JBL L7 (should this be in Vintage or just speakers)

jimmypet · June 24

* Apologies if should this be in Vintage or just speakers.
I'm long time Polk fan, been collecting for a while, you guys have been a great resource for years even before I officially joined and began participating.
I just finally found and purchased a nicely cared for old set of JBL L7 speakers that I have been wanting forever.
I always considered Polk guy, love the old Polk sound and with every purchase I was deeper into the vintage Polk world -but- I gotta post this somewhere, those L7s ROCK with all caps. I spent an afternoon placing them in the room, everything I read said angle and placement was huge (and to a certain degree it was, not the degree some guys on other audio forums made it out to be).

Question - have any of you fellow Polk lovers gone down the road of the L7?

I am blown away by these speakers.
I heard them back in the 90s when they were new and I couldnt have hoped to afford a pair at that time in my life and they were "on my list".
I was thinking about tracking down a set of SRS but the whole amplification thing just pushed me off them. I use what amps I use and I just want to be able to hook up a set of speakers to the amps I own.
So with that in mind I was thinking what was left on my list of old speakers to buy and a nice set of these L7s popped up and I bought them.
I'm blown away.
I cant get over how good these old speakers sound.
Any other fans of the L7 on this forum?

Tony M · June 24

I've owned the JBL L1, L3 and L5s. Some a few times over. I never could afford the L7s that I saw for sale.

Well, it's said the L7s need a lot of power.

I have seen a couple of JBL L speakers where the midrange surround had torn in some places.

I Love the JBL sound but the Titanium tweeters could sound metallic and too wearing at times depending on the music.

I bought A LOT of JBL speakers in my life. Polk and JBL were about equal in my collection at one time.

Now...the SDA-speakers are a whole level or three above most JBL speakers...to me.

I did LOVE that L series A LOT.

I was given a set of JBL L100 Century speakers that needed some repair. I still have them and they do sound GREAT. I've had SO MANY series of JBL speakers. JBL is good.

POLK was right there with them all these years, too.

Watch the heat coming from your power source.

bem · June 25

Prior to buying a pair of Polk 2.3s in the late 80’s I was a big JBL fan. I’ve owned L100s,200’s,300’s,4311s,4315’s. I just loved the sound. However, the Polk 2.3s were always my main speakers and I had the 2.3’s mods done by VR3 in 2019. They still remain my main speakers. However, around 2014 I got into listening to the 1990s JBL L Series. I bought at bargain prices pairs of L1,L3,L5 & L7 speakers. Sounds crazy, but it was a nostalgic type of period in my life. My favorites were probably the L5’s but I enjoyed the L7’s. Placement and power are critical to getting the most out the L7s. I had to experiment a lot to get the best out of them. I found the low end lacking until I found the right placement but when I did they sounded great. I agree with Tony M about the high end as they did sometimes some a bit shrill.I sold them several years ago for $600. I still have a pair of L5’s that I use in my basement .

jimmypet · June 26

I have read so many posts of people saying the L5 was the best of the L1 thru 7 series because it was not so placement critical. Now I want to find a set of those LOL.

Maybe I'm a luddite and easily impressed - or - maybe the people who did so much posting on how hard it was to find the sweet spot for the L7s were just lazy and never really worked with them, but I didnt find it that hard to get the L7s set to where I liked them.

I simply read what others posted, for the most part followed many of those suggestions within the confines of the room I have them in about an hour of pushing, sliding and shoving to smaller and smaller increments and I was super happy with them.

After 40+ years in the production side of the music industry the Ti tweeters maybe are just fine for me LOL. I've probably lost enough hearing that what might be shrill tweets for others sound sweet to me LOL.

I'm loving these speakers. I'll keep my eyes open for a set of L5s.

I'd love to hear a well set up larger models of SDA speakers against the L7s.
Currently I believe these L7s walk all over all my other larger Polks (11T, LS90s and RTIA9).
None of those can equal the low end impact of the L7 once you roll up the volume.

pitdogg2 · June 26

Well you know what they say about JBL ? JUST BE LOUD ..... RTiA9 is a theater speaker and the other two will be hard to compete with a 12" woofer and bigger cabinet of the JBL.
If you're wanting BOOM BOOM BOOM the SRS speakers will not have it BUT they will have very accurate low end bass.

JBL L7 (should this be in Vintage or just speakers)

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