Looky what I got! 1 Owner L100s off DC CL

Saw them on the DC Craigslist today -
apparently they were posted yesterday at 3:40 and must have missed the lunchtime lookers ...

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JBL Loud Speakers - Set of 2 - $## (McLean)

Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2008-04-30, 3:34PM EDT


Pair of JBL loudspeakers - wonderful sound, grill (foam) is missing but can be easily replaced. Great for some youngster to "tinker" with. Purchased in
1976, still have original manual. Finish is oiled walnut. Asking $##.00.

http://images.craigslist.org/0115130...fe5e002e85.jpg http://images.craigslist.org/0115120...7af300c2c0.jpg
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Based on comments from all of you I figured it was a reasonable shot, if they were in halfway decent shape.
So I sent off an email and waited.

But by the time they called me back they had bumped them to 4x the price (still a killer deal!) ...

They said they'd had quite a few interested folks and someone was looking at them when they called me,
but if they didn't buy them I could look at them this evening.

We went by, checked them out (Aja, Diana Krall, David Sylvian 88 Live show), and decided to pick them up.
They looked good and sounded good -
the guy was running them with an old Sansui 9010 he got with them at the base exchange in Germany ... back in the day.

I unhooked them and connected his spares in their place - a pristine set of Bose 301s (!)

We just got them home, and after a quick wipe with a bit of Howard's orange oil, they're cleaning up nicely ...

Now I need to check in with Indycraft or sonofagun for some foam!
Although - I do have a pair of the Eames style L88 grills that I've always loved the look of ...
probably need to redo the grillcloth for them, but they fit just inside the L100 grillframes like they were made for that use ...

More Pix tonight ...
($ prices removed to avoid souring the market, and to favour the innocents)

Great score, Heather!!!

Larry

What color are you gonna go with for the foam?

Nice grab- you building an extension onto your house as an excuse for yet another pair of JBLs? Mine sound good on that Yamaha power amp you borrowed from me, fire 'em up!

je

:applaud::applaud::applaud:

Let's see them puppies with their grilles off!

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Let's see them puppies with their grilles off!

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Okay! The foam around the dome tweeter was crumbled and I was able to very slowly ease the edge of the clear tape backing off, so I'm ready to order new tweeter foams for that. They are not mirror image, they are model L100 Century.
Apparently I need to get a pair of ZIlch plugs if I want to tame the boom box effect, unless I just want to let them be what they were born to be!

I think I'll stack them on my L200 (plus) ... for now!
Whoa - gotta pull out Quadrophenia and have a kegger! Woohoo!

Nice!!, try "The Real Me", my favorite


Mark

Very Nice Heather :applaud:

The cabs look to be in real nice shape, good for you!

Did you say Kegger!!!!! :cheers:

dont you just love this white of this white woofers?
great buy heather!
:o:

mikey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krunchy

Very Nice Heather :applaud:

The cabs look to be in real nice shape, good for you!

Did you say Kegger!!!!! :cheers:

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Well, thats the legend, innit?
Din't everyone in college in the 70s have a friend with a pair of these, and on Friday night, somebody got a keg and ... Woohoo!!!


But, our mint patch in the back yard came back this year with a vengence - so I started mixing Mojitos last week - grind the mint down with a bit of raw sugar and a tablespoon of rum to help release the mint oils, then add the lime and the crushed ice and the rest of the Barbancourt rhum- Yummm!

And the speakers? - when I got out of college in 76, I couldn't justify L100s so I wound up buying L36 decades ... but now?? Ah'm reliving my lost youth!

Okay - new pix - stack 'em up!
(and if you look carefully, you can see a zilch-plug in the right port of the L200, painted black)
And just to calm Zilch and Gisk - I only had one set of speakers going at a time - but gawd,
I forgot just how bad those 70s push-pin factory connectors were - UGH!

Larry, "LRBacon," gave me some sound advise on L-Pad settings to avoid or at least lessen listener fatigue. Presence @ 1, brilliance @ 4 gives a very good balance to their sound. But hey, after a few brews, crank them puppies all the way!

Well they seem to stack up very nicely and I doubt those push pins are going to hang around too much (cant abide by those myself, I even replaced the ones on the 4430's, they were killing me). How did they sound to you seeing as how your listening sensibilities have become more discriminating, just as you remember them? Still fun I'm sure.

I'm down with the Mojito action and we're just starting to get into Mojito season (cant do mojitos in winter), I got a big (ever expanding) patch of mint that I use mainly for my Vietnamese & Thai gasrtronomicus adventures but it also comes in handy with the old ito.

Would we need a keg of Mojitos then? :D

BTW the grilles on the 200s look great, are you going to match the same color for the 100s?

Of course, living in the south, today is Derby Day - so I "ought" to be into Mint Julips for the day ... but its supposed to be pretty warm (82 here yesterday!) so after yardwork and stuff I'll probably settle down with a Newcastle or the last of the killer beers Subwoof brought us when he visited last fall ...

The Azaleas are just past full bloom right now, and I redid the waterfall in the pond, so that means lots of time out back listening to the birds - but its a little yard as Sub or Opimax'll tell ya ...


Oh, yeah, speakers - well, by the time I had them stacked for pictures last night it was nearly 11, so I didn't crank them much - ran a "The Real Me", few Stones tracks, Blue Oyster Cult (Last Days of May) and for grins, that Kirsty MacColl track (There's a Guy Works down the Chip Joint Swears He's Elvis - a real rockbilly kind of thing).
But maybe Monday or Tues when Em is away I can pull out Who's Live at Leeds (or Isle of Wight) CD and shake them down ... (Wight has "Tommy" Live).

Grills - I'm kinda leaning towards the blue for the fun, but I'll probably get the chocolate Brown ones so they match the decor better, and, if I decide to, to make them easier to sell.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krunchy

Well they seem to stack up very nicely - How did they sound to you seeing as how your listening sensibilities have become more discriminating, just as you remember them? Still fun I'm sure.

BTW the grilles on the 200s look great, are you going ot match the same color for the 100s?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by hjames

And just to calm Zilch and Gisk - I only had one set of speakers going at a time

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It's SOP to deploy every loudspeaker one has for keggers. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 4313B

It's SOP to deploy every loudspeaker one has for keggers. :)

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I can bring more amps.;)

Never done this in a city before though! Ours were always outside. Heather already has enough fire power to blow-up her house.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

I can bring more amps.;)

Never done this in a city before though! Ours were always outside. Heather already has enough fire power to blow-up her house.

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Yeah, I currently have one of Fred Sanford's Yamaha amps sitting unused ...
but I'll scare the little critters at the pond if I put amps & speakers out back!

(Sorry for the grainy pix - shot this 5 min ago and goldfinches are REAL skittish I had the canon G9 pushed into digital zoom mode to get 'em)

Dear Miss Heather,

Great score!

I have the blue grill foams here in the box that I bought for a pair of l100 cets, just like yours! The blue is really attractive.

I didn't know you had a 2100. That amp matches those l100s very well, IMHO. Light it up! And...if you had a 2200! Man, get back! It all comes alive.

(I also know of some recone kits available for the 123, le5 and le25 drivers, and also some NOS reconed drivers ready too go in boxes, and new l-pads that can be mailed to you on a whim)

Hope all is well with you and Miss Em. Lisa says hi!

Scotty.

The Amp is a loaner from the great Fred Sanford of the Shenandoah valley ... I tried it on my biamped 4341s, but it sounded pretty much the same as the 6230, so I didn't make the swap permanently.
I did buy a Yamaha M-45 on the bay, but it turned out to be another wannabe ripoff, so I fought that for the last 3 weeks and just got a full refund on Friday ...

The L100s have been in a low stress environment since they were new - thats why they are near prefect condition. They don't seem to need anything but a pair of the tweeter foam rings and the quadrex foam grills.

I think actually we're gonna do the chocolate brown grills for the L100s - once I can reach Sonofagun and see if he can match the L200 grills he made for me last year.

Emma says the blue is a bit too-too for our house ... most of our stuff is more muted shades, earthtones and wood finish ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SMKSoundPro

Dear Miss Heather,

Great score!

I have the blue grill foams here in the box that I bought for a pair of l100 cets, just like yours! The blue is really attractive.

I didn't know you had a 2100. That amp matches those l100s very well, IMHO. Light it up! And...if you had a 2200! Man, get back! It all comes alive.

(I also know of some recone kits available for the 123, le5 and le25 drivers, and also some NOS reconed drivers ready too go in boxes, and new l-pads that can be mailed to you on a whim)

Hope all is well with you and Miss Em. Lisa says hi!

Scotty.

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Burnt Orange.

Nothing else is, well, "Classic L100...." ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SMKSoundPro

I didn't know you had a 2100. That amp matches those l100s very well, IMHO. Light it up!

Scotty.

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See? Toldja. That amp you have there was the one powering my same-age-same-drivers L100s before I loaned it to you. Light it up!

Just heard today that my other P2100 is all fixed up in NY, should be getting that back next time my folks come visit.

Recently started setting up my 4333As for bi-amp, a slightly defective Marantz DP870 as a level-controllable DAC, Ashly X-over as the 800Hz low-pass, to an Adcom 2535 4-way power amp. Running just the DAC & half the amp now, and it sounds very good, but occasionally lights the clip lights with only 60 WPC if I really wind it up. Bi-amp should be dandy.

je

well, youre house is in calm earth colours, i think a shining blue would be just the right highlight then.
my decade are brown, and i wouldnt mind blue ones, really not!
the orange ones, well, id rather not...

btw.
the garden looks nice!


cheers,
mikey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zilch

Burnt Orange.

Nothing else is, well, "Classic L100...." ;)

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But I'm not living in the 70s now, and burnt orange would embarass all the plants in that room ... Emma says it would look like an old Burger King ad!
And actually, of all the colors I was thinking about, that bright blue has some POP to it!

Besides (shsh ...) I'm not sure I'm going to keep them ... and chocolate brown has more SAF (Spouse Acceptance Factor) for the resale market ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hjames

But I'm not living in the 70s now, and burnt orange would embarass all the plants in that room ... Emma says it would look like an old Burger King ad!

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:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: all valid points (you guys funny!)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hjames

Besides (shsh ...) I'm not sure I'm going to keep them ... and chocolate brown has more SAF (Spouse Acceptance Factor) for the resale market ...

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Thats the right color isnt it, the one that gives you an edge on the resale market. Those pups are going to go quick Heather, they are in great shape! when are those stimulus check arriving at the mailbox, should be any day now :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hjames

And actually, of all the colors I was thinking about, that bright blue has some POP to it!

Besides (shsh ...) I'm not sure I'm going to keep them ... and chocolate brown has more SAF (Spouse Acceptance Factor) for the resale market ...

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Actually, I like and recommended to a friend the un-painted versions which look like a charcoal gray. Never came that way but don't you think they'd do it that way today? Cheaper, too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oznob

Larry, "LRBacon," gave me some sound advise on L-Pad settings to avoid or at least lessen listener fatigue. Presence @ 1, brilliance @ 4 gives a very good balance to their sound. But hey, after a few brews, crank them puppies all the way!

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Mark,
I've tweeked them a little more. I still have the presence set at 1 and now have the brilliance at 2. They still sound quite bright. I still have to try Zilch's plugs for the bass, but haven't done so since I kinda enjoy the boominess at low volume levels.

Larry

Crazy stuff - I've been to both Home Depot and Lowes over the weekend and both have dropped the older metal plate style "Zilch Plug" that I've used in the past and only have a limited number of red plastic based pipe plugs.

Plus, my L100 Century speaks have 2 5/8 inch vents and they only had standard sizes of 2 inch and 3 inch

Oh, its still the basic rubber donut squashed between plates style, but with plastic plates instead of the metal plates they USED to have, I doubt I'll be able to crank them down excessively enough to cap a rogue vent.

But - I'm headed to an industrial supply shop after work, hopefully they'll have what I need!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Actually, I like and recommended to a friend the un-painted versions which look like a charcoal gray. Never came that way but don't you think they'd do it that way today? Cheaper, too.

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The "Foamtrends" folks do recommend the painted version for better UV protection ... but their grey grid does look pretty cool and is VERY tempting.
I also have a lead on a "used" burnt orange pair for a good price - awaiting pix ...
decisions, decisions!

This is my first post on the audioheritage site. So hello all. I post often on the AK site. Anyway, I have to say you did well! I think I saw those last week on CL and was wondering about them. They look great in your setup. Congratulations!

Nice find. It's always nice to get them from the original owner.

Mike

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Originally Posted by spartanmanor

This is my first post on the audioheritage site. So hello all. I post often on the AK site. Anyway, I have to say you did well! I think I saw those last week on CL and was wondering about them. They look great in your setup. Congratulations!

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Thanks! I've read some of your posts on AK - seems there are more of us around DC than I first thought! Nice to meetcha!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mike

Nice find. It's always nice to get them from the original owner.

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Quite often in the car business we'd see vehicles offered with the windshield painted in huge orange letters, "ONE OWNER!!" to which my comment was often, "Might have been better off with two."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hjames

Thanks! I've read some of your posts on AK - seems there are more of us around DC than I first thought! Nice to meetcha!

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Yes there are a few of us. I am working of a pair of Altec's right now so no competition for the JBL's :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Actually, I like and recommended to a friend the un-painted versions which look like a charcoal gray. Never came that way but don't you think they'd do it that way today? Cheaper, too.

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Yep - good comments, Phil, thanks!
After some thoughts and friendly spousal discussions, thats the way I'm gonna go - grey quadrex grids ought to look real nice!
(I'll post pix once I have them mounted!)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Actually, I like and recommended to a friend the un-painted versions which look like a charcoal gray. Never came that way but don't you think they'd do it that way today?

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Phil, your idea was spot on - the charcoal grey is really classy - although its VERY hard to photograph! Thanks!

The grilles came today from FoamTrends.com - Their work Is VERY good, the grid-cut was perfect and symmetrical, they were well packed, and they came very quickly!
I glued them up right after work and wanted to get a picture of them posted here, now that the glue's had 5+ hours to cure.
(Of course, I still need to put the JBL badges on, I left that corner unglued).

Highly recommended!

That's a good-looking pair of vintage JBLs.

Opened them up earlier this week to replace the rear connectors with some brass 5-way banana jacks instead of the original overly wimpy push-pins.

L100 cabinet s/n 206094A
123A-1 woofer s/n 262430

L100 cabinet s/n 206095A
123A-1 woofer s/n 268342

I only pulled the woofers so I could access the rear connectors & wiring -
I didn't pull the mids or tweeters so I don't have the numbers for those.

Okay ... ebay auction ended last night, I'll pack them over the weekend, and ship after the money clears ...
Thanks to everyone for tips and info!
And I'll donate something to the site, for all the help and info here!

I meant to post these ages ago ...
Pink foam is cheap - something like $8 for a full size sheet -
takes about 2 sheets for a packing job like this ...
The biggest deal is it takes time to pack like this -
but the buyer is real happy when they get a vintage speaker in good shape!

I didn't get it quite right on the L36s, but I learned (and gave back some money to the buyer for the crushed domes ... sigh) ...

Put double layer of rigid foam over the speakers-driver side, but don't forget to cut out a circle in the foam closest to the front
of the dome tweeters and mids, so they can't get punched flat by dumbo shippers.

First 2 pix are from sending a pair of L36s cross country, next 3 pix are a pair of L100s I sent to FLA ...
Note that there are 3 boxes - grills travel alone!