JBL by HARMAN Introduces Updated, Iconic JBL L100 Loudspeaker at CES 2018

[Odd]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...conic-JBL-L100

[SEAWOLF97]

The L100 Classic will be available in Spring 2018 at an MSRP of $4,000 per pair.

[1audiohack]

Maybe this will increase the availability of the 1200FE.

Barry.

[aardvarcus]

I wonder if their grill foam would fit the original frames...

[grumpy]

Maybe this will increase the availability of the 1200FE.

That's been the only positive thing I could think of. "L100"... $4K ... Samsung... Crumbling foam grilles...
Seems I'm not the intended demographic... though you'd think I would be. Must be getting grumpier.

[tom1040]

Price is up there but I think this to be a very interesting speaker. Love to hear it!

[rusty jefferson]

......Seems I'm not the intended demographic... though you'd think I would be. Must be getting grumpier.

I think our age group is the intended demographic, but maybe a couple of income brackets higher.....

[Titanium Dome]

This L100 remake was done by Chris Hagen, the guy behind the L Series (1990s): L-1, L-3, L-5, L-7. He's done a lot of designs for JBL and others, including the JBL L100t3. He's a member here--or was back in 2007 when the L Series thread was running hot.

Naturally, all of us old farts will balk at the $4k price tag since we remember the 1970 price tag of $273 each. No doubt this new model will eat the original's lunch. It's decades ahead in components, has a real crossover, an honest-to-goodness tuned port, much improved connectors, and (hopefully) a grille that will last much longer than the original. Congrats to Chris!

Full Disclosure: My original L100s aren't going anywhere.

[1audiohack]

That's been the only positive thing I could think of. "L100"... $4K ... Samsung... Crumbling foam grilles...
Seems I'm not the intended demographic... though you'd think I would be. Must be getting grumpier.

You read me right brother.

Barry.

[speakerdave]

$273 1970 dollars is $1735 today.

Buy two, add a $30 million per annum CEO--the math works.

[hjames]

"The original L100 production run included the L100, along with the subsequent L100A and L100 Century evolutions that quickly followed and ran thru the end of production in 1978. That fundamental compact 12-inch 3-way design is maintained in the L100 Classic with improvements made to the transducers, enclosure tuning, and crossover network design. Designed by Chris Hagen, the same acoustic system engineer that created the L100T3 in 1988, the L100 Classic benefits from decades of JBL engineering prowess along with the world’s most advanced acoustic engineering resources available in HARMAN’s Northridge, California design center."
Optional black metal floor stands are available with included adjustable carpet spikes. The walnut wood frame grille is available with the iconic Quadrex foam insert in a choice of black, orange, or blue. The L100 Classic will be available in Spring 2018 at an MSRP of $4,000 per pair.

Holy moly - the L100-Century speakers were $600 a pair from Sound Gallery in Wheaton Plaza back in 1976 -
beyond my budget, so I bought some L36 Decades for $400!

yay, Paliwali - and yay SampySung!

So - made in China or Hecho en México?

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...conic-JBL-L100

[SEAWOLF97]

Holy moly - they were $600 a pair in 1976

I first heard a pair of L100's in '72, they were $273, no discount. I was in love, but a single unit was almost my monthly check.

So I soldiered on with my PX bought Pioneer CS-77a's ($63 ea.) . Did get my L100's in the late 80's/early 90's for $4 the pair at a thrift. They didn't quite measure up to my memories but now my son loves them. His friends remark about his cool audio system. (Kenwood monster receiver, L100's, Technics SL-1200 mk1 TT)

In researching the Century Gold production year, I found a review online -in French- which I don't much comprehend (and the translation is terrible) , where I THINK the poster says he has them and recommends the 120Ti as a fine alternative.

I do have 120's and really like those. Also have 250ti's and I guess that the 044Ti HF in both is appealing to me.

120's are very happy on the 130wpc "new class A" Technics integrated amp.

[LowPhreak]

Someone at Harmin' has gone nuts (yet again). Make them somewhat affordable like the L100 was.

[speakerdave]

The thing a lot of us are feeling right now is a microcosm of the place working people have had in this economy over the last forty or fifty years. A pair of L100's were, say, half a month's salary then, and the commemorative edition more than half a month's salary now. Still can't afford or make sense of buying them. For a lot of people the picture is more grim. It's a debate whether it was avoidable or not in a world where there are billions of people aspiring to a bigger slice of the pie. Two things are not debatable, I think; one is that US government policies have accelerated the change so that it has happened more quickly than one would have imagined; the second is that capital has seen an opportunity to roll back the gains of labor and social values (i.e., decreasing pollution) made in the US over the previous century, and has grossly improved its position relative to everything else, to a point, in fact, that has historically led to cataclysmic effects. The significance of this is demonstrated by Thomas Piketty in Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which I am presently chipping away at. Not a light read, the prose will put you to sleep, but the anxiety of its import will keep you awake all night.

[Mannermusic]

The thing a lot of us are feeling right now is a microcosm of the place working people have had in this economy over the last forty or fifty years. A pair of L100's were, say, half a month's salary then, and the commemorative edition more than half a month's salary now. Still can't afford or make sense of buying them. For a lot of people the picture is more grim. It's a debate whether it was avoidable or not in a world where there are billions of people aspiring to a bigger slice of the pie. Two things are not debatable, I think; one is that US government policies have accelerated the change so that it has happened more quickly than one would have imagined; the second is that capital has seen an opportunity to roll back the gains of labor and social values (i.e., decreasing pollution) made in the US over the previous century, and has grossly improved its position relative to everything else, to a point, in fact, that has historically led to cataclysmic effects. The significance of this is demonstrated by Thomas Piketty in Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which I am presently chipping away at. Not a light read, the prose will put you to sleep, but the anxiety of its import will keep you awake all night.

I'm about 1/2 through Piketty and it just gets too numerical/dry. Not sure even Janet Yellen would make it through. I thought The New Depression by Richard Duncan was actually more useful / readable in a historical sense - how we got into this mess. My Uncle Bob survived "The Battle of the Bulge" (I was 3) which anchors the reality of the whole thing. One big sweep of continual foolish macro policies in a desperate attempt to keep the economy charging following WWII. Thing is, you cannot recover from this stuff - headed for a new paradigm. Agree with your analysis. Mike