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JBL Advice - L40 vs L50 vs L96

T

timothy.faw

New Member
Hi all - I’m looking to upgrade speakers (Panasonic SB-170) to something in the JBL lineup. There are L40 ($200), L50 ($500), L96 ($700), and L110 ($700) all available in my area and budget (there’s also L100 and L112 but they’re $1200+ which is more than I want to spend). I would love any thoughts on sound comparisons and which might be the best bang for the buck.

If it helps, our current setup is a Dual 1219 and Sansui 4000. We listen to all kinds of music, but trend toward classic rock. Thanks!
 
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The L40 and L50 both have mediocre woofers, basically the same woofer as the L36.

The L40 has a nice tweeter (same as L150), but it's a 2-way, so the woofer and tweeter are both stretching to fill frequencies outside their ideal range in order to close that midrange gap.
The L50 is a 3-way, but has a lackluster paper-cone tweeter. It's basically a slightly updated version of the L36, which was NOT one of JBL's better offerings.

The L96 and L110 are both solid choices. Great sounding speakers with good components all around. If you're willing to spend the extra money.

The L40 could work on a budget, if you are willing to limit yourself to lower-volume listening. Having so much midrange dumped on the tweeter will dramatically lower the power-handling of the speakers compared to a 3-way. And that woofer is not great at high volumes either. But at low to medium volumes, perhaps with a subwoofer to help, the L40 could be quite nice. Not much you can do with the L50, despite it being a 3-way, since you'll always be stuck with that paper-cone tweeter.
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone! The L100 Century seller dropped their advertised price to $1000, and I was able to pick them up for $800. All original (including grills), great shape, sound amazing. I know the L96 and L110 tweeters are better, but I couldn’t resist ‍
 

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You actually turned down the L96 and L110 for a pair of even more expensive L100 speakers? Ouch. It's not just the tweeter that is worse. They are simply worse speakers overall. The woofer in the L100 is run full-range (tons of treble and midrange coming from woofer also) because it doesn't have a real crossover in it. This creates issues with directivity, imaging, and comb filtering. The L96 and L110 both have real crossovers, and much better imaging. It's difficult to recommend the L100 unless you have a super strong nostalgic connection to that specific model or you can flip them for a profit. If you wanted to step up to a model with a 12" woofer, you should have gone the L112 route, which is basically an upgraded version of the L96. The L100 is more like a L36 with a 12" in it.

But you know what they say about opinions. If you enjoy them, that's all that matters.
 
Chris Brown said:
You actually turned down the L96 and L110 for a pair of even more expensive L100 speakers? Ouch. It's not just the tweeter that is worse. They are simply worse speakers overall. The woofer in the L100 is run full-range (tons of treble and midrange coming from woofer also) because it doesn't have a real crossover in it. This creates issues with directivity, imaging, and comb filtering. The L96 and L110 both have real crossovers, and much better imaging. It's difficult to recommend the L100 unless you have a super strong nostalgic connection to that specific model or you can flip them for a profit. If you wanted to step up to a model with a 12" woofer, you should have gone the L112 route, which is basically an upgraded version of the L96. The L100 is more like a L36 with a 12" in it.

But you know what they say about opinions. If you enjoy them, that's all that matters.
Click to expand...
Wasn’t quite that simple… After looking more closely, the L112s weren’t in great shape and would have needed work.

The L96’s were refurbished and had some light cabinet damage from people putting plants on them; not a huge deal. I was leaning toward them, but they actually sold while I was debating (oops)…

End of the day, I feel like I got a good deal on these (maybe not as good as the L96’s), and they’re 1000x better than what I had before. Also don’t think I’ll lose any money if I decide to sell and upgrade later.
 
I hope you enjoy them.
As you can tell from my earlier photo in this thread, I have many of these I can compare in the privacy of my own home.
So guess which ones I hardly ever listen to?
JBL L100 finished.jpg
 
People dump on the L100 a lot here and in other spaces. But lots and lots actually love them. I liked them even though I knew they had a sound which was anything but accurate. That said, they are very fun and perfect for the type of music you like.

Bottom line is if you like them, you're set! Listen to them and enjoy, and you're right, if the times comes that something else appears that you're interested in, moving these along for a good price shouldn't be much of an issue.
 
sberger said:
People dump on the L100 a lot here and in other spaces. But lots and lots actually love them. I liked them even though I knew they had a sound which was anything but accurate. That said, they are very fun and perfect for the type of music you like.
Click to expand...
It is true in many cases: Ignorance is bliss!
As CSN&Y said, "Love the one you're with!" :thumbsup:
 
timothy.faw said:
Hi all - I’m looking to upgrade speakers (Panasonic SB-170) to something in the JBL lineup. There are L40 ($200), L50 ($500), L96 ($700), and L110 ($700) all available in my area and budget (there’s also L100 and L112 but they’re $1200+ which is more than I want to spend). I would love any thoughts on sound comparisons and which might be the best bang for the buck.

If it helps, our current setup is a Dual 1219 and Sansui 4000. We listen to all kinds of music, but trend toward classic rock. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hi, how it's Panasonic sb-170? Descent sound or?
 
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