JBL is reissuing the classic L100 speakers

Gloss black cabinets are certainly not for me. If they were feeling really adventurous they'd welcome a more modern aesthetic with whites/light wood cabinets.
(I'm currently awaiting the arrival of my new pair of L82s...black and blue grilles to switch it up every now and again!)

 

There was a collaboration pair with “Supreme” in gloss white.

 

I own the 75s and owned both the L100 Classic and L82s.

I feel the upgrade amount was very fair considering the improvement in looks, and sonics.

I noticed more focus with the upgraded drivers, but the aesthetics were the main reason for the upgrade.

The gloss black might just trump the Teak…

I could see them in-room very easily…and probably will.

 

When I bought mine in 1976 with my hard-earned money, they were about $375ish a pair (Pacific Stereo) IIRC. In today's dollars, that'd be about $2100.

Unfortunately, a hand built USA product already has the associated labor costs adding to that. I assume (or hope) they've made some serious improvements to the crossover and time delay, as well as driver materials in general. TBH, they sounded awful. And to make things worse, I had a terrible buzz in the midrange once they warmed up - especially if I played some particular albums they didn't like. Once they started, that was it for the evening. Heck, even turning the little adjustment knobs gave a crackling sound - they just weren't all that. My rose colored glasses are the same color as the grills on my Centuries: brown. I had some orange L-26's before that. Does anybody remember the Horizons? Those had super cool looking grills.

A friend took me to friend of his brother's who had KEF 105.4's and all McIntosh gear with a 1/2" R to R front end (he had every blessed tape off the mixing board of every Grateful Dead performance at Winterland). After a couple of listening sessions, my friend asked me what I thought about these gigantic English speakers. I said "I don't know - they don't really have much of a sound, do they?" to which he exclaimed "that's the point, isn't it?" Not too long after that I sold them and bought some B&W's, thus started my real high-end journey.

The thing we commented on was how much midrange that giant woofer was actually producing. Made most male vocalists sound like they had a barrel for a chest. Perhaps this was exacerbated by the electronics, but I found the sound of some of these new British imports far more intoxicating. And then came the planar speakers...

 

I wonder if they will ship in a crate… maybe a black crate!

I own the 75’s also and that was the unboxing experience of a life-time. Pretty sure that’s the only time I ever needed a crowbar…

 

I always felt that at least with the originals it was physically impossible to overcome some of the problems inherit in a box design when it came to imaging - especially with the offset mid/tweeter. In the 70's, first order crossovers, waveguides and "soundstage" in general weren't in the audiophile lexicon. Heck, we were still using lamp cord for speaker cable. Monster Cable was still a twinkle in Noel Lee's eye. I remember trying half a dozen different attempts to get my L100's to sound better - I wish stands like that existed at the time! Tilting the speakers back is attempting to approximate what many designers built in to their speakers by the late 70's. I've noticed that JBL has changed the tweeter from the original with an actual waveguide, which would be an improvement over the foam surround of the surface-mounted tweeter of old. Still, with that sort of layout (do they even bother mirroring the drivers?) I'm not sure you're going to get the same sort of soundstage of a modern cabinet design.

For optimal setup, I see all kinds of issues and possible reasons to not be getting a decent (between the speakers) stable image. First thing I'd do is get them further away from the side walls (closer together) and maybe move them back closer to the wall. They were designed to be flush against the wall originally. If you can eliminate the reflections off of the wall and glass doors, I think you'll find a huge improvement. I totally understand the WAF, so it is what it is. But sometimes just changing where the reflection points are can make a heck of a difference. If that were my room and nobody to decorate for me, the first place I would have plopped those things would be at about each front corner of your console, with the gear off to one side or the other. Here, I'd try putting them just in front of those potted plants and see what happens even with the console in place. At least you don't have a TT!

As far as electronic music I'd think that would be where these would shine with woofers that size. The only issues I ever had with the old ones was female vocals. I remember chasing people out of the room with PF's Welcome To The Machine and Kraftwerk's Electrische Roulette. Subwoofer? We don't need no stinking subwoofer!

Paul McGowan of PS Audio has a book out on loudspeaker placement, as I understand with actual mathematic formulas based on room size/construction. There's also an accompanying SACD you can buy disgust to verify you've got a terrific soundstage. I've only heard about it or heard him pitch it over and over, but can't vouch for it. Maybe somebody here has had experience with it? I take everything he says with a grain of salt, but I suppose he's right more often than wrong in spite of selling some snake oil.

 

Mine are about 4’ from the back wall and I have the most solid center image I’ve ever had from a pair of speakers.

 

My L82's are in a wonky spot and the music is absolutely immersive. Tight and articulate bass, detailed highs, w-i-d-e soundscape, and my favorite attribute- texture! Horns, vocals, percussion, strings, it's all got weight and believability to it.

I'm not saying speaker positioning and placement doesn't matter but saying that these JBL's can deliver fantastic sound in spite of challenging settings.

 

That aligns with my experience for sure. Room is on the small side so speakers (L100 75th) are maybe 6” from back wall, but they sound great. I think these speakers are very forgiving of placement. Maybe it’s in their DNA from the JBL studio monitor heritage?

 

I think it's interesting too that while they do seem to be forgivingly placeable they also respond to minute adjustments in positioning. I played with toe-in and rake a lot before I felt I found the best for my room and ears. Solid speakers, imo.

 

My experience also.

 

4 ft from the back wall?!? That's tough to pull off in most living spaces.

 

I’m fortunate to have a dedicated room in the basement.

 

I’ve been listening to these L100s, on average, about 4 hours a day since my last post, and I’ve had time to collect some of my thoughts on their performance:

With this form factor, and no equalization available on my integrated, I was concerned for the bass becoming, at best, unmanageable on some records and at worst a sloppy mess. Placing them so close to the wall only exacerbated my fears.

I’m happy to report that I couldn’t have been more wrong- the bass on this is far more controlled, extended and musical than its footprint would suggest. The 808 kick drum on Everything But the Girl’s “Low Tide of the Night” still has the chest-thumping projection you would expect from a dance-adjacent track, but it never degenerated into Honda-Civic-subwoofer annoying. The saw-wave bass on Phantogram’s “Fall in Love”, which sounds like merely an attention grabber on most speakers, sounds musical and tasteful on the JBLs. The usual suspects, James Jamerson (“What’s Going On”), John Paul Jones (“Ramble On”), would all be more than pleased with their presentation, which invariably got me tapping my feet.

Dynamically this speaker doesn’t grab you by the lapels, yet it has no problem merely doing what you ask it to. Listening to the first part of Tchaikovsky’s Concert Fantasia, the speaker never gives the impression that it is in any way constrained or fatigued as the orchestra shifts from mezzo-piano to forte and back again several times. If feels as if the conductor is squarely in the driver’s seat.

Midrange is quietly excellent, the longing in Etta James “Sunday Kind of Love” or Amy Winehouse’s “Love is a Losing Game” lead vocals are achingly present. Which brings me to the JBLs most standout feature- it’s ability to render acoustic guitars.

If you love steel string guitars played with a plectrum, then you’re done looking for a speaker. I was a guitar instructor for over a decade, passed the 10k hour mark on the instrument a lonnnng time ago, and I’ve never heard acoustic steel strings (Neil Young “Heart Of Gold”, Jimmy Page “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”, Dave Rawlings “Short Haired Woman Blues”) rendered more accurately at any volume level. It’s uncanny.

The only downer with me, and price has a lot to do with it, is the lack of imaging and air in the presentation. Placing these speakers to that end in the room took much longer than I anticipated, and I’m still not sure I have it correct. I followed the instructions in the manual to the letter, as well as the very helpful suggestions doled out here (thanks guys!). Simply put, I’ve heard far better soundstage on speakers costing half as much, and that aren’t nearly as finicky about their room placement. I’m not convinced I would have purchased these speakers at the price I did had I been able to audition them the way I have been for the past few weeks. The soundstage and placement I expect at this price level is simply not there.

Now I’m not a black and white thinker, and there’s much to recommend about these JBLs, especially paired with a tube amp. Of course, almost every record of decent fidelity recorded before 1960 sounds amazing and satisfying on this setup. But what I’ve been wowed by is this speaker’s ability to present late 70s/early 80s rock/pop/prog (Robert Plant “In the Mood”, Missing Person’s “Words”, Judas Priest “Don’t Go”) as well as 90s electronic music (Portishead “Wandering Star”, Depeche Mode “Policy of Truth”) in a far more humanizing manner than I’ve ever heard previously.

 

Yeah, and you get to pay extra for the privilege of doing so. Clever, clever marketing. Worked on me.

Oh, but I do. Just not in the photo- I have the Technics SL-1210 GR with a Grado Sonata 3. While I'm not even counting on decent TT isolation with my current setup, it hasn't really been an issue. I was listening to Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago" last night on LP and at moderate volumes the thing renders beautifully. Cranking Humble Pie's "Rockin the Fillmore" was more than respectable.

When I try some of the later Zep or Black Sabbath pressings at high volumes, that's when things get messy- I shift to digital for most of that stuff.

100% correct. Pairing these with a subwoofer in most rooms would be lunacy.

 

Outstanding write-up @D Grady !

 

Sounds the same as the 75th edition mods, hopefully for less money. The wood veneers always looked fake/cheap to me so black may be welcome. The 75th sounded a lot better than the standard models apparently.

 

Has anyone seen insight as to when the black editions will be for sale in the U.S.? I'm very interested in the L82's w/ the black edition upgrades. I love my L82 Classic's so much that if JBL says they improved upon them w/ this latest edition, I'm in.

 

They hope to deliver just before Christmas, price is about 550 dollars dearer than the standard 82 L model.

 

You must have the l82s setup by now; what do you think?

 

PSA: There will be a mint set of used L100 75s coming to Music Direct this week.

I traded mine toward a set of 4349s that I could not refuse.

If anyone was contemplating the move, it should be a golden opportunity!

 

Thanks for the head's up about your desirable L100 75th's. I wish they'd fit here. I'm seriously considering the L82 Black Edition's whenever they're available to order.

 

Question for the L82 owner. Do you change the HF setting on the speakers or do you keep them at the indicated position?

 

I honestly haven't touched them, largely because I leave the grilles on. Someone who plays with grilles removed might be more inclined to play with them. I also don't really do any 'critical' listening- ie I don't have a dedicated room with chair in center where I sit and listen for minute differences.

Obviously you can adjust them to suit your own preference.

 

I played around a little with the settings when I first got them. I originally had them positioned closer to the wall and not on the JBL stands but since I got the right stands I pulled them away from the wall and spread them further apart. I now have them in the standard position on each speaker. I also originally had the ports on the outside but now I have the ports on the inside and the tweeters on the outsides as this helped the sound stage in my room.