JBL L300 - true myth?

I had a pair of these speakers. I loved them, the looks, the design, and the name.

I have a very large family room and they did not do the room justice. Im 18 wide and 28 deep, 9 foot ceilings and fairly active room. These speakers did not do my room justice. Ultimately they were not in the same league as my late 80's Wilson Watt2/Puppy3's.

At he time, I had some world class electronics driving them (arc Ref 2Mk2, Krell KMA-100 Mk 2) and they just sounded confined and like they needed a larger room.

If you can get the L300's in to the right room then you can have something, but IMHO it has to be large.

They were a good speaker, we used to have a set. I replaced them because they were great but not up to some other speaker's standards, and the asking prices on them today are ridiculously high.

Any advice would appreciated,
I want to buy a pair of jbll300, because I bought a pair in 1979 for a grand per speaker and my roomate through them out while I was in hospital from car accident. Just 2 years ago. Ebay they are going for 6 or 7 grand.my advice I need is are there better out there for same. And which one.I am going to try to replace them cause they were best I listened to they rocked the house like a earthquack.

I worked in audio in 1975-6 when these and the JBL L100s were at their peak popularity. The L300s were in the "high end" room in the back, sharing space with the Dahlquist DQ-10, Ohm F, ESS AMT1b, and AMT Tower (with transmission line), driven by the customer's choice among  Accuphase, USA-made Marantz Pro, and Crown. Sources were Tandberg R2R, various turntables with a Fidelity Research MC cartridge and Supex step-up. With those other speakers in the room, the L300s didn't stand a chance; by comparison their colorations were obvious. It didn't help that they were twice the money as well. $1600 in 1975 is almost $7200 today. We sold the DQ-10s at $600/pair ($2700 today). 

About a dozen years later my wife and I used to hang out with another couple, and he was an audio and classical music enthusiast. His rig was a stack of Denon separates and a pair of the L300s in a pretty large great room. They still sounded as I remembered them, with a very narrow sweet spot and therefore an inconsistent power response with suckouts and peaks depending where you stood. Overall they presented a very artificial sound. I was always aware that I was listening to electronics and loudspeakers, unlike experiences I had back then from Dahlquist, ESS, Ohm, and ADS. 

For those here who like/love the L300s, I respect your opinions; I just have a different one. We hear and perceive things differently. I only offer my personal experience to illustrate that you'll probably either like these speakers or you won't. So I agree with the prevous poster who advised not to buy them without an audition.

So, what is this so called "west coast sound" that as referenced earlier? I still have my L40 that I bought new back in college in my second system and it sounds fine but nowhere near the higher end speakers that are out there. By comparison, my other "vintage" speaker, the ADS L520 sounds more natural, albeit with less punch.