Great to have you back Sean! These JBLs look great. And as an aside may I just say, I'm GLAD you're getting sponsors and affiliate links because your time is worth something just like anybody else's time is. Looking forward to watching Zero Fidelity in 2023! Get it!!
yeah.... I like that they "are not for everyone" i.e. they don't sound like something for me, would much prefer that speakers disappear and give a large sound
JBL = juke joint fun. Back to the feel of music, atmosphere over precision. Step into the purple haze and jump into the fire. It was the sound of the 60's. Lived it, loved it and happy to hear its still here. Thanks!
I love your reviews because I feel like I really understand the product. This review I felt like I understand how much joy these speakers bring you. Bravo
Great review Sean! Your ability to compare different speakers, discuss system matching, and listening across different music genres is appreciated. Very helpful to us consumers.
Thanks for this review. I _really_ appreciate your take and style with this. I just have to agree with you about JBL's intentions and the likely audience. They're doing something appealing to not only actual nostalgic boomers but also folks who are nostalgic for something they never experienced. I don't actually need speakers but I'm seriously considering getting a pair because I grew up in the 70's and those foam cubes are like sirens on the rocks. (btw, I listened to your review on my HD414's that I bought new in the 70's and have spent more than they're worth on multiple replacement foam earpads for. Another iconic audio product that really should make a return!)
Thanks Sean, great video. One other advantage of choosing the JBLs over other similarly-priced options is resale value. If you do buy these, enjoy them for a while, then decide to upgrade or go in a different direction, you’ll probably get more of your money back when you sell or trade them.
Hey Sean Good to see you reviewing Wishing you the best Using most of my time listening to music But glad to see you helping those still out there searching for new equipment Take Care
It is absolutely wonderful to be able to watch your review again.. always be able to analyze from different angles..both subjectively and technically... Thanks a lot.
Years ago 1979-1983 I worked in a Stereo shop that sold JBL speakers, we carried the L52 - L82 -L100 and could special order other models. The entire JBL speaker line required quality electronics and our recommendation at that time was the Harmon Kardon 730, for the receiver, an ugly duckling for sure, and then the beautiful cabinets by JBL came to the rescue attracting some of our more financially well off customers and wives who did not mind spending the extra money, thereby making the sale. My opinion on the sound is, the L series are great speakers for that era of recording technologies, a lot of punch where it mattered, with the right amp and other equipment, along with proper setup, they rocked big time and still do. Thanks for the video :_)
Appreciate your efforts, I am fan of your approach towards audio reviews, hope if you can have have more audio equipment's review every week, don't want to wait longer than that.
I’ve had the L52’s for almost a year and love them. Mostly powered by a refurbished 1973 Sony STR-6036 that’s only 14wpc at 8 ohm (a little more than that @ the 4 ohm L52’s. They sound fantastic your review is spot on. So much fun to listen to. Also, there is definitely a break in period, after about 2 months they really started to punch.
Thanks Sean, excellent review. As you pointed out, the JBL's have a signature sound, it's know as the 'West Coast Sound' (I think they're the official speaker of the state of California!). Many love this sound -- and some don't. They pair best with vintage gear, say Marantz or Pioneer -- but they will give you that sound with all gear regardless of topology of the amp. If you're new to this hobby, you can't go wrong with JBL -- they have been around forever and they know what they're doing. You will get a good, solid, reliable speaker. If people are uncertain about JBL, buy the A130 and give it a listen. Chances are you will be happy!
Hi there, good review. I bought these speakers in England for half the rrp. £500 and I think they are brilliant, mind you, I am old and started my hifi interest in the 70s. But seriously, I think they are pretty awesome, especially at this price.
Great review Sean! Reminds me of my audio journey. Back in the late seventies I bought my first audiophile speakers, Allison 2s. Loved them but I was looking for something different. A few years later I bought a beat up used pair of JBL 100s. Needless to say the JBLS got a lot more playing time!
Have not heard any home stereo JBLs in years and dig the retro aesthetic though our JBL studio & work-horse monitors for music and commercial audio reproduction are phenom. Thanks for the review.
Nice review man! Good to see you back at it. A little wobbly on your feet maybe, but also upping the production ante a little bit. While your live streams have been enjoyable, your voice in the space has been missed. I know I'm not the only one looking forward to your upcoming videos.
I love my JBL L100 Classic and pair it with a warm Cambridge CX81 amp. The tweeter is amazing and I bet the L52 prob sounds just as good. People prob gonna hate that I mixed an American speaker with a British Amp, but in my home their aint no hate here! :D
Even though I wasn't in the market for new speakers, I purchased a pair to match my Mint 1974 L100's w/ orange grills. The L52's Sound good w/ my Reisong A10 tube amp. My L100's sound "Killer" w/ the Willsenton R8.
I've been replacing my 20 year old hifi last year with a nice stack of Cambridge Audio gear (CXA 81, CXN V2, CXC V2). And originally bought a pair of Dali Spektor 2 speakers to go together with my trusty little JVC subwoofer. As I am living in a small apartment I don't need big speakers. And since the walls are pretty thin, going loud on the volume isn't an option either. The Dali's were pretty OK. However when I heard the JBL L52 Classic's playing in a hifi shop I requested to listen to them some more and with some of my favorite music. I was sold. I've bought a pair and they really sound great. Electronic, 60's-90's music, Celtic etc. are my favorite genres to listen to. And with a slightly added bass from the JVC sub I am very happy with the music coming from them.
It's very cool (I still swoon over JBL) and I'd love to hear them with my Marantz pm8005 but after owning a pair of L100s I cringe when I see foam grilles. I suppose even that technology has improved, but I remember my blue grilles going to powder if you accidentally touched them (my cat made the final kill on the bottom corners). I'm a little disappointed in JBL for changing the original brown grilles to black; the original three colors screamed 1970s. EDIT PS TO SEAN: the Al in my name is short for Allan, not artificial intelligence. I know I drop weird comments now and then but I had hoped they seemed more analog...
Love this channel. Have you heard anything about the JBL L82 black editions? Supposedly the L100 and L82 black editions will have upgraded crossover and other updates. (Not so much for the L52 black edition?) Anyway, appreciate your channel!
In 1972, I had purchased a set of double ADVENTS. They sold them as a single pair or wired in parallel and turning the bottom pair upside down. In that time period, a lot of my friends had a decent stereo or their parents had a more expensive stereo. Music was a shared experience, much more than TV or FM. We would go to each others homes and hear the latest Elton John, Jefferson Airplane/starship, Beatles. OMG, there was so many superb albums coming out, sometimes 3 or 4 a week. You had to decide what your really wanted because few people had both a great stereo and a bunch of albums. The original JBL's these are based on were standard sized, heavy, with an excellent grill. They were also ported - a hole on the front. It made them boomy and to much base. Like Bose radios sound today. I spent $420 buying the double Advents and the JBLs were $800 to $1,000. 50 years later, I still have my original double Advents, I've replaced the rubber around the bass, so they still sound great and balanced. Recorded music did have it's limits back then, if you had too much highway end it only revealed the tape hiss of the recording process. I've added 4 extra tweeters and that brought them up to date. The JBL did look way cool, but your ears were fatigued after an hour. I'm glad to see them back, but they wouldn't be my choice. Steven Pettinga, Indianapolis.
In the 80's a couple of my friends had JBL's when I was in college. I had a pair of Spica TC50's that I'm still using today. Like you said, it's a matter of your own taste and musical preference that drives our decisions.
I have a friend who had the TC-50's and he encouraged me to purchase the Spica SC-30's around 1992 or so. I kept those up until the early 2000s when the woofer foam surrounds disintegrated.
Cool beans.Great review as always.My price match ups would be the Polk R200 or if the pot weer sweetened the Wharfdale Linton.What kind of caught my eye recently in the Harmon/JBL stable were the JBL 4305P studio monitors -not that I'd buy them but just to see if I were into an all in one what DSP could do with $2K horns.They also make a bigger version for $4500.hey didn't we see you sneak in an E-800 a while back?
Hey Sean, great to see you back! Curious how these compare to the Buchardt P300 (pretty sure I saw them in your room during a live stream some time back)
Subscribed! Love your way of presenting the review! Thinking of grabbing these based on your video..Any thoughts how this would sound with a Yamaha 801 and Yamaha 303 CD player?
Thanks! To answer your question: I haven't tried that exact Yamaha/JBL combo, so I cannot say for sure. Having said that, my guess is that the warm(ish) sound of the 801 will make a fantastic match with the L52's! I'd say... go for it!
I have LS50 and L52 Classic and in a really small room I prefer L52 by quite a bit. Love the bass with these little speakers and the treble too. Both with great electronics. Low level listening especially - L52 wins for me. Love the titanium tweeters on them as well, maybe more than LS50 tweeters, but LS50 has less pronounced treble in general, I haven't really compared them that much. But I think it's the paper woofer and it's bass that makes it the winner for me. Pretty great little speakers. Looking to sell my LS50s.
👀 CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO! - A Special THANKS goes out to BDI for supporting this channel with the Elements 8777 Media Cabinet. You can check out their awesome catalog here: www.bdiusa.com/ - If you live in the US and want to try out the JBL L52, consider buying them from Crutchfield (No Relation). You'll get a 60 day period to determine if they are the right fit for you. Non-Affiliate link here: www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/JBL_L52.html - Lastly, I touched on a couple subjects in this two-take video that I should probably expand upon. 1. About the KEF LS50 Meta and L52 Comparison: One of the critical things that I forgot to mention is how the LS50 META is capable of laying down a wider, more spacious soundstage all the while providing great focus in-between the speakers. While these advantages are highly mitigated in the desktop environment, they are worth considering when it comes to use in a traditional 2-channel stereo system. 2. About the Harbeth P3ESR and L52 Comments: I should have been more clear on this one. The reason why I (briefly) considered selling my Harbeths in favor of the JBL'S was due to the realization that I was having (almost) as much fun listening to music through the cheaper speakers. For a moment, I wondered if it was time to end my 12-year relationship with the P3ESR and settle with something that makes more financial sense. That was until I put the Harbeth's back into my system, and thus clarity was restored. The P3ESR's are staying. But I have to say, the L52's would absolutely be my personal top-choice for a desktop speaker at and under 1k USD.
I purchased these on sale. Though they were silly small upon unboxing.(especially compared to the L82's I had and something like my Tekton Impact Monitors) Yikes they sound good in my space. Intresting you found them off neutral. I tweak the trebble down a slight hair(down .7db@10k), beyond that they sound and measure very well. Just a very good speaker. Sens wise, I measured them as .5db MORE sensitive vs the LS50metas though I do use a 400watt amp because that is what I have. No grills & I have them 2feet from the back wall and sit about 11feet away from each unit and they are 8feet from each other. Tweeters to the outside as in my space this is better measuring and to me sounding. Dealers choice of course. They can fill my medium space (12.5'x23')at 90db & louder if high passed for matching subs. (I use a high pass just below port tune to limit excursion and of course can also use them with my subs high passed in around 90-100hrz.) In any case they both rock and refine. Some of the most natural vocals I have here out of several great speakers(including some $$). Imaging is great here as well. Not sure what happened in your pad with that. I love these L52's, I mean I clearly prefer them to my LS50metas. Which is saying something as I truly like those. Anyway thanks for the fun review. Take care!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Glad you like them! Note that when I review a product, I do so with use case in mind. I don't expect most L52 owners to high-pass their speakers to a set of matching subwoofers. I also don't expect them to measure the sound in their room. Most people who buy speakers like the L52 simply put them in one spot (which probably is far from ideal), will hook them up to whatever electronics they own at the time, and will start playing music and judge the experience accordingly. Looking at the response to this review though, that may not matter. Many people seem to be writing these speakers off as overpriced. I noticed the same people also have zero experience to draw from - but isn't that always the case? :D
@@ZeroFidelity Yah, I get it. That is actually why I wrote what I did in case someone stumbles into my goofy post. Just an add on for the 1 person who needs it. The price is what it is. For folks who are really wondering, this 1 guy truly doesn't think they are overpriced if you are limited to small speakers and yet want hi performance and cool looks. I would pay $1000 for them.(mine were $500 new though)That said If someone really has a fixed $300-500 budget then you and I both know they can do pretty well for themselves. Or if they have $1k and can go with towers. Same argument for just about any speaker above solid entry level. The gains become smaller and the price climbs fast. Oh well. And by the way I forgot to concur with your assessment of the fun they provide. I can't stop listening to them once I start, they have that intangible something for me that some much more supposedly better speakers simply don't. (again for me) Just infectious listening for me with or without the subwoofers.
@@gregorymorrill7558 Yeah man. I am 100% with you on that one. The L52's did the same exact thing to me. Thanks for sharing your experience with everyone!
I just grabbed a pair of these to do double duty. Mainly as rear surround with my L100 Classics fronts and JBL center. Secondly, I’ll be using them in a second two-channel system. Haven’t heard them yet, but I’m surprised at the reviews they are getting as they seem to have a big sound for their size. I’m pretty excited, to say the least.
hey sean nice review. i cant thank you enough for recommending the triangle bro 3"s. i hear about all the pit falls with alot of speakers in differant reviews and i think about what a bargain the triangle"s are.i can match yhem with anything and listen for hours and hours.. thanks again
I'm an old guy and I used to own a pair of JBL 100s back in the 70s. I really miss those speakers and to a certain extent, the 70s. After Richard Nixon and the Vietnam war and before CDs, it was a time where analog ruled and music was limited to albums, cassette tape and FM radio.
I have the L150 from back in the days when I was in the military over in Germany but I had to keep replacing the rims around the woofers because they kept getting dry rot.. Last year I just replace them with woofers that can go up to 500 watts. I brought these speakers for 700 a pair back then, Now they worth like $1,800 a pair. Good investment because they sound great. These towers🎛🎶🎛 are my two front speakers in my Home Theater..👍🏽✌🏽
Good review! How would people rate these if they are 650 instead of 1000? I have a pair of original LS50 but think they are at bit bright at times and wish for something more dynamic. Would the L52's be a good match??
I don't know anout this JBL model. I purchased JBL 100s in the 70s from a J & R music on Chambers Street in Manhattan. I played them for about 10 years before i upgraded to a new system and KEF 104s in our new house (1987). I gave those JBLs to my BIL who used them for close to 20 years DJing on Weekends. They were literally Indestructible. Mid Towers with Blue Fabric Covers.
Awesome review! Are these actually better than the Sony SS-CS5? I imagine the JBL bass may be more punchy, while the overall sound may be less refined top to bottom?
Hi, IMHO yes-better,better,better. The overall sound of the JBL is more refined than the Sony top to bottom. The Sony is sort of refined and performant for a $100-200 speaker set but it is not refined or ultimately that great in the grand sceme of things by any means - just okay enough. I am sure that Sean was speaking to his perception of the JBL's level of refinment compared with something more like the LS50's or Harbeths he was contrasting in. I also find the L52 measure quite well and sound quite neutral with the trebble tweaked just a hair down. (less than Sean used, though I am 11 feet away from the speakers) But in any case speaking for myself, I can listen to the L52's all day and would not want the Sony's as my speakers. Big price difference though and YMMV. I have quite a few speakers.
I've got a pair of Kef Model 1's (from the 80s) I received for free a couple years ago which sound excellent to my ears (could use more bass though). Are the differences in sound big enough these days to upgrade to something new?
Only you can make that determination. Having said that, I think people who are big on imaging, a neutral frequency response, driver integration, detail, and dynamic output stand the best chance of preferring todays speakers over products that were available decades ago. If none of that matters much to you, then odds are you'll be perfectly happy with what you currently own. But as I said, you're the only one who can truly make that determination. Nobody else can do it for ya.
