used to wire the speakers, but I moved and wanted to go wireless. I increased the power level from the receiver for the WEM-1 attached speakers and they sounded much better. I don't know if I needed the additional power due to the speakers or the WEM-1. However, I'm very happy with the sound and the WEM-1.