JBL is reissuing the classic L100 speakers

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Monsieur Gadbois, Aug 14, 2018.

  1. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    JBL L100 Century
     
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  2. Moko

    Moko Forum Resident

    Location:
    London/UK
    I did the Troels mods on my 4311’s really does improve the sound....would love to hear a pair of the new L100’s in a direct comparison.
     
  3. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Yeah, they would be nice to have, especially if one was able to procure both blue and orange grills. I know exactly where I would put mine too. Alas, at 4,000.00 it is too expensive for me to justify.
     
  4. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Too expensive for me too. If I was lucky enough to have $4000 to spend on speakers right now I would probably go straight for Harbeth or Spendor without a second thought or audition.
     
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  5. arcamsono

    arcamsono Senior Member

    Location:
    MN
    Absolutely. Any product above a certain price,gets into pricing and marketing,etc,etc. While obviously tough.
    My speakers are Clements. After 15 yrs with this $100 bucks I paid cause a NYC dealer was cleaning out old inventory . I'm still very very happy. I think ,of course theres many choices,truly great speakers that have extraordinary clarity are hard to find.
     
  6. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Definitely seems like a price gouge aimed at the yearnings for nostalgia- not that you wouldn't get a great speaker in the process. Wish these would have come out a few years ago when I was looking for a set of traditional big woofer monkey crates. Everything on the market that was reasonably priced had multiple tiny woofers crammed in your neo-traditional WAF tower if you wanted a bigger sound.
    Fast forward and we have these neo-classic big box monkey crates but we've learned a lot in the convening years. What self respecting audiophile would ever let these "bookshelf" speakers just sit on the floor and oh gawwd ruin the image and have too much bass reinforcement AND tweeters way below ear level? Of course they do come with optional stands but can they be filled with inert mass materials? And are you kidding me- level controls AKA noise pots in the precious signal chain? I just wouldn't know what my educated audiophile mind would ever do with these :).
     
  7. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    Back when I was 15 in 72' and bought my 1st stereo system, I really wanted to get the JBL Centurys but at $600 it would've been half the budget of $1,200.
    I opted for a pair of Altec 3-ways that basically had the same driver compliment. I paired them with a MAC MA-6100 and a Dual 1219 w\Shure cartridge.
    JBLs were premium priced speakers then.

    The L-100s where the coolest speakers of that time with the exception of K-Horns but only attorneys & orthodontists could afford them.
    If I had bought them it would've been with the blue grill.

    It seems at $4k these may be aimed at the nostalgia buyer.
     
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  8. gorangers

    gorangers Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Haven area
    If I recall the foam grills did not hold up over time. A friend had them back in the day. I remember they desinagrated over the years. That said...he had the orange and they were pretty cool looking.
     
  9. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Way put of my price range, but an awfully cool looking reissue. Love to hear it.

    One of my favorite sets of speakers was a friend's 90's-era reissue of the Advent Large Speaker, bought on closeout. I don't recall that particular speaker revival getting a lot of press but it sure sounded good in her townhome. She got a steal!
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2018
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  10. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    I want orange but 4k? No way!
     
  11. So my b&w 702s were $4500 a pair less a 10% discount so close to the same price as these. Obviously a very different designed speaker but I don’t see how these are necessarily overpriced.

    Of course you can get other great speakers for that price and even less but even the originals were priced higher than many of their competitors of they Day. And in the 70s they were not a nostalgic thing and still sold extremely well.
     
  12. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Man if the industry wants to grow, “younger people” they have got to.....I dont know. If these were 120o dollars I wouldn’t balk, or even 2k. The exotics can get away with it but JBL to most kids is a high end “budget” speaker.
     
  13. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    I think you're just out of touch with what speakers cost in 2018. Even a set of the better Cerwin-Vega tower speakers have a street price of $800-$1500 depending on model. These JBLs are surely worth a lot more. You can't expect 80s era low pricing anymore.
     
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  14. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    I guess
     
  15. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    Kids know what JBL is? They know what speakers are? Well, I guess they know Bluetooth Speakers.
     
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  16. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    Oh, and Alexa. Alexa talks out of a speaker, right?
     
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  17. Monsieur Gadbois

    Monsieur Gadbois Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hotel California
    Love all three colors...bring back old time.



    [​IMG]
     
  18. White_Noise

    White_Noise Forum Resident

    Location:
    Templeton, MA
    I like these speakers more than a little, but not for that money. I paid 2 or 3 hundred for some originals in pretty great condition, but had to ditch them when I moved a few months ago.
     
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  19. riverrat

    riverrat Senior Member

    Location:
    Oregon
    I'm can remember when the JBL L100s were the ****. Couldn't afford em so I built some Speakerlab clones with my grandfather, which I used for 20 years.

    Later, I had some 4311s for awhile. They were pretty good, but not worth the stiff WAF challenges so they got sold down the road.

    I think the 4K price for these new versions is kind of high, and the sonics unlikely to beat other choices in that price bracket.

    That being said, I also scoffed at the Technics SL1200 "reissue" and had to eat my words, so there you go
     
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  20. ssmith3046

    ssmith3046 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona desert
    Bring back the L-65 Jubal speakers too.
     
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  21. Jtycho

    Jtycho Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I’m not understanding all the overpriced comments. Many have already mentioned that they’re directly in line with the price of original L100s. If these turn out to be great than they’re a bargain. If they stink they’re overpriced. Simple as that.
     
  22. RPM

    RPM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Easter Island
    Let's not forget Yamaha NS 500. It's about $20k.
     
  23. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    If it ain't orange, it's gotta be teal.
    :laugh:
    -Bill
     
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  24. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    I think that what most are saying is just that $4000 for any pair of speakers does not fit within their budget. That, and others like myself, just never found them to sound to their liking when compared to others that were thousands less. It was a really polarizing sound. Sort of like Klipsch vs Magnepan. If you love the sound of one, you probably hate the other.
    -Bill
     
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  25. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    Man, I can't decide between orange or blue!
     

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