OK, Back to the show... As-promised here are the JBL L100 Classic 75s. HUGE kudos to Tom T. at Music Direct for being very accommodating with this sale; I would have had some issues receiving a full crate. Early sonic impressions: The low end is certainly back. The Harbeth had similar low-end specs, but it really wasn't the same in any fashion. Also, the clarity surprisingly competitive with a British monitor. We're not listening to piccolo here, folks...I can't see how boredom isn't inevitable if you can't feel the music. I'm very pleased with hour one results; the bass will eventually tighten a bit, and the picture will come into sharper focus. That much of break-in has proven real with me. Shot #1: I plan on running them grilled, love the look without. JBL75 01 by
Kick ass! I wish they'd mirror the L100's like they did the L82's. Your new ear candy is also eye candy! That veneer looks waaay nicer than the standard 82/100 wrap. My L82's had a rather lengthy break-in period and I imagine the same can be expected of the L100's- meaning they're only going to get better with every album. Congratulations! I think you're going to have a nice weekend.
Here's a shot of the veneer. I like it, it has an oiled feeling and the grain looks like a nice Les Paul. No regrets whatsoever on this endeavor. I got through: DCC "City to City" by Gerry Rafferty Mofi "Tumbleweed Connection" by Elton John SHM-SACD of "Goat's Head Soup" Clapton's "Lady in the Balcony" CD My low frequency anemia problem has been cured. JBL 75 03 by
Loved reading this thread. Thanks for all the input and listening experiences. I went back and forth between the L100 and L82. In the end, I just pulled the trigger on the L100 75th Anniversary. After tax and the fact that the stands are included with the 75th pair, the $$$ gap was too close and I wanted something that was future proof. Should be here in the next few days. Can't wait to try them out with my VPI Prime Signature and Kiseki Purple Heart!!
BPM86 is going to be happy... I the 75ths are fantastic, and not overpriced, considering you're getting a BIG visual, and some sonic improvements. Coming from Harbeths that are considerably more expensive, this was not a let down in any way, shape, or form. Impression #1: Acoustic guitar is absolutely believable. It feels and sounds like an in-room performance. I've been listening to a lot of Neil Young, Gene Clark, McCartney III, Harrison ATMP demos, and Petty Wildflowers home recordings lately. This is the best I recall hearing them. Impression #2: The bass has ample speed and clarity, and can be felt with virtually any type of selection, not just bass-heavy music. Drumming and percussion is fantastic in all the JBL Synthesis models (IMO). This is the biggest difference between the 75ths and the SHL 5+. The Fleetwood Mac Rumours SACD is always a benchmark for my testing. It probably took two weeks for things to simply become more "focused", not a painful break-in at all. I always use "Stand or Fall" from the Fixx 1011 Woodland CD. It just thumps, and always works. I always loved my JBL 4429s, and regretted moving them after the fact. I really enjoyed the L100 Classics and L82s, but I ultimately sought better (different) aesthetics. The 75ths are the answer. I'm not able to pinpoint sonic differences between the L100C's/4429s and the 75ths because they were more than two rotations ago, but I feel the mids/highs are a bit more refined in the 75ths. A little closer to the the Harbeth mid-glory...but you still get a musical feel. A VERY good combination of a great hi-fi sound mixed with the feeling of live music.
I may have missed it earlier, but how does the 75th Anniversary edition stack up to your old, "stock" L100s?
Hope you're right! I moved on from a pair of Cornwall III's and almost pulled the trigger on the IV's but these speakers tick all of the boxes for me and are a better size for my listening room. This is the first time I've ever purchased speakers without hearing them but the retailer has a great satisfaction/return policy. Hoping they are longterm keepers!
Looks like UPS has delivery scheduled for tomorrow. I've read from other owners that these sound pretty rough initially and take some time to break in. Looking forward to setting them up!
Congrats from a fellow owner. I think you will really like them. I've had mine for a little more than a year. What I remember about it's break-in was mostly in the tweeter smoothing out and that only took about an hour. It still gets better but that first hour it was a little . You also might notice that the speaker starts to sound real nice and then a little 'not so much' and then come back. It's just the drivers gelling, give them 50-100 hrs. Enjoy the ride and play with the mid/tweeter adjustments to suit your ears/room.
They are awesome. I worked in a stereo shop in the early 70's and they sold themselves. The L65 Jubal sold well too.
Speakers came in late yesterday afternoon. Finally had a chance to set things up this evening. A few initial thoughts... 1. Delivery - Really impressed with the level of packaging and presentation that JBL took here (also have to thank Crutchfield for great customer service). Full pallet was delivered via UPS freight with significant reinforcement. Speakers were double boxed with foam padding and tightly protected by two additional layers of plastic and soft cloth. 2. Fit and Finish - The teak veneer is pretty impressive. I've owned various speakers in the past including Salk Sound with a beautiful Walnut finish. The JBL L100 75 have a very natural matte finish that fits right into my listening room. The numbered badging, binding posts and grills are all exceptionally well made. I've seen other JBL models where the front tone control label is prone to peeling/bubbling over time but no initial complaints here. I prefer them with the grills off but I could easily see wear and tear being an issue if one were to frequently remove them. As others have mentioned, magnetic grill attachments were a big miss here. 3. Sound - I set the L100 75s 6 feet apart, 24 inches from the front wall, 32 inches from each side wall and my listening position is roughly 6-7 feet back. After tremendous anticipation my heart sank a bit after a couple of minutes of listening. I won't lie, second guessing this expense was definitely on my mind. It sounded like a wave of sounds without detail and nuance - I cringed. Dynamics were severely lacking. Compared to previous B&W, Klipsch Cornwall and Salk Soungtower speakers I felt like I had made a tremendous mistake. I decided to put the album on repeat and left the room. I'm now 7 hours in on run time and they have started to settle down. I spent the last 45 minutes critically listening and I found myself grinning ear to ear on a few tracks. The thought that kept coming to mind was warm and comfortable. Like your favorite pair of jeans or a perfect cup of coffee... it's an inviting sound with tons of character and texture. Well recorded acoustic music is especially enjoyable. Nuance and detail are not the strong point but it's definitely an experience that feels like full and rich music. I believe SteveHuff said it well.. it speaks to your heart and soul, not your analytical side. If 7 hours of run time is any indication, these have found a permanent home. I'll post a video once I have things dialed in. Thanks everyone for your help!
7 hours is infancy. If they're anything like my L82's then they'll continue to improve over many, many more hours. I bemoan the term "break in" in audio (especially regarding cables) but listening to nearly every hour of my JBL's going through their paces I have to vote that break-in is real, and lengthy, at least regarding these drivers. My L82's were quadruple the price of the speakers they replaced here so they came with very high expectations. I too was immediately concerned by their unboxed sound but have come to realize just how capable and engaging they are. I personally have no doubt that your 75th's are going to mature marvelously. Your pic link didn't work on my end but I'd love to see them if you're willing to try again. Cheers!
The same thing happen to me with the regular 100’s. Now I have a website and Facebook page dedicated to them and they’re my favorite speakers I’ve ever had.
I've had my beloved L100 Classic for a bit over a year now. Running them along with two Rel t9i subs. It rocks pretty good
I got mine Summer 2020 when Music Direct had some B Stock units and I still love them just as much as I did then. I run them with an Outlaw rr2160 (the older model) and their M8 sub.
My room has a bass problem. The L100 classic didn't give enough bass on their own. It took me months to get things right with speaker and sub placement. Now I'm working a bit with room acoustics. Bass traps in the corners did wonders. I like "warm and wide" sound with a big, tight bass for loud rock music. It's got to feel alive and real. I'm close now, I think.
I have the L100t3's. They deliver audible bass down to the 35 Hz arena. It's very life-like for acoustic, as well as electronic music. Nevertheless, I placed a JBL B380 15" sub into my system. It gets into the 23 Hz arena, which enhances some genres of music, like dance. At any rate, these speakers are engaged to 3 audio systems via a 2.1 Marantz NR1200, 2.1 Parasound P6, and Sony 5.1 TA-P9000ES. The Marantz just has a low pass filter for sub control, the Parasound has both low and high pass filters for sub control, and the Sony is fed bass controlled by an OPPO-205. I mention these 3 divergent means to bass control because it has revealed to me that proper adjustment of the electronics' bass management is more meaningful than speaker placement to realize nice bass performance and, interestingly enough, my inexpensive Marantz seems to manage bass with its simple low pass filter better than my other two systems with more adjustment features for bass management. So, if you continue to have concern for bass performance you might want to entertain amplification with some sort of control over bass crossover from the L100's to your sub, or further exploration of your sub's bass management capabilities.
Wow, I can't imagine needing a sub with these. Probably because I have to have them pretty tight to the rear wall. These are pretty darned close to perfect for my tastes, and I can say I would have paid at least another $2K for the 75th anniversary edition. I think $5500 is a bargain and 2/3 for the quality of sound provided. Coming-off more expensive speakers that absolutely needed a subwoofer to excel...these are really impressive. It's difficult to recall exact differences between the standard L100Classics and these sonically, but these get closer to a Harbeth kind of detail (not equal, but closer) and feel like live music...a great combination. These do have driver improvements, subtle but noticeable. BPM86, are you running bi-wire cables? I'm not, but I will at some point...
I find my regular L100's totally perfect for my taste. There is never a time when I'm listening to them where I feel I'm missing something. That has never happened, especially with more expensive speakers I've owned.
Still loving my L100 Classics... 15 months now. Bought L82's 3 months ago for another (smaller) room. All tube amps in this room ranging from vintage tube Marantz's to a 300b SET and 300b PP. I find the 82's to be very tube friendly. Beautiful sound even from the 8 wpc SET. Both of these JBL's have really surprised me on how much I enjoy them. A really nice fit for these ears.
Apologies for the delay. We are expecting a little girl in late January so I spent the last few days working on her nursery. Unfortunately this room was my previous listening room so that has now been moved to a spare office room. I'm excited that I got the green light from the wife to make this into a full treated and dedicated listening room but there is one big catch... it's small and SQUARE. (12X12). I'm going to spend some time tonight trying to fiddle with speaker placement but slightly bummed out that I have such a wonderful speaker in a small room. I think with sufficient treatment over time I can help tame it. As asked above, I currently do not bi-wire my speakers. I have them running into 2 Emotiva XPA-1 Monoblocks (5ooW each) along with a VPI Prime Signature TT with a Kiseki Purple Heart cartridge. I recently sold my EAR834P Phono Preamp so I'm on the hunt for a replacement. I also plan to replace the Emotiva's at some point for a better match to my phono front end.
Have seen there is a special edition of the JBL L 100s coming shortly. The Supreme X L 100 is a white finish and is the Supreme store in America who seem to be what this about, no price as yet, big Supreme sticker on the cabinet, not sure about this.
