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JBL speakers are they really that good?

JBL's

I find also this thread a good read. A lot of good stuff here. I can say from my standpiont, that I was looking to get a piece of my past that was not posible back in the day( not making min. wage, pumping gas at Kinna's American, Beth. Md.). But I must say, I LOVE the sound of 100's. I have them A/B/C'd in rotation with L112's, Dynaco A25's, and the 100's which are the very last series, with the rabbeted-in baffles. These all hooked up to my SX1250 (totaly rebuilt). Music source; Marantz DV9600, SACD. The sound is great to my ears. I agree, though, they are WAY over-priced.
 
From 4311's to 4425's to my recently acquired 4435's there is something special about vintage JBL's... Naturally some sound better than others... I must say my 4435's are one of the finest speakers I've ever heard, I will have some L300's arriving soon and am intrigued to see whether they can better the 4435's....
 
Have had 4410s and a set of LX300 bookshelf. Neither pair survived in any of my systems. I have moved the 4410 out the door and the 300s are sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I apparently am one of those people who have listened to them and don't get the fascination. May have been the room, may have been the sources, wasn't impressed. I also heard them in my youth and thought they rocked, no longer.
 
I think if you were blind folded you would pick your 4435s over the L300s. For me the space required and my wife, I would easily go with the L-300s. Your 4425s dosen't compare to either of those. The "LX300" is the more modern Crap sound from JBL. The L-300s are a completly different speaker than BTOMBJC speaks of.
If you ever need smaller speakers try the 4313B's or the L96s. I haven't found any speakers under $2K that come close to what they do. In you can still get them for $400 - $600. They absolutely blow away the 4410.
 
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They're pretty good for a vintage speaker, probably more so as you ascend into the upper JBL echelon.
Highly $valued$ as American icons.
These JBL S8Rs will sound good when I figure how to raise them off the floor, tastefully.
 
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While it seems I'm more of a British sound fan, I have a pair of 4311B's and 4312'a. The 4312's came from a home studio and were hardly ever used and the 4311's came from a popular FM station in DC. Both have that magical midrange and solid bass for most music. They are detailed and swapping electronics is easily heard. I'm torn between the JBL 4312's, clean SS electronics and KEF 104aB's with a Crown PSA2 as power, but same preamp and sources for all listening.

Punch, dynamic range and very realistic midrange. (Clean power eliminates all harshness in the JBL's)
-or-
solid deep bass and a warmer sound at lower levels and overall better detail. 300 WPC means no headroom issues with the less efficient KEF's.
 
The wife and I flew to Raleigh, NC for my daughter's college graduation this week. Spent some time hitting thrifts and antique shops. Found a set of L-100's playing through a late 80's technics receiver. After giving them a listening to on a local jazz station I decided not to take the plunge. They were clear, precise, with very good bass extension but did not feel like they would displace my KLH Model 23's or 5's. Guess the east coast sound is my preference.
 
I'm pretty new to the JBL club. Found an almost mint pair of 4301b's recently.
I love these speakers. A lot of punch comes out of that 8 inch woofer, highs crystal clear but not harsh. I'd love a pair of larger JBL's at some point.
 
I've had L250's, l36's, l112's, l100's,l100t3, l7's, a ht of l890,etc ,and a bunch of more consumer models and I just picked up a pair of c51 Apollos with the s7 in them - I really like the 112's and the Apollo - the l250s were good in a big room.
 
tubed said:
They're pretty good for a vintage speaker, probably more so as you ascend into the upper JBL echelon.
Highly $valued$ as American icons.
These JBL S8Rs will sound good when I figure how to raise them off the floor, tastefully.
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A couple of cinder blocks would do the trick.:stupid:
 
Ken Boyd said:
Whats the big fuss about older JBL speaker? I notice that many people seem to pay a lot of money for older JBL speakers, like the L100's and others. Whats the big deal about them, they don't seem like they are that good. For the same price I have seen and purchased much better speakers IMO. How could a simple three way ported speakers compare to a line source or good electrostatic panel pair of speakers.
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old thread, worth revisiting- answer NO. They aren't that good. Speaker design is one area where modern advances have been made.

collectibility and value, that's another issue
 
I subscribed to Stereo Review magazine during the entire 80s. In 1988 I read a review of the L100t3 and they said that these were swiftly becoming their favorite speakers. That made me run out and buy a pair when they hit the market. These guys had seen and reviewed them all. All the Klipsch and all the great JBL and if they said that then how could I go wrong? By the way, they were right.
 
ekmanning5 said:
A couple of cinder blocks would do the trick.:stupid:
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Cinder blocks would work but they'd have to be wrapped in Corinthian leather ala Ricardo Mantalban but I'd prefer a pair of Sovereign-sized Corinthian pedestals:)
 
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Another point is that you need a good amplifier to get the sound that many jbls are capable of. I use several Yamaha m series amps and c preamps and these, although not the best in the world, will push a good set of JBLs and blow your socks off with sound quality. I have several sets of JBL. I got a pair of Infinity RS 6000 thrown in on a deal recently and put them on a 200 wpc Yamaha. They stink. I sold them right away.I also have a rare pair of pioneer DSS9 that although much better than those infinitys, just don't equal my JBLs on a good amp. I don't blast them. I run 2 to 5 watts and listen to quality. They have also made professional speaker systems for years and years and their monitors have been used to mix the majority of music. JBL all the way!
 
tracker-x said:
old thread, worth revisiting- answer NO. They aren't that good. Speaker design is one area where modern advances have been made.

collectibility and value, that's another issue
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Thanks for your solo effort to keep the prices down on the older JBLs! :thmbsp:

When folks offer such a blanket opinion I always enjoy asking what JBLs they've ever heard . . .

So, what JBLs have you ever heard?

Too bad I don't know where you are or I might have to invite you over to listen to some real vintage JBLs. Mine are the 4345 monitors, a 30-year-old design last produced in 1984:



BTW, that's an eighteen-inch woofer in that 4-way design.
 
Absolutely beautiful 4345 from a company that is the king of studio monitors. I'll bet the competition can't stand up to those. Without digging up the specs maybe you could tell me the low frequency response of the 18. I can see that the upper must go to 22k hz.
 
craig h said:
Absolutely beautiful 4345 from a company that is the king of studio monitors. I'll bet the competition can't stand up to those. Without digging up the specs maybe you could tell me the low frequency response of the 18. I can see that the upper must go to 22k hz.
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JBL says:
Low Frequency Loudspeaker (Model 2245H)
The use of a 460 mm (18 in) low frequency loudspeaker in a 250 liter (9 ft3) ported enclosure provides accurate reproduction, and high power handling capacity extending to very low frequencies, with excellent sensitivity. The loud- speaker’s motor assembly consists of a 100 mm (4 in) diameter voice coil, fabricated of edgewound copper ribbon wire, operating in a 1.22 tesla (12,200 gauss) magnetic field. The 9.1 kg (20 lb) magnetic assembly incorporates JBL’s new symmetrical field geometry (SFG) design which, along with a Flux Stabilizing Ring around the pole piece, significantly reduces second harmonic distortion and provides accurate low frequency reproduction.The suspension is carefully designed to control the voice-coil motion, ensuring tighter transient characteristics with complete freedom from dynamic instabilities. A compliant cone termination (the surround) allows long excursions and, along with the specially coated cone, damps spurious reflections traveling within the cone material.

The 2245 has a listed frequency range of 20 Hz to 2 kHz

System Frequency Response Sine Wave, on-axis: 32 Hz—20kHz +3, -6 dB
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Not bad for an old box.
 
My experience with JBL`s are far from extensive, i have not even heard a pair of L100 or any other 70`s model.

I have listened to a pair of LX66`s wich a friend bougth after he got rid of a pair of Infinity 3 ways with planar tweeters he had earlier , we did both agree that the JBL`s indeed was an upgrade even if they where less expensive.

During the later years i have very few encounters with JBL speakers since almost all shops selling decent audio products locally have closed down.

But i did finally end up with JBL speakers for my HT. After finding a pair of XPL 140`s i decided that i was on the rigth track, and managed to gather a system consisting of a pair of XPL200`s and 3 XPL 140 for center and surround duty.
 
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