JBL L Series (1990s)

[SEAWOLF97]

I have a CL505.

some here say "ok , it matches the L series style but doesn't match acoustically"

never stopped me. ..it was OK, not great ...been replaced in my sys with better.

[HCSGuy]

CL505 is more of an LX series center speaker - stamped frame woofer, etc. If you’re going to be a little bit off, I’d probably go a little bit up versus a little bit down. I’d go with the PC600 center speaker from the performance series. Despite being 16yrs or so old, they still pop up - I think there was one or two on Ebay, still sealed their boxes, for $300 or so over the last year. They kind of come in waves - you’ll see nothing for 3mos, then 2 of them will show up. CL505’s are so cheap, you could buy one to use until you find a PC600.

[LSeries]

What touch-up stain/paint, as Wagner calls it, does everyone use for our Black Ash Veneer finish our our L-Series. I want to touch-up a couple of scuff marks.

[gferrell]

So, I was thinking about selling my 90's L series that have been sitting idle for 6 or 7 years. I bring the L7's into the living room and pull the wires from my XPL200's and hook them up to the L7's to make sure they are still working right. Start playing Grover Washington's Winelight. I'm thinking wow these sound better than I remember. Then I realized I did not bypass the DX-1. The low end is better than the XPL=200's which does not surprise me. I just thought that was interesting. I guess I will need to dig out the L5's next.

[lodoc]

Thanks to HCSGuy and SEAWOLF97 for responding and again to all that contributed to this thread and prompted me to get the L-5's out of storage and playing

So it appears JBL never made a 'matching' Center speaker for the L-Series including the L-5's which I have? Transition from stereo and quadraphonic to the surround sound / HT era of the 90's and all that.

Hooked up the pair of L-5's to a decent Denon 80w/ch 5.0 reciever and concur w all the others in the thread - placement is a significant issue. Had fun for several hours. And agree they need more power. May pull a Crown amp in from the shop currently powering a pair of 4628 b's just to test but it's not one of my main listening areas and do not want to get carried away. Interestingly, in reading the thread this room may be compatible with L-7's but that's another story.

Please correct me if I am mistaken but my takeaway is:

There is no sonically matched center speaker to the L-5's.
CL 505 is 'ok' but I could do better.
Studio LC1 as mentioned in the thread when a member contacted JBL for suggestions is a consideration but likely not common.
It's ok to 'move up' in quality such as the PC 600 Performance Series or the Synthesis center.

[lodoc]

Thanks to HCSGuy and SEAWOLF97 for responding and again to all that contributed to this thread and prompted me to get the L-5's out of storage and playing

So it appears JBL never made a 'matching' Center speaker for the L-Series including the L-5's which I have? Transition from stereo and quadraphonic to the surround sound / HT era of the 90's and all that.

Hooked up the pair of L-5's to a decent Denon 80w/ch 5.0 reciever and concur w all the others in the thread - placement is a significant issue. Had fun for several hours. And agree they need more power. May pull a Crown amp in from the shop currently powering a pair of 4628 b's just to test but it's not one of my main listening areas and do not want to get carried away. Interestingly, in reading the thread this room may be compatible with L-7's but that's another story.

Please correct me if I am mistaken but my takeaway is:

There is no sonically matched center speaker to the L-5's.
CL 505 is 'ok' but I could do better.
Studio LC1 as mentioned in the thread when a member contacted JBL for suggestions is a consideration but likely not common.
It's ok to 'move up' in quality such as the PC 600 Performance Series or the Synthesis center.

[BMWCCA]

Hooked up the pair of L-5's to a decent Denon 80w/ch 5.0 reciever and concur w all the others in the thread - placement is a significant issue. Had fun for several hours. And agree they need more power. May pull a Crown amp in from the shop currently powering a pair of 4628 b's just to test but it's not one of my main listening areas and do not want to get carried away. Interestingly, in reading the thread this room may be compatible with L-7's but that's another story.

I'm using one of my L5 pairs in my TV room/Library (no surround-sound) with a JBL/Urei 6260 which is rated around 150wpc at 8-ohms so I suppose about 225wpc at the L5's 6-ohm rating. They sound fine, to me. I've run them with Crown D150A-II, PS-200, and Power Line Three (90wpc @8ohms) and never really felt they were underpowered.


I also have one of the CL 505s I've never used. Why wouldn't one L1 on its side make an effective center channel?

[DerekTheGreat]

Why wouldn't an LX series speaker be a good fit? The LX sport titanium dome tweeters. The ones in my LX44's appear very similar to the ones in my XPL200's. Sound is comparable too, the LX44 is a very good "sleeper" speaker. I had them hooked to my Carver TFM 55X just before I put them on as my rear surrounds and man, they really jam. Great bass for an 8" woofer, much better than I expected and the speaker itself is very easy on the ears while bringing out nuances and transients other speakers (like my Northridge E30's) just fumble through. Oh and greetings from a fellow Michigander audiohead!

[SEAWOLF97]

I was doing the "center channel shuffle" for a while , went thru 5 or 6 (including low/mid line JBL's) .... none ever quite right.

then, at a flea market I ran across one of these DefTech's .

Installed it and my shuffle was over.

Sometimes when I need a smaller soundstage, it gets run solo.

[lodoc]

SEAWOLF97,

Definitive Technology CS-8060 ? Running w single pair of L-5's without other surrounds, rears or additional sub in medium size room? That's where I'm at now though did plug in a sub last PM just to see how it paired with the L-5's.

Somewhat hesitant to go with powered speakers. They seem to not like me and fail after several years. I have 5 JBL LSR 25p's sitting now of which only two are still working. Agree with the 'small venue' aspect though. In the summer of 2019 (when you could still gather together) took to a small outdoor function for retiring coworker. Never had to take them out of the back of my vehicle. Pulled up, opened read door, stretched a power cord and let em' rip. Did just fine. A lot easier to haul than a pair of 4612b's and all the ancillaries.

[daveinfv]

CL505 is more of an LX series center speaker - stamped frame woofer, etc. If you’re going to be a little bit off, I’d probably go a little bit up versus a little bit down. I’d go with the PC600 center speaker from the performance series. Despite being 16yrs or so old, they still pop up - I think there was one or two on Ebay, still sealed their boxes, for $300 or so over the last year. They kind of come in waves - you’ll see nothing for 3mos, then 2 of them will show up. CL505’s are so cheap, you could buy one to use until you find a PC600.

I added a CL505 into my mix, with L7s L/R. It is clearly no where near an acoustic match to the L series, but it does sound very good.

[lodoc]

I added a CL505 into my mix, with L7s L/R. It is clearly no where near an acoustic match to the L series, but it does sound very good.

'sound very good' is my goal.

Again, this is not my main listening area. When I need a 'religious' experience with no one else at home have that covered and it's JBL all the way.

The L-5's have shown significant ability to fill the sound space as L/R (30x18') for TV/movie viewing and I'm glad I purchased. Though I'm still hesitant about admitting I purchased 5+ years ago and just now getting out of their original boxes - and they sound great for what they are. But it's obvious I need a center speaker.

My issue is I cannot listen to most of the suggestions without buying. And I have to wait until they show up for sale somewhere.

CL 505's sound like a good option and it's likely I could be more than satisfied for the application. I am leaning towards the PC 600 Performance Series though they are rather tall height wise (almost 12 inches) and will require some WAF adjustments. The Studio LC1's seem appealing but appear to be made with unobtanium. The Def Tech 8060/9060 series are tempting and I could acquire the 9060 locally/with returnable option but 'compared to what???' And the timbre discussions I read about - cause for some pause...

It's great to have this much fun with audio components and I really appreciate all the assistance that's been offered. Still keeping my powder dry.

[daveinfv]

'sound very good' is my goal.

Again, this is not my main listening area. When I need a 'religious' experience with no one else at home have that covered and it's JBL all the way.

The L-5's have shown significant ability to fill the sound space as L/R (30x18') for TV/movie viewing and I'm glad I purchased. Though I'm still hesitant about admitting I purchased 5+ years ago and just now getting out of their original boxes - and they sound great for what they are. But it's obvious I need a center speaker.

My issue is I cannot listen to most of the suggestions without buying. And I have to wait until they show up for sale somewhere.

CL 505's sound like a good option and it's likely I could be more than satisfied for the application. I am leaning towards the PC 600 Performance Series though they are rather tall height wise (almost 12 inches) and will require some WAF adjustments. The Studio LC1's seem appealing but appear to be made with unobtanium. The Def Tech 8060/9060 series are tempting and I could acquire the 9060 locally/with returnable option but 'compared to what???' And the timbre discussions I read about - cause for some pause...

It's great to have this much fun with audio components and I really appreciate all the assistance that's been offered. Still keeping my powder dry.

I went back to my S Center to see about closer match to the L7s L/R. It does sound so much more open and clean than the SC305. Now to run Audyssey on the Marantz again tomorrow and see if I can get the sound really dialed in.

[clwinbe]

I went back to my S Center to see about closer match to the L7s L/R. It does sound so much more open and clean than the SC305. Now to run Audyssey on the Marantz again tomorrow and see if I can get the sound really dialed in.

same issue here. I have my L7 front, L3 rear. I tried taking a pair of L1 laying end to end, wired in parallel ( I think, mix that up). It works very well, but their not as efficient as my RBH SV-6100/R.

[clwinbe]

Sad to say my L5's are out of commission due to the 708G-1 surrounds splitting/tearing right where the inner edge of the roll meets the cone.

The same thing happened a while back. I have refoamed lots of woofers, so I tried refoaming them back then. The replacements weren't an exact fit so I had to trim the outer edge back because there is only 1/8" of basket to glue to. I must have bungled it because the voice coil started rubbing shortly thereafter. Ugh. So I "borrowed" the 708G-1's from my L3's, but now those surrounds have split the same way.

I couldn't find anything on this thread about exact fit surrounds, but the last mention was almost 2 years ago, so I thought I'd check with fingers crossed. I really doubt there are any replacements with the same material (that cool kind of pseudo rubber/foam blend?) but I'm hoping for an exact fit. Anyone have any good news or alternative repair ideas?

I ran this issue past my woofer repair guy in Utah. He’s worked on JBL 40+ years. Matt at Utah Reconing (801-419-3099). He ordered the surrounds listed for this woofer but they had an awful fit. After much trial and research, he discovered how to trim and get everything to align and move correctly. It’s tricky, but he’s got it figured out. He’s done eleven 708g-1 for me so far. Just put a fresh pair in my L7. Amazing sound.