Company History

In the world of audio reproduction, few names have the lineage that JBL has. Started in 1946 by James B Lansing, the then-named “James B Lansing Sound” was responsible for some of the most significant advancements in speaker technology. From their legendary D130 15” woofer, debuting in 1948, to the first titanium diaphragm compression drivers in 1979, JBL’s work in speaker design and engineering has influenced many brands and models in today’s market.

If you go to a live music event or movie theater, there is a good chance you will be listening to JBL speakers like the VTX Line Arrays or 5732 ScreenArray. In addition, JBL’s legendary M2 Studio Monitor has been a crucial part of some of the best studio albums produced today. JBL takes its knowledge of sound reinforcement and studio sound and engineers some of the more capable and dynamic speakers available today.

Features & Technology

JBL saw the movement in the popularity of vintage audio equipment and decided to bring back the L100, which was their most popular model from the 70s. This new MkII version is an evolution of the reborn L100 Classic with some upgrades to the crossover and drivers.

The 12” pure pulp white cone woofer takes the robust build quality and power handling of pro-sound woofers but is engineered for home audio use. With a substantial magnet structure and cast aluminum basket, this driver brings the natural tone that paper cone drivers are known for with the dynamics of a large woofer driver not typically seen in a stand-mount speaker.

For midrange duty from 450Hz - 3.5kHz, a 5.25” polymer-coated pure pulp cone continues with the design choice of using paper cones for their natural tonal sound. This driver has a polymer coating for protection from humidity and a longer driver life.

From 3.5kHz and up, JBL uses a specially designed titanium dome tweeter in an acoustic lens waveguide giving upper midrange and treble great detail. The stiff and light titanium dome reduces distortions sometimes found in softer dome materials. This ensures that the music waveform is not altered due to the limitations of the tweeter dome material.

For the new L100 Classic MkII speaker, JBL revised the crossover to allow Bi-wire/Bi-amping ability. With a sensitivity of 90dB and a 4-ohm load, the MkII can be powered with excellent results by anything from a 25-watt all-tube amplifier to a 200-watt solid-state powerhouse. JBL also honored customer's requests for the ability to use multiple amplifiers to improve the performance even more. This allows you to use separate amplifiers for the 12” woofer and the Midrange/tweeter section giving you more dynamic headroom for a more effortless sound experience.

The JBL L100 Classic MkII has a front-firing bass port, which we feel is a great idea as it gives you many more placement options in a room than rear-firing ports. For lovers of the classic stereo against-the-wall look, having a front port will provide the ability of the MkIIs to sound great in this setting without making the bass boomy or overdone as a rear-ported speaker would. But for you music lovers like us who like to pull the speakers out into the room and give them room to breathe, the L100 Classic MkII will be at home in this environment and will reward listeners with the cleaner bass, added soundstage depth, and imaging ability this arrangement can bring.

Once popular in the '70s and '80s, midrange and tweeter attenuators are not seen in many speakers today. This is primarily due to the components used in these devices generally doing some harm to the music signal integrity. JBL improved these components and offers midrange and tweeter attenuation without many of the associated negatives. The added benefit of these circuits is the ability to tune the speaker to your taste or if you have a hearing sensitivity or deficiency at certain frequencies. This also can be used to dial in the speakers to your room, as some rooms will naturally boost or cut the treble or midrange.

The JBL L100 Classic MkII comes in a high-quality natural satin walnut veneer with three different grill color options to match the look you are after. These Quadrex foam grilles come in black, orange, or blue and fit the vintage vibe JBL is going for with this speaker. Choose the black grill for a vintage, understated look, or get the orange or blue grill if you want your speakers to stand out and be a focal point in the room.

The JBL Classic L100 MkII’s are stand-mount speakers requiring them to be elevated off the floor for the best performance. JBL has you covered with both the JS-120 and JS-150 stands. Both stands lift the speaker 7.5” from the floor and tilt them back at a calculated angle to time align the drivers. This is very important as time alignment allows the drivers to flow into each other seamlessly at the crossover frequency so that the speaker is closer to a point source of sound. This also has benefits in the soundstaging and imaging ability of the speakers and gives the music much more realism, allowing the speakers to disappear in the room. The JS-120 stands are the standard stand to use with the L100 MkII speakers, while the JS-150 is a hardier built stand that can handle more weight and offer better bracing in situations where you want extra strength and peace of mind.

Performance

While we were already impressed with the first version of the reborn JBL L100, we were eager to hear what JBL did to improve on this new classic. Hookup was a breeze with the included high-quality binding posts, which is an improvement on the already great binding posts on the first generation of the speaker. While we did not bi-wire or bi-amp the MkII, we did like to see that they included this much-asked-for addition for folks who want to explore their options. Knowing the variations of rooms and systems out there we listened to the MkIIs against the wall and pulled out into the room to explore how their sound would change. We tried both high-end tube and solid-state amplification and found the L100 MkII sounded great with either option, allowing the sonic benefits of each topology to shine.

Led Zeppelin's (HD Remastered) 1969 album “Led Zeppelin II” is a fitting start to our evaluation of the JBL Classic L100 MkII as this album, like JBL itself, is a rock ‘n’ roll classic. From the very first track, we understood what JBL was after with this design. The sound was Big, Bold, and Dynamic! From Jimmy Page’s soaring guitar leads to Robert Plant's powerful lead vocals, the L100 Classic MkII seemed to be born for this music! John Bonham’s drums sounded very dynamic and much more engaging than other stand-mount speakers on the market. Having dynamic contrast in the music is a virtue that allows the music to breathe and live, and these JBLs excel at this task. While we understand that this album's studio work is somewhat limited in sound quality, we needed to hear how the MkII sounds with imperfect recordings.

Thelonious Monks' 1962 album “Monks Dream” takes things in a different direction tonally with a jazz classic that will showcase how versatile the L100 Classic MkII is. The first track, “Monk’s Dream,” is one of our favorites and showed us that the JBLs aren’t just rock and roll speakers. The Drums had body, and the cymbals had great detail. The piano had great detail and tone without some of the sibilances that some speakers produce playing back this instrument. One of the biggest surprises for us was the bass. While the Led Zeppelin album showed us the JBL meant business rocking out with the classics, this jazz album showed us the agility of the bass we were not expecting. Many speakers with large woofers will give up a little detail for bass slam and depth, but not this speaker. The bass had a level of ease and finesse not found in other stand mounts or small floor standers that use smaller “higher-tech” woofers. This effortlessness gave the bass more defined tonal characteristics, allowing us to hear deeper into the music. The midrange and treble were both crisp and clear, and while the L100 Classic MkII does not sound as sophisticated or open as some rivals with higher-tech cabinets or drivers, it is good enough to do the music justice. Imaging and soundstaging were good as well, and while they didn’t deliver the total disappearing act as some small stand-mount speakers on the market, it was a commendable performance. In JBL’s defense, these speakers seem to be designed more for the enjoyment factor of music rather than the surgical analysis of it.

Overall Recommendation

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the JBL L100 Classic MkII and think that it’s a speaker that will fit the bill for many looking for an enjoyable window to their music. They are large for a stand-mount speaker but also offer an effortlessness to the low frequencies that most stand-mount and some floor-standing speakers can't produce. The midrange and high frequencies offer great detail and musical enjoyment without being analytical or sibilant. Looking at the internals, we can tell JBL wanted this speaker to provide the combination of overengineered drivers, good cabinet construction, and grill options to allow you to choose how vintage you want to go. The JBL L100 Classic MkII is an excellent option for music lovers who want to do just that: Enjoy The Music!