New (to me) L100s!

SaturationPt

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Okay, I've not been a huge L100 fan ever since I got hooked on dome tweeters, ... the L166 ruined me in the '70s. However, I did like the L100s before then!

Anyway, got an opportunity to buy a pair today, mint cabinets, mint drivers, no doping drool, even the original foam rings are in good shape! The really cool part is that the original (brown, not orange) grilles are still bagged up in the JBL box! Unfortunately the foam on the grilles is degraded anyway, but at least I can take a lot of pictures and measurements to try and create proper foam grilles (some day).

Hooked them up and did some listening, they really do sound great. I now realize that when I don't have my critical-listening nose in the air, smooth punchy JBLs are hard to beat.
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Very nice :thumbsup: Do a google search for the foam....those are well worth spending the cash to get the new foam. However, they look so nice that covering them with grills is a shame. I guess that is a good problem to have.

Rock on brother :rockon:
 
It's a little weird after having 4312As, 4412As, 4410As, ... when I looked back at them in the back seat and realized they weren't mirror imaged I felt kind of sick like the original owner bought a mis-matched set. I didn't remember back in the late '70s (when they were my first speaker love affair) that they aren't mirror image! Whew!

Sequential (late) serial numbers, no flaws except the grille foam, play perfect, not even going to touch the crossovers for a while. The grilles came out of the box (still in original box and bagged) the way you see here, badges are still attached to a little square of foam, hanging on by their tiny Velcro hooks!
 

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Yeah, getting a mirror-imaged pair would be pretty unique find! :D

Those look terrific. I'm almost ready to finish mine with new caps and new orange grilles; can't wait. (Still need stands.)
 
Difficult to believe those are the original foam tweeter rings. Unless the speakers were stored in a sealed chamber free from the elements that degrade foam. Mine started slowly turning into "sand" particles about 25 years in.

Holy shit! LOL, now I know why JBL sent me that letter stating they would replace the foam with cloth. Glad I excepted.

My speakers were only two years old at the time and never reached this stage. I went with the brown foam too.

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Look at the farther speaker, in the background: You can see the tweeter foam rings are like the mummy; ready to turn to dust if you look at them wrong.

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You are correct, the tweeter rings need to be replaced. They are petrified, the far one in the photo was brushed against when carrying them, the other still **looks** pristine.

It's on the list, restoring the L100s to pristine operating condition to match their asthetics, I can presume that the capacitors are like the tweeter rings at this point, ... just waiting to show their age. I do not want to risk LE25s to the crossovers. But what crossover? I'm considering changing to a stock 4311 as it would be the correct sound for the period or stock L100. No goofy "high-end audiophile" wiring or modded crossover at this point, I want the original period sound preserved.

I love the original dark blue, and the original orange is so iconic it probably is the most recognized of all speakers in orange, but my box says brown (and there's the WAF curve that peaks at brown) so I'll at least initially order brown.

Unfortunately the bench has my MC2105 and SX-1010 on it, I have a pair of Acoustats and a pair of Magnepans in mid-restoration, so the L100s will probably sit sans grille foam for a few weeks, but winter is coming here in the midwest and I'll have plenty of time to dress them up. New tweeter foam and leave them with the grille frame/cloth for now, making custom covers almost as I type to keep the sun and dust off. They will join the family soon, they have at this point become my favorite JBLs.
 

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You are correct, the tweeter rings need to be replaced. They are petrified, the far one in the photo was brushed against when carrying them, the other still **looks** pristine.

It's on the list, restoring the L100s to pristine operating condition to match their asthetics, I can presume that the capacitors are like the tweeter rings at this point, ... just waiting to show their age. I do not want to risk LE25s to the crossovers. But what crossover? I'm considering changing to a stock 4311 as it would be the correct sound for the period or stock L100. No goofy "high-end audiophile" wiring or modded crossover at this point, I want the original period sound preserved.

I love the original dark blue, and the original orange is so iconic it probably is the most recognized of all speakers in orange, but my box says brown (and there's the WAF curve that peaks at brown) so I'll at least initially order brown.

Unfortunately the bench has my MC2105 and SX-1010 on it, I have a pair of Acoustats and a pair of Magnepans in mid-restoration, so the L100s will probably sit sans grille foam for a few weeks, but winter is coming here in the midwest and I'll have plenty of time to dress them up. New tweeter foam and leave them with the grille frame/cloth for now, making custom covers almost as I type to keep the sun and dust off. They will join the family soon, they have at this point become my favorite JBLs.

What a nice collection..... what did you say your address was?................ LOL
 
Very nice score! I'm jealous! :D
Looks like places like ebay have the needed goodies like foam rings and new replacement foam grills in a myriad of colors to choose from.

If the need or desire of new X-Over Caps arises, I'd say just simply replace with the decent and relatively inexpensive Solens of the correct values.

Feed the veneer with a nice product, Howards makes a pretty decent one that works well, I use such on my 4430's and Jubals.

And I'd say they deserve a nice pair of custom fitted covers. In the meantime, probably 13 gallon plastic garbage bags will work in a pinch to keep off dusts, UV, etc.
 
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Made covers from quilted black material, thick and dark. Made the same for my 4312As and a couple of receivers, looks sharp and keeps them out of the UV and airflow.

... maybe I'm a bit obsessive?

Foam rings are inbound from Simply Speakers, ... looking for a cap source (Mouser doesn't have much in bipolar electrolytics) and trying to decide on the grille vendor (guy in Michigan with a long lead time, or ebay guy).
 

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Thanks for the link. I had already ordered the foam tweeter rings from SS, now see the difference in color and have ordered the correct color ones from the link in the AK thread. Saved me some time.

I also see three sets of L100As on the bay right now, asking over $1000, which have what looks like pre-cut quatrex-style foam but it's done wrong (look at the edges). One pair has a correct one and an incorrect one. Is someone supplying sheet product that these guys are cutting to size (what it looks like)?

Regardless, Sculpted Foam Innovations is on my list, as is foamspeakergrilles.com but they're saying a year wait, ...
 
Opened up my 100 - just to see what’s under here are S couple of pictures I took, st the same time a blocked the ports, sounds like the lows are more controlled
Anyone can comment on these upgrades... they were done before my time
 

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Thanks for the link. I had already ordered the foam tweeter rings from SS, now see the difference in color and have ordered the correct color ones from the link in the AK thread. Saved me some time.

I also see three sets of L100As on the bay right now, asking over $1000, which have what looks like pre-cut quatrex-style foam but it's done wrong (look at the edges). One pair has a correct one and an incorrect one. Is someone supplying sheet product that these guys are cutting to size (what it looks like)?

Regardless, Sculpted Foam Innovations is on my list, as is foamspeakergrilles.com but they're saying a year wait, ...
The best, quality and price
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-LE-25-...-Original-Equipment-Manufacture-/311939436288
 
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