Thursday Update.

The latest JBL L26s are gone. A terrific guy drove from Ottawa this morning to pick them up. He left happy. I am one woofer away from having another set ready. After they left, I switched to the L40s, and experienced none of the regret I often do when JBLs leave the building. I have my eye on a couple of other pairs, models I haven't heard before. I'll keep you posted.

I will have a new set of EPI 100s by Saturday. I'll also be refoaming 4 pairs of JBL Control 1s over the weekend. Some lucky person got them for FREE from his company cafeteria. I'm working in the wrong places!

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The worst of JBL

The speaker connectors on many of the great early seventies models are the flimsiest, least user friendly I've seen. I have replaced them on the L40s and L26s with high quality binding posts.

Newest L26s

The components have been cherry picked from 2 pairs I have going, with the prettiest cabinets, and two badges. I will upgrade the speaker connectors tomorrow. They have the worst of JBLs connectors, the ones that you push in to open a hole that might take 20 gauge wire. Binding posts will sound better.

JBL L40 Photos

These don't do the wood justice. The patina of these vintage veneers is amazing. While JBL produced these speakers in 1979, and applied the veneer to the cabinets then, the veneer could have been made years earlier, or could been sliced in 1979 from a piece of wood that JBL had bought and stored years before. These speakers sound great, not the same as L26s, but similar, with a slightly less bright, more detailed high end.

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2 Pairs of JBLs.

I got these home at seven. The surrounds on these L26s (my 4th pair) need to be reglued, and I've already stripped them down to the oak veneer (they were spray painted black).

The other pair are L40s, from 1979. They are also 2 way, 10 inch systems. They use a more modern, dome tweeter than most of the wonderful JBLs I've had (L19, L16, L26, L36,L88, L88 Plus 12, L100), but less advanced than the metal domes in the other couple (4312B, L112). The walnut cabinets are going to be beautiful. I stripped the tops tonight, but focused my attention on getting the black paint off the L26s with the available light I had left on the porch.

Anyways, they sound great! I'm not ready to say how compare they to the L26s, but they are very nice, and a new (to me) JBL is always an experience. The overall level of acoustical, electrical, industrial and graphic design of JBLs output from the 70s is unique and extraordinary, and that's how they sound.

Highly Recommended

They even play the Flintstones Theme!