jbl l5 are they any good? i got some for free

[justin6547]

i got a free pair of jbl l5 speakers today from a guy moving out of my apartment building... he just set them out with his stuff he was giving away... they are in semi perfect condition... are they any good? what could i sell them for? and what would i need to make them work with my tv or play cd's on? be basic with me i dont know alot about this stuff

[brutal]

No, they're complete junk. I'll give you $20 for them.

:D

Seriously, they're great JBL's. You scored. :applaud:

Don't flip them, enjoy them.

Find a decent Stereo Receiver and you'll be all set.

[johnaec]

The L5 is a really nice speaker - you scored! As mentioned, get a nice receiver, and run your stereo and TV through them. Both the TV and a CD player would plug into the receiver, which would then drive the speakers.

As far as pricing goes - it can be all over the place, depending on who's buying at any particular time. My guestimate would be in the $250 range for the pair.

John

[Titanium Dome]

$250 to $300 is about right, but you could not replace them with anything comparable today for less than $800-1000. So you can choose the short view and make a few hundred bucks, or you can take the long view and keep a pair of speakers that you couldn't afford to replace with new ones and have a better system than anyone who bought a new pair of under $1000 Polks, Paradigms, Athenas, Klipsch, Bose, etc.

All you need to add is a decent (used) stereo receiver, many of which are available cheap at pawn shops. Just make sure the receiver's minimum power is 50 Watts per channel.

[hjames]

I did a quick search here on L-5 - click the link to check it out!
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=930189
read the results of this - they sound very popular!





i got a free pair of jbl l5 speakers today from a guy moving out of my apartment building... he just set them out with his stuff he was giving away... they are in semi perfect condition... are they any good? what could i sell them for? and what would i need to make them work with my tv or play cd's on? be basic with me i dont know alot about this stuff

[BMWCCA]

If you're not going to run them with adequate power, sell them now and don't look back. If you like your music loud, you'll want to have a minimum of a nice clean 200 watts per channel to drive them properly. Try doing it on the cheap and you'll likely blow the tweeters.

[spwal]

I loved them for the short time i had them :). great speakers. I gave them 50 pristine watts and they loved it.

enjoy, dont sell!

[BMWCCA]

I loved them for the short time i had them :). great speakers. I gave them 50 pristine watts and they loved it.I'm gonna guess that wasn't just 50 Japanese watts from the local big-box store or the pawn shop! ;)

Thanks again!

[Titanium Dome]

JBL's recommended range is quite wide from 35–350W. I've powered my pair, which I've owned for almost 20 years with as little as 40W or as much as 215W. Just use some reason and look at where you'll be using them and for what purpose. Having 50W/ch for use in a normal-sized room for medium to loud play is more than adequate. If you intend to play REALLY LOUD, then, yes, spend extra money to get a more powerful receiver or amp to avoid clipping.

My assessment is that you're on a tight budget and want an economical route to enjoy them. If you have a few hundred bucks sitting around looking to be spent, then, yes, you could spend them on a 200W/ch receiver if you can find one.

The biggest two-channel receiver Harman Kardon makes puts out 120W/ch and can be had for about $230. It'll hook up to your TV, CD player, and other things you might have, like an iPod/MP3 player. You can easily find slightly older HK gear at pawn shops or on ebay for half or less of that price. There may be two-channel receivers out there that run 200W/ch or more that another member can tell you about. However, this quickly becomes a game of escalating expectations where you'll need a decent preamp, a powerful amp, a tuner, a CD/DVD player, and a record player before everyone thinks you're properly equipped to do the L5s justice.

I'm thinking you're wanting to spend $100 or so rather than $500 or $1000 dollars just to see how this whole thing works.

[BMWCCA]

No disagreement here. When I suggested 200 watts, I said if you want to play them loud. Loud is certainly a subjective term. I've never run mine with less than 90 watts per channel or more than 200. I'm unable to cause distortion at extremely high sound levels with either. Given how cheaply good clean power can be bought used, I'll stick with the recommendation of more rather than less. I can show that a Crown PS-200 or PS-400 can be had for $100. That's good cheap power that L5s deserve.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure the original poster signed off as soon as our evaluation of his curb-side find topped $200. I see no indication we're advising someone who gives a fig about sound quality of adequate amplification. Not that that's ever stopped this forum from expanding off the original post. :applaud:

We're just talking amongst ourselves now anyway. My experience with JBLs over fifty years has been only one blown tweeter (075) and JBL put the blame on a Kenwood receiver. From that day over 35 years ago, I've used only a Fisher SA-100 or Crown D and PS series amps with no recurrence of such a disaster. Even that repaired 075 is still working great. (Should I check and see if JBL put the red wax back in when they repaired it?)

Since we're way off-topic anyway, I'm curious. I was often told JBLs were sold way-back-when with "lifetime" warranties. The literature shows "unlimited" warranties for problems outside the control of the user. JBL was kind enough to repair my 075 at no charge in 1970, but are my original 030 systems still "under warranty"? For the original owner (my Mom)? Do you suppose crossover deterioration from age comes under that warranty? ;)

[Titanium Dome]

My original L100 Century (inline model) documentation mentions a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. I had a 123A-1 go bad many years after the purchase. I mailed JBL for instructions, sent in the driver and a copy of my receipt in the box they sent me. They reconed it and sent it back postpaid. No charge.