Professional recording studios often use JBL audio equipment and the JBL On Air Control Wireless Speakers are designed to live up to these high standards. The engineering behind the On Air Control speakers is unique from the usual implementation you see with wireless speakers. The system includes a pair of speakers, the first is a 4 inch active speaker that carries a 15 watt amp. The second speaker is also a 4 inch model put it is designed to be a passive speaker. The woofer in both speakers is accompanied by a 1/2 inch titanium-laminate tweeter. The titanium-laminate material is stronger and heavier which handles higher frequencies very well.
The active speaker is usually set up as the left speaker in a surround sound or stereo setup and it includes the receiver for the wireless signal. The right speaker actually requires a wire to be connected to the left which limits your ability to go fully wireless but the trade-off is for higher sound quality than the norm. The housing for each speaker is about 9 inches tall, 6 inches wide, and 5 1/2 inches deep. These speakers are not weather resistant so you don’t want to get them if you are looking for a solution to use outdoors. The speakers and the transmitter are powered only by an AC adapter so you’ll have to be near a wall outlet for both.
The versatility of these wireless speakers is impressive. They can be used for just expanding the areas that your music is available around your home, or they will work well in a surround sound setup as well. They can not only function as the rear speakers in a surround sound setup but there is a subwoofer output on the active speaker which allows you to set the On Air Control speakers and a subwoofer in a standard 2.1 surround configuration. If you plan to use them as rear speakers in a surround setup you will want to make sure that your sound system includes preamp outputs for the rear/surround channels. Not all sound systems have this option but many of the newer ones do. The status LED lights on the active speaker can also be quite bright if you are thinking about using them when you watch movies. You can always remedy this if it bothers you with a small piece of electrical tape. You can wall mount the speakers regardless of what function you plan to use them because there is also a remote control to adjust the volume, mute, or input source on the speaker. In another versatile function, you can actually direct connect an MP3 player to the active speaker and you’ve got yourself a nice little MP3 speaker dock without even using the wireless functionality. Yet another nice thing about the design of these speakers is the fact that they are magnetically shielded so you can place them near your TV without worrying about any interference to the television picture.
The On Air Control system includes a 2.4GHZ transmitter which can transmit audio signal up to about seventy feet. You can connect a total of four wireless speakers to one transmitter. There is a unique ID code selector on the transmitter as well as the speakers so that you can customize the wireless connection with one of four options in case you experience any interference. Once you have the ID code set you can connect the transmitter to your audio source using standard RCA cables and you are good to go.