I started them off slow after checking all the wiring and seem to work ok.
The previous owner, Ray, who owns the record shop said he's had them for years and that years ago someone took the amps out of the back i think it was?
Something about the Silver content in them?
The surrounds seem in great shape, The boxes are very good shape with no MDF blowouts.. A new coat of oil is in order soon.
I think he just wanted to get rid of them since they are as much a piece of furniture as they are a speaker system and he's happy with his HH Scott SS receiver and old Altecs.
I'm not super familiar with the JBL lineup, but a cursory search indicates these boxes were made for many different speaker components so maybe they took out the horns and LE14 woofer too?
That would be a shame, but for $20 I can;t complain. They sound pretty good with the LE12C coax and at 50 watt rating are MUCH simpler to drive than the Infinities I put on top and usually listen to.
They sound good played together off different amps to be honest. The JBL's are the "rocking" speaker from what I can tell, so far good with Cream, Doobie Bro's, UFO, Hendrix, etc, while the Infinities are more clear on newer music, acoustic and female vocals.
They have a different sound than Infinities, less "clinical", less top end, but the coax tweeters do seem to work fine.
They fill the room with solid sound for sure and don;t seem to require a bunch of power to get loud.
They have bass, but not as tight a bass as the RS6's, there's just more of what's there. A small subwoofer does the deep work around here anyway.
I'll use them for awhile and enjoy them without modifying because it's readily apparent how expensive old JBL components have gotten.
Being no expert in old JBL's, I'm just happy to have finally run across a pair for awhile and now understand why people could get to like them and why there's an enormous following for them.
I already felt that way about old Infinities for years.
Thanks for the tips y'all! Already angled them back a few degrees seemed to help but WILL make some stand for them and get them up some.