JBL LX300 speakers; Adcom GTP 500 II preamp

[drewsk404]

Hi, I just registered to this forum. :p

I also just bought a pair of JBL LX300's off ebay for $50 shipped. I am hoping I did well on this, lol. The cabinets had a few scratches on them in the pictures but the drivers looked perfect.

I have these JBL 2.1 computer speakers (not sure of model) that I have used since about 1997 (I think they were made around the same time the LX300's were), and they just sound so good to me, such a nice level of clarity and response throughout the frequency spectrum. I am going to assume the LX300's probably won't have as deep a bass response as a 2.1 system, however my hopes are that the rest of the frequency range will be complimentary of what I know to be JBL's speakers.

I knew nothing about these speakers until I found them on ebay and did a little research. Did I find a good buy on these LX300's? As I'm sure everyone is, I'm always reluctant to buy speakers I can't hear first, but the auction was about to end and these looked nice. Anyone on here heard them before?

Currently I have a pair of Cerwin-Vega L7's which IMO have muddy tweeters that I want to upgrade; and a pair of Sony SS-MB350H speakers, which I'm hoping to sell as soon as I get the JBL's. Powering these is a NAD 2400 amp, w/ Kenwood KC-106 preamp (preamp was $10 @ Goodwill, lol).

I'm probably screwing everything up SQ-wise with my subpar preamp. I was looking at an Adcom GTP 500 II. Seems like a decent unit, any thoughts on it also?

Thanks to all.... -Andrew

[filecat13]

Welcome, Andrew.

I have--or I should say had--a pair of LX300s. They're very nice 2-way speakers. The tweetters are quite good and the 6 inch woofers are capable performers.

You won't mistake them for 3-way or 4-way speakers with 12" woofers, but they don't pretend to be that. I found that they function admirably with a 12" sub to give very lively response and better midrange when the 6" woofer doesn't need to cover the bottom end.

You got them at a good price.

The reason I don't have mine anymore is that I sent them to my son to improve his sound system, which had some low level Sony gear. He can't believe how much better everything sounds now.

I have enough JBL speakers as it is.

[filecat13]

Here's what I mean about "enough JBLs."

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=29193

[02audionoob]

If you want an Adcom preamp, I'd say look at the dedicated preamps, rather than the tuner combo's. A preamp by NAD would obviously be a good consideration.

[drewsk404]

thanks for replies, been out of town sorry for slow response....

I ended up not getting a new preamp. This Kenwood KC-106 is actually pretty darn good (with the right speakers).

I got the JBL LX300's in the mail yesterday. By the right speakers, I mean these. They really brightened up my system a LOT. I'm using these alone now because they blow away the Cerwin-Vega L7's that I was using prior. So much more of an impression of soundstage and the mids/highs on these speakers I just got are exceptional. Not bad on the low-end either considering they are bookshelfs. And a plus, the serial numbers are one right after the other on these, which I'm guessing is a good thing as far as similarity in assembly is concerned.

I actually bought these to replace a pair of Sony SS-MB350H's that I sold. So 'filecat13', I know how your son must feel. BTW nice speaker collection, wifey must hate that! (if you have one).

So I'm gonna put the JBL's in my bedroom hooked to my TV/computer, and run wires to the living room for the Cerwin's and run them on the B-channel for occasional use. A sub might be a good eventual addition. I'd need a powered one because the NAD 2400 is just a 4ch amp, as you probably know. Probably should go with a JBL sub of the same era, I'm assuming. Do you have any recommendations as far as one that would be well-matched to these speakers?