I know this forum is technically about Portable stereos, but I wanted to share my main HiFi system. A Couple of people on the forum have asked me about some of my stuff, so I'll share some info about it. Here are some photos: The Amp is a Luxman L-3. 45W per channel. Tuner is a Luxman T-4. Accutouch. The Turntable is a Luxman PX-100. The Speakers are JBL L-100ts. Probably the most important part is the speaker system. They were purchased at a local Goodwill for $8, and I restored them. You can check out the restoration process on another forum here: https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-l-100ts-find.866550/ On the last page of that thread, you can find a demo as well. I'd say a lot of users on this forum aren't too familiar with Luxman, it's kinda a obscure brand. I like the warmth and sonic quality that these old components have.
Very nice, I'd say a good portion of the membership here has home stereo equipment. I've got a little of everything, nothing high end but some Pioneer, Marantz, Sansui Workhorses. Like you I was grabbing the finds at the thrifts and garage sales when they were just a few bucks. I've never seen a Luxman in the wild but I have a post on here somewhere, with photo, of a Luxman Stereo Curb Find over in Paris. I was on vacation at the time and didn't have the space to grab it. How do the JBLs sound, they look very heavy. The closest I have to JBLs is a big set of Fraziers, one of the main JBL Engineers started at Frazier.
I have the Luxman L-2 33 watts per side. I have it hooked up to a pair of Minimus 7 This little amp. sounds very BIG I'm really enjoying it. It's been up for sale for a few weeks & everyone is low balling me, so I keep on keeping on with the awesome sound. That tuner would be a nice addition to it.
The JBLs are extremely heavy; each speaker weighs in at about 70lbs. Each unit contains three speakers each. A 12" woofer at the bottom ensures all types of bass is replicated properly. Next, a laminated mids speaker replicates mid-tone instruments such as guitars and vocals with great warmth. Finally, a titanium tweeter rounds off the sound by offering some really crisp highs. All of these speakers are carefully chosen by a crossover board. So, the best answer I can give you for how they sound is very similar to a good pair of studio headphones. Everything is well balanced and the natural warmth and realism is not defeated. When compared to a lot of speakers I own, such as Bose, Sony, Pioneer, I'd say they just sound really neutral and balanced. If you're thinking though, "Gee, I've seen those speakers somewhere before", check this out: This is a JBL 4412 studio monitor. These were used to mix some pretty famous music throughout the 80s. But, they contain the very same array of speakers that the L-100t does. So, the JBL L-100t's were designed to mimic the sound of these studio monitors and sound as close to what was heard in the studio as possible. Wow, a Luxman on a dumpster find! That's impressive! Yeah, Luxman is a brand many don't know of, simply because the big brands eclipse them. Yeah, even though it's rated conservatively, they can produce a powerful balanced sound. Interesting enough, I've seen some sell for practically nothing, even though in my opinion they should be worth more.
I was over in Tokyo last February and they love JBLs. A lot of the bars and record stores have very high end systems, mostly Macintosh and JBLs, you know they have the amps hidden but the big JBLs are displayed loud and proud. I was thinking they reminded me of my Marantz HD-880s, when designer May left JBL, he went to Marantz to help with their speaker program. The speakers are very similar but the Marantz's have a tunable port, basically you can control the air flow by moving the foam plug in and out.
Really? I had no idea. I'm sure you probably saw a lot of the L-100 classic speakers (not the 'T's). Those are SUPER desirable anywhere, and I'd love to audition a pair. I've heard a lot about the HD-880. People have told me it's a terrific speaker to listen to. It's a 4 way system, correct? Anyways, yes, Edmond May did leave the company and worked at Marantz designing speakers for awhile. Also, Bart Locanthi, another JBL big wheel left to go work at Pioneer. Some of the speakers produced by those brands during that time look very similar to some JBL model. The Pioneer HPM-100 and the JBL L-100 are almost identical.
Those guys don't mess around, huge Mac Amps and huge JBLs. Manhattan Records, a fairly small shop, had JBL 4350A's up on the ceiling, look up those beasts, they're about 5' x 5'. All of the stores have the new bookshelve speakers, I couldn't find the model number but I think they retail for about $300 USD each. I haven't plugged in my big stuff in a while, I lost a coil in one of the HD 880s Drivers, I bought a replacement but it needs a new surround, I think they used foam. My equipment is mostly 70's I love the big three but have some other brands. I saw some HPM-100's sitting in a basement last month but I couldn't get a sell price from the owner even though they had been sitting for years.
Nice set-up and choosing to narrow it to Luxman components makes the system much more uniform. I run a pair of Pioneer HPM-100s in my downstairs bedroom system and I have a second pair in reserve. I will check out your rebuild thread on the JBLs. Nando.
$8.00 for the speakers... from Goodwill, you say? Reminds me of how I scored a pair of Acoustic Research floor speakers from them for $5.00... and put them straight into use on a system I pieced together for an l'il-old Italian lady I befriended. I can't name all the components by model, but it had: Pioneer wood-case w/silver front tuner/amp Yamaha K-960 silver-face cassette deck w/dbx A cheap turntable w/P-mount, variable pitch control & display (fitted with new Audio Technica cartridge) Placing the speaker in near-opposite corners of the room (The only way possible) and wiring them with 14g household lamp wire (all I could afford) I set the L-pads according to a speaker building book's guidelines and began tuning-in the FM radio. By pure chance, the needle stopped where a "good" song I've only heard a snippet of before was beginning--a Contemporary Christian song. (Go figure...!) It was then, like the night I realized me & red Mopars have a certain synergy, I realized I made something good.
the jbl 4345 is the jbl i've always wanted. i have jbl gold. but if i have to choose, it's the mbl 101
