In the right room with the right power the L5s are phenomenal. I've got three of the li'l beasties, along with an L3 and seven L7s. The L5 is a world away in quality of sound compared to the L3, which is no slouch in the right application.
The L5 is a much, much friendlier set up than the L7 because it works so well right out of the box. It's truly plug and play to get really good sound. If you experiment with placement a bit, it can sound even better. I use an LE120H-1 based sub to supplement the bottom with the L5s in the master bedroom, and the sound gets pretty close to L7 territory. They will suck up a lot of power and can easily head north of 104dB, just don't clip 'em, especially the 035TiA. Make sure that ol' Carver can give clean signal.
The L7 is a lot of work to get right, but it will kick the L5's pretty little butt when you get it right. However, if you've never heard a well set up L7, the L5 sounds like it'd be the top of the line in any normal speaker series. It's better than a lot of the dual 8" and dual 10" crappola that some companies sell as "reference" monitors. (Reference my ass; the L5 will
reference them right into the dumpster.)
Now I seem to recall you making a derogatory remark about not wanting any of JBL's "newer crap."
Still feel that way?
The L5 is only a tease of some of the great "new" JBL stuff made in the past fifteen years.