Similar story. Auditioned the L100's seriously back in the 70's and went with AR-5 (almost identical to AR3a - same mid and tweeter, but 10" woofer rather than 12" IIRC).
It's been several weeks now of keeping my new L82's busy and I'm happy to say that these have developed into some very evenly keeled speakers. There were moments during the break-in period where I found myself dismayed with audibly blurry bass tones, higher frequencies cutting too sharp and instruments that seemed to bleed into one another. I'm glad I let them play through it as now they seem to have really found their balance. And what a balance it is! I've been doing a lot of low-volume/ late-night listening recently and I can whole-heartedly say that the L82's are incredibly satisfying and competent regardless of the volume. The amount of texture, detail, and emotion that still comes through in quiet late-night sessions is truly wonderful. I'm quietly listening to a Morphine LP at the moment and the baritone sax is eerily present, bass is rhythmic and stirring, drums clear and taught. At the opportunity to turn up the volume the JBL's show unflappable merit. The L82's serve up sound with intent, realism, and distinction. There are likely other speakers that could give more of this, that, or the other, but the refined swagger with which these L82's deliver is killer.
They will get better, mine still improved past 500 hours! Low level listening quality is one thing I was not expecting, they are rated at 88db sensitivity but I think it is higher, maybe 91db hence why they sound so good at low levels. What amp are you using?
Interested in the L82s. I’ve never had tilted speaker stands before. At what distance should you place them from the listening position? At what point do they shoot over your head? Or is the dispersion so wide that it doesn’t matter? Thanks
Positioning- as per the L82 Owner's manual As far as "shooting over your head" and overall dispersion- I find the L82's have a very wide and evenly dispersed sweet spot. I was previously asking too much of some lovely Wharfedale Denton 80th's in this same space and, because of the moderate size of this room, they had a very narrow sweet spot. Moving a couple of inches one way or the other on the sofa dramatically affected their imaging and staging. The L82's are balanced and well-poised no matter where I sit on that same couch. To be noted, they are by no means optimally positioned- sitting on a 16" tall hearth, upon raked Aperta stands, 10' apart, mere inches between themselves and the stone "front wall" behind them. They kick out killer sound despite the not-so-killer placement. I felt this review was a good one of the L82's. The reviewer measured and noted that, "the vertical ‘sweet spot’ is fairly narrow above tweeter height – the sound changes substantially just by 5-10 degrees above my reference point." Adding, "The speaker is much better controlled below tweeter height, barely changing down to 15 degrees below my reference point. This may be the best reason for buying the official stands, which recline the speakers so they point slightly upwards."
Exit review: I've come to appreciate that this thread is really more geared towards fans of these speakers than balanced pros and cons discussion; however, in case someone is reading through deciding whether to purchase or not I thought I'd write up why I wound up selling my L100 Classics and share some final thoughts. Ultimately I'm quite conflicted over these speakers. They look and sound good but there are a lot of things that are frustrating about them. It seems like JBL/Harman International use "retro" as a crutch when they want to cut corners but ignore it when it would add to cost. Example of the former is the rather cheap, single pair of binding posts, which are awkwardly sized so that they are too big for some spades but also too shallow to firmly take some bananas. See also the large and ugly plastic tabs used to mount the grilles. Example of the latter is the fact that they do not make these in mirror pairs like the original L100 Century (but which they do for the lower-priced 4312-series). Overall quality ended up being something of a letdown as well. I had not noticed until I remounted the grilles (and was reminded of their rather poor fit against the cabinet) but the color of the veneer on the unit closer to the windows had bleached significantly in not quite 2 years of ownership. Sunlight will bleach just about anything so fair enough, but worse was the fact that the (blue) grilles, even though carefully stored in a dark place, had nonetheless discolored significantly enough that the shop where I traded them in was reluctant to take them. Ultimately I lost about 15% off the quoted trade-in price because of this fading issue. Sound is another area where the L100 Classics ended up being kind of neither here nor there. I would not say that they sound "retro", and are clearly an improvement over the original L100 Century. On the other hand I don't think they really rise to the level of "hifi", since they don't exhibit the type of imaging and clarity that that label warrants. They are fun to listen to and sound "good" but do not, to my ears, deliver a [hi]gh level of [fi]delity to the source. So ultimately what led me to part ways with my L100 Classics was a combination of being slightly unhappy with the overall package and a desire to upgrade to a more hifi sound. One of the last straws was when I bought a fairly nice set of Chord speaker cables and went to plug them in but the bananas barely went far enough into the binding posts to stay seated. Neither my old Monitors nor my new Focals have this problem. Meanwhile I had been loving the Sopra No. 2 more and more as I spent time with them in the shops so when a demo pair (in Nogaro blue) came up for sale at a discount I decided to go ahead and take the plunge. In closing, I don't want to call the L100 Classic a "lifestyle product", and certainly not to the extent that that would be a pejorative, but I do think that if you're not really in love with the whole package and willing to overlook a fair number of shortcoming in order to have something that looks like this in your home you could definitely find more "hifi" speakers with fewer corners cut in the same price range. On the other hand there's not much else on the market that really delivers quite the same dose of thoroughly modernized nostalgia, so these very well may be an endgame speaker for certain buyers.
I think you make very fair points that are correct. I for one love them because they sound great and are not as tall as tower speakers, or bookshelf on tall stands. You are right about the binding posts, they are a tiny bit big for 4mm banana plugs, the fit could be better. I wonder if it's possible to upgrade them? I never investigated in this so far.
The new limited edition 75th anniversary edition does have a few things on them that are different and are related to some of the gripes. Teak veneer, not to say its of any better quality than the standard edition and better to resist discolouration, and different binding posts dual amp connectors, but same again they look similar if not the same but x 2, will be interested in looking and hearing to see if there is a upgrade.
All fair points. Hope you find the speaker that you love. That said, I have to disagree, mine image like crazy, and clarity is quite good. Since your profile isn't filled out, it would be good to mention what you were running them with, amps, sources etc.
Been following this thread for a while now - can't wait to hear the L82's! I called around to a few locations in the Portland OR area an none of the dealers had them in stock for demo. If anyone in this thread (in the region anyway) decides to move on from there's I'd be interested.
I'm with you. I totally get that no speaker is a once size fits all for everyone, but the L100's are exactly what I was searching for. I've had crazy imaging speakers, like the Audio Physic Virgo 111, but they couldn't even touch the dynamics and presence that the L100's have. The imaging seems to be right for what the recording dictates. But, again, not everyone likes the same thing. There are obviously people that love Magnepan, including endless glowing professional reviews. I hate them and could never use them in my system ever again.
I'm near your area but I've only just broken my L82's in and plan to keep them for the foreseeable future. I can recommend Safe and Sound as an online retailer. I bought mine from them as "open-box" for $2k and I'd wager they were never unwrapped.
Finally was able to pull the trigger on some L82's. Can't wait. My guess is they won't be here for about 10 days but once all set up I'll offer any useful feedback/experience if I have any. I'll be running them with Freya +>Vidar.
Oh man, congratulations! Did you get the matching stands, too? Are you using 1 or 2 Vidar's? Don't forget to post a pic once you get them set up! In these times of instant gratification, waiting is hard to do. I just ordered a new amp to power my L82's. It should be here next week. I'm very excited!
I've decided to stick with Yamaha. I like the sound, I like the aesthetics, tubes weren't tempting enough. I currently have an A-S801 and just dumped a little coin for the A-S3200.
Yeah, I think the L82's will really open up with that little beefcake. Can't wait to begin the burn-in. It'll be cool to compare their primo integrated w/ the 801. Hopes are high.
As noted in my previous review I had recently upgraded my system with a McIntosh MA7200 integrated amplifier (200WPC into 2/4/8 ohms). This made a noticeable improvement over my old Cambridge Audio CXA60 (60WPC into 8 ohms; 80WPC into 4 ohms) but also brought out to me some of the L100's shortcomings compared to other speakers I auditioned using similar amplification. I thought I might add one more point which is to say that if you are looking for a unique speaker package (that's not a tall skinny box with a tweeter, mid and 1-2 woofers) you have to spend considerably more coin to get something that's the visual equal of the L100. This was and is something that's pretty important to me but may not be if you're looking for maximum hifi bang for your buck.
I did indeed get the matching stands....which seem to be backordered everywhere right now, ugh. No biggie. I'll practice patience. Going with 1 Vidar for now. Down the road as I learn, listen and get to know more about the equipment I have I may consider running a system in monoblock configuration. I read and hear a lot about how much of a positive difference/improvement it can make. This is my first venture with a system that is anything like Hi or mid-fi or whatever people want to call it. I'll be sure to post a pic or two and some feedback once everything gets here!
In case anyone's interested, here are some photos of my speakers showing the fading issue. The shop of course made a big deal out of it but it didn't stop them from putting them up for sale at twice what they paid me...
^^ That's too bad I have a refurbished pair from the 1970s that haven't faded. I use the in my vintage second rig downstairs. In terms of reselling at a higher price; that's basically what resellers do unless they buy them for themselves. Buy low sell high!
