Bass and Midrange response when coupled with better wiring and new crossovers

Wiring, binding posts, crossovers and tweeters. The deteriorating grill cover foam inserts and foam around the existing tweeters are weak beyond any question.

I have owned one pair of L100 for over 25 years...always liked them and started reading some of the reviews about them. Ended up buying a second set on E-Bay and stacking them with the first. While this was a great sound especially at loud volumes with my favorite rock CDs, as I became more aware of some of the audiophile components and speakers out there I did long for a more audiophile sound with better imaging, clarity and staging and perhaps influenced by what I had read...a cleaner sound from the high end. Spent a lot of time at high end audio shops...listened to Sonus Faber, B&W, Paradigm, Wilson, Martin Logan, Silverline and several others all with great front ends and terrific pre-amps and amps, both seperates and integrated. Read quite a bit online and along the way became enlightened as to the difference between analog and digital and ended up buying a VPI Scout Turntable and rediscovering the awesome difference that vinyl recordings make versus CDs. I have a close friend that arguably has one of the finest home audio rigs available including Joules Electra Rites of Passage and Kharma Grand Ceramigues....which does sound quite awesome. Where did this all leave me with my good ol 2 pair of L100....glad you asked! After reading quite a bit online....it became apparent that L100 do have great low end and midrange qualities. I also read where the crossovers and the internal wiring could be improved and the binding posts were inferior to be sure. That along with the less than spectacular tweeters led me to do the following: I sought out a local speaker repair and custom manufacturer and after conferring with him we changed all the internal wiring, changed the crossovers, changed the binding posts and took out the old tweeter and replaced it with a Scanspeak soft dome tweeter (I can find out exactly which one) Since this gentlemen was an accomplished speaker designer and manufacturer, he was quite competent to do any necessary phasing adjustments, etc. All of this, including refinishing the cabinets and replacing the long gone grill inserts cost right around $1,000.00. Brought these refurbished speakers home and stacked them with the top set being placed with the tweeter end down and I got to tell you....in my humble opinion....I have never heard ANYTHING with a better sound. I tried to be objective and critical of these, but I couldn't help being wowed. The combination of the JBL tight and powerful bottom end and the strong and clear mid along with the new open and wonderfully detailed Scanspeaks is pure dynamite at almost any listening level and really good at all kinds of music that I listen to, including classical, jazz and, of course, classic rock. My old vinyl collection is now becoming newer as I but more LPs, both new and old and I am becoming a vinyl fanatic as without exception vinyl does completely blow away CDs. The downside of this is now that my speakers are of audiophile quality I am more aware of lesser sonic recordings and they can be tough to listen to by comparison. I am powering this all with a Yamaha receiver that with 80 watts a channel and A/B Speaker capablity does an adequate job, but I am now wondering what would happen is I upgrade on this as well as try something other than my Monster speaker wire. I may also consider an upgrade to my CD changer as long as I don't listen to vinyl first the CD's may sound decent enough to enjoy. I defy anyone to say that the sound I have now is less than audiophile, and based on the time and the equipment I have compared with I feel pretty qualified to make that statement. The next questions to be answered are Tubes or Solid State? Integrated or seperates? My speaker questions, for the time being are answered to my complete satisfaction. I welcome any comments or questions.

Similar Products Used:

Kharma, Sonus Faber, B&W, Martin Logan, Silverline, Paradigm, Wilson Audio

Good looking high quality walnut wood cabinet, build like a tank and to last forever. Very good sound reproduction and discovers crap productions with no mercy. Delivers full range at low sound level. Two 12" woofers delivers firm and precise unbeliveable bass. The ultimate party speaker too.

None so far.

Got this mint pair of L100 late version 1978 a month ago. Cabinet is made of fine walnut wood and looks very nice, not too big and not too small. They are build like a tank and to last ! The 12" woofer and the cabinet delivers a firm and precise bass at all sound levels. Since they were made for studio monitoring and record mixing - I find them especially useful for daily listening at low to moderate level, where other speakers I tried need power to reproduce the full range. A friend of mine asked if I was going to get a sub-woofer too, till he heard them playing - there are two 12" woofers here ! They sound like you are right there at first row. I made a small party for celebrating the speakers arrival, and my friends ran in all directions to get their favorite CD´s. Since the L100 reproduce the records very precise, crap music productions are discovered without mercy. I find that my music collection has now split in two - crap productions and high quality productions. Which is good and bad, since the tracks you played before with joy now becomes crap and forgotten. However the joy of listening to high quality productions is simply a joy and I can only recommend the L100. Apart from the sound quality, the L100 can deliver a sound pressure sufficient for any party freak and you can easily get unpopular with your neighbors if you are the conflict seeking type. Bottom line: Simply excellent speakers, new speakers with similar performance will cost you 10 times more.

Deep soft firm bass. No need to compensate on your amplifier to make your records sound right. Also the ultimate party animal, the whole neighborhood knows when you have a party. Only 300-500 USD for a fine pair, you wont find a better monitor for this price - only a true JBL ( the overwhelming but BIG 4320/25 ) kan beat the L100.

None so far

I had the L25 prima way back in the 70-ties, they had this JBL deep soft and firm bass and was excellent speakers. As a fool I sold them when I had to move. I bought a couple of Dantax 3-way modest speakers just to fill up the space a couple of years later. They are now broke and I was looking for a pair of second hand L25´s when I red about the L100´s. If the L25´s was great how would the L100 then be ? They are even better than the L25´s ! All written in the previous reviews is true, and they call them book-shelf speakers LOL, they are monsters. The whole neighborhood now knows that I started a new rock group , or got new speakers. As test CD´s I used "Abbey Road" and "We see the same sun , Mr. President". Note the first bass stroke at "something" on "Abbey Road". Make sure you have no single glass windows close to the speakers when playing "intro" on "Mr. President". At first I heard some unfamiliar new sounds when playing various of my favorite tracks, just to find that it was "noise" from the guitar players fingers when he strikes the bass, I also discovered new details on my old records I never did notice before. And, I had for many years to compensate on my amplifier to make my records sound right, you know full loudness, bass and treble - but now all the amplifier settings are set to neutral and my records sounds just about perfect. The modeset Dantax speakers now sounds like my old gettoblaster. No wonder the L100 was widely used as studio monitor - in fact most of my favorite records are probably mixed with the L100, so they should also be listen at with the L100 right ! This monitor is a must have - or at least a must try.

Similar Products Used:

JBL L25 prima ( JBL 4320 at friends place way back - overwhelming experience ! )

Unique aesthetics, powerful midrange, precise bass, strong highs, robust construction, reliability, durability

Foam grills, speaker connections, narrow tweeter imaging

Thought I'd reviewed these, but couldn't find it, so here goes. I bought the original L100 Century (not L100A) in 1970. It's the one with the drivers all in a straight line and no tube on the port. In some ways, it's weaker than the L100A, but in other ways stronger. I specifically like the straight line symmetry of the drivers, especially if you're going to stack them. These speakers have moved at least 16 times all across the country, and they've never missed a beat. I kept the original boxes, and that helped, but the reality is thses speakers were made with a commitment to durability and longevity that's hard to find. These speakers, if given minimal care, are lifetime purchases. IMO, that's the ultimate expression of value. Of course, so what if they last forvever if they lose appeal over time? The good news is that the L100s are just as sharp and appealing today as the day I bought them almost 35 years ago. This is sound that the music and movies I grew up with were made to replicate. This is what sound engineers, producers, artists, and directors intended. This is how JBL, California, and the Higher Power of the Universe deemed sound should be. Okay, that's a little over the top, but there's more to sound than mind numbing response curves and dispersion patterns and SPL meter readings. Sound has emotion, energy, and power. The JBL L100 Century delivers all three as well as anything I've ever heard at any price. If you want scientifically valid verification that you bought the most technically perfect speakers, look elsewhere. If you have a soul as well as a brain, look at these timeless classics.

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Advent, Polk, Kenwood, Bose, CV, Paradigm, EV, Altec-Lansing, Sonus Faber, M&K, Martin Logan

Beautiful balanced sound, rich bass that perfectly blends with the lush midrange and highs. With a little care these babies will still be pumping long after your heart stops beating.

Heavy, foam grilles disintegrate after about 20 years.

My dad bought this set of L100's in 1977 and I inherited them in the early 90's when he 'upgraded'. These old beasts are capable of producing truly beatiful sounds and the simplicity of their design is awe inspiring. As a musician I have devoted much time to ear training and I have listened to many, many speakers over the years but have yet to hear any that rival the tonal balance of the L100. I listen to everything and it doesn't matter if you are listening to Mozart, Dave Brubeck, Django and Stephane Grappelli, Dream Theater or Doc Watson, the L100's always present a beautifully balanced tone that is unrivaled by even the most high end of modern equipment. In addition they are built to last, and they will probably last forever(with the exception of the foam grille). I have moved cross country with them several times and they have recieved only minimal scratches. I recently refinished them and they now look immaculate and no doubt sound as good or better as they did back in the 70's. In my humble opinion there is no better speaker for music listening. If my L100's were damaged or stolen I would replace them at the soonest possible junction regardless of the cost.

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Many other products used but none which can compare to the L100. polk, AR, klipsch, bose, paradigm, kef, etc etc... the L100 is second to none!

High quality of drivers, i.e. "Bullet Proof"...Accordian surrounds on woofers means no re-coning ever...The mid-range is one of the very finest ever built

Binding Posts! (Too damn small)...foam grill covers that lasted about 10-years before they rotted into dust (Although JBL still sells the replacement covers for around $125.00)...

Let's see...Built like a tank...Beautiful wood enclosures...indestructable drivers...The list could go on for ever folks. A buddy owed me some money back in the late 70's and I ended up with a pair of 100's with the beautiful blue foam grills. While the grills have gone south, the rest of the speaker has withstood the test of time. These speakers sound can be best described as "forward". There is no holding back when it comes to loud dynamic music. Give them around 100 watts and stand back! The listed maximum power handling is listed at 150 Watts but I often pump 200-250 without so much as a complaint. If your tastes in music lean towards classical or chamber music these may not be your cup of tea...but Hendrix, Sabbath, Dylan, The Stooges, etc. all sound like your in the front row. I oil them up a couple times a year with "Old Gold" and they shine like new. If myou have never experienced these speakers for your self, don't even mention how great your speakers sound. One listen will make you a believer!

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Nothing...These are the only speakers I have ever owned...26-years and counting!

Super 3D sound stage, uncompromisingly accurate, transparent and natural. These speakers have withstood the test of time and set the standard of comparison for other speakers.

The foam JBL used for the grilles disintegrated after about 20 years (as so did the foam they used on the surrounds of the woofers for the Decade series).

I bought a pair of JBL 26's in '74 and loved them. Then in '76 I replaced them with a pair of JBL 36's, thinking the 3-ways would be better. Ended up having to de-emphasise the mid-range to get a natural sound. An audio engineer friend of mine bought a pair of 4311's around this time and they blew me away. Tight bass and transparent mids/highs. Over the years I've auditioned Energy 22's, Paradigms 7SE's etc. Some of those speakers came close but none of them sounded as natural or accurate to me as the JBL's. When I bought my Decades, I would have preferred the 100's (Century's) whose bass was tighter and crossovers less noticeable, but I just couldn't afford them at the time. So I lived with the 36's until recently when a friend GAVE me his old L100's! Wow! Nirvana! The grille foam long since detoriated but that's no big deal. Hell, I had to replace the foam on my 123A woofers on my 36's about 6 years ago, so grille cloths are an easy fix in comparison. The L100's are uncompromisingly accurate, so if what you're listening to is "coloured", well, GIGO. But if you have a good mix, well, it don't get any better than this!

Similar Products Used:

Energy 22's; Akai's; Pioneers; Paradigm Titans, 3SE's, 7SE's; Cambridge Soundworks Series II; Marsland Princess; Infinity 100's; RadioShack Optimus XX; Audiosphere Research 50's; Dalquist 10's; Rogers

well, I ran out of space above, so I will menion here, that I love the vintage gear (70's) and IMO think its far better then the modern gear, here is my current system: Sony TA-2650 inte. amp driving woffers (45wpc) Kenwood KA-1500 inte. amp driving mids/tweets (about 20wpc) Sony ST-3950 tuenr Nakamichi CD Player2 Limited and of course, the JBL's now I have a Kenwood KR-8010 waiting to be fixed (huge reciever, 125wpc) when it's fixed, it will drive the woofers, and my Sony TA-2650 will run the midrange and tweeter. Strengths on the L100: everything, but since its too broad, I will say, the bass is amazing, it's deep, tight, quick, amazing, you don't need a sub with the L100's. the midrange is clear, and said to be JBL's best midrange they ever made. high's are crystal clear, the imageing and soundstage on these, when set-up correctly (that's a big factor) is amazing, and clearly would take alot of $$$ to match the L100 (proably have to spend about 12x-15x what I paid for my L100's to match this sound and build quality) talking about build, they are 3/4" MDF, with walnut wood venner (front baffel is 1" thick) and the drivers are made out of cast aluminum.

there are no weaknesses, none, except, make sure you get a mint pair, and if you need any info. or are thinking about restoreing your L100's drop me a line @ InoventionsEast@aol.com. I was going to fit this above, but ran out of space (again) but the frame of all the drivers is cast aluminum, and in the woofer's case, is 1/2" thick. the system crosses at 1500hz and 6000hz, but there is no cap on the woofer, so it has the full run, and there is no cap on the midrange (in the upper range, not lower) but however JBL designed these, they did a great job. even when played loud, they still remain to be as acurate and transparnet as they are at lower volumes, An amazing set of speakers, part of American History.

I'd first like to say, I have to make this short, due to the stupid limit on how long the review can be. but here it goes: I had a pair of JBL ND310's, and decided it was time to get new speakers, I had around $800 to spend, and decided on Klipsch RF-3II, PSB 6T/7PT, nOrh, as well as a few others, then I decided on the Klipsch RF-3II, and started saving up. durring that time, I heard about the L100's, and started to learn more about them and found out that they were really what I wanted, so I started searching for a pair of L100's I founf a apir on Audiogon for $275, came to $345 after shipping, they are consetive even numbered cabs. as well as woofers. the cab. was kinda rough, with soume rounding on the corners, light scratches (mostly on the side) but most of all, 4 drill holes on the side of each, I am guessing some previous owner tried to make stands (holes didn't go all the way through) I just got done completely restoreing my L100's about 3 weeks ago. I did evertying, as far as the out side of them, I filled in the holes with wood puty, sand it with #100, then #150 then #220 sand paper, 2 coats of Minwax #224 walnut stain, and 5 coats of Minwax super-high gloss polyeurthane. as far as the inside goes, I re-wired all the internal wireing with Radio Shack 16gauge mega cable, and doubled it up for the woofer, I then conveted the system to bi-amp, I gluded sound aborsbsion stuff (called Vinaflex, Thnaks Pete.) inside to help the bass. I did other things also, but don't have room to list everything, the only thing I am waiting for is new foam rings around the tweeters, I can't seem to find them. Now on to how they sound: these speakers are the best speaker I have ever heard. the orignal L100 was made in 1970, then the L100A was made in 1971-1979, my pair is the late model made in 1978, which has the orange logo, and the better woofer, the D123A-3 (over the D123A) the L100 has the LE5-2 midrange, which is said to be JBL's best midrange ever made, and the LE25 tweeter. all 3 drivers has AlNiCo magnets, weighing 120ounce, 46ounce and 24ounce respectivly. and you only need half as much AlNiCo to get the same effect as cermain magnets. yes, all 3 drivers are made out of paper, but JBL did one hell of a job designing them, because you'd never guess they were paper. it uses a cone tweeter, and cone tweeters tend to be "beemy" so it's best to have the tweeters pointing directly at your ears (which means the right speaker get's toed in more then the left), The L100 was the home version of the 4311 studio monitor, but studios quickly perferd the L100 over the 4311, so it became a popular studio monitor in the 70's, as well as today. many music legends have used the L100 as their own speaker, and for studio use. The D123A-3 woofer is said to be one of the best low frequency drivers ever made, the L100's have a response down to 27hz, and reproduce bass, and mid bass like no other speaker, move into the midrange, the the midrange starts at 1.5khz (woofer does its natural roll-off) and voices are extremly crisp and clear, I have never heard a better midrange before. the tweeter is very crisp also, with no harshness or anything, I find the LE25 to be a very, very good tweeter, it is crisp and clear. the front has Presence and Brillace controls to contorl the midrange/tweeter volume to your liking, so the speaker are never too forward, harsh, laid back, etc... because you can control that The L100's are very sensitive to placement, and therefor are very critical to get the best loctations, the sweet spot is very small, but when you find it, it would be as if you are sitting right infront of a band, with the amazing imageing and soundstage. these take alot of messing around with to get the best spot for them, and even when you think you have, you havn;t (as I have found out very often) in my experence, it's best to have the tweet pointing directly at you, and mess around with the height of the speaker as well.

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whole bunch of new JBL Northridge stuff, no comparison, I have vintage KLH model 17's (made in 1969) and are very nice, but they can't be compared to the L100's. next time I go to the city (NYC) I wan

Studio quality sound that works at every volume level.

A little on the bright side but adjustable.

Now, let''''s see, I''''m 51 and still driving my L100''''s with NIKKO Beta series DC amp & pre-amp. Yes my Snell K.5 mk2''''s sound fine in Prologic with a Kenwoood Sovereign AV receiver, but nothing beats the clean bass, incredible midrange and top end that the Centuries have made famous. I still carry all 50 plus pounds of my L100''''s into Tweeter and plop ''''em down next to their $6K Italian beauties.....The sales people go running for their favorite demo disks! Usually no arguments as to what still sounds like some of the best boxes ever made. Timeless classics!

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AR, Advent, Paradigm, Celestial, etc.

GREAT BASS!! Great BALANCE!! Maybe the best rock and roll speaker ever made.

Spoils you rotten....

I am running the L100''s with a Kenwood KR-9600 receiver, dual 200 watt power supplies, all the bells and whistles, a real gem. At 1 watt, these speakers will put out 75 db or so, and believe me, you do NOT need a subwoofer with these. This speaker represents the classic JBL sound, and why add a 12 inch subwoofer for more bass? You already have two 12 inch woofers sitting in the cabinets!!!! Many people do not like the JBL sound, they say it is ''colored.'' Well, most records and albums recorded in the 70''s were monitored on these, so how can it color the sound?? Really now, the sound engineers in the recording studio LISTENED TO THESE SPEAKERS WHEN THEY WERE MAKING THE ALBUM, so doesnt that mean that is the way it was intended to sound? ANYWAYS, back to the speakers. They are so clear, they will show everything in the recording. Do not play crappy recordings on these, they will sound like crap!! Crap in, crap out. Also, I would recommend a powerful receiver, these speakers come alive at about 1 to 2 watts, and if you dont have the power for the transients, then youre not getting the full effect. I talked to a man who rebuilds speakers for a living and he told me that it would cost JBL 3 to 4 thousand dollars a pair to build these speakers today, imagine that! I love these speakers, I have a hard time listening to anything else. Whenever im around and I am at someone elses house and they put music on it just doesnt sound the same anymore.... PS: The foam around the tweeters is IMPORTANT!! JBL didnt just put it there for looks..it deflects the sound so it doesnt bounce off the case, makes for a better high, worth replacing. I think you can still get the foam for the LE-25 tweeter from JBL, runs about 10 bucks for a pair...but BE CAREFUL when you are pulling the old adhesive away, ya might find yourself pulling the wires out of the tweeters...theyre right under there and they are thin, just take your time and be careful.

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KLH, PIONEER, JVC