Has anyone here compared JBL L100T with Polk SDA's or monitors?

[westmassguy]

I rebuilt a pair of those for a cutomer last year. The new surrounds will need a good break-in period before the woofers reach their full potential. Those are quality JBL Woofers and nothing to sneeze at. I also rebuilt his crossovers, as they were mostly NP Electrolytics. I used Sonicaps and Daytons. Compared with my 2As, the bass and mids were good, although my 2As now go lower, but that Titanium Dome was excruciating to listen to. I even suggested replacing it with a some Vifa Textile Domes, but he was happy with them they way they were. The customer's always right.
BTW, I have the schematics for them if you're interested.

[Mystery]

DO you guys have any idea just HOW HEAVY the magnet assembly on the 12" woofer on the JBL L100Ts is?... cnh

Here is a picture of the back during re-foam.
Didn't weigh them though. I think each woofer is around 13 pounds guess.

You're lucky because you also have the ORIGINAL risers with those. I've never had mine at the proper height (no risers)!
Enjoy!
cnh

Those metal stands/risers are pretty rare and can fetch over a hundred.
I got these on January 1st, 2013 so great start of this year.

I rebuilt a pair of those for a cutomer last year. The new surrounds will need a good break-in period before the woofers reach their full potential.
Compared with my 2As, the bass and mids were good, although my 2As now go lower, but that Titanium Dome was excruciating to listen to.

I generally listen at low to moderate levels due to joint living units and around 7 feet from them so hopefully, won't have much issues with titanium dome tweeters. Low volume needs more mid and highs for clear vocals.

[Mystery]

Update: A/B of L100T with 3.1TL in normal volume/small room.
Sound characteristic is very different which is expected between JBL's and Polk's.
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Mid/highs: L100T's have little bit nasally or metallic tone that sounds brighter when you switch back and forth but is more clear on vocals and strings. Clean and sharp mid/highs on L100T's, more like 2B's.
I'm guessing if I turn them up, highs will be brighter than I'm used to.

3.1TL's sound smoother, less bright but don't have clean/clear sound. I like the balanced highs but mids are flying everywhere jumbled up and crowded.

Lows: No comparison. L100T's walk in circles. They have very balanced bass that goes together with mids/highs when needed. I was listening to some instrumental music track and string instruments sounded nice and only mid/tweeter were at work and as soon as other bass instruments came in, that woofer was like a subwoofer but not overpowering mids/highs.
Bass just envelopes all around the whole room, soft, smooth but big and low.
It has almost all in it. It's fast/attack as well as soft and long throw afterwards. Similar soft excursion as 2B's but x 2+.
Also, bass is even fuller when you go far away like 20 feet or in to another room.

3.1TL's have tight, attacking bass which is louder close to them but weak farther and no excursion like a subwoofer at all.
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I'll open 3.1TL's soon and check wires, clean terminals etc... so I can test them again.
...

[erniejade]

Nice write up! I actually thought my L150 had more bass vs my 2.3's. the 2.3's do have great bass but as I learned its just a different bass. LOL.

[cnh]

I can attest to that. JBLs have a "different" kind of bass than SDAs do. That's one reason they're classified as West Coast sound?

That was a nice write up. Makes me want to A/B my SDAs and JBLs. Well maybe over the summer!

cnh

[Mystery]

Nice write up! I actually thought my L150 had more bass vs my 2.3's. the 2.3's do have great bass but as I learned its just a different bass. LOL.

Different bass?
May be that's what I need to learn as well.

I can attest to that. JBLs have a "different" kind of bass than SDAs do. That's one reason they're classified as West Coast sound?
That was a nice write up. Makes me want to A/B my SDAs and JBLs. Well maybe over the summer!
cnh

Thanks.
We had few friends over last night and I thought, that's perfect audience.
So I played few tracks switching back and forth without telling them what pair was playing when I switched.
All of their answer was L100T's sounded way better. Their simple answer was, "I can hear everything clearly from guitar, vocals to bass.' For 3.1TL's, they said, "Vocal is forward, music is back and it's not together, not good".
So that's 4 votes for L100T and 0 for 3.1TL's so far.

Will open 3.1TL's this weekend and take bunch of pictures to upload in the other thread to see if there is anything wired wrong.

[bored184]

I have been reading this thread with interest because this discussion is one reason I bought my SDA's. Awhile back my brother bought a pair of JBL L100T3 for around $30.00 maybe less at a local goodwill. One of the store clerks said the speakers were about to get trashed. Cosmetically they were in great condition, both woofers needed refoamed and one specifically needed some work. He had them repaired by a JBL service center are now up and running the pride of his room. Being my younger brother and the reason for his vintage fasicination I was jelous and search started then for a bigger and better sounding speaker then his JBL's. We have yet been able to do an actual A/B comparison because moving both sets of speakers is not the easiest thing when we live about an hour apart.

[dkr919]

Different bass?
May be that's what I need to learn as well.


Thanks.
We had few friends over last night and I thought, that's perfect audience.
So I played few tracks switching back and forth without telling them what pair was playing when I switched.
All of their answer was L100T's sounded way better. Their simple answer was, "I can hear everything clearly from guitar, vocals to bass.' For 3.1TL's, they said, "Vocal is forward, music is back and it's not together, not good".
So that's 4 votes for L100T and 0 for 3.1TL's so far.

Will open 3.1TL's this weekend and take bunch of pictures to upload in the other thread to see if there is anything wired wrong.

I know you are fond of the BA A400's, how do they compare with the JBL's?

[Mystery]

Awhile back my brother bought a pair of JBL L100T3 for around $30.00 maybe less at a local goodwill.

That's a great score.
T3's are much lighter than the T model due to vinyl instead of wood veneer.
Spec mention T's are 77 lbs shipping weight vs 58 lbs for the T3's so shouldn't be a problem to haul around.
I carried T's all by myself from seller's place to the car and then from my car to the house.
So it'll be easier to bring the JBL's to your place rather than taking the heavier 1C's to your brother's place.
I've never heard 1C's so not sure how they compare against JBL's but you'll feel JBL's in your chest while Polks sound softer in comparison.

I know you are fond of the BA A400's, how do they compare with the JBL's?

Yes I am but right now they are not in rotation due to recent acquisitions of other speakers.
I recently got Boston T1030's.
So the T1030's and L100T's are in the front for now.
Many say A400's are better than T1030 but quite a few like T1030 better while most say they are very similar.
They both are top of the line in their series.
Here are the T1030's and I may have found the speakers that work best in my place.



As I mentioned above, T1030's may be the right speakers I was looking for that works in my small living room.
I have not compared these with A400's yet but will do soon.
But from my memories of A400's, I can describe their sound.
Highs/Mids:
T1030's have almost exact highs as A400's. The tweeter is amazing. It produces so nice and smooth but fully detailed highs that I haven't heard in any speakers I own. The sizzles, resonance, radiance etc... is very detailed but not bright, not metallic, not nasal. Even L100T's tweeter doesn't have all the things that Boston's tweeter does. L100T's sound little metallic, little nasal on highs and mids hinting sound is little bit constrained but very slightly. Boston's sound more free and open.
A400's have little stronger mids than T1030 which would be great if A400's complemented that with little more on the low excursion.

Lows:
T1030's have that low excursion follow through that's missing/rolls off too soon in A400's.
More on A400's sound here: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...ids-highs-A400.

JBL L100T's have amazing bass but it has more grunt to the sound.
In fact, JBL's have more punch in everything from highs/mids to lows.
Imagine same car with V6 vs V8, everything sounds similar but V8 has more power.
So lows have more bounce, mids/highs brighter and more metallic on the JBL's but sound great.
If you switch from T1030's to L100T's, first few seconds will be too bright and vice versa (too smooth the other way).
For action movies, I think JBL's would be great if you have your own place without having to worry about neighbors as JBL's produce really big sound and huge bass that shakes everything.
T1030's also have great bass but it's not as forceful as the JBL's. They still shake the room but it doesn't feel like it's hitting you in the chest.
So, in my limited space, I think T1030's are the best.
I'll compare them with A400 when the 3.1TL's are gone.