Thoughts on JBL L1 speakers?

[RunOutGroove]

I feel like I'm mostly done collecting audio gear, at least for the time being... though if there's one thing that I've got that I'm not quite 100% happy with it's the Quad 12L speakers that I'm using as extension speakers in my bedroom/home office. To be fair the Quads are really nice speakers with a nice smooth sound and extra-smooth top end, I'm just feeling like they're a little too polite and not lively sounding enough. It might be that they're a bit of a mismatch for my Marantz 2270 receiver too...

I was looking for speakers in the local internet ads and I came across lots of options, but the JBL L1 speakers seem like they might be the best option yet. They're really attractively priced and I figure that they might have more of that dynamic, lively quality that the Quads seem to be lacking. They're 8 rather than 6 ohm, which might work better with my old receiver (though I do like the sound of the 6 ohm Jamo C103 speakers that I have in my main room).

What are folks' thoughts on these things? Are they likely to be more dynamic and still have that smooth top end that I like/ Do they image well, etc? What I'm looking for really is something that will match well with my amp and that are not much bigger than the size of my Quads (8" wide) as they need to fit into a tight space (though I don't want tiny speakers either that have no bass). From what I've been able to glean from the internet is that the JBLs are pretty well regarded...

 

[hjames]

They've been out of production for a while, but we had a speaker blow-out test in 2010, and of the smaller JBL speakers,
the L1 did better than the (even older) L20T. If you find a pair for a reasonable price, it's hard to go wrong with them.



We first ran through the 6 1/2 woofers ... 18Ti vs 4401 vs L20T vs L20T3 (in custom cherry veneer) and after eliminating the L20T, we subbed in the L1s that Phil brought along ... Interesting comparison, front port vs rear port.
They'd seem to be very similar speakers, yet such differences in sound!
Next we were comparing L96, L110, L50 and Lx600 - we agreed they sounded much different upstairs in the living room on the rug & floor than they had downstairs on the concrete floor in the cellar.

 

[RunOutGroove]

They've been out of production for a while, but we had a speaker blow-out test maybe 10 years back, and of the smaller JBL speakers,
they did better than the (even older) L20T. If you find a pair for a reasonable price, it's hard to go wrong with them.

Cool.... the pair I'm looking at appears to be in great shape and is just $120 (my budget for these!), which is around 1/7 of another pair of the same that I saw online, though that pair admittedly had the walnut veneer finish rather than the plain black (which doesn't seem like much to look at) of the pair that I was looking at.

 

[hopeless]

I built both of my sons a pair of custom built L1s. It's a speaker I enjoyed for years. Punchy and lively with solid bass response. They do really like a beefy amp, but your Marantz will be fine. It will also roll off the top end a bit, the 035Tis can get a little tizzy with bright equipment or recordings.
I worked for Harman when they were current product. Had a lot of fun humiliating Cerwins and the similar "loud" line DCM made for Circuit City. Once volume matched, all someone could do was laugh. Have fun with them. I ran a pair for a long time with two of the 2200 amplifiers monoed. It was a very nice combo.

 

[62vauxhall]

I won a pair of L1's in a sales contest in the early 90's.

Didn't even open the box, just put an ad out. First person who called, came to look and had the audacity to ask for them to be unboxed so he could hear them. I had no intention of crawling behind my system to demo a pair of factory sealed speakers. My mother lived below me so I borrowed her old receiver and set it up in the kitchen.. The kid bought them.

I'd never heard L1's before, just L7's and I did not lke those at all. But the L1's surprised me - quite acceptible. Never was a JBL fan but I could have lived with those L1's.

 

[BMWCCA]

Don't know what you mean by "tight space" but remember the L1s are rear-vented so jammed in a bookshelf is likely to change their performance a bit.

The L1s in Heather's post were mine. Still have them, still love them, hardly ever play them, not for sale. I'm waiting to have the time to A—B them with the LCR305s, which I'm pretty sure will win. At $200 brand-new, the LSR305 and their upgraded later model (305P Mk-II) are just very hard to beat, especially when you consider that they have four amps already inside.

 

[RunOutGroove]

Well... it seems that my JBL L1 dreams have been ruined - as when the seller finally got back to me, they had been sold. I saw another pair selling for something like 3x as much too and they weren't even the nicer version with the walnut veneer (just plain black). I'm looking at some others and waiting on one that I put an offer in (which I thought was very fair and nothing like only half of the asking price). No matter though, as I'm not really suffering with the Quad 12L speakers that I have, but it is kind of fun to experiment with options... so eventually, I'll find something to buy and have that to look forward to.

 

[BMWCCA]

I don't recall any '90s L-series (L1, L3, L5, L7) coming in a walnut veneer. I'm happy to be corrected if wrong but I own six-pairs of these and have never seen anything but black.

 

[RunOutGroove]

I don't recall any '90s L-series (L1, L3, L5, L7) coming in a walnut veneer. I'm happy to be corrected if wrong but I own six-pairs of these and have never seen anything but black.

You may be right about that. There is one for sale on Reverb, with what is labeled as "mahogany" but the description says something about them being refinished (and modded out) so no wonder they're so expensive. I took a loot to see the prices of those things and it seems that if I had indeed scored that pair for the asking price, I would have gotten an unusually good deal. That doesn't mean that I would have liked them, but if I didn't I wouldn't be loosing any money. I tend to find deals on stuff so whenever I upgrade to something else, I don't loose money... and often I make a bit.

 

[BMWCCA]

I actually just remembered I have two pair of L1s; one is still new-in-box and I paid $125 for them. The other is the pair used in the comparison in Heather's post above and I seem to remember a $75 purchase price. I'm not sure someone's attempt to refinish them has any added value for me. It would depend on how good a job was done and if you like the change. Hopefully they stopped short of trying to improve the sound, too!

The ones you mention on Reverb are listed at $850, apparently because the owner replaced ruined drivers with others, found a tweeter screen he thinks is an improvement over the original, then stripped the black finish and coated the cabinets in multiple coats of walnut poly stain. But he found out that the baffles on these are not wood or even veneer but a "Masonite" type of composite that has no grain . . . so he painted them in a gloss cream-beige. The contrast is, to my mind, just fugly and with the baffle in beige it makes it look like the grilles are on upside down—even when they're not. If that's to your taste, fine, but it doesn't increase their value by four-times!

 

[RunOutGroove]

I actually just remembered I have two pair of L1s; one is still new-in-box and I paid $125 for them. The other is the pair used in the comparison in Heather's post above and I seem to remember a $75 purchase price. I'm not sure someone's attempt to refinish them has any added value for me. It would depend on how good a job was done and if you like the change. Hopefully they stopped short of trying to improve the sound, too!

The ones you mention on Reverb are listed at $850, apparently because the owner replaced ruined drivers with others, found a tweeter screen he thinks is an improvement over the original, then stripped the black finish and coated the cabinets in multiple coats of walnut poly stain. But he found out that the baffles on these are not wood or even veneer but a "Masonite" type of composite that has no grain . . . so he painted them in a gloss cream-beige. The contrast is, to my mind, just fugly and with the baffle in beige it makes it look like the grilles are on upside down—even when they're not. If that's to your taste, fine, but it doesn't increase their value by four-times!

I actually don't mind the look of the thing, though I'm not sure that all of that adds as much value as the seller is charging for it. If I had the sort of budget to buy that, I'd be looking at other stuff... Something tells me that the seller is either going to have to drastically lower the price or just decide to hold onto the thing...

 

[BMWCCA]

Fugly!!
But then that's what makes the world go 'round, isn't it?

 

[RunOutGroove]

Fugly!!
But then that's what makes the world go 'round, isn't it?

Well... there's that new reissue of those old Mission speakers (the 770 model maybe?) that are stained wood with a white (or maybe off-white) front baffle and to me they look pretty damn cool. I guess that the build quality is really excellent too, but it's hard to imagine what is so special about these speakers, which look to be pretty conventionally designed, 2 way, mid sized monitor type speakers that would make them worth the $5k they're charging for them...

 

[Speakerious]

Im looking at a pair of L1's for $80 -- I'm think of upgrading my KEF C45s, although not sure if it's an upgrade or a downgrade.

 

[OldJBL]

I would snatch them up at that price in a second. I haven't had a pair but do have their bigger brothers, the L3s and L5s. The L1s get high praise from many.

 

[911s55]

Im looking at a pair of L1's for $80 -- I'm think of upgrading my KEF C45s, although not sure if it's an upgrade or a downgrade.

They are very surprising when you hear what comes out vs looking at them. I use a pair in my bedroom with a Harman Kardon 930 and they sound very big and detailed for their size and simplicity. That is very fair price depending what the fronts look like.

I've had 4401 and L20T which are nice but the L1 is the winner.

Last week I purchased a pair of L5s, also excellent but a bit more expected.

 

[BMWCCA]

You won't find better in their size or price.

 

[Fomoco1649]

I won a pair of L1's in a sales contest in the early 90's.

Didn't even open the box, just put an ad out. First person who called, came to look and had the audacity to ask for them to be unboxed so he could hear them. I had no intention of crawling behind my system to demo a pair of factory sealed speakers. My mother lived below me so I borrowed her old receiver and set it up in the kitchen.. The kid bought them.

I'd never heard L1's before, just L7's and I did not lke those at all. But the L1's surprised me - quite acceptible. Never was a JBL fan but I could have lived with those L1's.

Hello, music Lovers….just ordered a super clean pair L1s out of curiosity….to comparison with my ELAC debut B6 hooked up to my vintage Denon PMA amp / 80 WPC ….Ive owned L46 & LX44 so far but only want a smaller quality speaker

 

[Fomoco1649]

I feel like I'm mostly done collecting audio gear, at least for the time being... though if there's one thing that I've got that I'm not quite 100% happy with it's the Quad 12L speakers that I'm using as extension speakers in my bedroom/home office. To be fair the Quads are really nice speakers with a nice smooth sound and extra-smooth top end, I'm just feeling like they're a little too polite and not lively sounding enough. It might be that they're a bit of a mismatch for my Marantz 2270 receiver too...

I was looking for speakers in the local internet ads and I came across lots of options, but the JBL L1 speakers seem like they might be the best option yet. They're really attractively priced and I figure that they might have more of that dynamic, lively quality that the Quads seem to be lacking. They're 8 rather than 6 ohm, which might work better with my old receiver (though I do like the sound of the 6 ohm Jamo C103 speakers that I have in my main room).

What are folks' thoughts on these things? Are they likely to be more dynamic and still have that smooth top end that I like/ Do they image well, etc? What I'm looking for really is something that will match well with my amp and that are not much bigger than the size of my Quads (8" wide) as they need to fit into a tight space (though I don't want tiny speakers either that have no bass). From what I've been able to glean from the internet is that the JBLs are pretty well regarded...

Best sounding bookshelf speakers I’ve heard….JBL proves it can be done….powerful sound with strong bass

 

[RunOutGroove]

Best sounding bookshelf speakers I’ve heard….JBL proves it can be done….powerful sound with strong bass

It looks like my original post was from a few years ago. More recently, I replaced those Quad speakers in my bedroom office with a pair of Klipsch RP-600M mk II speakers and a small M & K subwoofer (the Klipsch speakers seemed a bit bass shy to me). I like this combo a bit better than the Quad speakers, but I have to admit that there's strengths and weaknesses with both. The JBLs, had I been able to score a pair, might have been all-around better to my ears than either one of the others. I'm more or less happy with what I've got at the moment, even if it isn't quite perfect, but if I do happen to come across another pair of those JBLs at a good price, I'll pick them up...