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ISO amp that drives the old JBL's 100's-I

Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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I have access to a VSX Pioneer 3600, 100 wpc. Is that good enough for the JBL 100's? Or do you have a recommendation for just an amp to do the job? I don't plan on using the radio in it.
 

dave9

Mar 5, 2017
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You could run JBL 100's off a little 1 watt amp. It just depends on how loud you want them.

yes 100 WPC is enough to cause you hearing loss. Is that your goal? ;)

The thing is, get good speakers. Get an amp suitable for the size of the room and volume needed. You absolutely positively do not need to try to pair some amp that wrings the last wattage possible out of the speakers.

On the other hand, you don't want to ruin them by running an underpowered amp heavily into its distortion range.

Assuming the amp works correctly, hook it up and see if it has suitable volume for your needs before distorting.

Recommendation for just an amp is even more of a wildcard depending on your needs, budget, etc.
 

Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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You could run JBL 100's off a little 1 watt amp. It just depends on how loud you want them.

yes 100 WPC is enough to cause you hearing loss. Is that your goal? ;)

The thing is, get good speakers. Get an amp suitable for the size of the room and volume needed. You absolutely positively do not need to try to pair some amp that wrings the last wattage possible out of the speakers.

On the other hand, you don't want to ruin them by running an underpowered amp heavily into its distortion range.

Assuming the amp works correctly, hook it up and see if it has suitable volume for your needs before distorting.

Recommendation for just an amp is even more of a wildcard depending on your needs, budget, etc.
 

Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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Dave9- LOL, not trying to cause hearing loss. If I had any hearing loss, it would of showed up a long time ago from sitting right by the speakers in a bar. Just want to know if this amp was sufficient enough to drive them to sound good. I bought the JBL’s in 1974 for $200 a piece. As far as my budget for just an amp, I could pay up to $500 for one.
 
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Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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JBL was bought by Harman who was bought by Samsung. They have a new JBL L100 this year and its sensitivity is 90dB at 1W at 1m which is LOUD. If it is 8m away then you need 64W. If you want 120dB then you need thousands of Watts.
Editted.
 
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Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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JBL was bought by Harman who was bought by Samsung. They have a new JBL L100 this year and its sensitivity is 90dB at 1W at 1m which is LOUD. If it is 8m away then you need 64W. If you want 120dB then you need thousands of Watts.
Editted.
 

Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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Thanks for your replies. I was hoping that someone would be able to suggest an old school, good match, amplifier for them. They were originally used at a recording studio before I purchased them. When I purchased them, they were driven by a Marantz amplifier.
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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Old speakers were designed to be driven from the fairly high output impedance of a vacuum tubes amplifier. The damping was poor and allowed a cheap speaker to sound boomy or a good speaker designed for it to have a loose flat low frequency response. But a modern solid state amplifier has an extremely low output impedance for good damping of resonances in modern speakers that causes an old speaker to have damping that is too tight and poor low frequency response.
 
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Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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Old speakers were designed to be driven from the fairly high output impedance of a vacuum tubes amplifier. The damping was poor and allowed a cheap speaker to sound boomy or a good speaker designed for it to have a loose flat low frequency response. But a modern solid state amplifier has an extremely low output impedance for good damping of resonances in modern speakers that causes an old speaker to have damping that is too tight and poor low frequency response.
 

Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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Audioguru- Great explanation but can you put it in layman's terms? LOL I'm not an electronic wizard. Bottom line: All I want to know is a VSX Pioneer 3600 amp/radio a good match for the old 70's, JBL Century 100's, foam grills, wood encased speakers? If not, what would be? I have an old Sansui receiver as well. Can't remember the model number as it's being stored. Think it was 80 WPC.
 
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Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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I found a video of the Pioneer receiver and it seems to be much newer than the old speakers. Simply fiddle with the tone controls to make it sound the way you like.
 

Margaux

Sep 1, 2018
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Thanks for all the information. Yes, the Pioneer is much newer. Sounds like I’ll be good to go.
 

dave9

Mar 5, 2017
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Old speakers were designed to be driven from the fairly high output impedance of a vacuum tubes amplifier.
I question your timetable, there were plenty of transistorized amps by the time those came out.
 

VenomBallistics

Aug 30, 2018
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I question your timetable, there were plenty of transistorized amps by the time those came out.
yes ... by 74 the vac tube was pretty close to being extinct outside Marshall Stacks and Fender twin reverbs.
Short answer ... barroom system ... 100W per is probably more than enough, Don't expect to DJ with it though.
 
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