Saturday, May 2, 2009

Speakers - JBL L56



You're right - I should have at least blown the dust off the grills before snapping these photos. . .I'm working on my photography skills, and someday hope to provide photos as nice as Lloyd on his site, Seventies Stereo - check it out, very impressive!

Anyway, as promised - here are the pics. I'm reserving judgment on the sound until tomorrow after I get a chance to give them a fair listen. First impressions were. . .well, I wouldn't be reserving judgment if I told you that, now would I? WOULD EYE?!? Sorry, old joke.

Until tomorrow then. . .

Have any photos or stories about your JBL L56 speakers? Please leave a comment or email me.

Want to hook up your iPod to your vintage stereo? Visit my Audio Accessory Store for some great values!

22 comments:

  1. I'm using a pair of L56's driven by a DYNACO ST70 and pre is a COUNTERPOINT SA-7.1.I listen to vinyl 80% of the time (using a TD125 MkII SME 3009). They sound very sweet and can listen for hours. Some people say there is something missing in the sound of the L56, I think it's they have hearing problems.=)

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  2. I have had a set of L56's since new, and still have the original boxes and shipping materials. Bought them at Stereo Discounters in Baltimore,(long since defunct) back in the day.I had to replace the surrounds about 1 1/2 years ago, and 1 of the 034 tweeters. (I got it off ebay) They do have a slight lack of mids, but overall a great set of speakers with cast aluminum frame 10" woofers. They have been great, but I don't use them much anymore. A true piece of audio history.

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    1. I also bought a pair new and still have them. replaced woofer once tweeter diaphrams many times due to an amp with push button electronic volume control, friends and family not turning it down before shutting amp down. Am currently putting a set of selenium DT 150 supertweeters in and will post results, also replacing woofer surround did one last year, quite easy

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  3. hallo, i'm not using the L56's but the L46"s, the have an 8 woofer, bought them new, now i'm searching with my son for some vintage speakers with the great sound like the old JBL's. In all these years the L46's, do the job great, clear sound, clear bass, all driven by the onkyo tx-6500 mkII. Some day i hope to find great speakers like the L46 en L56
    gr John NL

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  4. Thanks for chiming in. In my opinion, the L46 is better balanced and has better overall sound than the L56. I no longer have either pair - simply ran out of room. Have fun!

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    1. hello,an update from europe
      yesterday i bought the jbl l19 they are made in 1975-1979, nice little speaker, they have the same clear sound like the l46,
      my son uses them with his onkyo tx-4500mkII, it is a nice pair, he enjoys it, listening to linkin park
      Sadly in europe vintage JBL's are expensive.

      gr

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  5. I still own and use regularly a pair of JBL L56 speakers and I love them. I purchased them in 1986 and in i996 the rubber surrounds had begun to rot. Found out that JBL no longer manufactures nor has the replacement surrounds or the reconing kit. You can scrap the old woofer frames. I did find an excellent replacement for the woofers at "Parts Express". The replacement is excellent and has deeper, tighter bass response. The replacements are Goldwood model GW10PC/8. Part# 290-324. They have a rubber surround and poly cone. Much heavier magnet structure and sound great. These are a 10-1/4 inch woofer, rated at 7.6 ohms and they just fit the opening of the cabinet. Rated at 140 RMS, Freq.res 36-5,000Hz, 40 oz. magnet, SPL 90.4 dB. They cost about $40.ea. You can find them online @ Parts Express. Shipping about 5 business days. Hope this will help someone facing the same predicament.

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    1. Thanks for this info, very helpful...

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    2. Hi, you say they were a good fit, did you have to make the hole any bigger? If so how did you go about that?

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  6. I have these excellent speakers, purchased in 1986. They still sound great after all these years, play mix of vinyl, CDs and tapes. Upgraded my tunrtable cartridge last year--wow these speakers are still sweeeeeet! I will be replacing woofers- rubber starting to crack, spot repaired with light coat of silicone- but only temp fix since the rubber starting to go in otehr spots. I will check out the replacements noted above- thanks!!

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  7. Have JBL L-56 and L-100s Love them both! haters move on..

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  8. Update on my JBL L56s...didn't replace the woofers, instead I found replacement foam surrounds online for $20. Took me a couple hours on a winters day last year. Some careful cutting and gluing... if I could do it anybody can. Good to go for another 10 years! Listen to them all the time. These are some great speakers!

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  9. I collected jbl l1 also 4406 and the king of em all electrovoice interface a with eq those I got for 10 bucks at estate sale they needed all surrounds replaced I luv em all

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  10. Have has a pair of L56s since new in the 80s and had midwest speaker in Mpls do some work on them. May not be L100s but the sound is excellent driven by a Harman Kardon 3770. All I play is vinyl and am very happy with them.

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  11. Just bought a pair of L56s and i and striped them them and staining them.Saw a pair of marantz imperial 5s done in lacquer and they looked great.I have only one 10 inch woofer and looking for another.Just cant put in a after market speaker

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  12. Just bought a pair of L56s and i and striped them them and staining them.Saw a pair of marantz imperial 5s done in lacquer and they looked great.I have only one 10 inch woofer and looking for another.Just cant put in a after market speaker

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  13. I've got a pair with original boxes and have not noticed any issues with their sound. Only issue back in 1953 was my 3 yr old daughter and here spinning the JBL emblems until they came off. And now only other issue is doing a remodel the contractor's guys did not protect attic from rain and that came thru to the closet that I had stored them in during the remodel. So bottom one got water damage, cabinet spliting at seams. Now I've got to determine a price for them to pay for the damage.

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  14. Have two l56s but need woofers.Read many negative views so I'm on the fence.I have ar 58s ess amt 1a rsl 3600 all have 12 inch woofers.My reciever is a concept 11.0 reciever 110 watts a channel.Am i wasting time and money on restoring these speakers.Seat woofers go for 150 to 200 bucks.Any input i would appreciate Thanks

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  15. I have a Pair of JBL L-56’s for sale sun burst orange grills they our mint

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  16. I Love my L56 speakers I replaced the foam in the speakers recently, and they sound perfect again.

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  17. Put a pair of selenium D-150 horns in mine and tweaked the xover the sound is phenomenal. Blew too many of the 034 tweeters and went with 150 watt horns, mids are incredible fills in the blank spots bought them in 1984 still going strong refoamed they look great

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