clean sound, can handle some volume, too

rather chintzy plastic base to sit on for such a nice speaker

I really didn't know what I had until I just upgraded from a Sony (715) to a Denon 2802 receiver. While the L5's provided respectable sound with the Sony, coupled with my 110 JBL sub (yet to blow up, fingers crossed), the combination of a clean receiver and these has got me digging through my CD's once again. Got them because I couldn't afford the L7's at the time, glad I couldn't. These will be with me for a long time (at least until my toddler son has his way with them)

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 3-ways, JBL hls 810's

POWER HANDLING, CRISP CLEAR SOUND WHEN AMPLIFIED RIGHT!!!!

Nothing, maybe the cheesy speaker stands it comes with.

Excellent Speakers. People who say this is a weak speaker, Have''nt pushed it''s power handling. I recently bought a CarverC1000A receiver which slams 200 watts per channel!!! These babies were calling me , " Feed Me More!!" The most incredible thing about the " L-5"" is the subwoofer like sound, Like a built in sub in the speaker. Yet, very clear and crisp!! If you put these on speaker stands, Oh Yes!! I''ve had several speakers, but for the price, if you happen to pick these up you will not be diapointed. Bring the THX, Dolby Digital and the DTS DVDs. With the right amp, power, IT SLAMS!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Several HI-End speakers!!

Imaging, Excellent Bass, Treble, and Mid's. Power Handling and Dynamics !!

Only came in Black Finish

I think I have to say that the JBL L-5's are my all time favorite speaker, next to the Magnepan 1.5 qr's. The only thing Magnepan has over the JBL's is more mid-range transparancy. The JBL's easily best the Magnepans in sheer power and dynamics. Other speakers I'v owned did not match the JBL's power, smooth/accuate highs, warm inviting mid-range, and excellent/tight bass. Easily the best line of speakers JBL ever produced. Did I meantion very easy to drive? My system includes: JBL L-5's, NAD C-350 Integrated Amp, and a Panasonic DVD Audio-RA60 using Alpha Core TQ-2 Interconnects. Peace and Good Music Too All.......

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference, Klipsch, NHT, JBL L-1's, Magnepan....

Excellent reproduction all specter of music without distortion.

children can cut cover material if play with toy cars on floor

I own these speakers for about 5 years and it will last piece of my audio equipment I will ever upgrade. Absolutely awesome sound, reach bass, very transparent highs. These speakers are 6ohms, so some receivers can have problem to drive them without distortions. Good job JBL. I am glad that they are discontinued, because my friend feels envious when listen them.

Similar Products Used:

JBL l1, cl3

The L5 have a great clear sound for a 6 ohm speaker

The base of the L5 has a has a limit to what it can take,for a 300 watt handling cap. it really diappointed me

My overall review for these great looking speaker is that
the high of the L5 is as good as it gets in any high end
speaker system. I compared them to a Pro-Ac speaker system
and the L5 did very well, But unfortunatly the L5 base
really suprised me they had a lack of punch for a 300 watt
handling speaker system. I run my L5s with a Denon system
its output is only 150 watts and the l5s cannot handle this
output. Otherwise at low volumes it sounds very good.

Similar Products Used:

Bose speaker systems

Excellent Base and Highs, built solid

none

I've owned the JBL L-5's for about 5 years now and have been very pleased. They produce excellent highs as well as a tight base. Another reviewer commented about distortion and I STRONGLY DISAGREE. I play all types of music, frequently at loud levels and find the L-5's to be crystal clear.

Recently I upgraded my speaker wire from "original" Monster Cables to the M-Series 1.2s. If it's at all possible, these new cables definitely made the L-5's sound even better (expanding the highs).

In closing, four (4) years ago I paid $1000.00 for these speakers and today I feel they were worth every penny. Knowing that they are discontinued, if you can get your hands on a pair, grab them.

DC

clean output throughout all the different ranges, matches well with my other components in my entertainment system for both home theatre and music listening purposes

none...doesn't rattle the floor like I would like but my JBL PB12 takes care of that for me

Well, after much searching for used speakers online I've found my JBL loudspeakers I was looking to match up with my JBL PB12 subwoofer. I had BOSE 201s but they didn't match up with the sub; the BOSE speakers didn't seem to push enough air to match up with the sub and there seemed to be an audio gap.
I found these speakers from some retired man who moved into a townhome. He said he paid $800 for these and just wanted to get rid of them. Thanks to the reviews on this site I went to go check them out and brought them home. They matched up very well with my sub. I have the speakers connected to my self-powered sub to take the strain off of my receiver. The connections are done by 14-gauge Monster cables as well as a Monster subwoofer cable (for LFE purposes).
The great thing about these speakers is that they are 4-way. Instead of same-sized dual woofers they were made offset in size (6 1/2" & 8" cones). This gives a wider vocabulary in my opinion. I played some bass-happy jungle & drum & bass music to audition these speakers for the mid-to-high range bass. All bass tones came in equal; there were no bass notes which sound louder than others. The mids and the highs came in clear. After resetting my EQ the speakers sound better than my BOSE (which I shifted to rear surround placement). Though the bass sounds great, I would recommend a sub to start rattling the walls.
As far as the home theatre setting they made me very happy. The background sounds come in crisp throughout the different frequencies. One of the things I've been hearing is that HT speakers are different than speakers which are geared for music. HT speakers are more focal where as speakers designed for music are more omnidirectional. I didn't have any disappointment with these speakers; I was able to identify the direction from which the sounds were coming from. Thus, I feel these speakers work fine for me in both the home theatre and the music listening environment.
I didn't have a problem at all with everything else. I've placed jazz, hard rock, classical, salsa, merengue...all kinds of music. The performance of these speakers definitely made me happy. These speakers live up to the reviews. I would definitely recommend these speakers to anyone who wants high-end performance but can't afford it (like me). If you can find these used, go for it. I am glad I did.

Similar Products Used:

BOSE 201s (rear)
Sony STRDE845 (14-gauge Monster speaker cable)
JBL PB12 sub (Monster subwoofer cable)
Sony DVD (Monster fiber optic cable)

Clear Precise eXcelent Tonal Balance

Absolutely None

As far as I AM CONCERNED THESE speakers Cannot be matched

by anything in there price range.For movies and music the blend is simply phenomenal.

Similar Products Used:

L3 for surrounds PB12 sub

Not bad for 500 bucks

Extremely large floor standing speaker. Bass ouput is not bad at low levels, but any sort of high SPL listening and you can really hear a loud distorted blocking effect. I am really pretty unhappy with my L-5s. I am in the process of selling them now. They are pretty muddy to my ears. I bought the L-5s thinking they were an improvement on the LK-44's...which THEY ARE NOT. My brother owns these speakers, and they beat the l-5's on basically every listening application...if anyone has a set of LK-44's for sale...drop me a line at PanicWSP@aol.com

Similar Products Used:

JBL L-1's (surround)

I bought these speakers three years ago for $800. I've heard they have been discontinued and have since seen them advertised mail order for $500. They are 6ohm and sound much better driven at 4ohms. I listened to several other speakers before purchasing these. Jbl's newer line of speakers do not come close to L series line of speakers. I like to play them very loud and have not noticed any distortion. At 68 pounds each they're rock solid and pack a serious punch that I have not heard from many other more expensive speakers. I just can't understand why Jbl stopped making them. At $500 a pair I've considered buying another set. For anybody that has $500 to spend on a pair of speakers, these are well worth it.