Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Speakers - Stacked: JBL L100 Century

So I picked up another pair of L100 Century speakers and since I couldn't bare to put them into storage I decided to stack them. Some people run these in parallel, some in serial, I decided to run one pair from the "A" speaker set off my Sansui AU-717 integrated amplifier, and the other off the "B" speaker set.

How does it sound? BIG, BOLD, and a bit nauseating. Rock and roll sounds good, but I tried playing some jazz and the forward midrange on these almost shot me through my loft skylight. A little fine tuning on the midrange control is in order and I'll do that this weekend. Again, my take on the L100 Century speakers is that they sound great with rock and roll and are wonderful party speakers. And yes, that is a Captain and Tennille album in the foreground.

To read my review of non-stacked JBL L100 Century speakers, click HERE.

If you have ever tried stacking JBL L100 Century loudspeakers and have a story to tell or photos to share, please leave a comment or email me.

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7 comments:

  1. Try the woofer on top and run all on A speaker. B speaker setting is almost always under powered. Bang for buck best speaker value ever. If midrange is blowing you out thats what an equalizer or basic bass and treble controls are for. These are studio monitors and can be tailored for any music style. The only thing I've bought that lasted over 30 years. Simply the best.

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  2. I'd lean towards a psuedo MTM with woofers on the top and bottom and the x-over at 9 o'clock on mids and tweet. Worked for me. Only have a single pair currently - and looking.

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  3. I'd try them in a pseudo MTM array... woofers top and bottom. X-over at 9 o'clock on mids and tweet. Worked for me, only 1 pair currently - looking for another pair (again) to reclaim the magic.

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  4. Hey, I just stumbled upon your blog while looking up better pictures for some Sansui speakers I found on Craigslist. I run a Luxman L-100 powering JBL 4311Bs fed by a Technics SL-10. I use this setup to rip records for my website. I will definitely be spending some time checking out your archives.

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  5. I started listening to stacked JBL L100 century's in 1974 and I have been in audio heaven ever since. Mine are stacked one upside down on the other tweeter to tweeter. They are run parallel to a Macintosh 7270 Amp. They rest on 8" stands to get them off the floor(cleaner base).
    This rig has stood the test of time and humbled numerous High End $$$$$$ systems
    One caution, JBL had a habit of changing polarity of its drivers without advertising it. There are three distinct versions of this wonderful speaker. If you have 4 speakers of the same generation, you should be fine.If not try reversing the terminal wires on one pair,to get them in phase,
    Do your homework before buying to stack

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  6. I didn't know that about the polarity. Thanks for the great information!

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  7. IVE GOT A PAIR OF THESE SPEAKERS AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE APRAISED TO SEE WHAT THERE WORTH DO YOU KNOW OF ANYWHERE

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