JBL L112 vs modern speakers

[toddalin]

My L112s have a nice, satisfying "bump" in the bass. Compared to the 2235s in the L200/300s, they don't go as low. But that "bump" is nice making them seem like they go lower than they actually do and you do not get it with the 2235.

[Fitero]

[QUOTE= I’d love to hear more… Widget[/QUOTE]

I didn't take notes during the comparison, and now only have my porous memory as a guide.

Typically, I get a flash impression of the sound a few seconds after I begin listening to a new pair of speakers. I either like it or not very quickly. Later on I take more time to focus on specific parts of the music in an attempt to define what it is that I like or not.
I swapped them several dozen times with the L112 during the short time that I had them both here. The L100 had more bass and could play louder without strain. The attenuators were used often in an attempt to find the most pleasing sound. No matter how many adjustments I made, the L100 never sounded "right" with the varied genre music that I played on them.
I preferred every aspect of the sound played on the L112.
I missed that "je ne sais quoi" that big horn speakers have, but otherwise could happily live with the L112 as my last speakers. I quickly got rid of the L100s.

[SEAWOLF97]

. I quickly got rid of the L100s.

IF that's the new $4k L-100 classics, that seems quite interesting.

I have 2 pairs of ESS 10b's .... a 2 way with the AMT driver doing both HF & MF , and really enjoy them as they seem quite musical.

A deceased friend & member here told the story of the early 70's. ESS did a traveling demo/show at universities.

They had L-100's & 10b's disguised and played same source through both and asked audiences for preferences.

Although the ESS had a 10 incher, it came out on top.

[toddalin]

IF that's the new $4k L-100 classics, that seems quite interesting.

I have 2 pairs of ESS 10b's .... a 2 way with the AMT driver doing both HF & MF , and really enjoy them as they seem quite musical.

A deceased friend & member here told the story of the early 70's. ESS did a traveling demo/show at universities.

They had L-100's & 10b's disguised and played same source through both and asked audiences for preferences.

Although the ESS had a 10 incher, it came out on top.

One time, I just might have to set up a comparison between the L112s and the Mermans. Have never done this.

[BMWCCA]

I've owned my L112s since they were new back in 1982. In fact they've never moved from my bedroom in the old house. I have to say there may be some listening bias here related to what your ears have gotten used to. Not to take anything away from my beloved L112 but even when I got them I thought them inferior to my 030 system in C37 cabinets. I realized that I had just been listening to the 030s for 20-years by that time and I had listener's bias. Soon I'll bring them down to the new house and give them new surrounds, try them again, and put them in the same room as L5, L7, and 250ti just for fun. But I've also had 4412As for probably over a dozen years, so I'm pretty sure I know what 128H sounds like.

Maybe Chris Hagen will send me a set of the New L100 to compare as an original owner of the Century-II! I also have the first pair of L100 Centuries I ever heard which originally belonged to a high-school friend back in 1972.

I can always wish.

[Mr. Widget]

I've owned my L112s since they were new back in 1982. In fact they've never moved from my bedroom in the old house. I have to say there may be some listening bias here related to what your ears have gotten used to. Not to take anything away from my beloved L112 but even when I got them I thought them inferior to my 030 system in C37 cabinets. I realized that I had just been listening to the 030s for 20-years by that time and I had listener's bias. Soon I'll bring them down to the new house and give them new surrounds, try them again, and put them in the same room as L5, L7, and 250ti just for fun. But I've also had 4412As for probably over a dozen years, so I'm pretty sure I know what 128H sounds like.

For decades I have been trying to listen truly objectively during subjective listening. I think we can approach it, but removing all bias is probably impossible. Even the aesthetics of the speakers affect what we hear. Just as glowing tubes make us perceive the "warm sound" of tube electronics.

In the current Stereophile, Kal Rubinson reviews the Dynaudio Confidence 30. His first impression is that the Dynaudios were rather dull.

"Having now spent many weeks with the Confidence 30s, I continue to be impressed by how immediate and gripping they make the music sound. So, why did I have an initial impression that they were a bit dull or, more specifically, that there was some emphasis on the 200–500Hz range coupled with a slight reduction in the 2–3kHz range? And why am I reporting above that I think they are so marvelous?

The obvious explanations (or scapegoats) are burn-in, speaker-setup tweaks, and listener adaptation.

I am skeptical of the first two explanations: My experience has convinced me that burn-in is at worst a short-term process of mechanical adaptation. Setup can make a difference of course, but the adjustments I made were too small, I judged, to explain the differences I was hearing.
The most likely explanation to me is that I adjusted to the Dynaudio's different presentation. I decided to do an experiment to confirm (or refute) this hypothesis."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/...speaker-page-2

I really appreciate that Kal dismisses the usual scapegoats... burn in, set up, and by extension speaker cable, power conditioners, and all of the other audiophile mumbo jumbo.

I suppose at the end of the day, if the glow of a tube makes you happy, or having a "time aligned" system or crossovers with magic capacitors, or exotic cables, or a system with large horns works for you, the objective reality is immaterial. If you get joy from the system for whatever reason, you win.


Widget