Speakers - JBL L36 Decade

Have I mentioned that I REALLY like vintage JBL speakers? Just picked up these L36 Decade speakers today and boy do they sound nice. From what I've read, the foam surround on these is always bad by this point (30+ years) into their life, but these have rubber surrounds, so they must have been replaced. Whomever replaced them did a bang-up job because there's no sign of glue or any modification. I also tested to make sure the woofer travels back and forth without rubbing on the voice coil - no problem there. They sport the original 125-A woofers with their distinct concave dust caps. One of the LE5-6 midrange drivers has a punched in dust cap, but I just ordered an OEM replacement driver from eBay, so I'll have these looking minty in a week or so.

By the way, in case you didn't know (as I didn't before about a year ago), a fouled up dust cap has little to no affect on sound quality for most speakers. Many can be fixed by pulling them out using tape or a small hooked pin. Try at your own risk.

How do they sound? Terrific. I don't have them side-by-side with my L100 Century speakers, but they are very similar. Perhaps not quite as much low-end, but that's fine with me. These are overkill for garage speakers and will eventually work their way into the loft or the house. . .we'll see how long that takes. In the meantime, they will rock the block with vintage JBL quality every weekend. . .or until my neighbors tell me to cool it.

If you have any photos or stories about your JBL L36 Decade speakers, please leave a comment or send me an email.

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