JBL L Series (1990s)

[Titanium Dome]

Since there's been some interest generated in the L Series, here's a thread to start accumulating L Series info and comments. Up front I'll admit this is one of my favorite consumer lines, so I'm happy to start this.

The L Series consisted of four models, the two-way L1, two-way L3, four-way L5, and four-way L7, with the L7 being the high end speaker. At the end of its model run, the L7 sold for $1000/ea., the L5 for $690/ea., the L3 for $470/ea., and the L1 for $320/ea. in mid 1990s dollars.

A few people have claimed there was an L Center, but I've never seen one or even a picture of one. Anyone having proof is welcome to chime in.

The common charactersitics of the L Series are the real Black Ash veneer enclosures, enclosures that are deeper than they are wide, the slanting of the baffle at the top of each enclosure, the sheer black grilles with plastic frames, and the ubiquitous use of the 035TIA tweeter at the top of the slanted baffle.

Other drivers used included 5", 6.5", 8" and 12" variations, depending on the speaker model and enclosure. Only the L7 had the LE120H-1 woofer, which was mounted on the side of the enclosure, facing the center of the soundstage. Thus the L7 models had right and left configurations. The L7, L5, and L3 also had plastic bases for the user to attach, increasing stability and improving the looks.

The L7 was bi-amp capable, and JBL had a rather long treatise in the L7 Supplement about the virtues of doing so.

The JBL Library has a nice brochure about the L Series here: http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/...2-l-series.htm

[Titanium Dome]

This is the only L Series speaker I haven't owned, though I've heard enough of them. It's a great little bookshelf or stand speaker, but it's kind of inefficient and you can't relly get much of anything below 55Hz out of it.

Still, its 6.5" "woofer and 035TIA tweeter are a good combo, and if you see a pair at a reasonable price, it's worth considering for office or bedroom duty or as a rear channel speaker with more robust L Series speakers up front.

[Titanium Dome]

While the L3 is still a two-way speaker, it's a significant step up from the L1 (and one I own).

For one thing, the woofer is now a real 8" woofer. For another the enclosure is larger and tuned lower. For another, it's taller and is floor standing.

These characteristics make it ideal for duty as a center speaker in an L Series HT set up IF you have a wall hung plasma or projector screen. The L3 is not so tall as to be impossible to place under these. In fact, I've heard a pair of L3s used as a center channel, next to each other but slightly toed out. It sounded pretty darn good.

As stand alones, they're quite nice, too, and work well out of the box. They're relatively easy to place and set up. They will easily give you a strong 40hz even in less than ideal placement. If you follow the set up instructions, they give slightly lower useful bass and excellent soundstage. They also show strength as an example of good two-way design, and the time alignment created by the receding baffle works well.

Member Johnaec has a pair, I know, and I think he's pretty happy with them. Maybe he'll chime in.

[Titanium Dome]

To many, the L5 is the high point of the L Series. You can see many, many favorable reviews on the Web, and they tend to sell quite well at auction.

It's no wonder considering the almost perfect size, the wonderful four driver array, and the proportionally good looks that it's a favorite. It has an 8" woofer, a 6.5" midbass, a super 5" midrange, and the 035TIA. The midrange and the tweeter are on the time aligned baffle, while the larger speakers are lower on the flat front baffle.

This is a very, very nice sounding speaker. The huge crossover does a super job of handing off the sound to the speakers; it's seamless. Due to the presence of the midrange driver, the tweeter is crossed over 1kHz higher, resulting in better high frequency performance, plus the midrange clarity is significantly improved.

The 8" woofer handles everything below 170Hz, so it has a lot less to do than the 8" in the L3, which has to head up to 3kHz. This makes a huge difference in low end response. That, plus lower cabinet tuning and bigger volume, gets the sound solidly below 40Hz, easily down to 35Hz before it starts to weaken.

These are so easy to unpack and set up, it's easy to ignore JBL's instructions and just go. But a little patience in placement will yield big results. These are speakers that I think every JBL collector ought to consider, at least for temporary ownership, because they're just so damn amazing for what they cost, especially now on the used market.

[Titanium Dome]

Here is the statement speaker of the L Series, but it is also the problem child, the black sheep, the mystery, the enigma, the disappointment. It is usually though not universally criticized as being too bright, too strident, too shrill, too weak in the bass, etc.

So did JBL drop the ball on this one? After making three pretty good models at their price point, did they totally screw up the top model? Did they just not know what they were doing? Did they gamble on a design that just wasn't any good? Did they think that they could just do a half-assed job with "new" ideas and people would buy it at a premium price anyway?

Well, those questions only matter if one agrees that the speaker is a disappointment or a disaster. If one believes that the speaker is one of the better contemporary designs in the JBL portfolio, as I firmly do, then those questions are for people who just don't get it.

More on the L7 later.

[johnaec]

I've got the L3's and a single L1, (it's for sale if someone wants it as a center). I really like the L3's, but need to do a side by side test with my L60T's to see which 8" I might prefer. But both are capable of amazing output, since the cabinets are so large for 8" drivers.

BTW, 'Dome - there is a center that is at least a physical match to the L series, the CL505, (Center - L series - 5" - HF - 5"): http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Te...CL505%20ts.pdf

I've got one, and it's finished just like the regular L series, but has different drivers - the 5" have cloth surrounds and the HF is soft dome. I believe it sold for close to $400, (it's a drag JBL took down all their old support info, that included pricing...).

John

[BMWCCA]

If one believes that the speaker is one of the better contemporary designs in the JBL portfolio, as I firmly do, then those questions are for people who just don't get it.

I've read everything I can find on the L-7 but I'm just not sure it I should pull the trigger on a set nearby. I understand the placement issues, power requirements, etc., I'm just not sure if I'm the right owner for a pair. Intrigued, for sure, but hesitant. Any chance Dome can PM me for a one-on-one off-list? I don't see any way to PM him. Anyone else with experience and expertise with these step-children feel free to reply.

C37 030
L112
L150A
4412A

[Slare]

Partly due to this thread & board, I renewed my love for JBL's. I got back into audio a few months ago, which started with me selling off my old Northridge N38's and SC305 center. After trying out a few different setups, I ended up coming by a pair of very nice L5's and picking them up.

I've been fond of JBL's since my brother in law introduced me to his L100T's when I was a kid. At the time, I remember coming very close to purchasing some of the smaller LX (44's I think) but never quite coming up with the money. I remember seeing the L and SPL series and thinking "someday, I might be able to afford them". Since then 15 or so years have passed and I guess I just finally realized I had the money now to go out and piece some of these old gems together. That and being in a large metro area with a strong CL base has definitely helped!

I've since rounded out a 5.1 system with the L5's up front, L1's for surrounds, and a EC35 center. I have some E10's to use if 7.1 ever takes off because I doubt I'll ever have room for 4 L1's. The EC35 center may seem odd, but it was the best match to my ears after trying several JBL centers with the L5's. I actually think it is quite close, but I am using subs and high-pass in my system. Full range I think it is a little soft on bass.

I also tried a EC25 (not even close), LC1 (much softer on the high end, much boomier on the low end), and CL-505 (seemed a little dull). I really wanted to give the LC2 a shot but it is much too tall. I really have never been happy with wtw centers.

My main reason for posting here is that I'm currently trying to piece together an L5-hardware based center in a CL-505 cabinet. I found a pair of L5 mids and am just waiting on my 035 tweeter to arrive.

For now, I have the L5 mids swapped into the CL-505 box and the center sounds a little flat. The mids actually produce decent low end, midrange is spot on (of course) but the HRD tweeter is pretty dead sounding to my ears, so I'm hoping once I get the 035 in there it'll be good to go...

Wonder if anyone else has tried this?

I'm also considering refurbishing the grilles with black cloth, and wondering if anyone has done that? I'm not sure I'll do that unless I can find used grille frames. My opinion of the gray seems to vary from day to day.

Thanks for the great thread and forum. I hope I am not offending anyone with the frankesteining of a CL-505.

[BMWCCA]

I never could figure out why one L1 wouldn't make a more-than-adequate center channel for an L-series 5.1 system. Lay it on its side if you want. What am I not getting?

[Slare]

I never could figure out why one L1 wouldn't make a more-than-adequate center channel for an L-series 5.1 system. Lay it on its side if you want. What am I not getting?

If my setup allowed me to use it vertically, I happily would. But even on its side an L1 is just a little too tall, not to mention the depth. Even if there was enough room the slanted bezel means it'd sit it rotated, which would look goofy.

[Triple J]

I am in the process of moving and was thinking about selling a pair of my mint L5s. So I did a search in order to try to find pricing information. I remember picking up this last pair for like $250 each off eBay and I felt that was a real steal. So to make a long story short I came across this thread. For now I have decided to keep the L5s. I really can't bear the thought on letting them go for the kind of prices they tend to bring on the used speaker market. They are so much better than that, as the rest of you know.

Well, let me tell you about my experience with these speakers. Originally bought a pair of the L5s from Circuit City in the early 90s. They were like my third set of speakers from Circuit City in two months time. I kept upgrading until I found something that really seemed good. I drove these speakers with reciever power amplification until around 2001. Then I was ready to overhaul my system again and get it right finally. At that time I sought out more L series speakers to complete my home theater setup. Initially I wanted L5s in all four corners, and as I mentioned I found a pair on eBay. After placement issues with the L5s in the rear, I decided to get a pair of L1s for the rears. I also found a really good deal on the L1s on eBay. So since I got the L1s, the extra pair of L5s have been in storage. My solution to the center channel issue was to run center in phantom mode, letting my front L and R original L5s also handle center channel. I have always been happy with this arrangement which of course avoids any coloration issues when the center speaker does not match the others.

In my room I found speaker placement to be very important with the L5s and tried to follow JBLs recommendations (which are much the same for the L5s as for the L7s).

As for tweaks I got the internal wiring on both pairs of L5s upgraded at a local stereo shop. The other tweak which I found very good was to spike the stands. The stands came fitted from JBL with inputs for triangular brass spikes which the same shop also carried. So my L5s are on the stands which are each spiked with one brass spike in front and two in back.

The system really came to life when I added a dedicated amplifier with approx 300w/channel x5 (although I was only using 4).

The volume the system can achieve is tremendous. I did blow an 8" woofer on one of the L5s listening to Blue MAn Group DVD Audio. Even though I have a dedicated subwoofer and balanced everything out using Outlaws LFM1 or whatever to cross everything over. I can say on that occasion it never really distorted but the amp actually overpowered the speaker which is very rare with the L series. But they do love the power.

I have found the L series to be the best speakers by far I have heard when setup correctly. Mainly speaker placement and lots of amplifier power are important. The other aspect is the speakers are extremely transparent and revealing and so the rest of the components must be of very high quality. The system is only as good as its weakest link and the L series will reveal this. Lots of times when people are not happy with the L series they had picked up the speakers at a good price point and then setup their systems with other low end parts, CD players and receiver amplification, etc. I think thats why you can find them so cheap when consumers unload them who had gotten into something they did not really know how to appreciate. When setup correctly with a good system these speakers are incredible.

[Titanium Dome]

Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing your L Series experience with us.

[BMWCCA]

The other tweak which I found very good was to spike the stands. The stands came fitted from JBL with inputs for triangular brass spikes which the same shop also carried. So my L5s are on the stands which are each spiked with one brass spike in front and two in back.

Got pictures of that mod? I can picture the bottom of the bases and how the spikes would fit, but was that the intention of the casting shape? Seems like it would leave the rather flimsy base-plates exposed to breaking from errant footsteps. Especially on the L7s.

I know it can't be long before you try the L7, too. I can see it in your story. Let us know what you think.

[SWIN]

Found this thread, when i stumbled on a pair of L7´s, that where on sale.

The owner had them in a small room, placed against the rear wall, one speaker in the corner, other close to the opening to the room.

While the sound was undeniably solid, authoritative, and low on coloration, the general balance was decidedly on the bright side, really sharp and shrill.

Do the sound really balance out, when placed correctly - read this thread a couple of times, but after listening to the L7´s, I am really wondering, if they can sound neutral.

Of cause - JBL don´t sound like British speakers - soft, fat, and forgiving, but the general balance in that room, really makes me wonder.


/SWIN

[Titanium Dome]

SWIN, welcome to the forum.

As stated many times, the placement of the L7 is critical for best performance. The ones you heard were very poorly placed and probably suffering from being in a room far too small.

When shoved in a corner of a small room, the L7 will produce myriad high frequency early reflections off the side wall and ceiling. Being too close to the wall virtually plugs the rear port, which is especially important to the side-firing woofer. In addition, if there are objects in the room between the woofers, they will cause oddities in the low frequency response.

If you don't have a room that's at least 3.5 to 4 meters wide where the L7s can be a meter from the rear wall and the side wall, then they're not a good purchase for you. If you do have the right room to put them in, then they will be an excellent acquisition.