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my formative years (hs & above) were in Santa Barbara, I remember it as an audio desert. Not an audio store to be had , that I ever found (1964-8).
Tho Dad was a respected doctor, he had a tube Sherwood receiver, dual TT , Uher R2R, and no name speakers. Not fine, but got me started.
When I first had real money (in the USN) , the exchange offered good deals on gear that was new to me. Bought a big Pioneer receiver, Pioneer CS-77a speakers, Teac R2R and a Garrard (
) TT.
Kinda outgrew that system quickly, tho it stuck around for a while. After my time with The Canoe Club, family had moved to Oregon and I relocated here (as nowhere else to go) . Many more audio stores . Hawthorne Stereo was the biggie JBL retailer. So it would have been late '72 that I heard my first L100's. Dealer even gave me a free JBL record (Sessions) to reward my demo.
They were such a fuller sound than the Pioneers. WOW. I also had a demo at a different store for Ohm Walsh F's. Retraining and new job in the mids 70's put both those outstanding speakers out of reach.
Grabbed some used AR-3's and they sufficed for a while.
Finally, early 80's, scored my first JBL L100's
, then later the F's.
Many JBL's later (20,30 ??), the Centurys are gone* , but replaced with a better 3 way-12 incher (IMHO) .. 120Ti's. I like the "Ti" series and also have 18's & 250's. Besides the sound, I admire the engineering and cabinetry. Pure class.
*L100's are in Chicago with my son and wowing his friends.
still have L15,L19, projects to work on.