New owner of L5's question

[jmitchnh]

Picked-up a pair of JBL L5 speakers today at a local yard sale. Now, I need another pair of speakers, esp a mid-90's black monolith, like I need a hole in the head, but for the price: $10.00, I couldn't say no.

They cabinets are a bit rough (though not trashed) and the grills are missing, but overall not in bad shape. One of the larger low-end drivers is dead (open at the terminals) but all the others work.

Listening impressions: I'm hearing a lot of high-end (the metal tweeters sing!) but not much from the mids and the low end is virtually non-existant. From what I've read, theese speakers are supposed to have a sweet mid-range and a very deep low-end. My Polk SDA-1Cs trounce them, esp in mids and lows.

From a build perspective, they seem very well built for a "consumer" speaker. The have a very solid cabinet, 5-way binding posts and cast aluminum baskets for the drivers.
So my question is, does this sound like x-over issue? This model was built in the mid-90's so they are about 15 years old. Any one with experience with these speakers. Wondering if they are worth repairing or just part-out the drivers.

Thanks!

[hjames]

Lets see - Grills are gone, cabinets beat up, one woofer dead - sure sounds like abuse!
If one woofer is open I would think all the drivers have been pretty well hammered but the only way to be sure is to start checking and swapping parts to see if you can get one working L5 from the pair of them. I would not be optimistic.
But - the price was good and you didn't pay shipping charges!


Picked-up a pair of JBL L5 speakers today at a local yard sale. Now, I need another pair of speakers, esp a mid-90's black monolith, like I need a hole in the head, but for the price: $10.00, I couldn't say no.

They cabinets are a bit rough (though not trashed) and the grills are missing, but overall not in bad shape. One of the larger low-end drivers is dead (open at the terminals) but all the others work.

Listening impressions: I'm hearing a lot of high-end (the metal tweeters sing!) but not much from the mids and the low end is virtually non-existent. From what I've read, these speakers are supposed to have a sweet mid-range and a very deep low-end. My Polk SDA-1Cs trounce them, esp in mids and lows.

From a build perspective, they seem very well built for a "consumer" speaker. The have a very solid cabinet, 5-way binding posts and cast aluminum baskets for the drivers.
So my question is, does this sound like x-over issue? This model was built in the mid-90's so they are about 15 years old. Any one with experience with these speakers. Wondering if they are worth repairing or just part-out the drivers.

Thanks!

[oldsoundz]

With a starting price of 10 bucks I think you have done well.

I recently heard a pair of these and they sounded pretty friggin good to me.

I have recently bought a pair and I am waiting to get the 708's re-foamed
so I can begin to enjoy mine.

I would consider throwing some more money at them in hopes of making
them sound right. Keep reading the reviews and you will know this is a good
speaker....Widely considered one of the best bang for the buck JBL's available.

Hi Heather! I hope you are doing well:)

[hjames]

With a starting price of 10 bucks I think you have done well.

Hi Heather! I hope you are doing well:)

Thanks - hope life's smiling on you as well!

Absolutely agree on your assessment - $10 is a great starting price!

I'm doing well, actually - we had a yard sale and nothing much sold - except a flat screen TV mount I bought and didn't use (went with a more complex one with pivoting action!) .
But a nice cooler day with no real rain ... can't complain!

[BMWCCA]

The L5 should offer just about as much low-end kick as any of the iconic JBL 12-inch bookshelf speakers. Yours must be fried.

No telling what else got taken out when the 708G-1 got destroyed. The crossovers would appear to be pretty darn robust.

Even with less than 100-WPC they should still sound impressive.

Doesn't seem fair that replies to this same OP's discussion on AK should include links to LH without adding to the discussion here. So, for posterity, here's what I replied there:
Seems to be more common on the L3 and could be abuse or simple adhesive or material failure. I don't recall any such failure in systems where their history is known and their use has been with proper equipment. Could be from turntable rumble, or simply being over-driven, especially in a large room with a small amp. A similar LH discussion (http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?26813-Sloped-front-JBL) turned up a shredded pair in some L3s being used in a dance studio with a small amp. If the surrounds are simply separated, try re-attaching them. But check first to see if the surround itself has separated from its own layers. It's a rather unique surround material composition. Here's a post from the system's designer that mentions that material: http://ftp.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?7498-JBL-L-Series-%281990s%29&p=240867&viewfull=1#post240867