The 70’s are back

spotcheckbilly12345 wrote:

Before you condemn the $4,000 price tag of the new L100's you should think about what a pair of L100's (or L100a's) cost in the mid-1970's and see what that works out to in today's dollars.

Absolutely true. The strange thing is, last night I posted the inflation adjustment but my post has gone "Poof!"

So, to reiterate:
I worked for a JBL dealer in the '70s, and JBL L100s retailed at $560 a pair as introduced in 1970.

$560 in 1970 adjusts to $3639.22 in 2018.

The $361 difference *might* be accounted for in costs of resurrecting an old design, procuring or remanufacturing essential parts, improvements on the old design, etc.

Here's the inflation calculator I used:
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com

People have to stop conflating a speaker from the '70s to one being made presently. Also, anyone who's heard a modern JBL speaker like the 4319, 4367, and even the new L-100 would be wrong to state that they're only good for rock and pop as I can attest that it excels at classical, folk, electronica and world music as well. That, and it's definitely not a flawed design. That's almost laughable, were it not sad to think that today's audiophiles can dismiss a proven design.

Take a look at Kenrick Sound on YouTube and see just how relevant a design JBL is even with their older designs. Devising modern crossovers and updating drivers make for some of the most sought after speakers around.

All the best,
Nonoise

There is a lot of miss lead folks on this site who think vintage cannot compete. They couldn't be any more wrong. I found often times vintage exceeds the performance of new,  with some minor refurbishing.  I think it's their way of trying to justify their own multi kilobuck speakers. 

When I bought mine in ‘73-74, I paid $625 including speaker wire. Everyone thought I was nuts to pay so much! 

JD

Good info on JBL'S. Have 4350's