I have found a lot of helpful information here so I have decided to join and start a thread. I own a pair of JBL S38II that were being used for mains and a friend recommended that I get a pair of L100Ts (or T3s). I was wanting to achieve a big soundstage with good imaging. After some searching and patience, I found a nice pair of L100Ts with sequential serial numbers, refoamed woofers and good cabinets. The seller still had the original cartons and packing material saved--which I used to transport them. My friend and I re-oiled the cabinets, repaired a small chip in the veneer, fixed a speaker grill post, and replaced the grillcloth. They turned out looking like new but the sound--well that was something else entirely.
We tried them on the floor, raised them up, and experimented with tilt, toe, and moving them in and out from the wall and no matter what they are very bright--especially in the mids. I was able to curb this with use of an EQ (digital plug-in on JRiver) and it helped but they just didn't sound quite right compared to what I expected. From what I have read, the T3 crossover helps a lot...so again with patience, I found a pair on Ebay. They needed a little TLC, and a couple of components replaced. After a clean bill of health from an audio technician, I installed them and got better results overall but no "wow, that's a different speaker!" effect. Polarity was a concern, but it is correct.
After trying L100T3 crossovers, I tried a set of 4412 crossovers with L pads. These are very similar to the original L100T crossover design except for the addition of L pads. We thought that these would be the ultimate cure but to our surprise, the crossovers don't sound right at all--even after checking (and correcting) polarity and making incremental adjustments to the mids and highs.
Right now the T3 crossovers are back in and the speakers are raised up 6", slightly toed in, slightly tilted back and sound the best that I have heard them. However, on really good recordings, female vocals are a little too forward and there is still some harshness in the 3K range. I feel like placement alone will not give me the equalization I need. My next thought is to attempt temperorarily installing L pads in conjunction with the T3 crossovers to get these things tamed. I would like to hear thoughts and get some feedback from those who know these speakers or have had similar problems.