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JBL L50 or L36 : help me pick one

darkhosis

darkhosis

Active Member
I've finally got around to these speakers in my collection. Paring down to one set and I'd like to hear some opinions from the Speaker forum. Parts are missing so I can't A/B them. Not sure where they fall on the JBL ladder.

L50 - nicer condition cosmetically, I prefer the grills. Newly refoamed 127A woofers. Mids working. Tweeters are blown.

L36 - 125A woofers need to be reconed, mids and tweeters working.

Budget is a consideration
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Interesting wrinkle..I bought 125A woofers from ebay because the L36 had replacement woofers and I thought they were cheap radio shack stuff.. After searching the codes it looks like they're JSE 10" woofers - probably from their Infinite Slope series. Never heard of JSE before
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Sorry, I don't have an answer for you. The L36 Decade is obviously the better known of the two. I do remember that L50 grill from back in the day, but I don't ever remember hearing an L50. *But they are so similar, one has to wonder why JBL decided they needed both models, unless they're voiced differently.

The L50 uses the LE26 tweeter, which is apparently similar enough to the LE25 in the L36 that you can swap between them. You can at least borrow the tweeters from the L36s temporarily to hear how the L50s will sound.

Do the L36 woofers need to be reconed or refoamed? If the former, that should make the decision for you - that's an expensive job (and I have to wonder why you bought replacement woofers that needed that much work).


ETA:

* Did a little research. Apparently the L50 is the successor to the L36, so they weren't meant to be sold at the same time. Since the components don't appear to be of lower quality, an educated guess would be that the L50s are an improvement over the L36s.
 
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Yeah, the L36 have the 125A woofers and I am going to recone them myself. The seller claimed they only needed refoaming, I got a partial refund but they still cost me $$. The parts cost is pretty dang high to restore these speakers. I'm feeling like it might be better to put in the money to fix both so I can at least sell one and break even.

Looks like the L50 is rated 70 watts continuous and has a lower sensitivity and the Decade 36 is rated 50 watts.

Great idea about the tweeters! I'll try that tonite.
 
The L36s are a fine sounding speaker with balanced upper frequencies and plenty of bass for my needs. I have never heard the L50s. My 36s are part of my bedroom speakers and I am highly satisfied with. Just my POV.
 
I’m not much help here. I have had a set of nice L50s for several years. Haven’t heard L36s at all. The L50s remain in rotation. They are quite pleasant and closely match the sound of L100s at least to my ears.
 
macyjrm said:
I’m not much help here. I have had a set of nice L50s for several years. Haven’t heard L36s at all. The L50s remain in rotation. They are quite pleasant and closely match the sound of L100s at least to my ears.
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What amp are you running them with? I feel like the lower sensitivity means they'll go nicely with bigger ones
 
The specs I've seen show a difference of only 1dB in sensitivity between the two, which is practically inaudible. The difference in power handling is essentially irrelevant (probably also about 1dB).
 
Pick the better looking of the pairs.

Like them both. Sold the L36's still have the L50's if that helps.

I think the L36's seem to go for more.
 
I bought L36s in the mid-70 when I could not afford L100s -
had them until 2006 when I got 4320s and heard the better JBL systems -
Shortly afterwards I sold the L36s and never looked back.
Don't know the L50s personally, but I'd go with them ...
 
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I've had both, but decades (accidental pun) apart. I think Greg Timbers designed both of them.

The L50 replaced the L36 and has a better crossover and driver layout. It crosses over the lower drivers at lower frequencies and avoids the peakiness of the midrange driver. Except for the grill muffling the sound, I have to believe it's a better speaker.
 
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swechsler said:
The specs I've seen show a difference of only 1dB in sensitivity between the two, which is practically inaudible. The difference in power handling is essentially irrelevant (probably also about 1dB).
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I was about to disagree but at closer inspection the tech sheet for the L50 is 88dB 1 watt @ 15 feet and the L36 as 76dB 1 watt @ 1 meter.. DOH.

But the crossover design is different. I'm not expecting night and day but I'll be interested how they'll adjust to my room and the receiver.
 
I haven't owned, or even heard, a pair of L50s, but I can tell you that even though they look very similar, the L26 tweeter used in the L50 is a better tweeter than the L25 tweeter used in the L36 Decades. It's not a revolutionary change, more evolutionary. I have pairs of the 4310B Control Monitors and the very similar L19As, both of which have the L26 tweeters, and as much as I enjoy my L36 Decades, I'm truly amazed how well the little 4301B/L19A 2-ways sound with the L26 tweeters and the 8" 116A woofers. Such a simple design that just gets everything right.

I honestly don't think I'd be disappointed in either of your options, but it sounds like the L50s need a lot less cosmetic work (which can be very time consuming). I'd watch for a couple L26 tweeters to crop up on eBay and grab them if the price is right.

Of course, it it was me. I'd restore both pair, tell myself I'll keep the ones I prefer and sell the other set, and end up keeping all 4. That seems to happen with me and vintage JBL speakers. They were so well built and look and sound so good after a proper restoration, I hate to part with them. Be careful, get these properly sorted and you may suffer a similar affliction.
 
MCM_Fan said:
I haven't owned, or even heard, a pair of L50s, but I can tell you that even though they look very similar, the L26 tweeter used in the L50 is a better tweeter than the L25 tweeter used in the L36 Decades. It's not a revolutionary change, more evolutionary. I have pairs of the 4310B Control Monitors and the very similar L19As, both of which have the L26 tweeters, and as much as I enjoy my L36 Decades, I'm truly amazed how well the little 4301B/L19A 2-ways sound with the L26 tweeters and the 8" 116A woofers. Such a simple design that just gets everything right.

I honestly don't think I'd be disappointed in either of your options, but it sounds like the L50s need a lot less cosmetic work (which can be very time consuming). I'd watch for a couple L26 tweeters to crop up on eBay and grab them if the price is right.

Of course, it it was me. I'd restore both pair, tell myself I'll keep the ones I prefer and sell the other set, and end up keeping all 4. That seems to happen with me and vintage JBL speakers. They were so well built and look and sound so good after a proper restoration, I hate to part with them. Be careful, get these properly sorted and you may suffer a similar affliction.
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I feel like I'm talking to myself right now..haha!

Just bought a pair of LE26 tweeters on ebay, cheaper than the recone kit at simply speakers. hope I have better luck this time then with those 125As.
I am going to restore the Decades: I feel sick when I part out speakers and throw away those beautiful JBL cabinets. Yes, I admit I've done it.
New caps, recone the woofer and new grill fabric. I'm leaning towards the burnt orange..
 
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There is a market for classic JBL cabinets, especially when they're in good condition and include grills (you didn't say if either of those apply to yours). I personally have a set of L100 cabs in my basement. I've recently discovered that speaker-sized double wall boxes aren't too expensive and neither is bubble wrap, so I'll be putting those up on ebay one of these days.
 
darkhosis said:
I feel like I'm talking to myself right now..haha!

Just bought a pair of L26 on ebay, cheaper than the recone kit at simply speakers. hope I have better luck this time then with those 125As.
I am going to restore the Decades: I feel sick when I part out speakers and throw away those beautiful JBL cabinets. Yes, I admit I've done it.
New caps, recone the woofer and new grill fabric. I'm leaning towards the burnt orange..
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Burnt orange was my original plan, but I ended up going in a different direction entirely:

JBL_L36_Decade_After_2.jpg
 
Need some real talk:

Did the recap make a big difference in the sound? Close inspection revealed a dead resistor and 1 bad L-pad (wtf went on with this poor speaker) on top of everything else.

Is it like new caps in an Large Advent or KLH Model XX or just future proofing them?
 
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