JBL L100 Century and matching amplifier - a dilemma

[leesonic]

Thats why a 50 watt SS amp pales in power to a 50 watt tube amp

 

[Catmanboo]

That's a whole lot easier than doing the math.

Easier on the brainium. Conserves energy for more pressing matters like what LP or CD is up next.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Recently, I acquired my second pair of JBL L100, this time it’s a Century model.

I was out of hi-fi for some years, but back in the days I was listening to it with multiple lower-end amps, including hk 655vxi.

Now I am down to fosi audio V3 and Rotel 820-bx3, neither of which making a good pair for L100.

I came across 2 amplifiers:

Sansui au-517, which I have no experience with
Luxman L430 (I had L410 and I recall it having a pretty massive but detailed sound)

Both are in similar price range (500-ish USD) with Sansui being just a tad more expensive.

What would you recommend out of these 2, or maybe 3rd in a similar price range? (I live in Europe, where prices might be a bit different than in US, for example)

Note that I don’t have an actual opportunity to test this with my speakers before purchase, so it’s a bit tricky.

I've heard JBL 4311b (the studio control monitor relative) sound really nice with the Luxman R-1040 receiver. So, the Luxman L430 should sound great with JBL L-100. Try those two together.

 

[keitht]

Some amps don't sound good with l100's. Classic Sansui was a good match.
I moved on from JBL some years ago. Great for rocking out. Not so good for
Other types of music.

 

[SaturationPt]

"moved on from JBL" makes it sound like you haven't heard any modern JBLs, nor anything in their higher-end horn-loaded from decades ago.

There's a lot more to JBL than one bookshelf / studio monitor speaker system from 55 years ago.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Some amps don't sound good with l100's. Classic Sansui was a good match.
I moved on from JBL some years ago. Great for rocking out. Not so good for
Other types of music.

I've heard Classical sound great on JBL 4311b speakers, with Luxman driving them.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

"moved on from JBL" makes it sound like you haven't heard any modern JBLs, nor anything in their higher-end horn-loaded from decades ago.

There's a lot more to JBL than one bookshelf / studio monitor speaker system from 55 years ago.

Very true. And I've heard my fair share of them too. They were generally all excellent placed correctly, but the best was the K2 Everest (and not auditioned with the best of electronics).

 

[Mr Boochie]

Very true. And I've heard my fair share of them too. They were generally all excellent placed correctly, but the best was the K2 Everest (and not auditioned with the best of electronics).

One thing about these vintage JBLs, they were built to last. For better or worse.

 

[jazzmans]

well.....horses mouth

View attachment 3682797

but i still don't believe it to be accurate

There's almost zero chance that any series of L100 was 75 db efficiency by the standard of 1 watt 1 meter. Notice that's 1 watt @ 15 feet, not 1 meter? 1 meter= 3 ft, so 15 ft is more then four times the distance.


my maggies are ~86-88 db efficient, and that's REALLY inefficient by most standards

And, of course, I see I should have read the rest of the thread before replying, y'all already did this. anyway.

OP, why isn't the v3 working? the ZA03 drives my infinity ren 90 absolutely fabulously, using a bryston preamp. I mean it, the ren's sound simply amazing being driven by the ZA03, and they are a claimed 87 DB efficiency.

 

[Mr Boochie]

There's almost zero chance that any series of L100 was 75 db efficiency by the standard of 1 watt 1 meter. Notice that's 1 watt @ 15 feet, not 1 meter? 1 meter= 3 ft, so 15 ft is more then four times the distance.


my maggies are ~86-88 db efficient, and that's REALLY inefficient by most standards

And, of course, I see I should have read the rest of the thread before replying, y'all already did this. anyway.

OP, why isn't the v3 working? the ZA03 drives my infinity ren 90 absolutely fabulously, using a bryston preamp. I mean it, the ren's sound simply amazing being driven by the ZA03, and they are a claimed 87 DB efficiency.

To put the numbers into the boxes and crank out the results:

 

[mrehorst]

No, its current not watts that drive your speakers. Thats why a 50 watt SS amp pales in power to a 50 watt tube amp

No, that's not how it works.

 

[boomboxer]

There's almost zero chance that any series of L100 was 75 db efficiency by the standard of 1 watt 1 meter. Notice that's 1 watt @ 15 feet, not 1 meter? 1 meter= 3 ft, so 15 ft is more then four times the distance.


my maggies are ~86-88 db efficient, and that's REALLY inefficient by most standards

And, of course, I see I should have read the rest of the thread before replying, y'all already did this. anyway.

OP, why isn't the v3 working? the ZA03 drives my infinity ren 90 absolutely fabulously, using a bryston preamp. I mean it, the ren's sound simply amazing being driven by the ZA03, and they are a claimed 87 DB efficiency.

It works but I feel it struggles controlling bass lines, and mids and highs are a bit sharp and tiring. I was surprised as well with this little amp driving Monitor Audio BR5 amazingly good, I just think that sound character is not in line what JBL needs…

 

[Thorsten R.]

Very true. And I've heard my fair share of them too. They were generally all excellent placed correctly, but the best was the K2 Everest (and not auditioned with the best of electronics).

Which one? The Everest I have never heard, but the K2 9500 was the nicest speaker I have ever heard. Regardless whether it was "Misa Creolla", "Like a Prayer", or "Jumpin´at the Woodside".

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Which one? The Everest I have never heard, but the K2 9500 was the nicest speaker I have ever heard. Regardless whether it was "Misa Creolla", "Like a Prayer", or "Jumpin´at the Woodside".

I've heard Hartsfields, I've heard the Paragon, the Metregon, and L200's. Just to name a few. I love most JBL classics to some degree.

 

[W9TR]

Hey guys, thanks for all the valuable input. I went to hear Sansui. It was hooked to Yamaha NS-100m and that sounded terrible. I also tried it with another set of speakers (don’t even know the brand) and it sounded better, yet not even close to anything I hoped for.

All pots and selectors were perfect, so I decided to buy it and check how it sounds with JBL, against all odds.

Oh boy, what an amp it is combined with JBL! Plenty of power, control, drive and attack in the bottom show that there is a generously dimensioned power supply inside.

Mids and highs are gentle but precise, overall sound is on the warm side but that somehow controls JBL’s aggression.

All in all, to me sounds like a great choice. In case I stumble upon an amp of comparable era and price that I can test, I will share my experience here…

Sounds like you found a great match. Congratulations! If you ever have a chance try out one of the big Pioneer receivers like the SX-1250. I’ve heard that receiver paired with L-100’s and it’s fantastic.

 

[Randy_P]

That is a solid shout on the Pioneer SX-1250, but man, with the way prices are in Europe right now, one of those will easily set you back as much as three AU-517s. If you ever feel like you need even more scale down the road, I would definitely look into the Harman Kardon Citation series or some older Bryston power amps. They have that iron grip over the JBL woofers, which is exactly what you want if you like cranking up some rock at high volumes.

 

[jazzmans]

I forgot to mention,

the za03 also drove my JBL studio 590s with aplomb, and authority, to incredibly high db levels without sounding harsh, or sloppy in bass.

anyway, glad you found a receiver that makes your L100s sound like you want them to.