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JBL L100 Century?


Flason

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A musician friend of mine owned a pair for years and thought highly of them. He listened to a pair of Klipsch at my house and said they were the best sounding pair of speakers he had ever heard. So I gave him a pair. And it spread thru his family. End of story.

Keith

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Does anyone here know about these speakers? The things I've read on the internet have all been positive. I realize this is a Klipsch forum but I do value your opinions. And not to worry, the 5 pair of Klipsch I have here aren't going anywhere. Thanks.

The L100 was a classic in the mid 70's - a GREAT speaker - all my friends had them and we even used them as monitors in my band at one time - they were awesome for their time! Great sounding speakers that were always highly regarded. The surround did brake dowm with time and if I recall correctly, JBL came out with a better surround in the offical recone kit. The foam grills were cool - thick open cell foam in orange, blue or charcoal grey - and I believe came two styles - the cubes were the ones that deteriorated quickly the linear line version did not as it was a stiff fabric. Of course - all of this is from a rather faded memory so take it with a grain of salt.
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"I have heard that the surrounds degrade badly over time"

They're cloth.

"I have a pair of the L300 Summits at my brother's house and if they weren't so big, bi-amped and 16 ohm I'd have them at my house."

They're 8 ohms, and come with a passive crossover for full-range use.

"Yes, the surrounds need to be replaced about every 10-15 years. "

Yes, the L300 has a foam edge.

"The woofers in mine are now Altec 411A's instead of the original LE15's."

The L300 comes with a 136A, not an LE15. The Altec 411 is a good woofer, but requires the cabinet to be modified for the 16" frame.

The midrange sounds better on a Heresy.

The original JBL L200 Studio Master sounds more efficient than the Klipschorn, but doesn't have the bass. The L300 has the bass, and better treble, but not the efficiency.

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The L100 was a great speaker. I have the 4311s, the studio version.

Cloth surrounds that are as good as the day I got them in the early

70s. Other parts can deteriorate. The flat foam around the tweeter used

to reduce difraction effects. Crossover parts break down, and I am

wanting to rebuild the ones I have..

The LE5 for the midrange is a bit harsh and distorts to some. Depends on the year you got them on just which version is in them.

As I have pointed out before, my JBLs sound very close to my Heresy

IIs, just not as efficient.. The bass on the JBLs is way better.

The L220 has the awesome catseye ring radiator tweeter. I would love a pair of the 220s. Certain JBLs are among the best.

Bruce

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Actually, Marvel, it is the other way around. The L100 was a speaker marketed as a home version of the 4311 monitor (which has the better woofer of the two). I had a pair of these up front with L36 rears in my quad set-up in the apartment in Italy in the early 70's. The L100, ugly as its waffle grilles were, was one of the best-selling speakers in its price range, and made JBL alot of bucks, until they dropped it from the line. A pair of 4311's cost about the same as a pair of Bose 901's at the Audio Clubs in Europe, and outsold the 901's bigtime in those days! I like Heresys better than either of them, though.

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Andy,

I didn't think I said which ones came first. I bought my 4311s from a studio equipment dealer. This was before there were the online stores selling everything under the sun. The 4311s went through a few different iterations.

Duke,

How the esurrounds holding up on the L36s? They are foam aren't they? I repaired the foam on some L56 woofers that belong to a friend of mine, thanks to some advice from Dennis. They sound great!

Bruce

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While stationed in Germany in '83, the PX in Stuttgart carried the Cornwalls and Heresys. Unfortunantly, the last Cornwalls were sold that morning on the day I arrived to make my loudspeaker purchase; the Heresys were no longer restocked, and the Cornwalls were on indefinate backorder (rats)! I needed loudspeakers, but I wasn't interested in the other models they had (AR, Cerwin Vega, Infinity, Technics, etc.). The only models that caught my eye were a pair of JBL L112 Century II bookshelf monitors, and the Bose 901s.

I asked the salesman in the glass-encased speaker showroom if I could audition both pairs...he popped in a cassette of Pink Floyd's DSOTM in the Nakamichi deck, cranked the volume on the Carver receiver, and toggled between the A/B switches on the speaker selector. Less than 5 minutes into the audition, I made up my mind.

Just last year I finally sold my 23 year old L112s on eBay for practically the same amount I paid for them! They proved themselves many times over with their raw power and dynamics! My bro even used them on his HT for dual center channels wired in parallel, and they matched up very well with his KG 5.5s and later Infinity Kappa 6s. If I still had a use for them today, I would've kept them. The only problem I ever had with them was foam surround rot in '92; once that was repaired they remained trouble-free![Y]

post-11084-1381928099885_thumb.jpg

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The guy that has them for sale here wants around $500. I would have offered somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 but if a Hersey could blow it away, I don't think I will be trying it out. I could easily find a pair of Hersey's for ~$300 locally but I already know what they sound like and recently sold a pair for $250.

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I respect dennis's opinion but I am not sure he said a heresey would 'blow it away", he mentioned he likes the mids better IIRC. I have heresey and 4311 and like them both very much. To be perfectly honest I find the 4311 to be an overall more enjoyable speaker than the heresey. I like the heresey sound but it grates on me over time. I can listen to the 4311 all day and all night, really enjoy the sound. the 4311 has a nice mid bass and bass repsonse I cannot coax form the heresey AND the mids to me are quite pleasent so...the heresey now live in a closet and the 4311 keeps doing duty. if you can get the l100 at a bargain (<400) I say buy'em.

regards, tony

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I couldn't agree with you more Tony. $500 is a bit high and I wouldn't

go over $400 either. My 4311s cost me about $280 each in '72, and

listed for $329 each. My Heresy IIs are in the bedroom and my JBLs are

in my livingroom.

They both sound good to me.

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