Should I keep my JBL 150A's?


I want to put a Home Theater together in my new rec room. The area is large enough (20x30 feet) to support a large Big Screen and a 5.1,6.1, or 7.1 surround system.

My delema. Should I start from scratch or should I anchor the system with my JBL L150A's? These are from 1980. They're large 3-way towers with a 12" woofer and base passive radiator. They're rated to handle 300W. I drove them in college (early 80's) with a Yamaha M4/C4. I hooked them up with my M4/C4 after a 10 year break. They are unbelievable. The walnut cabinets aren't bad to look at either. The only knock if you could call it is they seem to want to be played loud where imaging and detail improve as volume goes up.

If you wanted to keep the 150's, what would be a good compliment for a Center Channel, surrounds, and subwoofer?

Is a subwoofer really needed if I have the 150's? (My wife is already complaining that the floors are shaking). Oh yeh, I broke a window in my parents house with one too.
sempaul
If you like them, keep and use them. It's just TV, anyway. If they image decently enough you may not need a center channel. However, (I swear this is true) major advances in speaker design and performance have occured in the last 23 years.

Maybe you can reduce the floor shaking by getting speakers off the floor. Good bass really shouldn't shake the floor unless some boards are loose.
Sempaul, Tough to give them up, isn't it? I own a pair of JBL L112s. I purchased them new in 1981. To this day, anytime I hook those speakers up and play them, I just sit there with my mouth hanging open. It is unreal how good those speakers sound. I keep saying I'm gonna sell them, but I just cannot bring myself to do it! The L150s are great speakers, although they are somewhat intrusive in size.

Tomryan is el correcto. Speaker tech has changed a real lot in the last 23 years.

But, one thing has not changed. The fact that many of the older classic speakers sound great. Depending on your room size, you may not need to actually use a sub, considering you will have four twelve's firing at you. Now the problem starts when you try to match a center and rear speakers in regards to timbral characteristics.

I feel, HTs sound better when using a set of matched speakers. At least having your L/R front and L/R rear speakers matching. And when using speakers designed and built by one manufacturer, in most cases, they have taken time to make sure the speakers have at least a timbral match, although the speakers may differ in actual configuration.

And, I hate to say this but, you may find that the only way you're going to find a center speaker to seam with your main speakers is by trial and error.

Hey, I just had an idea. Look for two more L150s! Then try some vibrapods under the legs of your couch. Maybe the floor shaking won't be so annoying to your wife (as long as she stays on the couch). And if your breaking windows with those speakers, an annual hearing check may be in order. Good Luck!
Buy some cardas speaker jacks, some silver solder, and replace the jacks on the JBLs so you can hook up real cables.. replace internal wiring if you are able to..you could probably find some used cardas quadlink or hexlink speaker cables, I use a pair of hexlink with my rebuilt JBL L166 horizons. Get some mod squad soft shoes and put 3 or 4 under each speaker if you have a wooden or tile floor, they will give you excellent results. Have the woofers and passives reconed if necessary, extremely expensive but worth it!
I use them on my 2nd stereo system (tubes). They sound great especially with tube gear. These were reconed in '96 and been powered with PP-ultralinear 40watt amp.
The original owner tried to buy them back from me at a higher price but I declined.

They just sound right with my system. Considered selling them last year after getting the Martin logans but decided to keep them for obvious reasons.

whatever you decide I wish all the luck. I know that I cant let go with mine...at least not yet.
L150A's are the best JBL's ever made - use a amp rated @300 watts to make them sing. The surroundds are subject to foam rot & can be replaced by lbrown sound in Marin County, ca (where I had mine done). You would be a fool to ever get off of those..................
I purchased a pair of the 150As when I was stationed overseas in the 80s. Unfortuantely I sold them in '93 when I moved into a smaller appartment. The sound they produced was remarkable for a speaker of that era. I often wish I still had them just to compare them to my present Merlin VSM-MX pair.

I would say that if the size of the 150A doesn't overwhlem your video setup, and your room is large enough to accomodate the large woofer output, than they should work very well. I can guarantee you that my wife would never let them in the TV/video room. I'm presently using a pair of Dave Ellis 1801 two-way monitors built by Jim Salk in my video setup. Sorry to say but these 1801's are light years ahead of the 150As in imaging and accuracy. But I do miss the big "thump" of the bass in the 150As ever once in awhile. Good luck!
The JBL L150A's were my first pair of decent speakers, if I do buy a new pair of speakers someday, the JBL's will still have a place in my house.
Keep them and connect to Good quailty 300-500 a side amps.
These are the sleepers of the jbl line they Kick ass ive owned much bigger JBL systems and still miss mine. KEEP THEM
You will not regret it.
I would sell them. They pretty much suck as a HT speaker. You could do a lot better with very little money. Give me an email and I will get rid of them for you.
If your intrested in selling them. illenema@wmconnect.com
Yes speakers have come a long way. :)
Hell I remember these when they were selling them new.
Keep in mind they need big power to be good. 300 a side I used mine with a 700B That clipped at 625 a side cooked the tweeters twice but never hurt the woofs
I owned the 150A's. Great speakers! I have always regreted selling them. Upgrade your electronics. It will cost you a lot of money to get a much better speaker. They play rock sound the way it is suppose to sound. They are very clean and clear sounding. You have no need for a subwoofer. They are a great sounding speaker with the right electronics. Years ago they blew me away.
Sure, give the L150A a try in Home Theatre. For a center channel seek an L112 or 4411 (the 4411 is the studio monitor version of the L112 and is made to sit upon it's side). For the rear in a 5.1 set up, seek a pair of L112s or L96s. For LFE (subs), the market is full of good options, but I've no recommendations here. Good luck!
It seems like yesterday, I was just out of high school and plopped down $3,000 for a new stereo. People told me I was nuts for spending that much money. Now 40 years later, my friends and family are in awe of the sound. The Yamaha M2 amp, JBL L150 (channel 1), JBL L50 (channel 2), and Yamaha YP-D8 turntable are still producing outstanding sound. 
Don’t ever let people convince you that buying quality is not worth the price. The way I figure, that comes to a dollar and a half a week for the best sound I could’ve ever gotten. I easily get my 21¢ per day in enjoyment. Cheaper equipment would have ended up in the landfill by now. 
As for rattling floors, my JBLs are sitting in the basement rec room with 8” of cement under them. If I can crack the foundation, that would be something to brag about.