L50 Purchase

[bigstereo]

Guys,
Just asking your opinion. I know that most of you are into the higher end of the JBL line but right now I don't have the means to go down that road. I have 4311's that I'm in love with.
I have just purchased these L50's off ebay last night. They look to be in great shape. Even the grills are nice.

I think I already know the answer but here goes. I paid 267.00 with shipping for these. Do you think that is too much? I can justify it to myself but just wondering what you guys think. Would any of you have paid that kind of price for a nice pair of L50's. Pics from the ebay auction below.

RJ

[grumpy]

They appear to be in really nice condition. Consider the panache of what you can buy new
for $267... and I'd say you did ok. -grumpy

[majick47]

bigstereo your L50 components/cabinets/grills look very nice and the price seems quite reasonable to me. Most jbl 3 way (4311 etc) now go for $400+ on ebay.

[boputnam]

Yea, they appear gorgeous - well looked after. Price seems very reasonable. That's the irony - you won't match that performance at 2x the price for anything "new".

I got a pair for my daughter, and she won't part with them. They give her just enough low-end so she can rattle that collection of shot glasses...

I like them fine!

[rockecat]

I think you will like them I have a pair I purchased new and spent $260.00
about six month's ago to have them re-coned. I think they are one of the few speakers I have heard that the grills make a huge difference ,when you see the back of them I think you will understand I prefer the grills off.

Mine have been in several rooms throughout there life and to me they sound best just a few inches off the ground and from a wall slightly toed in.

[edgewound]

You made a good buy. You can't buy that build quality new for less than $1,000.00 today.

BTW...that carpet is just begging for a Pinot Noir spill.

[bigstereo]

Thanks for your comments and opinions guys.
The L50's will be here tommorrow, per fedex tracking. I'm very anxious to receive them (hopefully with no shipping damage) and plan on taking the Northidge e100's out of the loop and into storage. Here's how I plan on integrating the L50's into my mix of audio soup:
Front pr 4311/PL400-2
Rear pr L50/Onkyo Integra M504

No center or sub at this time, I have them don't feel that they would work well with what I currently have in the loop. Center is too small, sub is kind of junky. Plus I took it to work and use it with a BPC receiver and a pair of Boston A40's for tunes whiles I'm wrenching.

Adcom GTP 600 surround pre-amp
Hodgepodge of sony and pioneer cd and dvd players
Sansui 9090db is covered up and resting at the present time.
Dual 622 needs to go to the shop for cartridge and set-up/adjustment. I will leave this up to a professional.

I realize that I will not be getting true surround with no center channel speaker but my preamp allows me to route the center channel through the fronts. Once I get a nicer and bigger center channel speaker that matches the others better I will have 5.1. I want a bigger sub also.
I am more concerned with music listening quality than TV sound right now. I can't wait to open two more boxes of vintage JBL sound tommorrow. I'm stoked dudes, and dudettes. LOL.
RJ

[Regis]

Nice looking speakers and a great deal too, especially for under $300. The JBL sickness can only be fed, by getting more JBL's.... (sigh...)

[bigstereo]

UPS
L50's came yesterday. One had two corners on top smashed and all the grill pins broke off, the other had one smashed corner on top. Dammit!

RJ

[Titanium Dome]

Really sorry to read that. How well were they packed?

[bigstereo]

Two layers of large bubble wrap and some newspaper and magazines on top and in bottom of the boxes. I don't know, they probably would have made it ok if UPS would refrain from throwing things around. Seller is filing a claim. This the first time I've been through something like this. My 4311's came through with a small dent in one speaker cab which was probably there already, and they were in plastic garbage bags surrounded by peanuts in the boxes. Two other pairs of speakers, amps, receiver, and amp case all made it without a single blemish. I think most of those were shipped by Fedex though.

RJ

[johnaec]

And what happens when you drop a speaker cabinet on bubble wrap - the bubbles POP!! 'Next time you have someone send you speakers, tell them to pack them like this: http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...ad.php?t=10246 or you'll take your business elsewhere.

I still can't believe people that think bubble wrap is the magic solution to any packing problem...

John

[hjames]

Two layers of large bubble wrap and some newspaper and magazines on top and in bottom of the boxes. I don't know, they probably would have made it ok if UPS would refrain from throwing things around. Seller is filing a claim. This the first time I've been through something like this. My 4311's came through with a small dent in one speaker cab which was probably there already, and they were in plastic garbage bags surrounded by peanuts in the boxes. Two other pairs of speakers, amps, receiver, and amp case all made it without a single blemish. I think most of those were shipped by Fedex though.
RJ

Thats completely worthless! Seller should send you a complete refund and then pay return shipping if he wants his mangled junk back. I sold a set of JBL bookshelf monitors and bought 2 sheets of 1" thick pink building foam. I cut pieces of it to completely surround each speaker, put boxes around that (one speaker per box, puhlease!), then shipped them from Virginia to Cal via FredEx and they arrived quite nice. Anything less and the seller is just stating that he's got his money and doesn't care what you get. Bubble pack is fine for CDs or DVDs from Amazon, but not a heavy JBL speaker.

[rockecat]

I tend to agree ,it is really easy to blame the shipping company but the packaging really makes the difference. The last I bought off E-bay the seller really went out of his way and did a fantastic job. Bubble wrap will not take the handling of heavy material, also mine were shipped in dish pack boxes , they are very heavy duty and take a very extreme effort just to push them in.

[bigstereo]

I never said that I thought that bubble wrap was adequate for shipping heavy items. I was merely stating how they were packed. I do however believe that the shipping companies could exercise a little more care in the way they handle the packages. Okay, a lot more care. What the hell do they get paid for? To get it there with a 50/50 chance that it will be destroyed upon arrival? If I did my job that way I'd last about two days before I was out the door. Next time I'll ask the seller to pack with rigid foam. Even if I have to pay extra for materials. Guys I appreciate all your comments and opinions.
I'm not going to post anymore on this thread, I think we've wasted enough of LH's valuable space on this matter. My speakers are not as nice as they once were but they still sound good and I can fix the grill pegs. Live and learn I guess.