philly0116 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Anyone have any experience with this speaker? As far as sound and value? They look interesting I just dont know anything about them. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 The L100 is a weird combo of very good drivers with a lousy crossover. If you can build a better crossover than the two caps that came with it, you might have a decent speaker. The L100 was cost-engineered to impress people who were too stoned to realize how bad it was. It is the epitome of the "boom-shriek" west coast sound that real audiophiles loathe. If the drivers are in good shape and you have the gear to measure and tune a real crossover, it might be a good deal. If any of the drivers are blown you are looking at a lot of money for stock units provided you can find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 A lot of audiophiles like JBL speakers, and the L100 and its professional brother the 4310/4311 have been used in an untold number of studios. A slight 'mid' boost is the way they are usually set up, but they can be set to be rather flat. The crossover is the weak point, but JBL really used the natural roll-off of the compnents to make a checp crossover. Realistically, many crossovers were simple back in the day. The L100 Century might be considered for JBL what the Heresy was for Klipsch - a cash cow. I still have my 4311s, and am intending to get the crossovers redone or upgraded. There are some expensive upgrades available, but they will cost as much as the speakers did when new. I always felt my 4311s were a 'not as efficient' version of my Heresy IIs. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly0116 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Great info, guys! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I was thinking of asking Dean to design some crossovers for the 4311s I have. I suppose I could ship one of the speakers to his for testing. Or make a trip up that way and drop one off (or the pair). Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Anxious to hear a review Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 3.9µF in parallel with the tweeter doesn't look quite right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Wouldn't that short the tweeter as the freq. rises? Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperboy117 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 i upgraded my jbl's 4311wxa crossovers and put new L-Pads back this past spring.... tonight I'll see can't i find the info on what all i did.... i do know they sound more flat and better now than they ever did.... i would think the L-100 would be the same or close to the 4311... my experience with these speakers is i like them for playing rock music.... i play jazz mostly on my cornscalas or cornwalls, but sometimes i move my cornscalas back in back bedroom and get out my L80t's and 4311's and play rock for a few days in living room, being i'll still have a jazz setup with the cornwalls if i need jazz..... i keep a stereo on each end of my living room and always moving things around and trying things... at this time i'm trying to decied if i like a new tube amp i bought, a st-35 clone.... it sounds good to me but i have to play to louder to get my horns to sing on my cornscalas... my sony str-7065 will make them sings at lower volumes because it's a little brighter i guess ... and i don't have to worry about my neighbors also.... kinda like that wonderfull sound at lower volumes..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 "Wouldn't that short the tweeter as the freq. rises?" Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 (edited) Don't know anything about the L100, but my folks have a pair of L250's that are finished in Teak. They are superb sounding speakers to my ears, I absolutely love'em. Edited October 25, 2013 by Gilbert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Don't know anything about the L100, but my folks have a pair of L250's that are finished in Teak. They are superb sounding speakers to my ears, I absolutely love'em. I was going to mention the L100T's. The L250's are the flagship of that line. Very nice. The tweeter is better and they have a nicer finish (oiled walnut). My first real speakers were L60t's and I picked up a set of L100T's and rebuilt the crossovers and cleaned them up nicely. Nice speakers. I also had a pair of century's (L100s) that I restored. The L100T was a better speaker. I have an old pair of B&W DM3000's that I prefer to any of these. Really nice midrange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Don't know anything about the L100, but my folks have a pair of L250's that are finished in Teak. They are superb sounding speakers to my ears, I absolutely love'em. I was going to mention the L100T's. The L250's are the flagship of that line. Very nice. The tweeter is better and they have a nicer finish (oiled walnut). My first real speakers were L60t's and I picked up a set of L100T's and rebuilt the crossovers and cleaned them up nicely. Nice speakers. I also had a pair of century's (L100s) that I restored. The L100T was a better speaker. I have an old pair of B&W DM3000's that I prefer to any of these. Really nice midrange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) I found a pic of the L100's. Sitting on the top of my Belles. That was a while ago... Looks like this was before I replaced the tweeter foam and center cap. Edited October 26, 2013 by tigerwoodKhorns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 I found a pic of the L100's. Sitting on the top of my Belles. That was a while ago... Looks like this was before I replaced the tweeter foam and center cap. Come to think of it, I still have a pair of LX55's. Very similar speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Ah yes, the tweeter foam... Pretty annoying the way it just crumbles away. I was thinking of trying a large piece of 3M Scotch Brite kind of material (or a knock off). How did you fix the dust cap on the tweeter? My daughter managed to push on in when she was little (Got my 4311s new in the early '70s...). Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 I had the l250ti's, they were a very nice sounding power hungry but nice sounding. I sold them to buy a king size bed for my wife and I, there was a lot of caps in the crossover as it had adjustable crossovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeker Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 I like my l100's and l166's for the fact i can actually sell them for at least a few hundred dollars if not more. They are a good classic vintage studio monitor with a poor crossover and good drivers. I prefer to look at mine as good to sell or trade to get money or get somthing i want. Its amazing how much they sell for at even the rough times in the economy. With the same amount of money i have to state you can hit a homerun and buy some heresys. Im not saying this because im on the klipsch forum i'm only stating my experience with l100's compared to other speakers at the same pricepoint. l100's sell for over $1k on ebay from time to time. Original drivers are sometimes very hard to find. I have never used a better crossover with mine and wont do it due to the fact they are worth so much to sell on ebay in descent shape however they sit. I have to say the l100 is a monitor for every audiophile to test. When found for a good price you cannot lose money. I'm not so fond of the aftermarket drivers on them as so many l100's have although they often sell at descent pricepoints as well. Moving up the chain to the 4310 and 4311 i believe you have something then. And with a better crossover l100's as well you may have a keeper. My suggestionis to only buy the jbl century l100 if they are $300 u.s. dollars or less. Like so many i have seen no way would i spend over $400 and up unless they were mint with original drivers and/or a receipt and pics of the updated crossovers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Ah yes, the tweeter foam... Pretty annoying the way it just crumbles away. I was thinking of trying a large piece of 3M Scotch Brite kind of material (or a knock off). How did you fix the dust cap on the tweeter? My daughter managed to push on in when she was little (Got my 4311s new in the early '70s...). Bruce The foams are cheap. I think about $8 each (several years ago). For the center dust caps, I was at a speaker repair shop and the guy putting new surrounds on my woofers had some extra small dust caps. I just glued them on. Try partsexpress. They many have something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 My 4311s were designed to fit on a shelf or be soffit mounted, so rightside up puts the tweeters on the floor. I have scans the faceplate on the front (around the mid and tweeter level controls) and flipped them so that I could place the whole cabinet upside down, thereby having the woofer on the bottom and the mid and tweet on top. A little better fro putting them on the floor. Then they could just be tilted back a little like folks do with Heresy speakers. That murphy crossover drops the efficiency another 5db or so it's reported. That would drop my 4311s down to 84db. Guess I would need to pull out a larger SS amp to drive them. I listened to mostly classical and jazz with mine, so I don't quite get the 'rock' speaker sound. They could be adjusted for mostly flat response. I think Dennis posted he adjustments one time. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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