JBL L36 Price

[itsikhefez]

Hey all,

I'm working on restoring a Sansui AU-999 and Sansui AU-717 and based on what I read here, JBL's could be a great match.

Never had any pair of JBL' s and looking to buy a pair for a reasonable price (prices seem to be a bit high nowadays).
I am going to purchase a Yamaha CA-1000 (that needs work) from a local seller and he also has a pair of L36 he is willing to let go of.

The cabinets are in good cosmetic condition, all drivers look good and woofers have been refoamed a while back. Grills good too.

I'm not sure if the speakers were an original pair, as the top veneer looks a bit different.
The serial numbers are fairly close but not consecutive, XXXX41 and XXXX52.

What is a reasonable price for these? Any other things I should look out for?

 

[RossW]

I'd say $6-700.
Pairs have sold for $500 but they were rougher, pairs have sold for $900 but they were gorgeous and the price included shipping.
I don't think JBL ever claimed to match veneers so the slightly mismatched grain isn't a big deal.
Have the crossovers been recapped?

 

[itsikhefez]

Thanks alot. He’s asking actually below $500 so sounds like a great deal.
I’m fairly certain the crossovers have not been touched, but I plan on refreshing them or totally replacing with Troel’s mod.

 

[itsikhefez]

Thanks for the nudge, I went over and bought them.
I think I did fairly good

 

[goodolpg]

>>>> I'm not sure if the speakers were an original pair, as the top veneer looks a bit different. <<<<<

That's probably because they have real wood veneer.
Unless book matched each piece of wood is probably different from another.
Book matching seems to be most often part of higher end and/or quality conscious companies.
I have noticed in the past that many speaker pairs seem to have one "pretty" grain cabinet and one "blah" grain cabinet.
And I seem to be real good at noticing ads where speaker companies show a "pair" that are almost identical...until you notice they just flipped/mirrored the same speaker.

 

[BilboBaggins]

You did well! Very well indeed!

I've had a couple of pairs of L36s over the years. Very attractive speakers with that beautiful real wood grain. They sound pretty good too, especially when you have 100 or more quality watts to feed each channel.

 

[reddodge053]

Fantastic deal!!

 

[KingBubba]

I have been listening to my L36s for 10 years now and could not be more happy with them.

 

[itsikhefez]

Nice!! Have you used the same amp or rotated during those years?
Are there any combos that stood out?

These will probably go with the AU-999, AU-717 or the CA-1000 once I get to restoring them.

 

[bktheking]

Listening to my pair right now, not going anywhere. You did well on price point.

 

[itsikhefez]

Regarding maintenance...
1) The tweeter foam is extremely stiff. Should that be replaced?
2) A piece of foam that surrounds the woofer is missing (this can be observed in the pictures). Where can I find direct replacement for that/ what is it called?

 

[KingBubba]

The foam piece would only be an issue if the driver was mounted from the back.

 

[goodolpg]

Regarding maintenance...
1) The tweeter foam is extremely stiff. Should that be replaced?
2) A piece of foam that surrounds the woofer is missing (this can be observed in the pictures). Where can I find direct replacement for that/ what is it called?

It's often called speaker gasket.
As mentioned it might be functional (sealing) if the driver is mounted on the back of the front baffle. Other wise it is mostly cosmetic when used with front mount drivers.
Hides the surround where it glues to the metal basket frame.

 

[Hooligan1]

Regarding maintenance...
1) The tweeter foam is extremely stiff. Should that be replaced?
2) A piece of foam that surrounds the woofer is missing (this can be observed in the pictures). Where can I find direct replacement for that/ what is it called?

Nice pickup on the L36s. I recently refurbished a pair myself. More or less just refinishing the cabs and replacing the grille cloth. Haven't recapped them yet. They are my first and only pair of JBLs and I think they are great sounding speakers. The tweeter can be a bit bright but you can adjust that. I am excited to hear mine with a little more power behind them. I have a HK PA2200 amp on its way.

The foam surround on the LE25 the tweeters is supposed to be stiff. No need to replace.

Good luck with them and post some pics when you get them all cleaned up.

 

[milo63]

Regarding maintenance...
1) The tweeter foam is extremely stiff. Should that be replaced?
2) A piece of foam that surrounds the woofer is missing (this can be observed in the pictures). Where can I find direct replacement for that/ what is it called?

The foam: LE25-4 vs. LE25-2 tweets

No little fingers have poked in the tweeter domes? Weird...

 

[Hooligan1]

As long as you keep the grilles on, those curious little fingers don’t have a chance to push in the cones. I wonder how many of them I pushed in as a kid?