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JBL speakers.A love hate relationship.

No hate here, just love.
Ask anybody who was at the last PNW gathering about my JBLs.
 
Apogee

adam-ads said:
I had a bit of experience with ribbon tweets back in the 80s. Ear openers for sure, but the models I heard sounded like junk after a while. They don't integrate well with conventional driver... IMO. I listened to many Infinity models back then that I was sure would have have been better other tweets.

A few years later I worked (in the car business (BMW dealership)) for the son of the guy who owned Apogee. I passed on the company party where this guy showed off TOTL "full range" Apogee ribbons.

The folks who heard them said they were blown away. I wish I had heard them. I'd really like to hear those Carver speaks too.
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Those apogee's are seriously complex. Death to your amp ... unless you got one that can cover the wide range of impedance automagically. I ahve heard Classe is one of the ones, though I dont own a classe ...
Cool.
Srinath.
 
L5 & 630T. I also really like these in the places they are in. I have the L5's with a Sansui G-8000. I like.
 
I have over a dozen pair of JBLs, and I don't hate any of them!

Though I do not love them all the same, either. This is one of my favotires:

4345-14-2s.jpg
 
Jbl

THE PENALTY OF LEADERSHIP

In every field of human endeavour, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone - if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy - but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions - envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains - the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live - lives.
 
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I agree there are some things JBLs don’t do as well as other speakers, but for the type of music I like to listen to and how I like to listen to it, I don’t think there could be a better match. :yes:
 
hey everyone, quick question. i have 2 sets of L100's and im looking to find a more vintage amp(or power amp) to run these. im not into spending thousands on an amp though. so what are some good suggestions?
 
Personally, I love my JBL's. I dont have TOTL by any means. A set of LC310-1's, but for my taste... they do just fine. I like hard rock music and these have been with me since new. I have tortured these poor speakers and they still sound great to this day. I also have a small set of J216A's and, for a small bookshelf set, they sound damn good as well. I have been very happy living with them.
 
I see a common statement from those not seeming to enjoy JBL's -- "those I've heard" and it's usually followed by a very short list, often of lesser models.

I love my L112's but it took me weeks to realize the 250Ti's, being so refined, were a far, far better system. Anyone that hasn't heard a set on good gear and still laments JBL is doing themselves a great disservice.
 
srinath said:
I have that love/hate going on with infinity's too.
I love the way their ribbons sound. The mid range ones are a bit unneccesary, but I'll not pick on them too much, they sound great ... just unneccesary. But I hate the fact that they didn't account for the dipping impedance in the X over or whatever they could have done. At the very least, they could have put in a 16 or 24 ohm ribbon in an 8 ohm speaker, so it will drop to a higher value. I have a few 32 ohm ribbons I bought, I am planning a 4 ribbon line array in a custom build.
Cool.
Srinath.
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I assume by "ribbons" you refer to the EMITs and EMIMs (and their variant versions like SEMITs and EMIT-Ks)? Infinity had electrostatics in their earliest speakers, and then EMIT/EMIMs, but never true ribbons.

srinath said:
Right. Now I've never owned or even seen up close, one of these, but thought I'd ask - The first generation tweeters were this big square thing. Then they went to round. Were those different from the round type. Of course the very first one was that long 7ft ribbon that came in what looked like a wooden plank.
Cool.
Srinath.
Click to expand...

It think the "7ft long ribbon" you refer to might be the line arrays of EMITs and EMIMs on the big IRS Vs. Those "wooden planks" were about three feet wide and nearly eight feet tall, and were finished with rare Mahogany with a lustrous finish that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Still, they were arrays of smaller drivers, and not single ribbons.

JoeESP9 said:
As Tom Brennan said, Infinity EMIT's and EMIM's are not ribbons. They are planar magnetics. They are push pull unlike most Magneplanars. They have magnets in front and back of the diaphragm/voice coil. Most Magneplanars are single ended, having magnets on only one side. The MG-20 series and the 1.7 are push pull. They have magnets on both sides of the diaphragm. The Eminent Technology LFT series are also push pull planars.

Ribbons do not have a voice coil etched or glued to the diaphragm. The diaphragm is completely metal and conductive. Magneplanar ribbon tweeters and Carver Amazing tweeters are true ribbons.

EMIT= Electromagnetic Induction Tweeter
EMIM= Electromagnetic Induction Midrange
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Good elucidation! :thumbsp:

jwalker said:
This statement isn't accurate. While all metal ribbons do exist, the Carver Amazing "ribbons" are made of aluminum backed by a Kapton sheet. The conductive portion is metal but the Kapton film certainly forms part of the diaphragm.
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There are some all-metal ribbons. The T1 ribbons on the Sequerra Signature series are just a very thin strip of pure metal. Someone here on AK substituted kitchen aluminum foil (considerably thicker) for the ribbon in one of these types of drivers, and reported that it worked fairly well!

KT88Lover said:
THE PENALTY OF LEADERSHIP

In every field of human endeavour, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone - if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy - but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions - envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains - the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live - lives.
Click to expand...


To give credit where it is due (and not let an AKer appear to plagiarize! :nono:) the above was originally printed on Jan. 2 1915 in The Saturday Evening Post, written byTheodore Francis MacManus, and reproduced more recently in a Cadillac advertisement (as linked to above). Relatively few people can or do write that well today; it's worth quoting as much for the quality of its prose, as for its content!


Oh, and just so these digressions aren't a total "thread-crap", I've heard JBLs that I didn't care for, and ones that I liked a great deal. Not all JBLs were created equal! :no:
:D
 
brutal said:
I see a common statement from those not seeming to enjoy JBL's -- "those I've heard" and it's usually followed by a very short list, often of lesser models.
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I would think it's only fair to comment on models one has heard.

My list isn't particularly short, and the models are not "lesser" (mostly the vintage studio monitors and the horns and drivers they used). Just don't care for 'em - they gouge my ears.
Many folks like them, though.
 
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eg4hatch said:
hey everyone, quick question. i have 2 sets of L100's and im looking to find a more vintage amp(or power amp) to run these. im not into spending thousands on an amp though. so what are some good suggestions?
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Vintage Crown amplifiers such as the DC300A series II, PS-400 and Power Line Four all pair very well with L-100s and the 4310/4311/4312 variants.

The Crowns are rock solid reliable and often available at very reasonable prices.

Speakers made in California and amplifiers made in Indiana. What a country! :D
 
70salesguy said:
Vintage Crown amplifiers such as the DC300A series II, PS-400 and Power Line Four all pair very well with L-100s and the 4310/4311/4312 variants.

The Crowns are rock solid reliable and often available at very reasonable prices.

Speakers made in California and amplifiers made in Indiana. What a country! :D
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Pretty much my first thought here, too. There's a Crown DC-300A powering one of my pairs of L100s, and the other pair is on a multi-zone amp from the whole-house system.

je
 
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