The last pair of speakers I'm gonna buy (really!)...

[Regis]

After tossing and turning all night Saturday, I got up and made the three hour trip to San Diego from Palmdale to pick up the L-300's I was purchasing. I pulled up at a triplex near the beach in San Diego, not sure if this was the place or not, but it was. The young man who's a musician, opened the ancient garage and there they were, side by side, the big beasts silently waited in their dusty tomb. The cabs are perfect and even the original dark brown grills were in great shape, though pretty dusty and dirty. Even the backsides were free of scratches, though the bases were starting to go (but this is typical of L-300's from what I understand).

Loaded them and drove the three hours home, wondering how they'd sound. Would I be disappointed? Would the memory of listening to them back in 1978 be just an enhanced nostalgia? I wouldn't know until I hooked them up. My neighbor helped me unload these guys and then it was me and the L-300's. Hooked speaker wire from the 160 wpc Sansui G-9000 reciever, flicked it on, put the DAC on the right channel and put in a recently mastered smooth jazz CD, I wanted to hear something with serious dynamic range and see just how these sound.

The experience was OMG, unbelievable. The 15" ferrite 136H's cleanly pumped out a couch thumping bass. The LE85 midrange horns sounded incredibly full and rich. And the 077's were sweet. I could here wooden drumsticks clearly tapping on the metal drum rims, the cymbals crashed and faded away and I just had the biggest grin on my face. Threw CD after CD on and I was nearly stunned at times. Even techno music from 2005 sounded unbelievable on these 25 year old speakers. I understood immediately why people pay $2,000+ for these and I got them for considerably less than that. I can't figure out who'd want to sell a pair of these as I'd never get rid of them. The surrounds on the woofers are starting to crack, so it's gonna be time to talk to Rick and order a kit. I'm happy and now I know why a lot of the members here have 'super-sized' their JBL choice.

[Earl K]

Nice Review Regis !

Welcome to the World of "SuperSizing"

regards <. Earl K

[pmakres1]

Regis did you see how much that pair of L300's went for on eBay last night?

Get ready....$3,815.00.

Congratulations on your acquisition!

Peter

[4313B]

What'd I tell ya Regis?

Ready to impress the guests?

Congratulations!

***

The 15" ferrite 136H's cleanly pumped out a couch thumping bass.

Ah!

[boputnam]

Well done, dood! Great review, too.

No, get them refurbished, and don't limit yourself to the LF surrounds. Think about the wear-and-tear on those 20-yr old LE85 diaphrams...

[spkrman57]

Not too much JBL action here in Ohio that is worth a sh*t!!!!

I keep hoping for that great score for a cheap price

Ron

[4313B]

Not too much JBL action here in Ohio

That's for sure...

[57BELAIRE]

Congrats on your L300's...as an original owner of a pair, I would recommend perhaps installing pleated cloth surrounds instead of foam on your 136H'S.

I'm sure this suggestion will probably rankle a few "purists" on this forum but after replacing the foam surrounds twice in 20 years ...no more foam for me!

Actually, I think the "Achilles' heel" in speaker mfg. is the foam surrounds that literally melt away after a few years.

How about this....various JBL alnico compression drivers were fitted with foam damping material on the inside backing plate that over time turns to dust . When you remove the back in some instances you can literally pour it out!

[4313B]

I would recommend perhaps installing pleated cloth surrounds instead of foam on your 136H'S.

I'm sure this suggestion will probably rankle a few "purists" on this forum

Ick! Yeah! Consider me rankled.

How about this....various JBL alnico compression drivers were fitted with foam damping material on the inside backing plate that over time turns to dust . When you remove the back in some instances you can literally pour it out!

They get really nasty. I guess I've always caught them at the in between stage when they are worse than chewing gum.

Heck, I could only imagine what a pair of 4343's (?) sound like! But I've got to stop here.

YES! STOP and smell the roses for a bit!

The reason I purchased them, was because I was wanting more and I reached the end of the line with what I had (not that they were bad or anything, but... 'better, faster, louder or something like that...).

Totally understood.

That reminds me... back in the day of the L212 it was said that nothing larger than a 12" was required in a home environment. Obviously the guys who wrote the L212 propaganda didn't read the concurrently published L300 propaganda.

[Clifford]

I paid a premium for the Jbl speakers because I did not want to have to fix 25 year old speakers to make them like new. I have had previous jbl speakers repaired and it is very expensive. It is very hard to find speakers like these in any kind of condition and the ones I bought are all but new. Sonically they are stunning when playing back though my VAC SUPER AVATAR all tube integrated amplifier. For the price I paid I could have not bought a new pair from JBL. If the price 25 years ago was 1500 dollars if they made them now they would probably cost at least 10,000 for a pair. It's nice to buy something that does not have to be fixed. Yes I paid alot but there beautiful and need no servicing. Clifford

Regis did you see how much that pair of L300's went for on eBay last night?

Get ready....$3,815.00.

Congratulations on your acquisition!

Peter

[johnaec]

'Sounds like a reasonable rationale for the purchase, Clifford. Enjoy them! And welcome to the forums!

John

[JBLnsince1959]

. Yes I paid alot but there beautiful and need no servicing.

Congrads and I hope they are everything you hoped for. Recently there was a side by side A/B comparsion at our local Mcintosh dealer between the L300 and Mac's best non-array speaker ( I wrote about this in another thread, can't find it). Bottom-line, the Mac salespeople's mouth dropped on the floor as the mightly but old L300's sounded just as good ( I thought better really, but no way the salespeople would admit that) as Mac's latest and greatest. AND...the L300 has had NO work done to it in 27 years, in other words all "old" parts.

Amazing speakers...also when compared ( again side by side, true A/B) to the mightly 4430's ( which I have and love, I've also had the L300's), the L300's are more "Mid-range friendly" ( of course the 4430's have other things).

Again Congrads on the speakers and enjoy. Glad to see you on the forum. Welcome......

[Titanium Dome]

Yes, welcome. Price is meaningless as long as you're happy (and solvent, of course). Enjoy them. They are wonderful, especially if raised a bit so the highs are more at ear level.

[dllyons]

It does seem silly for that guy to sell those 300's, but I'm sure there are some good reasons. Congratulations on your luck and purchase !!!

There's been a couple of times since I bought my L-300's in 1978 that I considered selling them ... they are so big and my listening room is only about 11' x 19' But I wondered what in the heck I'd replace them with if I sold them ?!?!?!?!? Silly thoughts !! I always came back to my senses and I've concluded that I'll keep them forever. They still sound awesome and I'm really proud of them.
I was kinda lucky when I bought them- a store was going out of business and sold them for $1100 for the pair, and that was back in the day when you paid pretty much list price for JBL's most places in Ohio. Mine have the camel color grills.

[richard c.]

I am new to this forum, and since I have mostly Altec stuff, I don't post much. I do enjoy reading the posts, though!

Anyway, your location caught my attention as I lived over in Indep. Missouri from '70 thru '95, and got a chance to audition a pair of L300's at Burstein-appleby in the "Independence Center" mall. It was probably late '76, so they were a fairly new model. They had them in a large "listening room" with full length glass doors to close off the room from the rest of the store. I was with a couple of friends and we REALLY wanted to hear the L300's, but there were customers in that room that "probably" wouldn't want to hear them cranked UP! Finally, the little old ladies left, and we were alone in that room - the salesman got a smile on his face, closed the glass doors (to keep the sound in and other people out!). He asked us what we would like to hear. We said, "How about BAD COMPANY", or something that would showoff the bass. Well, I will never forget that day - being blown away by anything that small! Yes, small, if I would have closed my eyes and stepped back, I would have thought there was a whole wall of speakers! I soon knew why the salesman had that smile. There was nothing in that store to compare them to.

I now have Altec model 19's and I would like to hear them side by side with the L300's. There are differences, I know, and I don't know which I would prefer.

Remember "the Stereo Bug"? Wasn't that in Overland Park?

Richard C.