Keep your classic and appreciating L300
Sell those old clunkers and get a pair of 1400 Arrays!
I feel you man!!!!
As I've written elsewhere here, in the late 70s I was a salesperson at a large audio dealer in So. Cal. (Federated Group) that carried just about every brand available at the time. I worked at that store for 4 years, and spent hours and hours auditioning every speaker (and piece of electronics) in the place with all different kinds of music. At that time my impression of the L300's bass was that on contemporary (for the time) rock and especially jazz/fusion recordings I thought that it over-emphasized the attack of bass drums and bass guitars at the expense of weight and impact. To my ear it made them all tend to sound "clicky" instead of full. I think the speaker's tonal anomalies throughout the midrange probably exacerbated this, but regardless, I simply never found the L300s a very satisfying listening experience.
To be fair, I have not heard a pair of L300s since around 1982, but the listening impressions I relate above are vividly burned into my audio memory, because I was in the process of selecting speakers of my own, and rejected the JBLs in favor of another brand. On the other hand, if Array 1400s had been available then I very well may have bought them instead.
The "clicky" sonic characterization that you asked me to explain of course applies to my impressions of a stock pair of L300s (to be precise, a pair manufactured around 1976- early 1977, which probably had drivers with Alnico magnets) that I extensively auditioned from late 1977 through early 1978.
This eBay listing has a couple photos:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-Synthesi...gAAOSwYIxX51ap
Since you like the look and fit of the L300's, why not take out the drivers and replace them with newer drivers.
Store the drivers for a potential resale at a later date.
Replace the 2420 with a 4" neo driver on a 2311 horn. The horn will fit the same opening and bolt patter. The increase in "articulation" with larger format drivers I find to be well worth the effort.
With 2216's available for about $500 dollars, I wouldn't look at anything else.
You'd need to do some measuring and crossover work or go DSP, but you'd keep your cool cabinets and have substantially upgraded output with the option to go back to the original if the need or desire arose.
george
That is a capital idea.
The small format compression drivers never did it for me. The 2311 isn't magic but a better combination in my book.
Barry
If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.
I offer an alternative view. First of all I agree with all of the plus and minuses you laid out and the compromises they involve. I think you should consider a different JBL model that might offer all of the pluses going forward with the only minus being some extra money now. Consider the 4367. It easily sounds and measures better than the 1400 Array, is a low boy with a vintage look like the L-300 and is likely to hold it's resale value down the road given that not many have been made or sold and it's the last Greg Timbers design. You also get a warranty.
The eBay link a few posts above refers to my auction of the JBL 1400's. They are referred to as Woodgrain Gloss Black. Though the photo is sideways, I will pull them away from the Dunlavy SCV's next week and snap some better shots showing off the actual finish.
Dan
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