JBL speakers are they really that good?

[oszkar]

Well I would say that they had a nice build aspect and the drivers were not to be thrown away eighder, so they weere a confort for one who has owned them , to listen to them! That was just as good as they are to the one who owns them!

 

[Poultrygeist]

I refoamed a pair of Lancers for a friend and was impressed by their sound. They sounded better than any JBL I'd heard.

In addition to the drivers they had passive radiators which I also refoamed. The orange cloth grills I thought were a bit tacky.

 

[hjames]

Not their top designs ... LX series are mostly low end, big box store designs - 4410 are better, further upstream but not exceptional. Not sure what your preferences are, but its ok to not like JBL - leaves more for those of us that do ...

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.

 

[BMWCCA]

Not their top designs ... LX series are mostly low end, big box store designs - 4410 are better, further upstream but not exceptional. Not sure what your preferences are, but its ok to not like JBL - leaves more for those of us that do ...

Actually, the 4410 is a darn good monitor. Probably clinically flat and boring to many who are used to consumer-oriented speakers, but there's no way I'd have chosen the LX300 over the 4410! I'd want to ask if they were 4410 or maybe 4410A which might explain the lack of love due to the inability to tame the titanium in the A-models, but still, there are very few better 10-inch three-ways around. The L96 and 4313B being tops in that genre.

 

[tonyk]

The L96 and 4313B being tops in that genre.

I agree.

I've had a lot of the vintage classics come thru my living, AR's, Advents, KLH, Dynaco, the 4313b plays on another level.

And that's not a knock on those fine speakers, just that the JBL 4313b is an exceptionally good three way, built with very good components as well.

 

[h2owiz]

JBL Speakers

All of the recording studios I recorded in during the 60's and 70's had JBL's.

 

[Chris Brown]

I would agree that the L100 is not worth the price it typically commands.

Then again, the L100 isn't really that great of a speaker, and not even close to being one of the best vintage JBLs.

No need to sugar-coat it. Paper-cone tweeters suck.

 

[Zonker92]

I would agree that the L100 is not worth the price it typically commands.

Then again, the L100 isn't really that great of a speaker, and not even close to being one of the best vintage JBLs.

Yes, I like it more for its build quality, appearance and heritage than its sound. Peaky midrange and the cabinet's a bit small for the woofer. But the drivers and cabinets are gorgeous IMHO and they're really fun to rock out with. And with bigger cabinets and more refined crossovers they can be excellent speakers. See:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL_L100.htm

and especially:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL_L100_08.htm

No need to sugar-coat it. Paper-cone tweeters suck.

Generally I agree, but surprisingly, those particular cone tweeters have some illustrious fans; see:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL_LE26.htm

 

[4343]

Actually, the 4410 is a darn good monitor. Probably clinically flat and boring to many who are used to consumer-oriented speakers, but there's no way I'd have chosen the LX300 over the 4410! I'd want to ask if they were 4410 or maybe 4410A which might explain the lack of love due to the inability to tame the titanium in the A-models, but still, there are very few better 10-inch three-ways around. The L96 and 4313B being tops in that genre.

With a new foam plug under the Ti dome there really is no need for the adjustments that my 4412A's lack. I'd guess that the 035Ti's could all use that by now, the foam in my 052Ti's were just gummy sludge, and the A series are years newer than the non A models.

 

[Tom Brennan]

These are very interesting; powered monitors with room correction for bass and, more importantly, a remote control, something sorely needed for powered monitor use in home settings. These could be the ticket for a simple, minimalist hi-fi in a small room. Feed HDMI signals from cable, bluray player and Apple TV to your TV set then feed the TV digital out to the speaker's digital inputs or feed a DAC to the analog inputs. Or save the analog inputs for a record player feed from a phono preamp.


http://www.guitarcenter.com/JBL-LSR4326P-Powered-Studio-Monitor-Pair-103554184-i1152810.gc

 

[ymarko]

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.

This original question has some logical conflicts. It implies that speakers
A) not that good, but
B) command "a lot of money".

And who said that it should be direct correlation between A) and B) ?

A) and B) are totally different animals. Price depends on a lot of variables, and "sound" is just one of them.

 

[Unabubba]

No.

JBL sounds just good enough and sell just well enough, that by being profitable enough to buy out every competitor that comes along with a superior sounding product, they have built a reputation as building and selling good sounding speakers.

Companies that grow through acquisition rarely offer a good product.

 

[jlovda]

I own a pair of L100's. Here is my personal opinion. I can't talk about recent units but drivers from the 70's are the most beautifully made works of art like Rolex watches and the cabinets/veneers are right up there too. Edge wound, milled voice coil wire. Huge 3" coils. Special cone treatments. Alnico and ceramic magnets with design innovations. Painted, cast baskets with push type connectors. The compression drivers were in a class by themselves. Whether this translates into optimum sound is up to the listener. I will say the speaker cabinet combinations are not matched to the T-S parameters very well.

 

[Tom Brennan]

JBL sounds just good enough and sell just well enough, that by being profitable enough to buy out every competitor that comes along with a superior sounding product, they have built a reputation as building and selling good sounding speakers.

Isn't it kind of early in the day?

 

[Donkey Karma]

Ken,

You're certainly entitled to your opinion but there are a lot of people who would disagree with you. The fact that many knowledgeable collectors are willing to pay top dollar for vintage JBL speaks for itself.

Perhaps someday your Infinity's will increase in value but I wouldn't hold my breath. You should be happy that you can buy Infinity's for next to nothing, they are good speakers, just not JBL's

This thread rather quickly started to become worthless after this post. Now it's hurled into the black hole of endless rhetoric and SA remarks... While the original post was a little clunky, it's funny people starting "defending' their brands and "attacking" those who do not agree..

The WWW has taught one thing, revealing the bravery and kindness of people while hidden safely behind their computer screens.

I'm out.

Troll on.

 

[Uncle Paul]

This thread rather quickly started to become worthless after this post. Now it's hurled into the black hole of endless rhetoric and SA remarks... While the original post was a little clunky, it's funny people starting "defending' their brands and "attacking" those who do not agree..

The WWW has taught one thing, revealing the bravery and kindness of people while hidden safely behind their computer screens.

I'm out.

Troll on.

You do know you are scolding someone for a post they made over 2 years ago on page 2 of a 23 page thread?

 

[Rob Santry]

Don't judge JBL by an L100 please

Especially the " high end " horn based systems treasured by the Japanese audio community.
jblnut

I've owned and heard a lot of speakers. Nothing comes close to my JBL S-3100's. I've demoed my Cornwalls, Belle's, Infinities,and Zu's. EVERYONE is blown away by the big JBL's. I'll always own a set of JBL's, to be sure...

 

[secretguy]

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.

Well.....they're better than CV...so.....

 

[hwirt]

This thread rather quickly started to become worthless after this post. Now it's hurled into the black hole of endless rhetoric and SA remarks... While the original post was a little clunky, it's funny people starting "defending' their brands and "attacking" those who do not agree..

The WWW has taught one thing, revealing the bravery and kindness of people while hidden safely behind their computer screens.

I'm out.

Troll on.

I'm sorry you were offended by my 2 year old post that you consider an "attack". At the time the OP didn't consider it an attack based on his responses. In my opinion it was responding in kind or politely disagreeing while injecting a bit of humor. The topic of the post seemed to be inviting debate did it not?

 

[Tom Brennan]

Ahh, to Hell with it.