[neil_n]

My roommate is getting ready to move into a one bedroom apartment and does not want to take with him some old speakers his dad bought back in the 80s. The speakers are JBL L112. My roommate did not have them hooked up to anything and wanted to give them to Good Will. I told him I would keep them (depending on the responses I get here). I was wondering if anyone can give me any information on these speakers or where I can go to get information on these speakers. I will not have a chance to hook them up and listen to them for some time. Thanks.

 

[Tom Roper]

L112? Vintage JBL. Better than 95% of the audiophile speakers listed here, particularly for power handling, efficiency, and low distortion. It's a bookshelf speaker, misnomer since they are too big for most bookshelfs. Put them up on speaker stands, and at least a foot away from walls or corners. They are better speakers than the ones you would likely replace them with. Cast aluminum speaker frames (not stamped), massive magnet assemblies, 10.5 pounds on the woofer. Here's a link...
http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/.../1980-l112.htm

Tom

 

[neil_n]

Thanks for your reply. A couple of more questions. They look a little "dirty". Are there a few things I should do to them to "refurbish?" Just yesterday I bought B&W 602 S3 fronts, B&W LCR60 S3 center, and Sunfire Super Junior subwoofer. Would these speakers be better than the fronts I bought? I guess from your post your answer would be yes. Should I take my new fronts back or use the JBLs in the back? Or should I use the JBLs somewhere else in my house. I did buy the Yamaha 1300, so I can have a second zone where these speakers could go.


I will not have a chance to hook everything up for a couple of more days. Thanks.

 

[Darkside 123]

Nice JBL`s. For home theater you will get the best results with the front three speakers being matched.I would stick with the B&W`s .


You could use the JBL`s in another zone or hook them up to the B speaker output for music only in the main room if they sound better for music than the B&W`s.

 

[Tom Roper]

Fine steel wool and furniture oil to take out the scratches, restore the luster to the walnut veneer.


Lots more info here: http://www.audioheritage.org/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?


Tom

 

[GotNoRice]

Nice speakers! They are the same as my JBL L150's with the only differences being mine have passive radiators (Slightly better bass response) and are floorstanding. One of my dreams is to make a 5.1 setup out of vintage JBL's but they are few and far between now a' days. They will pretty much handle all the power you will ever be able to throw at them... being they are rated to handle 300wpc and back then they didn't fudge the ratings like they did today.


If you havn't already, you should probably look into having them refoamed. I'm talking about the foam surrounds around the woofer. I don't know of any pair that still has it's origonal foam on them after all these years.


You have an awesome set of speakers on your hands... the kind most people would take to the grave.

 

[neil_n]

So to think I almost let my roommate take these speakers to Good Will. I feel like I won a small amount of money in the lottery. That is great. Would you go with Darkside and use these speakers in another zone or for music as part of my HT setup? Would you happen to know where I may go to get the speakers refoamed (and anything else that would help them)? I live in the Washington, DC area. Thanks.

 

[Tom Roper]

Get intimate with that website link I posted. There are JBL speaker service centers everywhere, and experts on them. You can examine foam yourself, and judge its condition. They are fully serviceable and supported.


I just simply wouldn't advise on whether to incorporate them into your home theater or not. You have to be the judge. They need to be on stands. Get them off the ground. These are directional speakers that won't produce the best imaging when reflecting sound off the floor. Issues like that make integrating them into a home theater possibly more difficult, than sleek satellites on stands that blend into the decor better. And as Darkside pointed out, a set of B&Ws with crossover frequencies matched between sub, mains, center and rear should be ideal for home theater.


In decent condition, you could probably sell them on Ebay for what they sold for new. And they weren't cheap. But JBL doesn't make many like this anymore. They do still make great speakers, especially the JBL Pro division, carbon fiber enclosures etc. But not many in those elegant walnut veneer cabinets. They were costly to make. Personally, I would never sell a vintage JBL, and would be one of the ones to take them to the grave as Chris said.


Tom