jbl l65 jubal vs. jbl l100

blacker

Active Member
have heard much good comments about l100's, but i'm kind of newbie so i want to collect some information (and specs) if possible, about those two jbl vintage models.how do they perform,which one is considered to be a better speaker, and how do they compare to the decade l36 model which i currently own right now?
 
my 2 cents

I'd probably rank the Jubal ahead of the l100 and the l100 ahead of the decade l36.

From what I've read the Jubal tweeter is supposed to be very good. Selling prices on the Jubals also seem to be higher than the L100.

I've seen and heard a few different decade models, and while they Ok , they are nothing I'd seek out.

I am however getting a set of woofers refoamed for a pair of L55 I have sitting in my closet......
 
I agree! The L65 Jubal was one of their most musical sounding speakers ever. Nothing wrong with a well setup L100/4311 combo. A friend has a pair of 4311 Control Monitors and I listen to them quite often and love them. I use them in our broadcast control rooms and they are accurate.
 
Either the Century or Jubal should sound better than the L36. I had a pair of L26 2-way Decades back in the 70s and now have Jubals. The L26 has the same woofer and tweeter as the L36 but no midrange. The L65 has much better highs than the L26. The imaging and detail with the 077 tweeter are pretty stunning, and the soundstage seems to be above the speakers, even though they sit on the floor. I can listen to the same LPs I had in high school and hear things now I never did then with the L26s.

All of these are classic JBLs- just try (and keep) 'em all.
 
I have to agree on the L65. One truly fine speaker. Coupled to the right amp, they are about all any house system would need. :thmbsp:
 
Decade series (L36 et al.) was the inexpensive implementation of "West Coast" sound, though with somewhat different voicing than L100/4311B which are NOT accurate, rather, "Fake but FUN!" but overpriced for what they are.

Everyone talks up the Jubals outside the Lansing Heritage Forum, but the diffraction slot tweeter is a matter of taste, notwithstanding what they sell for. More generally, Jubal's major "issue" is that it plays to the knees....
 
which you mean are not accurate? the l100 or l36 decade? i must say , that i've heard some people prefer the l36 over the l100.
 
Neither, tho L100/4311B is less accurate, with its boomy bass, forward midrange, and rolled-off highs, it was designed to mimic the notoriously inaccurate Altec 604....
 
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A lot of people have said back in the late 70's to early 80's the l-100/4311b speakers were used by many engineers and producers and you can hear it. There are and were so many other speakers that are accurate and make better speakers for a faithful reproduction of the source material. They really sold a BUNCH of the century 100's thats for sure as I see them all over the place!

-Mike
 
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I happen not to like what many refer to as the 'west coast sound', which is typified by JBL. So, when I find JBL speakers, I generally play with them for a while then sell them. ADS, B&W, AR... I keep.
 
I happen not to like what many refer to as the 'west coast sound', which is typified by JBL. So, when I find JBL speakers, I generally play with them for a while then sell them. ADS, B&W, AR... I keep.
Not all JBLs are "West Coast," of course.

In pro, the large-format 43xx and all 44xx are not.

Most all of the later consumer models are not, either....
 
It's an "L" of a choice!

When I was 70salesguy, I had the good fortune of having L100s, L65s and L36s as well as L16s, L26s and L88ps in my store.

Since I was a full-time Engineering student, I worked late afternoons and evenings during the week. That meant that I spent a fair amount of time in the store with few or no customers. That allowed me to spend a good amount of time "listening" and doing comparisons.

I liked the L100s better than the L65s. It might have been different in a home environment, or even if I did the comparison now, but at the time I liked the L100s better. That's why I bought the L100s when it came time to spend my own money.

The L36 is a good speaker, but frankly, I liked the L26 better.

You have to remember, everyone hears differently! And personal tastes vary.

The L65s are highly sought after for a reason.

Try to listen to them all if you can and you decide!

As said here before : You're the only one who has to like the sound of your system!

Good luck! :thmbsp:
 
thanks for your informative reply 70salesguy.so what is the reason that the l65 are highly sought after?
unfortunately i have no ability of hearing them first cause i don't live in the US and jbl vintage speakers rarely show up .that's why i try to find out as musch as possible throuhg this thread and by having only the l-36 experience.
do you think that with either the l-65 or l100 will i notice a major improvement?
 
When I was 70salesguy, I had the good fortune of having L100s, L65s and L36s as well as L16s, L26s and L88ps in my store.
...
Where were you then? I bought my L26s and the L40s that replaced them (and much more gear) at Audio Systems in Charlotte in the late 70s.
 
The "L" with it!

It would be MY PERSONAL preference for L100s over L36s. The L26 was brought to the market to compete with a variety of 2-way speaker systems that were capturing a large part of the market.

It was in effect, the "Advent-Killer". Many people were interested in the original Advent speaker, a good speaker at a good price point, and JBL wanted part of that action. The result was the L26 which represented simular "voicing" as the L100 but at a more modest price, originally $119 as compared to $273. The L16 was a little less and the L36 a bit more.

JBL describes the L16 and L26 in a 1974 brochure as "economy and beauty in compact bookshelf loudspeakers". The L36 as "The leader of the Decade family".

The Decade series was designed to compete at specific pricepoints. all below that of the L100.

I believe that the L100 and members of the 4311/4312 family would represent "a step up". How much of a step is debateable.

The L65s are a wonderful piece, they are described by JBL in the same brochure as "a studio quality 3-way system". They will perform very well and if you don't believe it, listen to Most of us are sad by the Eagles!

If you had the chance to acquire a good pair at a reasonable price, i would recommend it, they are well-regarded! But they are also pricey!

The store I worked in was in Charleston, SC. :yes: By the late 70s, I was in the Nuclear Power business with a "real" job making "real" money! :D
 
I'll chime in. There's no doubt about it, the L-65 will stomp a mudhole in the L-36, the L-26, and the 4311/L-100

I've heard them all, and not for just a couple of minutes. I'd actually take the L-26 versus the L-36. But don't figure you're going to power a pair of L-26, and not have issues, if you get carried away one day at a little party with your Sansui 9090. But the L-65 will handle the 9090 up to the point where your ears might be bleeding.

You will turn such speakers like the L-26-L-36 inside out, and will be looking at repair, either to Drivers, and/or X-Overs.

I'll even go as far as saying, that the L-65 will produce cleaner, tighter bass than an L-300 Summit.

The biggest shortcoming of the Jubal, is its "odd" size. It possesses a killer sound, ideal for many listening rooms, but the "odd" thing about it, it can neither be considered a bookself, or a floor-stander.

It is a speaker, which I feel could benefit, from custom made floor stands,the denser, the better. (Though this necessarily doesn't have to be expensive)

Not very tall mind you, perhaps 12"-16" tall, no more. This will ideally help this speaker position the mid, and HF driver at a better ear level height.
IMO, the L-65 is a killer speaker. The folks at thr Lansing Forum perhaps (no I won't say diss) bu becuase they no more, and have had better speakers from the JBL Family, mightly "slightly" look down upon the L-65.


If you're thinking of snatching a pair, don't hesitate! Mark
 
thanks for your informative reply 70salesguy.so what is the reason that the l65 are highly sought after?



To part them out for the 077 tweeters that can fetch $400-$600/pr.

The Jubals never did impress me. They sound dull and lifeless, partially because the tweeter has very poor vertical dispersion and is way too close to the floor. I've never heard them on stands that get the tweeters up where they should be though. I certainly would not compare them with L300's. :no:
 
L65 indeed stomps a mud hole in ALOT of speakers , including many favorites of today..IMO. Put them in heavy, heavy stands & run a good PP amp thru'em & oh boy........*s* I also run ADS, & pro JBL, but would never sell L65. Thru my PP 300B or any good PP amp I run they are a joy. There top end makes alot of speakers be mere toys. There mid range gets a BAD RAP imo. a GOOD tube amp will show this all day long. Also I did complete recap with all films & replaced all resistors with mills. Brings them back to a wonderfull life.
Joe
 
But the L-65, and L-300 both share the same HF Driver, the 077. That's one characteristic I could never call the four L-65's I own, dull, and lifeless.
If anything, they were "over achievers", meaning that I never ran them above flat on the L-Pads, and even then, they provided all the mids, and highs one could ever want. I find the 4430 Studio Monitors I now own, have a very similar "JBL house sound" compared to the L-65 Jubal.

The 4430 differences are of course a bigger sound, and a heck of a lot more handling power. The mids are of course more effortless, than what the small LE-5-5 can provide. Otherwise to my ears, the 4430 doesn't actually go lower in hz, or does it go higher in hz than the L-65. The 4430 sounds a bit more seamless in its musical command. Perhaps partly due to a 2-way versus 3-way system.

Perhaps the shortcoming causing the dull, and lifeless sound was the equipment driving these speakers? Either that, or faulty Drivers-X-Overs? Mark
 
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ok guys,thank you for the replies.
now i think i'm going to mess things up (perhaps i should change the thread title?) but i would like to intoduce one more comparative issue :sigh:.

two speaker brands that always interested me were jbl and klipsch. so, after concluding that the jbl l65 is probably better than the l-100, i really want to know how the jubal compares to the klipsch cornwall models. i know that they may be serious differences but some advantages and dissadvatages between the two could be mentioned.
 
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