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

[rusty jefferson]

Not to derail this thread about the new speakers, but....

I purchased a pair of 4311b in (I think) 1976. I was still in high school, I know that, with money from my 1st part time job. I paid $550 and purchased from a dealer. According to the CPI calculator, that's equivalent to $2450 for a pair as of 2 months ago. You can see the loss of buying power in just a few years in the 70s.

Also, there isn't a consumer wage calculator that I see to tell us how much less money hourly wage earners are actually making based on our wages and benefits (lost insurance, pensions, etc) of that time to today. Anyone who has worked with their hands in the craft trades or manufacturing since that era will confirm the loss of buying power, though.

And, I assume, these speakers are completely manufactured in another country by folks aspiring to have an American(ish) middle-class lifestyle someday too. Nothing wrong with that, except in the 70s the money paid for a pair went to working Americans who could have probably afforded a pair and the money stayed in their local economy, blah, blah, blah.

You have to compare apples to apple, not apples to oranges. I'm sure they're fine speakers. If there was a corporate profit calculator on the interweb, I imagine we'd see the new speakers contributing more profit than the old ones.

[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.

[BMWCCA]

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

Just wait for the tent sale.

Weren't the Studio 590s recently available for under $500-each?

[DavidF]

Sooo, wait, it's not wireless??

[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

[LowPhreak]

Just wait for the tent sale.

Weren't the Studio 590s recently available for under $500-each?

Yes, something like that. I guess JBL hasn't noticed that average Joe who might be looking at a L100 type of speaker can't afford $3-4k, nor wants to spend it even if he/she can.

[jpw retired]

It will be interesting to hear how much of the original L-100 sound was left in the new replacement.
I doubt if JBL will take out all the color they can. They will probably leave at least vestiges of the originals sonic signature.
The stands looked a bit short to me for optimum imaging etc. Perhaps it was an aesthetic choice.

Given over a 70 year history of building speakers, I have often wondered why JBL does not or has not resurrected other famous models from the past.
Ford, Chevy and Chrysler presumably make a fortune doing resto-mods on Mustangs, Camaro's, and Challengers.
Several JBL models come to mind as good candidates including the Hartsfield, L-300 and various 43 series monitors.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I wonder what GT is thinking about this?

[Don C]

These are 11K less expensive than Yamaha's 12 inch three way monitor. A bargain.

[Thomax]

Found these pictures : https://www.phileweb.com/news/audio/.../10/19388.html

Build quality does not seem worth 4000 $ (first picture look at the foam of the grill on the edges) and the woofer doesn't look like the usual 1200FE (or did they put another model in it) ?

[svollmer]

Found these pictures : https://www.phileweb.com/news/audio/.../10/19388.html

Build quality does not seem worth 4000 $ (first picture look at the foam of the grill on the edges) and the woofer doesn't look like the usual 1200FE (or did they put another model in it) ?

Yes, I noticed that on the picture in the beginning of this thread. Look at the right side of the orange Quadrex; it looks squiggly (technical term). https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...conic-JBL-L100

[Thomax]

Yes, I noticed that on the picture in the beginning of this thread. Look at the right side of the orange Quadrex; it looks squiggly (technical term). https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...conic-JBL-L100

Exactly and at the bottom there's a gap between the foam and the wood. Never owned an original L100, were they better made ?

[rdgrimes]

Image from Synthesis on FaceBook: