which is a better speaker

...the only thing I learned is that there is a bunch of crabby old guys on this site

All the advice was solid advice. Nobody was being crabby, they were telling it the way it is. Personally I would heed the advice and you will be happy with your choice.

I just mentioned a third alternative. How is that being crabby? For what it's worth I like JBL  so I would grab them over the Pioneer. 

mike--i empathize with your frustration--the above responses are singularly unhelpful. i've owned both the hpm 100 and the original jbl l100 (i assume the 120ti is a late 80s update of the l100) and i liked the hpm better--bassier, louder and bigger sounding; also very easy to drive. i tend to think that speakers match better with receivers from the same era, so the pioneer should work well for you.

Choose better speakers. Crabby?

Guy complains about free advice! Next time I think he should tell us what he wants to hear in the OP to prevent the respondents from wasting their time.