JBL L7 Floorstanding Speakers

JBL L7 Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 33  
[Feb 22, 2024]
joedavidson


Strength:

I rate 5 stars for L7! It's a great buy! ceiling repair montgomery

Weakness:

Nothing so far.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Sep 30, 2023]
davidson02


Strength:

The bass is strong, I originally bought a subwoofer for www.sandyspringsfencepros.com but when I got the system, back then the subs were not as powerful as they are now, and I couldn't tell the darn sub was on so I took it back.

Weakness:

The somewhat weak black finish on the corners is the only weakness I've found.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Mar 26, 2023]
donzparker25


Strength:

This is a durable and great sounding device. cleaning services miami It works so well after all these years. Don | electrical services bradenton

Weakness:

A little pricey but just a little. credit repair albuquerque

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Feb 07, 2023]
Derf Esor


Strength:

When I lived in Los Angeles back in the 90's my rather lowend stereo gear blew due to the Northridge earthquake that sent a surge through the house, so I had to buy all new gear. I went all over the city and surrounding areas auditioning speakers. There were 3 speakers that I heard that I really liked, one was a large Magnepan, but can't remember the model, those sounded great except for the bass response was weak, but the price was way too much for me at the time. The other 2 speakers were all at Circuit City, one was the Infinity Kappa 9, and the other was the JBL L7, I went to the store about 4 or 5 times with different CD's and spent about an hour in the showroom each time. The sales rep was really nice about all those visits, but this was a large investment, I wanted to make sure I was sure about the right speaker. The Kappa 9's I thought sounded a bit better with jazz and the like, but the JBL's were dynamite with rock and the like, so since I listen to mostly rock and that type of music, I got the 7's, and I haven't regretted it, they sound fantastic no matter what house we moved into; the sales rep even got me a second set of speaker grills! I also bought a Harman Kardon PA2200 amp to which I bi-wired the speakers, HK PT2100 preamp, HKDC5300 dual cassette, and JBL CD player but it broke years ago, and can't recall the model, but it wasn't a good machine, everything else has been stellar though, and still all work, I still have my old Rotel RP1000 I turntable bought in 70's when I was a teenager. I am NOT an audiophile but I have a fair collection CDs and vinyl and these speakers are simply amazing even after almost 3 decades. The bass is strong, I originally bought a subwoofer when I got the system, but back then the subs were not as powerful as they are now, and I couldn't tell the darn sub was on so I took it back. Fast forward to 2 years ago, I thought I would try a Klipsch R12 due to more and more music and movies using sub-frequencies, and suddenly the sound of the L7s opened up even more than they were before! SciFi/action type of movies just explode now. These speakers sound better than going to the movie theater! The L7's are a 4-way speaker with 1" dome titanium Tweeter, 5" Mid-range, 8" Woofer, and 12" sub-woofer. 35 to 450 watts RMS recommended amplifier power. Two sets of speaker binding posts that can be split into upper section and sub-woofer. Frequency response is 30hz to 27khz, with 91db sensitivity. JBL recommends t

Weakness:

The weakness of these speakers is the finish as others have mentioned, mine are black, the black comes off really easily on the corners, but a permanent black marker covers it up fine and you can't even tell you using a marker on them. I've seen a black crayon made for black furniture, but I've never tried that. I use dark Old English polish on them and they shine up very nicely. The somewhat weak black finish on the corners is the only weakness I've found.

Price Paid:
$1,800 pair
Purchased:
New  
Model Year:
1994
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Mar 13, 2021]
eschmuntz


Strength:

I picked up a beautiful pair locally for a good price. I’ve got a few mad skills in restoring speakers, so I got to work fixing the mashed screens, dust and crud. After all of the work, new grills, cleaned and polished. To listen now. My pair is fed by an immensely powerful Crestron 7x200 and a Rotel 1582 preamp. I had the subs off, the crossover only allows a for a 40Hz low. I played several tracks from my fav artists and wow. I’m impressed. I own a very large stock of L series JBL that I’ve restored. This speaker has a my L100t and T3 beat. I think it passes my L200t3 but that’s a hard one. All in all, it’s one hell of a speaker. Tremendous imaging and massive soundstage. I know there are folks that don’t think much on bi-amping, but this pair really came alive when using two empty channels on my Crestron. I’ll put my L3 in the rear channel (daughter has my L5..that’s love). It’s fun to own the entire series. Their all incredible.

Weakness:

Big, bad, and heavy. No other weakness.

Price Paid:
650
Purchased:
Used  
Model Year:
1992
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Feb 29, 2020]
jrswoodal


Strength:

I bought a pair of L7’s for $10 at a local auction a couple weeks ago. Didn’t really know what I was bidding on because I hadn’t seen them before he brought them up to bid. After I bought them I took the covers off and everything was intact. Got them home and hooked them up to my Anthem 720 and WOW!!! They blew me away! They have a huge sound stage. I thought my Monitor 9I’s filled my man cave with good quality sound but these L7’s are quite a bit better. Still can’t believe I bought them for $10 but I’m loving that huge investment, lol.

Weakness:

None so far other than trying to find the sweet spot for the best sound which I enjoyed. They sound so good that I kept moving them thinking I could get a little more out of them. Best speakers I’ve ever owned.

Price Paid:
10
Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Aug 27, 2016]
Jim
Casual Listener

I bought three pair of L7 from a small general merchandise store in Saipan for $700 each pair. I did not know what I was getting as I am not an audiophile so I was surprised and extremely happy. I have the speakers throughout my house for a great sound from room to room.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[May 28, 2016]
Eric Nunn
AudioPhile

Hi ,I bought my first pair of the these speaker in 1993 it took me awhile to find the best placement for the speakers. After about 20 years I found out that better d/a converter , amps and cable can go along way with these speakers. So in the last couple of years I bought two more pair so that I can run a full 7.1 setup . My Home theater have never sound better. My music sounds very detailed and with a lot of depth. But you have send a lot of power to these in order to get what you are looking for.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 14, 2013]
keith Henry
AudioPhile

Hi,I am an audiophile,I bought these speakers used in mint condition,thought they would be a joke,man-o-man was I suprised!,they are so good,I put a $14,000.00 krell fpb 700 cx amplifier on them,and what alot of people do not know is the tweeter is very accurate with realism if you take the awfull plate off the speakers that is on the 4 speaker post from the factory,I put Taralabs omega jumpers on these speakers,retail $800.00 for 10"inches,the best jumper tara offers!,then I put Taralabs zero gold interconnect 1-meter retail $15,950.00,Taralabs omega gold speaker cables on these speakers that are $24,000.00 retail 8'ft,,I would dare say,I have listened to alot of speakers in the $120.000.00 class on down,I put still points resonance control footers that are$2,000.00 for 8 under these speakers to make the cabinet inert,I will claim,bar none!,I would compair the sound of these speakers to eanything in the $50.000.00 class speakers!with world class cables and electronics these speaker sound alot better than what they were designed to sound like,one of the only speakers in the world that I have seen that do not need angled toward the middle of the sound stage,mine are only 5 degrees angled,almost no angle! JBL only made these speakers for 3 years,It was a mistake for the price point they were selling them at in 1992,they quickly took them off market!thou they skimmped out on the braceing inside the speaker,the drivers they did not!,thats why I put the still points footers under the speakers,very transparent!,to me,these speakers are high-end audios best kept secret!the sound is so real sounding, with the ayon tube digital player with the rest of what is being used here is simply stunning!huge 3 dimensional layered, not foward at all sound stage with incredible imageing!,they are the most difficult speakers to place I have ever had experience with period!,the pay-off after 3 months of heart ache placeing the speakers was jaw droping!needless to say,these speakers on this system and cables is so emotional that tears will litterally fly about with a look of shock on on your face when you here what these speakers are actually capable of!I suppose I may be the only person in the u.s.a. that took these speakers to this level!I have no regrets!,To me,these speakers have convinced me most high-end speakers are over hyped and way over priced!,what alot of audiophiles believe is bi-amping is best for bi-amp speakers,wrong!,A signal will keep its purity with a high quality signal directional jumper such as this Taralabs10 inch omega jumper versus 6,8,10 ft speaker cables!,that the signal has to travel alot further and loose the purity of the signal on its way!,I know,I tried bi-amping cables or amps!,these speakers also are in the very few that can be placed over 3 feet from side and rear walls and do what esoteric speakers do!I have traveled over half these united states listening to state of the art systems the last 34 years,my first high-end system my mother bought me at 12 years old! I highly recommend these speakers!,thou you really need to know what you are doing to get the sound out of these rare speakers!happy listening!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 15, 2012]
kodi41
Audio Enthusiast

Hello all, I have read these reviews with a smile.

I have had my L7's for many years, and I still love them. However, I find it odd no one knows these speakers have an adjustable crosover slope built into the xover- open them up- you will see exactly what I speak of, there is a switch on the low pass side- try it- you might be suprized at what your L7's can REALLY do.

Placement is critical- no doubt. High valted rooms are a no go- unless- well, I will get to that later.

First off- the only down side to this speaker is it's tweeter- yep, I said it- the tweeter. JBL seems to have the opinion that this tweeter works in all of their speakers- wrong. You must remember that these speakers were built during the end of the vinyl age- well analog at least. With that said- using analog sources with good equipment will reveal very quickly how good these speakers really are. But then a few review's here seem not to know a good recording from a bad one- enter the compact disc.

Oh ouch- CD with these speakers (unless a very good recording on a very good source player) can be ought right terrible. Hmm what happened? Why do these now sond like crap when I play a CD?- Yet when I play a record- they are astonishingly good what is different?

Analog vrs. digital- and the culprit?

The tweeter.................. Well now I love a challenge, so how do we bring these fine speakers into the modern day world where they can play all types of music equally good?

Ribbons. Yep, I tried silk/domes- from vifa, usher and dynaudio- ect. they helped, but still a tad shrill for me. Then moved to horns- oh geeze- no way. Then I tried a planar tweeter.....hmmm very good- airy, precise- almost there. Enter My Magnepans. Why do they sound so good with any thing (save that of music that requires real low level output) what is it that I am missing here? Maggies are as airy as you will ever find- no mater the cost- period- no other speaker reproduces the human voice better IMHO- ribbions- yea, lets try that.

Enter HiVi Research. Oh my oh my- the grail....not....realy, but really close.

My gear? Lots, but, from Classe'- Odyssey- Integra Research- Cary- Van Alstine- Audio Research/CJ - Krell - and a few Bryston components.

Presently, Classe' DR 9 (fronts) and 2 Stratos Extreme's (2 and 3 channel- for the surrounds), Integra Research Disc player for multi disc fomats, Thorens TD-318 MkII w/ a Shure Ultra 400S for analog, HT/Pre amp - Integra Research RD 7.1, OPPO Blu Ray, Toshiba HD and Twin M&K MX 200 Subs, with 4 JBL surrounds (8340's) and a Def. Tech 2500 center.

Room is 24' long and 14' wide 8.5' to roof line- carpeted floor. L7's sit exactly 2 feet from the side walls-(woofers facing each other), 1 foot forward from my gear at 30degrees or so.

I love the L7's and you should too- just set them up right- they will love you back. :)

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 33  

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