Speakers - JBL 4312 Control Monitors

New additions to my JBL collection, these 1985 4312 control monitors are sonically close to my L100 Century and L166 Horizons. These came with decent cabinets and a blown (non-working, anyway) LE5-12 midrange. I replaced the mid temporarily with an LE5-8 from my JBL Decades, and I can't tell any difference in sound. In the meantime, I've got a bid on a replacement OEM LE5-12 mid on eBay.

How do they sound? As mentioned above, nearly indistinguishable from the L100. Powerful, full-bodied bass and overall a great rock and roll speaker. Not neutral, but forward in almost all aspects - bass, mids, and highs. That's okay though. If I want neutral, I'll listen to my DCM Timeframe 600 or Advent Loudspeakers.

By the way, these were manufactured, from 1982 - 1985 or so. I know these were 1985 because that was the year stamped as part of the date on the blown midrange.

Have any info or pictures of your JBL 4312 control monitos? Please send me an email or leave a comment.

Speakers - JBL L46

Back in college, which for reference was sometime between the death of disco and the fall of the Berlin Wall, I dated a pair of sisters - NO! not at the same time, this isn't one of THOSE Web sites! The sisters were the same in every way - attitudes, senses of humor, personalities - except physical stature. Claire (and I'm using a fake name here instead of disclosing her real name, Stephanie) was 5' 11", big-boned, strong and somewhat intimidating. Younger sister, Betty was petite, 5' 3", and delicate. Anyway, I'll leave the sordid details of the relationships' demise for another day - suffice to say, both relationships ended amiably, or at least that's how I choose to file them in my memories.

I was reminded of Claire and Betty as I'm collecting what seems to be the entire JBL speaker line from 1971 to 1983. All of these lovely JBLs have similar qualities that make them very appealing to me. Overall construction is superb, sound quality is predictably sweet, somewhat colored, but very satisfying.

The L46 is very much like its big sister, err uhh. . . cousin, the L56. The L46 has the same clear highs but less bass. It's very well-balanced though and perfect for a bedroom, den, or small family room. The L56 is more powerful, but still not in the class of the L36, L166 (coming soon), or L100 for BIG, 3-way sound. Sonically though - all of the JBls I've listened to lately possess many of the same qualities. I know they all "spec out" differently, but I'll betya I'd be able to tell the "JBL Sound" from any other speaker line in a blindfolded listening test. We will see if I can arrange that!

I'm going to keep all of the JBL speakers for a long time. They're not going to be traded or sold. And, unlike the sisters from so many years ago, these speakers can't run off to Santa Barbara with the captain of the beach volleyball team.

Now, where's that blindfold?

Here's a link to JBL speaker prices and all the models between 1970 and 1999.

Have any stories of photos of your JBL L46 speakers? Please leave a comment or send me an email.

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Speakers - JBL L166 Horizon

Wow! You know it's time to get a new camera when. . .every photo you take looks like a Polaroid from your aunt's 1973 trip to the Panama Canal.

Picked these up today. The advert said "may need re-edging." Ya THINK??? Couldn't pass them up for the $50 price tag. Cabinets are in fair shape, but hey - I've never owned a pair of L166 Horizon's before, so why not? I'm taking the woofers into OC Speaker this week for a professional re-edging job. I simply don't have the time for it these days, and their prices are reasonable.

I'll do a Sound Check when I get these together - stay tuned.

Have any photos or stories about your JBL L166 Horizon speakers? Please leave a comment or send me an email.

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Speakers - JBL L56 - Sound Check

Finally had some time to listen to these today, and I'm glad I didn't go with my first impression. The more I listen to my JBLs the more I like them - all of them. These were made in the early 80's, a decade where the quality of most consumer audio became compromised. Nice to see JBL continued to create quality speakers. These sound very nice to me - well-balanced, good bass, clear highs. Describing speaker sound is always challenging. Most words used by professional audio reviewers don't mean much to me when I read them. I like to know that the speaker is well-constructed, has a quality name behind it, etc. Sound is so personal, so subjective, that saying the sound is "really good" means as much to me as saying that the soundstage and imaging are exceptional. Well, these sound "really good" to me - not great, not B&W DM640 or KEF 105.2 or Vandersteen 3A Signature good, but "really good" nonetheless.

Hope this helps.

Have opinions on the sound of your pair of JBL L56 Decade speakers? Please leave a comment or send me an email.

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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.

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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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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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Speakers - JBL L100 Century

I love these JBL Century speakers. People claim these to be great "rock & roll" speakers, and they are, but they can sound great for types of music as well. From what I've read on these, the studio versions of these speakers, the JBL 4310, were used in hundreds of recording studios, providing monitor sound for the engineers on many of the great rock albums of the 1970s. No wonder Boston sounds so great on these! Here's a great JBL Century Web site showing an upgrade - Click HERE.

For my review on Stacked JBL L100 Century speakers, click HERE.

I use these in a two channel home theater and alternate between these and my Polk Monitor 11T's. L100's have a "big" sound, not entirely uncolored, but impressive. Plenty of bass, somewhat forward midrange, and clear highs. Again, side-by-side with a pair of Advent Loudspeakers, these sound colored, bright, affected. But, they are great room-fillers and terrific party speakers. They are also incredibly efficient.

If you have any photos or stories about your JBL Century speakers, leave me a comment or shoot me an email.
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Speakers - JBL XPL-200

Considered by some to be the Holy Grail of JBL's consumer speaker line, these imposing marriage-busters should require a permit to play in any room smaller than an amphitheater. Okay, you can probably tell that I don't know much about these.

My friend, Steve sent the pic, so if you have more info, stories, or photos for the JBL XPL-200, leave a comment or email them to me.

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