JBL speakers are they really that good?

[Ken Boyd]

On another note as Infinity was ruined when Harmon Kardon took over it, where as at least JBL has been able to have freedom to manufactor some hi end quality audio speakers for the hi end market. But the engineer that designed the vintage Infinity's that I referred to is still creating some great audio speakers under another name (Genisis) and I would be willing to bet anyone that was able to listen to a top of the line Genisis speaker and the top of the line JBL would most probably pick the Genisis over the JBL. As far as price range it really isn't a fair comparison, as the top of line JBL goes for around 70,000 dollars where as the Genisis is around 250,000 dollars.

 

[Uncle Paul]

JBL left the west coast sound behind decades ago. The L100 in particular is the consumer version of their popular professional monitors. These were voiced to match the competitor's monitor that they replaced being both smaller and cheaper. They were huge sellers because it made sense to buy the speakers most of the music was being mixed with. This monitor voicing has nothing to do with anything they have produced since the early '80's. Horns have evolved considerably in the past several decades, and many of them are silky smooth in addition to having a liveliness that can't be achieved with any other transducer. Don't confuse sound reinforcement with consumer configurations. They have different purposes and solutions.

The obsession some have with L100's is akin to the needs of some for the muscle car they couldn't afford when they were in high school or college.

Anywayz, good luck with your project and hope you have a chance to experience something other than an L100. Look to the Ti, XPL, Performance, Project Array, and anything that says K-2 or Everest. I'm sure I've left a few out.

 

[Ken Boyd]

The Andromeda's are interesting looking speakers, I never had the opportunity to audition a pair so can't comment on the sound. Good luck with your project.

Thanks, I find them an interesting and to be honest great sounding speaker system. The one bass commode is plenty with great tight, deep bass, but because of my listening rooms layout I am unable to locate the bass commode in the center of the two panels, so I would like to have another to help offset the bass being off to the side of the room. I will have to lower the gains on the bass amps as I am sure two bass commodes will not be very balance with the mids and hi's.

 

[Ken Boyd]

JBL left the west coast sound behind decades ago. The L100 in particular is the consumer version of their popular professional monitors. These were voiced to match the competitor's monitor that they replaced being both smaller and cheaper. They were huge sellers because it made sense to buy the speakers most of the music was being mixed with. This monitor voicing has nothing to do with anything they have produced since the early '80's. Horns have evolved considerably in the past several decades, and many of them are silky smooth in addition to having a liveliness that can't be achieved with any other transducer. Don't confuse sound reinforcement with consumer configurations. They have different purposes and solutions.

The obsession some have with L100's is akin to the needs of some for the muscle car they couldn't afford when they were in high school or college.

Anywayz, good luck with your project and hope you have a chance to experience something other than an L100. Look to the Ti, XPL, Performance, Project Array, and anything that says K-2 or Everest. I'm sure I've left a few out.

I was looking at the JBL website on the Everest models yesterday, and they are a very striking and probably great sounding speaker. But I hardly think they compare to any of the speakers of the 70's that JBL made, just as they are in a price range for only the very few more fortunate people on this planet.

 

[Uncle Paul]

On another note as Infinity was ruined when Harmon Kardon took over it, where as at least JBL has been able to have freedom to manufactor some hi end quality audio speakers for the hi end market. But the engineer that designed the vintage Infinity's that I referred to is still creating some great audio speakers under another name (Genisis) and I would be willing to bet anyone that was able to listen to a top of the line Genisis speaker and the top of the line JBL would most probably pick the Genisis over the JBL. As far as price range it really isn't a fair comparison, as the top of line JBL goes for around 70,000 dollars where as the Genisis is around 250,000 dollars.

How did you find out about this? The conspiracy by JBL to have Beatrice and then Harmon to buy both brands so that their arch enemy, Infinity, could be destroyed is only to be known by the inner circle of the cult. That Arnie Nudell was not destroyed in the aftermath is JBL's greatest failure.

 

[Big Tuna]

Quite a few JBL's were good, so yes. They sold high volumes because of how well people liked them. I have heard L-100, L-112, L-150A, L-150(no 035ti tweet), 250Ti, 4312, and a few others I can't remember the numbers of. They all sounded really nice, but not nice enough to merit the higher price, IMO. So, bottom line is, yes, they are that good, which is why you see many people paying big $$$ for them. They are very well built too.

 

[markd51]

Compared to Bose - yes.:yes:
Compared to Klipsch - no.

Well, that ought to take care of it.:thmbsp:

I've listened more times than I can count, to a best friend's Klipsch Cornwalls from the day he bought them new, and on and off for the next 20+ years.

Yes, a nice speaker, authoritive, particularly in the bass region, and I'm sure the 15" woofers gave a hand with this, efficient, yet still there was always something about them that always seemed missing.

A lack of proper top to bottom balance, a lack of openess, transparency, and ease . Yes, everything "seemed" to be there, but then again, perhaps juust a personal disliking of certain qualities this speaker possessed?

While the JBL L-65 Jubals I owned for many years was not as large a speaker, not as authoritive in the bass region, the Jubal always seemed more coherent, and at ease of letting the music flow.

After I got the pair of JBL 4430 Monitors, I'd have to conclude that side by side, more than likely these Cornwalls would be evidently lacking in all respects. The 4430 would be the hands down winner, at least in regards to this early version, original Cornwall. And no, I'm not saying this particular Cornwall was a crap speaker, or defective. I am aware that sometimes too, a speaker that flashes the heck out of you initially may also hurt you, and negatively effect your hearing enjoyment after a period of listening. Many JBL's could be found guilty of such, by improper adjustment of L-Pads, or Room Acoustics-Equipment used.

I will say the Cornwall was/is impressive, is huge, and is quite listenable, and pleasant. By no means a bad speaker.

I am well aware that the Cornwall can probably be considerably improved by a better quality X-Over network, and of course, the Cornwall II and III versions which are probably refinements of the original design.

 

[BMWCCA]

I have had;
L77
L99
L65
L45
L100
L55
L19
and L29's
I have sold every pair. I didn't care for them. Sometimes I wonder however, if it was the not caring for them, or the payoff I knew was coming when I sold them, that caused me to let them go. :scratch2:

I'd probably share your opinion of JBL, too, if those were the extent of my JBL experience!

Don't be too quick to judge all JBLs by that list, or the L100s.

I've only had JBLs in the house for a bit over 50-years, so what do I know? Never have been a fan of the L100 and I heard plenty of them when they were new. I'm currently quite happy with my L112s I've had since new over thirty-years ago, my L7s, L5s, L96s, and L80T/3s. And I still have that system from 50-years ago. But my main system uses these today:

 

[markd51]

Oh my!
I gather what I'm looking at pictured above, is the revered, and quite rare JBL 4345.

Only 250 original pairs in existence, correct?

Heck, I'll take me a pair of those, and throw in a pair of 4350's too!
Now only if some serious cash would fall from heaven!
Mark

 

[similost]

I never could understand the popularity of the L100 myself. I've heard them, and I really don't like them. JBL has a lot better sounding speakers out there that go for less money strangely..

I had a pair of C36 boxes with the 030 load in them. LOVED the sound of them.. I only sold them because I built some speakers that sounded a lot better.. I bought the 36's for $75 in fantastic condition, resold them after 4 years for $500... and I could have gotten a little more had I of wanted to wait for the right person...

Any of the Blue faced speakers I'd be all over. A lot of them sound fantastic, but you better have a really fat bank account... there is a magic in the sound of those. I've never found a pair for sale, but if I did, I'd be finding a way to make it happen.

And as far as the pro speakers being for broadcasting in public spaces.. well.. All I can say about this picture is you just gotta hear it.. and to watch a movie with this setup was FANTASTIC. Sounded just like being at the theater... which is where these came from.. behind a screen... I now have them in my basement.

Yeah.. there is something about certain JBL's that are worth the prices some of them command.. Others, I think get high prices just because it says JBL on the tag.. kinda like women and the prices they pay for a Gucci bag...

 

[markd51]

Perhaps these 4345's are custom clones? The black baffles are sort of a give-away. Mark

 

[markd51]

Simi, now those are some horns!

 

[markd51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aff7zPdx56A&feature=related

Would defitely take a pair of these! Mark

 

[markd51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcKEpqvVDXM&feature=related

Here's what I'm running.

 

[kevzep]

Personally, I far prefer the classic Altec sound to the classic JBL sound...

Isnt the classic Altec Sound, Altec Lansing. That is James B Lansing.....Mr JBL in fact......

One thing that I think JBL does have, that people really like, an easy to drive load for their vintage receivers. Most of the JBL's were sold to people who like to listen to loud rock music, and most of those rock music lovers didn't really care about refined, articulate accurate music as much as loud volumes, and vibrating bass. I know I have tons of my orginal rock music on records. But listen to those older recordings on good audio and you can realize the lack of quality of recording equipment compared to todays recording equipment. If West Coase sound is loud blaring bass, forward mids, and bright hi's maybe I am more in favor of an East Coast sound, what ever that is.

Try a pair of JBL L7's or L5's and then have another think about this......

I think you've been reading a lot of uninformed opinions and not speaking from experience. Most of what you stated is flat out wrong. :yes:

+1

As I stated before the few JBL's that have heard, I doubt were JBL's better speakers or/and with very good equipment behind them. I was just restating another posters referrance to the quality's of West coast sound, which didn't hold a lot of merits for accurate music reproduction, but rather, lots of bass, forward mids, and bright hi's. JBL is known for its large market in Pro Audio, lots of horn loaded bass, and multi cell horns. Horns are for projecting sound at loud levels for public venues, usually lots of Bass, projected mids and hi's of which horns are noted for. Notice that JBL's top of the line, best speaker they claim they have ever made, uses horns on the upper range drivers. I don't go for the east coast vs west coast sound. I think some manufactors just are better at accurate reproduction and dedicated to find that in their products. Phase Linear, and Infinity both west coast companies. And both Infinity and JBL are owned by the same company, Harman Kardon!

In pro audio where I have been all my life, JBL have always made extremely well designed and well performing drivers....
However some of their cabinet design and performance was another thing, and JBL wanted everybody to forget they had ever heard the early 90's front loaded concert series.....
However, things have improved a lot with their VERTEC Line Source array in recent times....

I have heard JBL, L5, L7, 4410A, 4412, Summit L300......I love 'em all, my favorite actually being the L5's I have in my main system with the Lacoustics Sb115 subs under them.......

My favorite old school horn driver was the 2441......
My favorite old school cone drivers were the "K" series with the alnico magnets.....K140, K120, K151 (awesome 18")......
I did sound in the 80's and early 90's on a system which had these drivers, always sounded great!!!

 

[Uncle Paul]

Simi, now those are some horns!

Big brothers to the 2344 CD horn used in the 4430's you are familiar with, powered by a 4" compression driver. I'd guess that Simi's speakers are like 4430's on steroids. I'd also bet that they can handle just about any kind of music equally as well, and likely crystal clear at all volume levels.

 

[markd51]

Big brothers to the 2344 CD horn used in the 4430's you are familiar with, powered by a 4" compression driver. I'd guess that Simi's speakers are like 4430's on steroids. I'd also bet that they can handle just about any kind of music equally as well, and likely crystal clear at all volume levels.

And no doubt, a very realistic, and believeable "you are there" presence, and sound levels in any sized room to boot!

That's perhaps one of the downfalls with many smaller speakers, JBL's in particular, they sound great, but lack ability to fill larger rooms with a believeable, and authoritive soundstage. I noticed this with my Jubals, but with four of them, that did seem to help. Though, sometimes larger speakers become more difficult to properly position in a room.

An example, would be placing a L-26 Decade in a large living room. Those were my first foray into JBL, back in '73, a darn nice small speaker, well suited for smaller rooms, or a Bedroom. Mark

 

[4sure]

In the strange world of speakers systems there is no king. In one's view there are good ones from infamous makers; and shits from renowned manufacturers. Your best friend is your taste and experience in deciding what is good. It's a relative matter.

 

[kb9qkc]

In the strange world of speakers systems there is no king. In one's view there are good ones from infamous makers; and shits from renowned manufacturers. Your best friend is your taste and experience in deciding what is good. It's a relative matter.

:thmbsp:

 

[Tom Brennan]

Isnt the classic Altec Sound, Altec Lansing. That is James B Lansing.....Mr JBL in fact......

To some extent but not really. Hilliard and Carrington were crucial and much if not most development at Altec took place after James Lansing left. The development history of some early Altec gear is disputed and some think Lansing (who was there only a few years) gets more credit than he deserves.

Of course there's no doubt that the 288 and 802 compression drivers are direct descendants of drivers made by Lansing Mfg., a company that was bought by Altec, thus Altec Lansing.