JBL L100 Century - Legendary Monitor Speakers From The 70s (4310, 4311)

[@AudioNostalgia]

For an in-depth review, please visit my website: audionostalgia.co.uk/jbl-l100-century-review/

[@CraigLafferty]

I just bought a restored set of these from Halford Speakers in Memphis. These speakers are perfect for me! I have read many reviews that nit-pick these apart. God has blessed me with not having the ears of an audiophile!

[@user-ri4rl2md7y]

I’m listening to this pair of speakers now, bought from eBay 6 years ago. Pairing this with a vintage amp and vintage TT is the closest thing to getting high without smoking or meditating. JBL L100 is the best kept secrets, beats all modern speakers like HK, KEF, BW, etc. if only the foam girl would cost less! But sporting them without also looks amazing.

[@parksmitchell]

If you have the original grill frames, you can make a cloth covered frame that can be mounted on the old frame where the foam was. I did that to my L100's. Not quite as cool looking, but still very nice.

[@VintageStereoCollectorChannel]

Keep these wonderful vids/trips coming! Love the ambiance and the handwritten signage. Thanks for giving us another side of life in our hobby!

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thank you, will do.

[@stormcrow1112]

I literally just pulled the trigger on a pair of these exact same color JBL L100 speakers on ebay. I have been looking for awhile now and decided on these to go with my Pioneer SX-850 and my Onkyo tape deck.

[@anthonycochran7129]

This sounds beautiful! I just acquired 4 of these speakers accompanied with a marantz 4400. Can't wait to hook it up!

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thanks! These are definitely fun to play with but not as balanced as modern speakers. Enjoy playing with yours!

[@kblack3970]

Awesome! I looked for a proper stand for mine and scrolled to see if someone else inquired about yours and they're home made! Thank you for sharing

[@AudioNostalgia]

You are welcome - glad it helped.

[@tonyrobinson4434]

I to have a pair of the JBL L100 Century. The sound is amazing considering the speakers are over 45 years old. I am powering the JBL speakers with an Adcom GFA-555 amplifier.

[@mrhoffame]

Very nice! Love the room. So much music packed so clean in the space. AWESOME.

[@TJ-rg9wr]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

[@18echo]

Wow , awesome dude 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

[@ДмитрийСемин-м7з]

Hello, the sound is amazing! Quick question which acoustic cable are you using in your system? Thanks 🙏

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thanks. The cables are QED Genesis Silver.

[@EJSmith-dk3yg]

Nice ... I wanted a pair of these back in 1973/74 when they cost $300, in orange, weird, I know, but the burnt orange just looked good ! That looks like you have a Thorens turntable ... very cool ! I have a Thorens TD-160 that I have not used in years (need all the other gear that goes with it, 😢)! Nice set-up !

[@JurMalafi]

Thanks for reminding me my memory does not fail me.

[@AudioNostalgia]

In what way? :)

[@robertporter2447]

I have the 4311 and they kick ass! At the minute hooked to Kenwood 5400 from 1978. Great sound and power. Z.K.

[@Alvarochahin]

Now that is a handsome setup

[@AudioNostalgia]

Alvaro From Earth Thank you!

[@imprezawrxru]

Not balanced room but very very pretty setup

[@blackstars3720]

Maan! I love that set up

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thanks 👍

[@apisakpupipat7141]

Wow! I just love this room and which I had one like this one too--with a big collection of CDs, as well. :-)))

[@geraldobrandi8280]

Que áudio maravilhoso! Bela música perfeita para mostrar o desenho das L100! Parabéns! Consegui comprar um par intacto aqui no Brasil, bem caro por sinal, mas valeu muito cada centavo! Agora preciso trocar apenas os conectores por plug banana como os seus, pois os originais são péssimos! Grande abraço!

[@JeffMcNeal]

I found a pair of these speakers at an estate sale 25-years-ago. They were missing the foam off the grill covers. Other than that, they were in perfect condition. $20 for the pair!! Lucky me. Paired them with a restored Marantz 2325 and these are the only speakers I own that can handle that kind of power, with depth and richness that has brought me a lot of pleasure, every day, for a long, long time.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Wow - $20 what a bargain! There are indeed a very nice speakers, even nicer at this price :).

[@MrsJonesRevenge]

@@AudioNostalgia Yeah, the people running the estate sale clearly didn't know what they had. As soon as I saw the walnut cabinets, I pried off the cover frames (the foam was gone, but the black fabric backing they were glued to was still in place) and as soon as I saw what they were, I replaced the grill cover and casually said, "I'll take these, thanks" ;-) BTW, same guy that wrote the original comment above, but commenting now from a different YT account...

[@solice8844]

I've got a pair of JBL L100s from 1974 that I bought new back then. My ex-wife would have sold them to you for $20 when my back was turned.

[@renevw5812]

Beautiful room, clean, nice setup.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thank you!

[@pumasgoya]

Rebecca Pidgeon and that set up go well together.

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Nice setup!

[@ДмитрийСемин-м7з]

Здравствуйте.Какие используете акустические кабели?

[@AudioNostalgia]

QED Genesis Silver Spiral

[@jackryder6732]

Old is GOLD. Your opinion on amplifier

[@amanteapasionado6836]

That album collection tho....sheesh!

[@MrJamescord]

I just purchased a pair of these speakers!

[@joshsimmons2663]

MrJamescord im looking to sell a set i have, whats a good price for these in good condition with only the grille covers missing?

[@go2mac]

Looks brand new. love it.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thank you :).

[@MaxCaissie]

Those sound incredible

[@stevebirmingham9650]

These were the speakers i could never afford, i know that JBL are about to release the 2018 version of this classic speaker guess what is on my list to buy in 2018 yup the new version, this will be coupled to a Yamaha AS1100 amp and CDS 1000 cd player and a Linn LP12 turntable front end. I have one further item to add then my dream system will be complete just waiting for Revox or Teac to bring back the big reel to reel tape recorders then i will be one very happy man

[@AudioNostalgia]

Interesting setup. Please get in touch once you get them - I'd like to know how you find their sound.

[@johnanderson3853]

Wonderful. Heavenly nice speakers.

[@stereosan1]

L series JBL is negative polarity, you can try to connect positive wire from amp to black terminal of speaker

[@massimostefani4409]

Like the speaker stands you are using for the JBL L100 Century speakers. Got any info on those stands and if they are still available to buy if not anything else similar? Not keen on the low height that the current JBL L100 Classic stands have.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thank you. These are the stands that I actually built for my Yamaha NS-1000 (the silver legs matched nicely the silver driver baskets of the NS-1000) - sadly, I don't have any photos of this combo. When I keep a set of speakers for a while, I tend to built myself stands, rather then buy them. Here is an example of that: audionostalgia.co.uk/harbeth-m40-1-and-m40-2-speaker-stands-diy-project/ A lot of work but you get exactly what you want. So apologies, but I'm afraid you cannot purchase these anywhere. But I understand you not liking low height JBL metal stands. I much prefer to have woofers further away from the floor and tweeters at ear level.

[@panaspanos3319]

These ones or l65A you think are better?

[@walshwheels]

Beautiful sound. Cold you please tell me what connections you have on the speakers allowing you to use cables.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Hi Jim. Thanks for your comment. The connections are standard gold plated banana plug terminals - nothing fancy. I've played a lot with different crossover designs and decided to stick to straight re-cap. As the same time I also changed the cables, attenuators and previously mentioned speaker terminals. The whole process is described on my website: www.audionostalgia.co.uk/upgrade_jbl_l100_century.php .

[@PGHJR002]

THAT'S A REAL bass!!!!! I could listen ALL night to the vintage L100s.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Although I find their sound very attractive, I could not listen to them long term. Due to the peaky mid and treble they can become fatiguing if you listen to anything but simple acoustic recordings.

[@andreydemidov828]

The best sound I ever heard

[@AudioNostalgia]

If this is indeed the case, then you need to experience more speakers Andrey ;).

[@LogiForce86]

@@AudioNostalgia Don't we all! But most of us get tears in our eyes when we look into our wallets made out of onion leather. 😅

[@williamjver]

I like the black semi gloss. What did you use? Im looking for some tin badges for these also. Nice stands.

[@Ky_du]

You’re just hearing your gear and your room for the first time 😂😂😂

[@nitroboy2]

Very nice speakers , ar those original covers or reproduction ?

[@AudioNostalgia]

Apologies, I rarely check the comments under the videos. The covers are reproduction. Unfortunately, these were made from acoustic foam - i.e. the foam that is used for absorbing sound. I use them for aesthetic reasons, as you cannot listen with the covers on (takes too much mid and treble away).

[@x.y.8581]

@@AudioNostalgia Yes, who did you get those from? - that is the wrong type of foam

[@AudioNostalgia]

@@x.y.8581 These were made by an business that I used to work with. They hot-wire cut them form me, unfortunately from a wrong type of foam.

[@1mykalfury]

Steve Gutenberg said JBL's re-releasing these in spring 2018 with updated titanium tweeters. Nice speakers before & will be with the upgrade.

[@pascachi]

Cool!

[@WindomRettes]

Ever come across a pair of JBL L110 speakers?

[@AudioNostalgia]

No, not yet :).

[@MN-lt6cn]

Hi, what is the name of the phono rack and what is it‘s price? Best wishes

[@AudioNostalgia]

Hi. Do you mean the HiFi rack? If so, I built it myself as I wanted something that goes with the style of the room and is on castors. It has been made from melamine faced chipboard. All the best.

[@MN-lt6cn]

@@AudioNostalgia Hi! Thanks for answering! Very well wishes from Germany!

[@olorinhenderson]

What is the purpose of the foam(?) on the front grill? Is it to dampen sound? Is it stock?

[@raymondleggs5508]

Foam grilles are stock on old jbl series

[@Greatdome99]

No function. JBL says they're acoustically transparent and nicer looking than cloth. Mine disintegrated years ago but found replacement foam on ebay. They came in blue, orange and brown (1970s colors). My new ones are black.

[@nickcaliendo6052]

what stands are those?

[@AudioNostalgia]

I've made them - MDF boards for tops and bottoms and pine for legs. These were actually made for the Yamaha NS-1000 but I ended up using these with JBL L100 as they have similar dimensions.

[@dennishill290]

Still Awesome..Yamaha..!!

[@Montreal_Audio_Systems]

td 160 not spinning why? Good turntable to modifie need to change to tonearm if you want real good sound and upgrade cartridge

[@AudioNostalgia]

For consistency and ease - I use same the set up for all of my speaker videos. I'm sure things could be done to upgrade the turntable but I quite liked it with TP16 arm and Denon DL-103R cartridge.

[@edwinrumbaoa4507]

Is that the Yamaha a-s501 or 301?

[@AudioNostalgia]

It is mentioned in the video description: Yamaha A-S2000

[@didg9566]

Audiophile sound, difficult to have a bad result with this type of recording...

[@AudioNostalgia]

I agree. This is the reason why I use this type of music for my videos. My videos are not meant for demonstrating sonic qualities of speakers - compressed sound and basic microphone in the camcorder are not up for the task. I shoot these videos just to share the look and feel of different speakers.

[@necrodh]

Even my tiny 6 dollar bt edifier speaker sound ultra amazing with this kind of recordings

[@siuchen7140]

love d sound

[@2ChannelAudio]

Really good speakers for the price.

[@cri1341]

Buongiorno, quale suona meglio tra le L100 e le 4312A? Grazie

[@AudioNostalgia]

I don't know. I've never heard the 4312A.

[@luisrodriguez8639]

Get a L-112 is the best of the JBL bookshelfs

[@AudioNostalgia]

@@luisrodriguez8639 Finding a set in the UK is rather unlikely but I will keep an eye out.

[@mrhoffame]

Did you move? ...or different room in same house?

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thank you for your kind words in the previous comment. I've moved twice since I started making videos with vintage speakers, which makes this my 3rd house. Not as spacious as the previous listening room, but it is a detached house - which means I can play music whatever time I want :).

[@วŠท่าเอะ-e2g]

ผมว่าลำโพง JBL รุ่นใหม่ดังดีกว่านะครับ เบสให้เสียงลึกมากกว่า ทั้งที่แอมป์มีกำลังขับน้อย

[@thomosburn8740]

a mono mic might have been helpful when making this video. You can get one for your iPhone for about $60 so there's really no excuse, especially reviewing stereo gear. I think this song was a good choice to show off the subtlety these speakers are capable of, and most jBL "loud rock" guys simply won't be able to relate to this virtue.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thom Osburn It was filmed with a mono mic, do you mean stereo mic? I publish videos to show look and feel of different speakers, not to demonstrate their sonic qualities. Anyone in their right mind is not going judge speakers by compressed KZbin video, filmed in a room they never been to. I feature these videos on my website (www.audionostalgia.co.uk) where I review the speakers and share my subjective views about their sonic qualities.

[@JunoShoeshineArt]

Legentary Monitor Speakers - like

[@manuelgalan]

Bonito Sonido

[@ebiros2]

nice

[@pathakajit]

Nice speakers!.. but definitely not 'Monitor Speakers'. They are better suited for populer music of the era and do lend a lot to the sound. The L110 or the later L96.. now those come closer to being monitors.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Very true, especially by modern standards. I call them "Monitor Speakers", as they have this classic look of vintage studio monitors, and because these are pretty much the same as their studio equivalents JBL 4311 (which were used for studio monitoring in the 70s).

[@SDsailor7]

@@AudioNostalgia I just bought a pair of jbl 4310 studio monitors as they where called and they sound great! I also have a pair of the L-100's but the cabinets need restoration the speakers are all good. I need to find those tweeter foam surrownd rings that go on the outside. Any idea as to where to buy them? Very nice listening area. Cheers

[@SDsailor7]

@@AudioNostalgia I am going to your webpage.

[@AudioNostalgia]

@@SDsailor7 Hey Rob. Congratulations on your 4310 purchase, I actually prefer the look of JBL studio monitors to their domestic versions. I found a set of these foms on eBay. These were shipped from somewhere in mainland Europe. They do come up on eBay ever so often.

[@SDsailor7]

@@AudioNostalgia Thank you AN i am currently in the process of restoration i have repaired the one of the grilles because it was cracked and i removed the hooks that they had Installed to hang the from the ceiling and i plugged the holes next will be to sand them and then paint them.The original color was grey and they had painted them black. I did not know they came in grey until i did some research. I like how they look in grey. It is a textured grey. Cheers

[@MrStingraybernard]

jbl is reissuing these this spring 2018

[@AudioNostalgia]

Ron Bernard Wow, did not know about it. I wonder how will these compare to the vintage ones.

[@paolopancini7641]

Preferisco le boston a sospensione pneumatica anni 80 090 ancora le facevano bene

[@imprezawrxru]

If you want to quickly sell the speakers, play this music for clients.

[@AudioNostalgia]

I'm not sure if this was a sarcasm, but generally, simple and well recorded songs tend to sound impressive on most speakers.

[@delreynodiaz2004]

I have it...

[@williamjver]

Crisp like lettuce!

[@WV591]

all dressed up and no one to blow

[@alexzildjian]

💙💙👌👌😀😀

[@joesmith6524]

play some vintage queen , wats this crap your playing?

[@meshplates]

The crossover, I'm being generous calling it that, in the L100 is a primitive afterthought. They need properly engineered crossovers. The woofer runs full range for goodness sake. And the midrange has high range roll off. Could be one reason they sound peaky. Nicely mqde drivers but the rest is pretty wretched.

[@johnadams9044]

The L100 do sound like its 1970 again. Glad audio has progressed far beyond the 70s.

[@zackarycolley9201]

Smokers home? Damn lmao

[@AudioNostalgia]

Possibly - previous owner/s, not mine.

[@ramipo1]

clasic speakers

[@임동훈-q4y]

명기네요 귯

[@MinhNguyen-ir5tw]

Like OK

[@mikematthews8573]

Smoke cigrits

[@outboardfun3353]

Good old Boxy sounding JBL

[@CapHarts]

Tengo unas que suenan mejor, las VIETA PR-7 de 1980.

[@4ohm531]

The video is cool but i think that nobody listen that music, it's just used to make speakers sound good

[@NetGod2012]

模仿 日本的 空气录音？？

[@andreasfrank5488]

Tandberg TL5020 play much better

[@opiestanborough4774]

too bad you dont play some decent music on these......

[@AudioNostalgia]

Decent for one listener is rubbish for the other one. A matter of taste...

[@e3befree]

My ears are already fatigued 30 seconds into the vid.

[@AudioNostalgia]

Thinks how you'd fee if you were listening to them in my room! ;)

[@cobain1994100]

most overrated speaker of all times