Very well rounded. Smooth and clean. Great bass and mids.
They don't build them like this anymore.

None so far. The neighbors may find a weekness.

Very good all around speaker for their age. Nice bass, mids
and highs. Very good on most music, but r&r is best with
acoustics and drums really shining. I've wanted a set for
years, and finally got the chance to purchase a mint set on
ebay for 400 plus shipping. Can't beat them for their size
and quality . Build like a tank and can handle gobs of power. I am currently running them with a Sansui g9700 with
200 true watts of true power. You'll need to use a strong amp to keep the drivers tight. Very tight bass. Very clear
sound. Can't say enough about them. I'm running them with
a pair of jbl 4312's and the sound is truly amazing. Sounds
like you are there.

Similar Products Used:

jbl 4312, klipsh kg3.5, infinity sm-122

incredible sound

none

I bought my first pair back in 1977, I now have six and use them for my home theater powered by a Denon 5700 another fabulous piece of equipment. I dont think for the money that there is another speaker out there that can touch the L100. I go into high end stores and I am constantly amazed at how much I would have to spend to match these speakers. I paid 450 dollars for my original pair and 200 dollars for each additional pair. For the people looking to replace the grills JBL has a replacement, they are a little pricey at 50 dollars per speaker, but they will look brand new and you will be thrilled. You can go to www.jblpro.com and find a listing of authorized JBL dealers that you can get these through, also the spec sheet on the 4311 which is the same speaker. I got my grills through Slice speaker service in Kansas City the number is 816-221-8031. I have listened to these speakers for 22 years and have only heard a handful of speakers for big bucks that I thought might be better.

Dear GOd are these speakers good, the best i have ever heard, let alone ones that are 30 years old. THese are the best speakers out there, buy em cheap, youll be happy

touchy controls, heavy

These are the very best ive used. They were my dads when he was a teeny and now there mine. Monster magnets for crisp clear sound, with all the kicken poundin bass you could ever need or want. Best speaker ive ever used, now if they werent so gall darn heavy

I picked up my l-100's at a thrift store for $50.00 and other than the missing grill covers they are in great shape...my roommate moved and wouldn't sell his...now I know why...these babies can really put out the sound and have held up to my hitachi sr-2004, pioneer sx-1980 and sx-1250 very well...these are supposed to be guaranteed for life but I am unsure if you could still exercise that nowadays...I would appreciate info from someone who has the original paperwork....these are made with some high quality guts that you don't see anymore

greatest rock and roll speaker of all time; nuff said

anything foam

Over close to 30 years, I have assembled some truly high-end equipment in my main listening room. But throughout the decades,speakers came and left my household, but the JBL Century 100 still remain. In fact, they reside in a room of their own. They are part of my youth that I will never part with. Yes, my martin logans will tronce these speakers in terms of accuracy, transparency, clarity, soundstage, but I still love that JBL sound. Yeah, only true JBL fans know what this sound is...a warm woodsy midrange, low tight godzilla stomping bass, and sweet and somewhat harsh, ok, harsh and obviously challenged highs from the phenolic ring tweeter. And did I mention workmanship? Grain matched black walnut veneer assembled by old world cabinet makers by hand! How about the unique curved hand tuned port...without the aid of computers. And the quality of the drivers are legendary. Withstood the age of time and dorm parties. I have serial numbers 261030A, 261027A. Wished I would have also purchased the L200 (15 inch woofer with that massive horn tweeter) also, but making $1.25/hr at Yankee Doodle fast food I just could not swing that and college too. Glad to see that there are others out there that share my enthusism for the GREATEST ROCK N ROLL SPEAKERS EVER. I still shed a tear to see how far down the great JBL name has fallen...all the way down to the local K-Mart shelves.

Similar Products Used:

cerwin vega dx9

Overall sound quality, and precise cabinet construction.

Speaker terminals accept only 18 gauge or smaller wire comfortably.

I purchased the L-100's while in the military in 1973. I had a lot of time to research and audition many speaker systems while stationed both stateside and overseas, before making my final decision.

With the exception of replacing the crumbling foam grills with factory replacements, they are in exactly the same condition today as when I bought them. There has been no deterioration of sound quality or appearance since I first unpacked the pair 28 years ago. They not only provide excellent background entertainment but they can also faithfully reproduce organ music at over 100 watts program with ease.

In my younger years it was not uncommon for the meters on my amplifier to pass the 200 watt mark. The L-100 faithfully reproduced the selection with ease and no apparent damage.

I doubt that a better system was available in 1973 for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale W60D

Highs, mids and lows.... will handle anything thrown at them.

None

This is just an update from my first post of 1999 of this fantastic speaker. I have upgraded everything else I noted in that review except for these old L-100's. I bought several highly rated models mentioned above and none could beat the L100's out of their place of the mains for my HT system. They actually shine even brighter for 2 channel use.
Those of you who are lucky to have some of these beauties have some of the finest speakers built by JBL or anyone else even close to their price range.
I always feel proud to list them as the heart of my HT system.
I finally upgraded the tweet to a titanium model to get close to the timbre of current JBL HT speakers. The foam around the tweet had disintegrated and JBL Vintage Speaker Division doesn't have replacement foam for the tweets.

If you can find an old set of these, buy them... there's nothing quite as strong that will drive so easy yet take anything thrown at them.

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Monitor Audio, Magnepan

The L100 defines the "classic" JBL sound: clear, punchy bass, incredible mid-range and lovely highs.

The foam grilles are a bit Brady Bunch.

This is simply, all-in-all, the finest home speaker system that has ever been made.

Similar Products Used:

JBL LX44, JBL L19. Form mademe enter 1995 as model year.........these date from circa 1977.

The Winner and still Champion.

They don't make them any more.

I don't know how much more I can add to what's already been said over the years when the JBL L100 is spoken of.

The 100 is a timeless classic. It's a piece of Americana just like the 4th of July.

The beautifully proportioned hand-made cabinetry finished in real wood.

The bass that hits you right in the chest. The bright and forward mids and highs.....and the shear beauty of the massive, over-engineered drivers.

And "that JBL sound"........no other speaker, not even any other JBL, has that sound, and they did it all by hand and without computers.

This is a 30+ year old design that makes probably 95% of what's being sold today look like garbage, and the L100 just keeps rockin' on........

The JBL L100 is the finest bookshelf speaker that was ever made. Period. If you are lucky enough to own a pair of these, you own a piece of history.

Similar Products Used:

JBL S312, JBL LX44, JBL L19, JBL N28

constuction/sound

speaker terminals

I have received numerous request for more information on stacking two pairs of L100's based on my last review. I hope the following will help:
As a historical note: I once witnessed a demonstration performed by an Advent dealer who stacked two pairs of original large advent speakers and compared them to a pair of JBL's L300's. Many of the people who were at this demonstration felt that the stacked advents equaled the L300's. I was not one of them, but I was impressed with how good the relatively inexpensive two way advents sounded. Remember; The L300's were top of JBL's line, huge 15 inch woofers, compression horn mids and a slot tweeters all with alnico magnets! The combined price of four advents was less than one third that of the L300's
I personally owend a pair of the original large advents during the same time I had my first set of JBL L100's. I compared these two classic speakers side by side dozens of times with all types of music and the L100's blew the advents away in every respect. The point is, I had always wondered, if the inferior advents sounded so good stacked, what would two pairs of L100's sound like? It took 27 years to find out, thats when I finally purchased a second pair and stacked them.
In a word they sound AWE-SOME! Stacked in parallel their independence drops to 4ohms an easier load for most amps to drive. The sound stage expands, the base gets tighter and the midrange blooms. Now you have that big speaker "L300" sound. I do not understand the physics of why this happens, all I know is what I hear. I now have that elusive "you are there," sound that every one who has gone to concerts seems to be trying to recreate.
By placing the second pair upside down on the first you create a mirror image, and now you four of each driver mooving a lot of air. This is possibly why stacking makes such a big difference.
Try it you will not be disoppointed.

Similar Products Used:

4311 L112 L166 L100t