Old JBL L-100 Moniters? (pictured)

  • Thread starter Thread starter NRS
  • Start date Start date
N

NRS

New member
I came across a pair of these being thrown out curbside a couple years ago and scooped them up not knowing what I found. All they needed was new input jacks and the repair of a small tear in one of the woofers and they were fine. Additionally I treated the woofers with a thin black latex coating to preserve them as they were originally white.

I later discovered these are still being sold today by a vendor in the back of some recording magazine @ over 500 a pair who claims they were some of best selling staples ever, but of coarse he's trying to sell them.

So...were they a decent find? Anyone ever use em? I'm putting together a recording set up now and it would be great if these were indeed suitable enough for accurate professional studio monitering as the vendor claims. How would they stack up to similiar passive pro studio moniters on the market today?
 

Attachments

  • JBL L-100.webp
    JBL L-100.webp
    12.7 KB · Views: 124
Last edited:
Yup, I've used 'em at 2 different remote recording sessions. In one, they were installed as the (now defunct) studio's main monitors. As I understand it, they were designed for studio use.

I liked 'em, but I was really only using them for tracking ...I didn't really get a chance to try them out mixing. Keep in mind though, they're not nearfields, so you'll need to mount them accordingly.

If they're in good enough shape, they'd probably hold their own against mid/farfield montors on the market today.
 
I still use (and love) my JBL mid-fields, (4311b control monitors) that look similar to your L-100s.
I believe (our) Harvey Gerst was the person that designed some/all JBL speakers of this era.
 
Great! Thanks for that link. Seems they still have thier share of collectors and restoration enthusiasts. Found lots of parts available on ebay too. (The only other time I'd seen em was on the basement set of "That Seventies Show)".

Very glad to hear they should be suitable for mixing too. Now I dont have to cannabalize them into that car trunk subwoofer project I was thinking about!
 
Mc'guyversen said:
I still use (and love) my JBL mid-fields, (4311b control monitors) that look similar to your L-100s.
I believe (our) Harvey Gerst was the person that designed some/all JBL speakers of this era.
Click to expand...
Nope, I did design the JBL "F" series of musical instrument speakers, but the studio monitors were done by Ed May at JBL.

The JBL L-100 was the consumer version of the JBL 4310, with a different crossover and grille. The crossover was designed by George Augspurger, another old friend at JBL.

If you put that system in a 4 cubic foot box, you can get another full octave out of it.
 
Seanmorse79 said:
If they're in good enough shape, they'd probably hold their own against mid/farfield montors on the market today.
Click to expand...

Owning a pair of 4311's and having a pair of 4312's in the past, I certainly would not want to put them up against the majority of the mid or far field monitors available today. The JBL's sound OK, but the current crop of mid/far field monitors available today (Dynaudio, ADAM, Quested, EMES, PMC etc...) absolutely blow away the JBL's in my opinion.
 
xstatic said:
Owning a pair of 4311's and having a pair of 4312's in the past, I certainly would not want to put them up against the majority of the mid or far field monitors available today. The JBL's sound OK, but the current crop of mid/far field monitors available today (Dynaudio, ADAM, Quested, EMES, PMC etc...) absolutely blow away the JBL's in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Assuming I have the facts right, the 4311 for one, was not designed to attempt to be flat'. From what I hear on that one it pretty much sounds as it's tailored. To me it is quickly noticeable that it is not a neutral tone.
Wayne
 
That may be true. However, I have spent plenty of time on the 4311, 4312, and the 4310. None of them hold a candle to all the newer mid/far field monitors though as far as I am concerned. The newer ones typically have a richer deeper but at the same time more natural sound in the lows, punchier mids, and much smoother and more extended high frequency extension that is far less fatiguing. Newer speakers also tend to have a much wider and more natural stereo imaging and wider sweet spots. Then again you are also comparing a speaker that sells for around $300 to $400 a pair to speakers that pretty much start at around $1500 a speaker. Also consider that the newer ones that are being referred to are also using a much more refined and current driver, crossover, cabinet design etc... Personally, I just don't think its a fair comparison, but if a person insisted on making the comparison I would say that by a long shot the JBL's would come out on the losing end.
 
Well, did a little more reading up and saw some posts on that site saying that the L-100's were more consumer hi-fi's of thier day that were intentionally designed to NOT have a true flat frequency response. It was said they were meant more to hype up the sound of modern disco of that era. They were also referred to as having a "West coast sound".

That being the case and recalling how most consumer stereos of that era only had bass and treble control, how likely would I be to flatten them out enough for accurate studio mixing by using a modern 31 band EQ and measurement mic? If so, would I then have to keep them at a set volume in order to not have to recalibrate my EQ all the time?

Alteratively I might consider just swapping out some of the drivers or components with new ones as I was'nt too concerned about keeping them vintage spec anyway. Individually each part seems to have at least an equitable amont of used resale value as what a new one might cost.

Does anyone know what would have been the closest model to an L-100 that WAS considered a flat studio moniter and that maybe shared some of its same components so I could see what the exact differences were and not have to swap out everything? (which wouldnt even be worth it at that point)
 
As I remember (from an old conversation with George Augspurger), set the midrange at 4, and the treble at 7, to get a pretty flat sound out of the L-100's.

My main system in Studio A is basically the components in the 4310/L100 speakers, except two 12" woofers - in an 8 cubic foot box, per side. The system measures within a 2 dB window from 27 Hz to 22 KHz.

The speakers were handmade by Ed May as his personal home system, till Edna made him get rid of the monster, and he sold it to me.
 
Thanks, thats good to know. I'm sure I could always find the woofer parameters on that JBL site too If I want to try em in different sized boxes. Without any measurement I didnt think they sounded too off the flat mark to begin with but had more of an issue adjusting to the gritty coloration of especially the mid range driveres (which I think are alnico and remind me of mini versions of some Peavey Scorpion spreakers I own)

It took a bit of listening and EQing before I could finally begin to ignore each drivers individual character and hear them as one cohesive unit, but perhaps this is just a normal acclimation process of getting to know any new moniter or.....maybe I just identified one of the love/hate things people have dicribed about these moniters? (I dont have experience with a variety enough of different brand moniters to really know).

Definately worth trying to work with it seems though and I cant really argue with thier price (Free!)
 
According to Ed May (who designed the L-100 speaker), the woofer (a model 2212) works best in a 4 cubic foot box, tuned somewhere between 30 and 35 Hz.

Bill Burton designed the original D123 that the L-100 woofer was based on. I used that same D123 magnet assembly when I designed the JBL D110F musical instrument speaker. Ed May used the same D123 magnet structure for the LE10 as well.
 
Last edited:
My old partner and I had a pair of L-100 that he got from his dad years before- he still has them and uses them, and I think every song we mixed for four years was done with that in our studio.

They are very very cool speakers- thanks Harvey !!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top