I think we've all had a pair of JBL Century L100s at some stage haven't we? I remember finding a pair in a 2nd hand warehouse under a shelf covered in dust and got them for $35 the pair. After oiling the cabinets and putting 4mm banana sockets on the rear terminal plate and cleaning them inside and out, I gave them a good listen for several months, comparing them to my Sony SSG333es speakers. Not really a fair comparison, but the JBLs sounded really good as remininscing speakers- ie, listening to Fleetwood Mac or the Doobie Brothers or something like that. On anything well recorded, they sounded liked ass. The tweeter was truly an abomination and the mids and tweeters ring in unison, beam and interfere with each other. The only redeeming thing was the driving mid bass and those beautiful looking white cones. They were truly the antithesis of hi fidelity. I sold them to a collector for a very tidy profit and never missed them.
I used to think JBL made great little two ways, but that was when nobody else did. Now there's so many good sounding speakers out there, new, or 90s+ to be had for cents on the dollar.
I agree, Focal for accuracy and I'd take any of the big B&Ws anyday- they are simply magnificent speakers.