Just acquired some L80T's

[JBLRaiser]

Going to Atlanta to pick them up.:bouncy: With ten inch woofs, how will they compare to the L100's,L166's? http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/ele/1392500838.html

[BMWCCA]

I think that's a good deal. In fact I paid that for a pair last week, my second pair. I tried to bargain the seller down but he said he'd already discounted them from their true value for a cleaner transaction. He did eventually throw in a Soundcraftsmen DC-2215 EQ he'd bought once but never used. I already have one I don't use but I took the bait. :)

Looks like some sort of mouse screen in the port in your pair. You may want to take the woofer out and see what the mouse left in there before they put the screen in place! Hopefully he didn't eat the cardboard port tube.

My new pair have perfect cabinets and grilles. Early pair with particle-board plinth, low serial numbers, from the original owner. Appear to have one factory-re-coned woofer (chalk-marks and all) and one factory replacement woofer (inventory stickers, etc) in them. He remembers having them done but doesn't remember exactly what was done. Regardless, the surrounds are in fine shape.

Eventually I'll have a chance to compare my self-re-surrounded pair with the GordonW mods (1.5" port extension and 4" or insulation stuffed into the top of the cabinet) with the stock pair. Right now the new pair are playing with separate amps but stacked on top of the other pair for lack of space. (Small room with two-pairs of L7s, two-pairs of L80ts, one each 4412A L5, L96, LX22, four amps . . .) They sound very nice. I'm using a Crown PS-400 for each pair but it's not a fair comparison with one three-feet higher than the other!

I assume you like the L166 more than the L100s and you'll find the L80T slots somewhere in between. They'll actually hold their own on the low-end and of course many here really like the 127H-1, especially in other boxes like the 4410. We're constantly told the T3 crossover really improves them especially if the 035Ti bothers you. I'm still thinkng of putting an L-pad for the tweeter in one pair, or modding the crossovers just for fun, but they sound pretty good as they are.

Hopefully you'll soon be able to tell us what you think. :applaud:

[SEAWOLF97]

I had a pair ....found the highs too high (Phils add an L pad idea may fix that) , very awkward to move (kinda top heavy) and the total was less than the sum of its parts (since its virtually the same drivers as the 4410 , which I do like)

Liked the monolith look.

Did not care for the spaghetti wood veneer that chips VERY easily....I was ready to strip them for drivers when a buyer came along.

I guess it cud be mouse screens in the port...looked like a rolled up pair of white socks to me (the Zilch bass modifier fix - Marantz included a foam plug for their ports - for use with low power amps)

For $100 its a fine deal tho.:bouncy: ....the drivers are worth more than you paid for the speakers.

[BMWCCA]

Did not care for the spaghetti wood veneer that chips VERY easily....You're right, but it would seem some do and some don't. Seems to be a function of storage and/or maintenance. My L20Ts have perfect veneer as do my "new" L80Ts. The $50 pair of L80Ts had a rougher life, no oil, etc. and have two chips on the more-vulnerable front top corners. The interesting thing I've noticed on both pairs of L80Ts is that the top and both sides are all the same extended piece with matched grains that flow across at least three surfaces, albeit cut and joined at each plane. The "spaghetti wood" looks pretty damn nice when it's not beat-up and has a nice Watco treatment. I offer, again, the before-and-after shot of my $50 pair:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/DSC_1402.jpg

[SEAWOLF97]

The "spaghetti wood" looks pretty damn nice when it's not beat-up and has a nice Watco treatment. I offer, again, the before-and-after shot of my $50 pair:



Any liquid treatment that I tried on the L80T's just sat there and wouldnt soak in .....finish looked original and dont think I was competing with a wax or any other treatment (got them from a teenager)

Could there have been different iterations of the construction ?

[BMWCCA]

Could there have been different iterations of the construction ?Good question, but I don't know. One of my pairs is early (particle-board plinth) and one later (plastic). They both took the Watco well, sucking up three coats. Seemed to close-up the grain and made them nice and smooth. :dont-know

[hjames]

Very odd! I thought it was the T3s that had spaghetti wood?

I just got another pair of the L20T3s last night for my office.
In the TV room I already have one set of L20T3s for side surrounds and a pair of L20Ts as rear surround. The t3s have a kind of a weird dark coloured wood - I'd call that the spaghetti wood - the 20T has a nicer wood (oak veneer?) finish like my L60T and L100T had.

L20T on top of L60T with New Port Location ..

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=36671&stc=1&d=1232491804



You're right, but it would seem some do and some don't. Seems to be a function of storage and/or maintenance. My L20Ts have perfect veneer as do my "new" L80Ts. The $50 pair of L80Ts had a rougher life, no oil, etc. and have two chips on the more-vulnerable front top corners. The interesting thing I've noticed on both pairs of L80Ts is that the top and both sides are all the same extended piece with matched grains that flow across at least three surfaces, albeit cut and joined at each plane. The "spaghetti wood" looks pretty damn nice when it's not beat-up and has a nice Watco treatment. I offer, again, the before-and-after shot of my $50 pair:

[midlife]

I don't know about spaghetti wood, but the one on the right looks good.

[BMWCCA]

I don't know about spaghetti wood, but the one on the right looks good.Yeah, that's the one I stripped the drivers out of, replaced the surround, sanded with a palm sander, then rubbed in three coats of Watco Danish oil.

The one on the left now looks just like the one on the right having undergone the same treatment! :D

L80Ts just seem to keep falling in my lap. Could be worse. I believe they'll probabaly end up as the start of an 5.1 system in a friend's motorcycle museum/garage.;)

[BMWCCA]

I finally got around to modding my latest pair of L80Ts with T3 networks I got off Ebay for $13. While I was in there I did the Gordon Waters mods adding (this time) 2-inches to the port and another four-inches of insulation in the top. For those who care, here's a shot comparing the two networks, with the T3 on the right and in the close-up:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/DSC_1564.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/DSC_1565.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/DSC_1567.jpg

Just finished them and they're playing now. After doing the first one I A-B'd it with the stock other side. The harshness of the 035ti was noticeably less but the real test was when both were done and I compared them to my L96s. Surprisingly they sound very similar now. The L96s have stronger/deeper bass but that my just be the difference between front versus rear ports in that room.

I'm very impressed with the "new" L80T/3 and find they will do what I like about the L96s which is to play nearly any music and make it sound good. Not too picky about bad recordings or any of the other stuff you've heard others here blame on the titanium tweets. Not brittle, not irritating. Musical is a pretty good word.

Next they get installed in my bedroom system so my L112s can finally get a well-deserved re-foam (still original from when I bought them in 1982 and I haven't played them in years). We'll see how they like having that port backed up against a wall! I could put the L96s there but I'm gonna try the L80T/3s first.

I recommend the mods to anyone with the L80T. It's given them a new life in my collection and I respect them much more now. Worth the trouble, for sure! :applaud:

[SEAWOLF97]

The harshness of the 035ti was noticeably less but the real test was when both were done and I compared them to my L96s. Surprisingly they sound very similar now.

thats what I always suspected...seeing that the 4410 has virtually the same drivers as the L80T, but sounded much different...logically the diff HAD to be the network...so if the excessive L80T brightness subsided with the substitution of the T3 network, well, duh.

I'm paring down , so the reduction still worked out fine (dont even have room to run the 4410's)