JBL is reissuing the classic L100 speakers

Just got these in. Willsenton R8, Bluesound Node. I first heard the JBLs over at the home studio of an engineer that used to work for TBS here in Atlanta (he was knowledgeable about all kinds of broadcast and analog stuff, just a fascinating guy to talk to). I've heard at least a hundred different loudspeakers, but I never forgot hearing the JBLs for the first time.



First impressions- Holy moly, these guys are tough to position for sound staging. I thought the bass would be horrid against the wall (and too big in general), but that hasn’t been the case.

If I want any sort of imaging, however, they gotta be at least 2 feet from the back wall.

Been listening for about 12 hours over the past three days. Through dumb luck I was able to create a placement that gave me a terrific, tall center vocal image- but I thought I would be able re-create it easily, and didn’t make any marks.

Any of you guys have tried and true methodology for speaker placement? I love a holographic soundstage- it's one of the quickest ways to convert folks. I usually just do a Beatles or Velvets mono and position things until Lou Reed sounds like he’s coming out of the picture I have on my console. But I feel like I’m always just a few degrees left or right, and never as focused as it should be.

The biggest surprise of this setup is how well it handles electronic music. Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Everything But The Girl, Portishead- all sound better than I’ve ever heard them.

 

Man oh man, nice rig and nice room, I think you’ve got a whole lot of good listening in store there.

 

Super cool. Have you tried a smaller speaker spread with less toe in?

 

Thanks man. Still have to wall mount the PowerQuest- I'm a "no visible cables" type.

You know what- I have not. I've been an equilateral triangle devotee for forever, and have never challenged that assumption. Looks like I'm going to try that tonight.

 

It’s worth considering the no toe in with these, or at least a mod. I have the 75th Anniversary L-100’s and they do suggest starting there for smaller rooms. Now my room is much smaller than yours but that has worked for me.

 

SUPER nice looking rig!

For speaker placement, I’ve had good luck starting with a triangle where the distance between the tweeters is 85% of the distance of the speakers to your ears.

e.g., if you’re sitting 10’ from the plane on which the speakers sit, the tweeters should be 8.5’ part.

from there, I listen to a recording with a well centered vocal, and tweak as needed, until the vocal is dead center. Last time I did this, the initial stereo image was skewed to the left so the right speaker came forward around 3” in half-inch increments.

If soundstage is too congested, you have that 15% you saved from an equilateral triangle to move speakers outward - just move outward until the centered vocal starts to pull apart. But I have found the 1:0.85 ratio is just right.

Once the vocal is centered, I just futz with toe and rake angle (start with everything perfectly square) until instruments are fairly easy to locate in the soundstage and the vocal sounds like it’s coming from above the speakers.

this is basically the poor man’s Sumiko method which I’m just too lazy to do to the letter.

 

Another version of all the new JBL range is called the black edition, as it says a all black colour cabinet and black foam grille. Additionally the L 100 and the L 82 will be upgraded woofers and tweeters, these are limited editions.

 

Interesting, sounds like JBL is responding to criticism with those limited edition upgrades.

 

Where do you see these? I don't see anything about an 'all black' limited edition. Unless you're referring to the 75th anniversary ltd editions from 2021 (?), they have teak veneers not black.

 

Story on hifi pig forum, they are going to be shown at the CEDIA EXPO 2022 show.

 

What criticism?

 

Complaints about weak bass, here in this thread also.
Not from me.

 

Oh. The bass from mine is awesome so maybe those folks have room issues.

 

JBL Classic Series Black Edition Loudspeakers | Hifi Pig

 

Those Black Editions look great. And these "upgrades" sound promising- "For the larger L100 and L82 passive HiFi models, the Black Edition Performance Package includes an upgraded woofer design that benefits from improvements to its linearity, which, says Harman, helps reduce distortion. The tweeter and midrange drivers have also been treated to refinements that aim to deliver higher performance levels. Additional upgrades include a change to the crossover design to provide dual inputs for bi-wiring applications, while a new input terminal cup has dual sets of premium gold-plated binding post terminals for a secure connection to a variety of loudspeaker cables and connector types."

I'm still in love with the sound of my L82's though. They play very, very well.

 

Anyone know what type of finish these new "black" ones have? High gloss or ?... Price?

Also wonder if these are somewhat related to what they did with the L100 Classic 75.

 

Me too... and same with my L100 Classic.

 

JBL Classic Series Loudspeakers Are Now Back In Black: CEDIA 2022

 

As per the link provided by @pscreed above-
"JBL CLASSIC SERIES BLACK EDITION LOUDSPEAKERS
With the JBL Classic Series Black Edition Loudspeakers package, the enclosures of the L100, L82, L52, and L75ms have been treated to a multi-step, labour-intensive painting process that starts with a black base coat and ends with a high-gloss finish, resulting in a mirror-like exterior that reflects its surroundings. The high-gloss process also provides a subtle radius to the edges of the cabinet, giving it a softer look overall. To compliment the black cabinets, the passive HiFimodels feature special gold labels on the front around the attenuator level controls and the rear above the input terminal cup. Black Quadrex foam grilles are accented with unique gold JBL badges to identify these models as special-edition products."

 

Too bad they didn't make L-R pairs of the L100.

 

Pretty sexy.

 

Agreed. Especially since the L82's are mirrored.

 

Watching the Yankees game with Aaron Judge batting and see an ad in the stadium.

JBL Dare To Listen JBL

 

Beautiful.

 

owners of the Classic 75 edition:
have you been able to compare these to the standard version?
is there a big difference in sound?
is the Teak Veneer considerably nicer?

tl;dr: are they worth the additional~$1K