JBL L100's

sucks2beme

I really should avoid some places.
I ended up trading some gear for a pair of JBL L100's.
Yes, Mr. Grand, I know they aren't neutral sounding. Not by a long shot.
They have some issues in the low end and some odd stuff due to their
knuckle dragging xover design.

What's wrong:
They sit too low with the woofer at floor level. Fix-raise them on short stands or prop up the fronts to tio them back.
The low end is loose. Fix-plug the front port and the bass tightens up a bit.
The connectors on the back are awful. Fix-yes, I put in standard posts!

Pro's- With standard 70's rock, they are truly amazing. Crank up Jeff Beck's
Blow by Blow and you'll know what I mean.
They work well with my 50 WPC tube amp. A little tweaking of the
L-pads and they get the job done. They sound very good with a lot of material. Truly a fun speaker.

Con's-Go to something a little bit different like female vocals. Now you can
hear what they don't do well. The xover allows sound to get on the woofer that shoulder be there. The problems of the speaker are well documented.
There are plans out there to build a better xover, but many will tell you
that it ruins the nature of what it is. "Just buy a more modern JBL"
most say. I know many JBL fans would cringe at even the speaker post fix.

I don't see these as my main speakers. It's a throwback to my youth.
I think of these the same way as lot of vintage 70's gear. A 70's silver
face receiver has the same kind of shortcomings. My current gear
drives them better than any of that old stuff would. It's like a 1969
Camaro. There's a lot of modern cars that will out perform them all day long.
That's not really the point in why we buy them.
It's kinda like getting laid with that hot girl from high school at your 20 year
reunion.

Timothy Smith

The low end is loose, and you have to prop up the front...just like that hot girl from high school 20 years later.

cnh

I have a pair of the smaller (10" woofer), newer models. The L80Ts that sport the titanium tweeter (035ti)...better on the highs. The mids are fine. The low end prodigious but boomy, need a lot of tweaking in terms of room placement. Gotta keep them away from the walls!

I'm pretty sure that the crossovers on the T series are somewhat different from what you have because of the newer metal dome tweeters. But like the classic 100s these can put out some Big Sound. During the '90s we had the monitor version of this speaker in our Music mixing/composition rooms at the college where I teach.

Recently, I've been running mine off a 50 watt x 2 Jolida tube amp which they seem to like--helps sweeten the metal dome which is very 'detailed', apologies to Mr. Grand as well. But I do like these and have owned them for a couple of decades. Tubes have made a 'huge' difference here. Even the low end is more 'controlled' now!

Real nostalgia with certain kinds of music for sure!

cnh

Polkersince85

I've got a pair of L100s I bought at the Thrift store. They were 5.99 apiece and it was 1/2 price day. Worth every penny I have in them.




'

dorokusai

It's a neat speaker a pretty well loved in the vintage community.

scottyboy76

they were bringing big bucks for old speaks, dont know if worth it, never heard them.

Pioneer hpm 100s were another.

RuSsMaN

They were never really meant to be set on the floor anyway, right? I'd like to actually hear a pair with NEW(er) woofers, the suspension in those 12's got really loose over the years.

George Grand

I have ONE mint JBL 4412. The other never materialized. This job needs a re-foam.

JBL's make everything sound amplified to me, but to each his own.

I've been lucky with JBL finds over the last couple years. Mint pair of 4312, two or three pair of L100, pair of those S-38 that Stereophile loved so much (I'll bet they didn't really), and right now I have some small monitors. Two pair, either E-10 and P-20 or E-20 and P-10. Nice looking little suckers, they make everything sound amplified.

BlueFox

They were the speakers to have in the 70s. Way to expensive for me to even fantasize about back then.

sucks2beme

George Grand wrote: »

I have ONE mint JBL 4412. The other never materialized. This job needs a re-foam.

JBL's make everything sound amplified to me, but to each his own.

I've been lucky with JBL finds over the last couple years. Mint pair of 4312, two or three pair of L100, pair of those S-38 that Stereophile loved so much (I'll bet they didn't really), and right now I have some small monitors. Two pair, either E-10 and P-20 or E-20 and P-10. Nice looking little suckers, they make everything sound amplified.

The 4412's are supposed to be better than the 100's. But the
100's got all the attention. Around here they bring big $$$.
Going back to the Proacs let's me clearly hear that JBL's like
rock. I've had a lot of better speakers, like the Snell E's or the
GNP's through here that you could hardly give away. I bet
I'd have 20 calls on the 100's in the 1st hour posting them on CL.
Much like the Denon POA 2800 amp I had. Didn't do a damn thing for me,
but there was a stampede to buy it. The 100's were an impulse thing,
I had stuff to trade, and the guy had the speakers, the money
would have had to wait a couple days. So I did a deal on the speakers.
There are so many guys EBAY reselling around here, vintage prices are through the roof.

Yes, Russ, that why they were called bookshelf speakers.:biggrin:
I had mine sitting on their sides back in the day. The vinyl was all accross the
bottom of a three section stereo shelf I used to have. Jbl's in the wings,
electronics in the center top sections. Now if my hair would just grow back!!
I'm looking to build some nice short stands for them using Ikea bases.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90205200

xoaphexox

I love listening to my 4311's and they are very similiar to the L100. Bought new L-pads at PartsExpress and also recapped the xover with solen/auricap bypass. I wouldn't part ways with them ever!