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JBL L112 - worth taking a chance?

Childof60

Childof60

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I have been offered a pair of JBL L112's - in rough but restorable condition - for a c note. Woofer foams are shot, the grill cloth needs replacing, and otherwise seem intact. The cabinets are in reasonably good condition (20 years of dust to remove) and seem to not require anything more than light sanding and re-oiling. Looking a the auction site I only see crazy prices for fully restored units (with enormous shipping charges). I will head over to test the speakers Wednesday and need to come up with a fair offer price that reflects the work required for restoration. I have experience reforming vintage JBL woofers - so that is not a major concern. Also interested in opinion if these are potentially good enough to displace some of my other vintage speakers. I will post pictures Wednesday after I head back over to the owners home.
 
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Snow said:
I think you must have the model number wrong, I have never seen a JBL L115 if they exist. Perhaps JBL L15 a 2 way bookshelf speaker or JBL L150 a much larger speaker. Please post a picture and correct me if I am wrong. The JBL L15 seems to go for 200-300 the JBL L150 1k and up.
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Sorry - just realized I fat fingered the model. They are JBL L112's with the strange bump out grill. Cloth is brown. I did not take a picture the other day but will add after the test this week.
 
I can't seem to figure out how to correct the thread title to fix the model number error. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Snow said:
The JBL L112's are a vey nice speaker and worth far more then 100.00 even if they need to be re foamed the woofer they used in these has the flattest response of any 12" woofer that JBL made they sound very good much much better then the L100 century IMHO just the grills are worth more then 100.00
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Thx for the insight. I have a nice et of Yamaha NS1000M's that are the center piece of my system. It will be interesting to see how these stack up based on your comment. My only experience with JBL (good) speakers was L100T's. The NS1000M stayed and the L100T's left the stage.
 
I own a set. That is an extremely good price, especially in today's very inflated market.
 
I paid quite a bit more than $100, and had to install new foam, refresh the finish and replace the cloth. Still feel it was a very good deal. I use them in a secondary system, but they get quite a bit of play.

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What are you waiting for?
go get them asap.
BTW send those woofers to a pro close to you!
 
I paid about 4x for mine but they are in lots better condition than the op's. I will never sell mine. They are incredible speakers
 
When you get them (and I hope you do) check with Rick Cobb for the correct surrounds. He's the only person who will ask you to measure your 128s before he sends them to you because JBL used more than one cone diameter on these woofers.

I've owned my L112s since they were new. Never regretted that $900 purchase over nearly 40-years.
 
I paid $200 for 2 pair . The condition was mint minus and the surrounds were gone . I paid $280 to get the 4 surrounds done . Great speaker .
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Gee, I paid $50 for my pair of L112s in pristine shape except for the typical "plant ring," but then she did throw in a smoked thick glass, beveled edge, Parsons table top worth lots more than that. :rolleyes:
 
Wow. I am astounded by so many stories of L112s for $100 or less. They are rare in these parts, and go for much, much more than that.

EDIT - Asking price on last local sale I know of (CL) was $650 if I remember correctly, and they were gone same day. That was last year.
 
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I have a pair which I paid for $50 at GW several years ago. Its condition is less than perfect and has no grill while the woofer was reconed incorrectly, yet the sound remains quite good. Yes you hardly see any of these speakers in the market places. They are superb speakers and for a bookshelf they play loud and can take plenty.
 
Samokan said:
I have a pair which I paid for $50 at GW several years ago. It’s condition is less than perfect and has no grill while the woofer was reconed incorrectly, yet the sound remains quite good. Yes you hardly see any of these speakers in the market places. They are superb speakers and for a bookshelf they play loud and can take plenty.
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They would need a very large, deep and quite sturdy bookshelf.

When I first retired, I checked thrift stores all the time. Never found the incredible scores that others did. Occasionally found something nice at garage sales...but rarely, and never anything like these higher-end JBLs.

Don't do much of that kind of thing anymore...for me, it took way more time than it was worth.
 
spark1 said:
When I first retired, I checked thrift stores all the time. Never found the incredible scores that others did. Occasionally found something nice at garage sales...but rarely, and never anything like these higher-end JBLs.
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That was my only and last time that I’ve ran into such a find. Went back many times since then and always empty handed. I think it’s all about timing.
 
But the seller doesn't appear to be offering any RSLs. He is, however, offering, a pair of L112s at a crazy low price (well, I thought it was crazy low until I saw so many posts about getting them for even less).

Still, for $100, i think the answer to the OPs question is a resounding yes...even if there are other speakers I like better (and there definitely are).

But as I often say, opinions vary.
 
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