New to this forum (and L300's)
Hi all!
My name is Rikard and is new to this forum. I have been a JBL fan for most of my life - 35 years ago I often dropped in to the local hifi dealer after school and marveled upon all the cool stuff like DDX record players, Luxman amplifiers, etc. but I always admired the JBL speakers that they had on display at the back of the store with the other high end stuff.
Suddenly one day they had a pair of JBL L300's there instead of the L65's and WOW - these speakers really blew my mind! I just loved the way they performed, how cleanly and "relaxed" they were able to produce some serious sound levels - almost like you did not notice how loudly they played until you open your mouth to speak :-)
I rrrrreeeallly wanted a pair but note that I live way up in the North of Sweden - further North than Anchorage Alaska and shipping these from CA and up here was really expensive indeed. Add to that a local sales tax of 25% and customs fees these were really really expensive! They cost like half of what a brand new Volvo car so it seemed like a dream that would be hard to fulfill…
This store managed to sell two pairs of these speakers through the years the L300 was produced but it took a while until I started to work after my studies and manage to save up for a pair of JBL's and then I bagged me a pair of Ti 240's instead of the then discounted L300's.
Fast forward into the present time and a few months ago I was browsing through the hifi section of the equivalent of Craigslist here in Sweden when suddenly an local ad for a pair of L300's surfaced(!)
I threw myself at my phone and called the guy at once! Although I called within 60 seconds of when the ad was published I was not the first to call… But to make a long story short, I managed to secure the pair by making a substantial bid. The phone kept on ringing at his end even the next day when I showed up to pick them up the phone was still ringing -"yes, he IS going to have them - he is here right now". Guess there were more than me wanting them :-)
This was one of the two pairs sold up here, the guy bought them in 1976 and had kept them through the years and the past 15 years or so they had been in storage. More or less in perfect original condition including the black cloth grills, the woofers haven't even been re-coned or received new edges… The thin foam layer under the glass has started to deteriorate and the wood need some wood oil. I will probably have to have the woofers looked over but I need to send them down to the South of Sweden in order to have a pro to do that so I am so far enjoying them as they are - playing Dire Straits, Supertramp, Randy Crawford, etc. with a huge smile on my face :-)
They are hooked up to my Yamaha MX 1000/C-2 combo and they really perform well in our living room.
http://forumbilder.se/CDUIT/1l300s.tiff
From up by the Arctic Circle with 3' of snow,
/Rikard
