I received my L100 Classics speakers last week. They're not fully broken in, but a few initial observations:
  • They are party speakers, in every good way. If there wasn't a party going on when you fire them up, there will be one soon.
  • They seem enormous by 21st century standards.
  • The tweeter is pretty sweet for a metal dome (and it still looks like a Revel-sourced driver).
  • Mids are dynamic and seem to be smoothing out over time.
  • Bass is prodigious, and unlike the original L100, it goes down into the low 40's with authority, if not total control. I'm using ancient wooden stands, which don't help bass. I'll probably have Sound Anchors build stands similar to what they make for Harbeth 40's. It's an expensive solution, but the stock stands only raise the speaker 8" off the floor, and I'm not finding commercially available 12-14" stands that can support 60lb speakers with a big footprint.
  • One grille fits like a glove; the other requires a fist. Since the speakers sound better without a foam pillow in front of them, and the grilles have to be off to adjust the 'tone controls', but the only reason you got away with buying them was because of their looks, I wish Harman had opted for magnetic fasteners. I wonder how many owners will end up with rattling grilles that require chewing gum to keep them secured--just like the originals.
  • They image better than I expected. Obviously, JBL didn't think we'd care, since they didn't opt to provide L & R mirrored speakers, but from 8 feet away, it's OK.
  • One week in, and the cats haven't started using them as scratching posts. It's only a matter of time, though. Maybe I should buy a pair of old Magnepans to keep the little dears distracted.

I'll post more after they're broken in, but I'm pleased so far. They seem to be what every L100 wanted to be back when we didn't know any better.


Name: IMG_0023.jpg Views: 1236 Size: 105.3 KB