JBL re-introducing the L-100

This is true. But at the risk of value chatting,,,This tickles the shit out of me. I have two pair of L100 centurys and a pair of L88 ready to be converted. I know it's greedy but I like 'em and now this is just driving the value of mine up.
That is just it, The new L100s are worth what people are willing to pay for them. $4000 opens up a lot of options and the JBLs will need a lot more than nostalgia to sell them
 
Spot price on Cobalt is $34.25 USD /Lb. So Ferrite magnets anyone? Neodymium?

As an aside, let's try to remember that as the commercial sister to the 4311/4312 used as at least one reference pair in most studios back in the day, the tonal signature was quite appropriate for the popular music of the time.
Play Zep IV or Deep Purple through some L-100's and see if it sounds better or more authentic (if you will) than say, um... Sonus Faber or martin Logan's for example.
Some of the early Motown stuff sounds great on a 3" speaker and awful on many "good" speakers. Horses for courses...
 
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Good idea, but the VAST majority as far as I can tell AND myself included, are all about vintage.
Doesn't this speaker have elements of each? It is modern, and vintage in that it emulates a very old and successful classic.

I worry (just a little) that it will be rejected by both the true vintage fan (for being way more than the originals selling on CL) and the modern speaker fan who has always looked on the JBL L100 originals as a not very good speaker. Where will these customers be from? All I can say is JBL would be wise to put every last bit of know how of speaker tech into these, at least give out $2000 worth of SQ. I know that they have it in them, they still are making remarkable stuff! What the world doesn't need right now however is for them to simply start making true old school L100's There are plenty of those to go around.
 
I remember when these were too steep for me :(
In 1974 (I was 19 and working my ass off 6 and 7 days a week) I had blown up my Bose 501's and was time for an upgrade anyhow. The store in Anchorage had a JBL sale, and had the choice of L100's and L200's (maybe some other ones too). I forget what the L100's were priced at but the L200's were a hundred off each and for $500 per I went for those. I was still living at home so the choice was an easy one, and one I have never regretted all these years! The 100's would probably be long gone, but these heavy old L200's with their sweet horns are still hanging in singing to me!
 
The 1200FE looks like a serious woofer. I doubt they went cheap on the mid, tweet, or crossover to make up for it.

Would everyone be happier if they went with crappy drivers to bring the price point down to a more reasonable number? You know, like the JBL CF 120?
 
The newer JBLs in my collection are as well or better built then the two classic pair I have. The 6332s have a cast aluminum assembly for the mid and tweeter. It rotates the tweeter and mid. as a unit for side or vertical install. I was really surprised at their quality verses their price. I would be willing to bet the L100 Classic would be well built as in the JBL classic tradition. Wow I should be a sales guy for Harman! Their stuff is built to last a lifetime. Don't know if that still holds any water with audio customers today. But I really like goods that have that last a lifetime quality!
 
One of the reasons the L100 was so popular is they were relatively affordable to average working people. $4000. is not for a pair of speakers, even today. For that money/type/size range I'd rather have LSR6332s or 708Ps or 4429s.

You'd be better off getting the Studio 580 or 590 and saving a bunch, unless you had to have the bookshelf size format.

6-8 months ago, I sold a pair of mint original 4311b from 1981 in boxes. They had all the original paperwork with them. The receipt reflected $280 with tax from '81.
I sold them on Craigslist for $1200. I thought I did well.... but if new L100s reach the market at $4000, I think the buyer did well...
 
Oh, and I do have a long listening experience with the 1200FE. I think it is the same driver that is in my 4429s. Best bass I have ever had in my room. They go down to the 30s contrary to what some people have said. I have room resonances at 60 and 120. I can here a little peak at 120Hz, but not at 60 with no EQ. No doubt, the 15inch 2235 woofers in the 4333's go lower. I measured the pair I have to 20Hz. They will reproduce concussions or explosions with authority. The 1200FE is rolled off somewhat, but the lows are there. What the 1200FE does is reproduce the bass and lower midrange with very good clarity. Drums have a snap to them. One of the best woofers I have ever had at my place. I think JBL has a winner there!
 
I want be buying a pair but I could damn sure afford $4000 easier today than I could have $700 in 1974, of course I was only 16 then.
 
Some random points:

When the original L100 was made, the speaker market was much, much smaller. JBL had the name recognition and could get away with a higher price. JBL is still well known these days, but there are plenty more manufacturers now, and you can spend a lot less money and still get a very good speaker (I'm talking new here, not used). Compare what you can get from Polk or Boston Acoustics for that amount of cash (I just did - Polk offers their TOTL tower for the same price, but it looks like BA has gone the low cost route).

Since the cost of manufacturing almost everything has come down (cars are an exception only because they include a lot more components now than they did in the 70s), I'm sure that JBL's cost to manufacture these is significantly lower than the MSRP. Marketing probably came up with the price thinking that there are enough people who's be willing to pay a premium for an updated version of something they remember fondly from their youth. If they're wrong, they still have significant leeway to reduce it without losing money. Unlike a car, it doesn't take a huge team of engineers years to design a speaker (plus there are no government regs to conform to). I'd guess that their cost to bring this to market is relatively low. Even if they designed new drivers for it, they're going to end up in other JBL models sooner or later.
 
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"LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd."

This is the part that is the problem for me. If they are going to be manufactured in the USA, then $4k is probably an OK price. If they are going to be made in China, or elsewhere in the Far East, it smacks of just jacking the price up because of the JBL name. Because you know, they could make these in China for less than $500.

Lee.

Oh, you are so right. Two years ago, I was thrilled to find a North American current Quad valve phono preamp. Very well hidden somewhere inside the unit was a sticker stating 'Made In China'.
I returned it for a refund. Twelve hundred dollars for anything made there is offensive.
 
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I know that Klipsch dealer prices are exactly 1/2 of the MSRP. So if the same holds true here, you are looking at a nice profit and might want to get these in your store. So if they can sell them to dealers for $1000 each, then they can manufacture them for hhmmmm????
 
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