JBL L1 User manual

OrrnedsManûal
LI
L3
L5
K
I
t
I

IMPORTANT:
L3,Ls,ANDL7
MODELSREQUTRE
SOMEASSEMBLY.
Forproperstabil¡ty,it isstrongly
recommendedthatyou usethe
moldedbase
provided
with each
L3,
L5,and
L7speaker:
lnstructionsbeginonthenext
page,
third column.
The Rigl.rtChoice
AllofusatJBLwouldlike
to
congratulate
)rou
onchoosingJBL
l-SeriesLoudspeakers.There
area
bewilderingarrayofspeakers
on
l'the markettodayandweknow
thatthechoice to purchase
ours
was
probablynotan eaÐ/
one.
We'reconfident
thatthenew
speakers
youVe
justunpacked
will
exceed
yourexpectations.
Yourstate-of-the-artLl, L3, L5
or L7 speakers
continueinthe long
traditionof precisestudio monitor
soundforwhíchJBL
is
famous.
Eachmodelincorporatesconsider-
ableadvancedtechnology.
ì6u will
enjoythebenefitsof purdtitanium
domehþhfrequencytransducers,
diecastlowfrequencytransducers
witlrvented
polepieces
and
proprietary
Symmetrical
Field
Geometrymagnet
desþn,as
well
as
hþh-definitiondividing
networkswith quality electronic
comPonents
Thenarrow
front profile
ofyour
newLSeriesspeakersisdesigned
to maximízedispersionandthus
contributeto betterstereo
imaging
andamoreopen;spacious
sound.Theslanted
frontsurface
ofthespeakernotonlyalþns
eachtransducers'voicecoil
for
properphase
andbettersound
stage
depth,
butalsoeliminates
parallel
internalsurÍacesto
eliminateassociatedsanding
wave
resonances.

Finall¡allLSeries
cabínetsare
constructedwith lock-mitre
¡oin-
ery hþh density
fìberboard
baffles
and
internal
bracing
to reduce
colorationswhíchcan.occur
inan
ordinaryenclosure. .'
The Right Company
We're
ableto appb/technology
andmaterialssuchas
thesebe-
causeof our preeminent position
in
thedemanding world of profes-
sionalsoundreproduction.
JBL
loudspeakers
areakey
partof
morelargesuperstar
touring
soundsystems,
surÈound
sound
stereotheatersandttreactual
recordingstudios
where
your
favoritemusicis
created
thanany
othersinglecompany.
No other
audio
company
intheworld can
make
thatclaim.
Thesame
U.S.-basedengineer-
ing
and-productionf'acility
that
earnedJBlthistop position
in
professional
soundreproduction
hasalsodesigned
andcreated
your
newLSerieshomeloudspeaker
Ð/stem.
Maxim izing Performance
Aswith any
well-engineered
product
- beit acír6acomputer
or aloudspeaker
- your LSeries
monitorswill benefit
from careful
set-upandinstallation.
Followthe
directions
inthismanual
asclosely
3
as
possible
to insure
thatyour new
JBL
speaker
systemswillproduce
tJreir
bestsound
performance.
An important (often
overlooked) step
Your
salesreceipt
should
be
storedinasafe
place.lt
establishes
wfien
youbought
theloudspeakers
(forwarrantyvalidation)
andhow
muchyoupaid
for them(forínsur-
ance
purposes).
Alsoplease
ake a
minuteto fillouttheenclosed
cus-
tomer profìle
cardandmail
it back
to us.
lfyouhave
purchased
Ll
speakers,
skipthenextsect¡onand
begin
on page4, PLACEMENT.
,/
ATTACHING
SCRE\rySAND
BASE
(L¡,L5,
&L7
ONLp
Themolded
base
provided
with
theL3, L5andL7arenot only
intended
to enhancethespeaker's
appearance,
butto sablízetlre
speakeraswell.
Attaching the base
l. After rcmovingthemfromthe
carcons,lay
yourL3,L5or L7
speakersontheirback ona
softsurhcesuchascarpeting.
2. Locate
the speakerbaseand
eþht Phillips-headscrews
packed
ineach
speakercafron.
3. Slipthebaseonto eachspeaker.
4. Securethebasewiththeeight
screws.Do not over-tighten.
5. After returningbothspeakers
to uprightpositions,they
are
ready
for placement
inyour
listening
room.

PTACEMENT
The best positioning
produces the best sound
Where'youputyourJBL
LSeriesLoudspeakerscanactually
acceÍrtuatetlreiralreadyimpressive
musicreproduction
capabilities.
Becausedifferent
speaker
brandsandmodelshavedífferent
placement
requirements,
simply
placingyour LSeriesspeakers
where
apreviouspair weremay
not representthe bestchoice for
yournewJBL
speakersystem.
WhileJBLLSeriesloudspeakers
soundgoodanywhere,some posi-
tionsintheaveragelisteningroom
willmaximizethetechnologyin-
corporatedintothese designs.
lncluded
onthefollowing
pages
are
drawings
showingtheideal
placementfor
each
LSeriesmodel.
Theclosèr
to our drawingsyou
cancomewithinyourownparticu-
larroom,the betten Howeven
evBnifyoucannotfully
follow
Çyery
dimensionanddeaildue
to roomsizeand
furniturelayouq
youwillstillbeable to enjoy
excellentfidelity.
Manyfactors
affect
speakerper-
formance.
Somemay
beimportant
to youandothersmaynot Thus
3'-_rff
_. T_ 3'
Earlevelwhen
seatedinlisæning
POS|1lOn
Drawing lB - Ll position front view
3' 3'
DrawinglD - L3
position
frontview 4
DrawinglA- Ll position
top view Drawing lC - L3positiontop view

theultimatedecision
onwhere
youputyour LSeries
speaker
systemdepends
asmuchonyour
musicalpriorities'as
it does
on
room layouL
Whereyouputyournew
speakers
canaffect:
lmaging -When theper.formers
seem
to appear
between
theloud-
speakers,creating
aspacious,
three-dimensional
sound
stage
that
Drawing lF- L5position
fronr view.
5
seems
to fillyourroom. lnfact,
under
ideal
conditions,
theimage
can
actually
extend
beyond
the
boundaries
ofyourroom!
Bass
-The visceral
impact
of
music
created
bybassdrums,
string
bass,electric
bass
guitar
or
synthesizer:
Tteble - High-frequency
detail
such
as
thesheen
ofa cymbal
stroked
with abrush,the
Placementfor best
stereo imaging
TheJBL
engineers
who created
yourLSeries
speaker'sdesþned
a
system
soaccurate
thatvirtually
eveÐ/th¡ngyouhear
onatâpe,
record
or CD canappear
ona
"sound
stage"
centeredbetween
andextending
wellbeyondthetwo
loudspeakers.
Toachievethisexcit-
ing
effectrequires
careful
speaker
positioning.
Mostimportant
arethedimen-
sionswhichdetermine
theangles
ofanimaginary
triangleformed
be-
tween
bothspeakers
and
your
mainlisteningposition
asshown
in
FþurelA, lC andlE.NotqLZ
owners
seeL7Supplementfor
Þloce
mentdrowing$
Tryto achievean
anglebetween
thespeakersand
themainlistening
breathiness
ofa
singer
or the
te)cure of avio-
linbowdrawn
across
astring.
Drawing2A * Ll bookshelf
placement,
front view. lf Ll's are
placed
ón their sides,
makeöurethat the topsåce inward.
Drawinq28 - Ll bookshelf
placement
roo view.
Speaker-should
beat least
tivo inches
îroin back
of the bookshelf.
Drawing lE- L5position
top view.
3' 3'
t .tt,l

posítionof about
60degrees
(see
Drawings
lA, IC,and
lE).Notice
thatineach
case,the
speakers
n"should
beangled
inward
l0to
15
dègreeS.
Notethatwe recommend
the
useofspeaker
standswith Ll
speakers.
Manystylesand
brands
are
available;consult
yourJBL
dealerfor moreinformation.
Al-
leasttwo inchesof roombetween
theback
ofthe speakers
andthe
backwall
ofthebookcase.
V/hat ifyoucantposition
the
s¡ieakers
as
shown
inDrawing l?
Drawing
38shows
the resultofa
narrow
angle
between
thespeak-
ersand
yourmain
listening
position.
TheLSeries
speakers
image
wellinthisconfiguration,
but
will have
aslighdy
narrowersound
stâge.
Theplacement
inDrawing4
should
be
avoided
unless
youwant
only
bacþroundmusicwith little
stereo
imaging
effeèc !
Placement for best ,
bassresponse
No matterwhatkindof music
youenjo¡bassísanimportant
part
ofthetonalspectrum.LSeries
ternativel¡
you
can
placeLl's
onabookhelf
asshown
in
Drawing
2on
theprevious
page.Note
thattlrehþh
frequency
transducers
should
be
to-
wards
the
inside
when
the
Ll'sare
placedontheir
sides.
Make
sure
to leaveat
Drawing
38-
Reduceð
stereo
imageifspeakers
are
closetogether

speakers
can
reproducesurpr¡s-
ingly
hþhquality bassunderany
condition
ando<ceptionally
low
basswhen
positipnedoptimally.
Twomodifiablerootn factorsaf-
fectLSeriesbass:
l) proximity
to
roomcornersand
2)disøncefrom
the rearwall.
How close
yourLSeries
speaker
systemsare
to theback
walldetermineshowtheywill
"couple"
to thatsurface,resulting
inincreased
bassatcerta¡n
fre-
quencies.Theoptimal
distances
fromabackwall
(asshowninFþ-
ures
lA, lC, lE and
theL7
Supplement)
will produce well-
balancêdbass
inanormal-sized
room.
NOTE:
Youcanincreaseor
decreasethis
distancebyabout
one
foot witlroutseriouslyaffecting
lowfrequency
balance.
Thecloser
tlrespeakers are
placed
tö roomcorners,themore
mid-bass
(boomybass)theywill
produce.lfyour listeningroom is
extremely
naffowyou maynot be
able
to placeyourLSeriesspeak-
ersat leastthreefeetfromside
walls
asshown
inDrawingslA" lC
andIE.lfthisisthe case,
decrease
thedisøncebetween
thetwo
speakers
to allowatleast some
disøncefromside
walls.
Placement for best treble
dispersion
Highmusicalsoundscreatethe
finedeailsofamusicalexperience.
High-frequencysoundssuchasfe-
male
vocals,
violins,leadguitars,
upper
pianooctaves
andcymbals
aremoredirectional tjranbassand
midrange.Inotherwords,these
treble
soundsarebestheard
when
theycan
pro¡ectdirectlyinan
unencumbered
path
fromthe
speakerto yourean
Thanks
to theirtianium dome
highfrequencytransducers,
LSeriesspeakerc areless
sensitive
to placementfor besttreblethan
almostanyotherspeakermodel..
Howeveçyouwillênjoy
yourbest'
musicalo<periencewhenttre
LSeries'tweetersareator near
"earlevel"
asshowninDrawings
lB,lD lFandL7Supplement
(an-
other reasonwhywerecommend
placingL|
's
onspeaker
stands).
CONNECTION.
Youwill need...
3 Speakerwire i
3 A tapemeasure
É'
3 Oneofthefollowingdepending
onwiretypeand
thickness:
Wire strippers,diagonal
pliers,
a
knife
or apair ofscissors
What kind of wirc to use
Forbestresults,we
recommend
theuse
ofspeciallydesþed heavy-
Bauge,
ultralow resistance
speaker
wire. AvailablefromyourJBL
dealenit ísableto conduct
the
maximum
powerandfrequency
bandwidth
ofyouramplifier
or receiver.
Howeve[any
insulated,multi-
stranded
copperwiremaybeused,
providedit isoftheproper
gauge
(thickness).The
easiest
to obtain
is
ordinary
lampcord(also called
"zipcord'),
availableat hardware
andhome
improvement
stores.
Theminimumsizeofwireto
usedependsonthelengthofthe
wire between
theamptifierand
your LSeries Speakers.
I
;
¡
I

Y
Drawing5
The
following
chartshowsthe
maxÍmumlengthsfor differentwire
gauges
as
measured
onewoyfrom
|youq amplífier
to thespeakerl.
lengthsthesamewill help
maintain
propersþnalbalance
andimaging.
3. NexCseparatethetwo conduc-
torsthatcomprise eachwire
for adistanceofabout oneinch.
Thenstripoff3/8"
of insulation
frombothendsofeachconduc-
tor usingawirestrippen
diagonal
pliers
or knifeasshown
inDrawing5.
4. Twist each
setofthinwiresinto
atightly-bunched
spiral.lfyour
wireisexcept¡onall),thick(12-
gaugezipcordor specialspeaker
interconnectcable),dividethe
strands
intothreeequalbundles
. andtwisteachintoaspiral.
5. At thispoint
youneedto iden-
tifr avisualdifferencebetween
thetwo twistedwire bundles
thatmakeupeachspeaker wire.
Thismaybe
donein
various
ways
dependingonthetypeand
brand
ofwireyou're using.Dif-
ferentiatingmarkscanbea
differentcolorwire (copperor
"silYer"),
astrandofyarninone
conductoG
thin,raisedribson
onepaftoftheouter insulation,
or aprinted
"+" markingonone
oftheinsulators.lt doesnot
makeanydifferencewhichof
thetwo strandsofwire goto
(+)and (-) onthespeakersand
amplifieri
aslongasbothspeak-
ersareconnectedidentically.
Connectint your amplifier to
your L-Series Speakers
NotsfT ownerssee
L7Suþple
ment
foradditionol
hook-updrowinç
ondinst¡uoions.
l. Beforehookinguptheprepared
speaker
wires,makesurethat
your receive[
poweramplifier
or integratedamplifier
is
turnedoff.
2. Lookonthebackofyouramp/
receiver.You'llsee
individual
+ (red)
and
- (black)
speaker
outputterminalsfor bothrþht
and
leftspeakers. !
3. ConnectbothconductoÊsof
eachspeaker
wireto the
speakeroutputterminals.
Note: lnsomecases,theamp/
receiverhastwo completesets
of speaker
terminals,marked
'4" and
"B". lfyou're
justcon-
nectingonesetofspeakers, we
suggest
youuse the
"A" setof
terminals.
4. EachLSeriesspeakeralsohas
corresPonding
+¿¡¿
-termi-
nalsontheirbacksides.lt is
importantto hookbotJrspeak-
ersupto theleft and
right
amp/
receiverspeakerterminalsinan
identicalmanner
(+red
to +red
and
-blackto -black)sothat
theyare
"in phase".
Follow
Drawing6closelywhencon-
nectingthespeaker
wires.lf
youmixupthb+ and
-
1 .,.
,
WIRELENGTH
Upto20ft
Upto30ft
Upto50ft
Almostany
length
GAUGEz OF
COPPERWIRE
l6 gauge
l4 gauge
l2 gauge
Specialspeakercable
Pr.eparing
the hookup wire
l. Firstdeterminethedisønce
between
themostdistant
speakerand
yourstereosys-
tem. lfyouwantto concealthe
speaker
wiresalong
baseboards,
thiscouldbe
quite
afewfee¿
2. Now makethehookup
wires
for bothspeakersthìs lenglh,
evenifoneLSeriesLoud-
speaker
ismuchcloserto your
amplifierthanthe othenYou
mayneedto loosely
coiluppart
ofonechannel'swirebehindthe
amplifier
ifone speakerisquite
closeandtheotherfaraway
fromtheampor receiver...
HOWEVER,
keeping
bothwire
IT"d"rlcal n"to Ineffecqwe arereconrnerdirg
wiregargeswhich
yiddl€ssúEn O-ftB bsswiú a4
otm læd o¡erthe dsar¡ces
+ecificed Ttregalges
indræd represent
0.I82€[rm 0.|72€tùn and
0.II I<frn resisanceqr€sp€cdr/dy.
2 C"ra" *nnæ. aucroto aswire &mger
iîcr€âses Inodrc¡'words, thelowerthe garye
ntrrùer, thethirj<ertlp wire.

*
B conneccions,thinsoundwitlr
''U poorstereoimage
andlessb
â willresult
''ç first unscrgw
each
terminall
f enough
to exöosetlç holein
I theterminal's centenshaft"lf
I your
wireisthinenoqgh,sim¡
t insertit through
theholeand
poor stereoimage
andlessbass
Firstunscrgw
each
terminalf'ar
. t'
enough
to exÞosetlç holein
conductorscross
between
terminals
andtouchtheoppo-
site
connectjon.Out ofplace
strandscancause
ashortcircuit
lfyou're
onlyconnectingone
set
ofspeakers, youmaynowskip
aheadinthismanualto the
OPERATION
section.
Hooking up multiple
setsofspeakers
lfyour receiverhastwo com-
plete
setsofspeaker
terminals
('.A"
and
"B'), it'spossible
to hookup
an
additionalpair
ofspeakers,for o<-
ampleJBLProlllpersonal
monitors,for simultøneoussound
inanotherroom.
Howeveqsome
speakersmay
Rear
of LEFT LSeries
asviewedfrom back
not beuseableas
asecondpairif
youwantto play
bothsets atoìce.
Before
hookingupanotherset
ofspeakersbesides
yourLSeries,
checkthefollowingspecífications:
l. Your
amplifien'sMINIMUM
LOAD impedance
2.TheNOMINAL
IMPEDANCE
ofthesecond
setof speakers
BotJr
ofthesespecifìcationsare
expressedinohmsandbothcanbe
foundintheowner'smanuals
which
camewithyouramp/
receiver
andspeakers.
The
receiver's
minimumloadimped-
anceisdeterminedbywhetlreror
notPower ratingsare
given
for
4 ohms
and2 ohms.Forexample,
thefollowing
entryinan amplifier
owner's
manual...
POWER:
A)100wattsRMSinto
I ohms.bothchannels
driven,20-20kHzwithless
than0.02%THD
B)
160wattsRMSinto
4'ohms.bothchannels
driven,20-20kHzwithless
than0.02%THD
PartBindicates
thattheampli-
fìer
canhandle4-ohmcombined
impedancescreated
by
two sets
ofspeakers.lfonlyan8-ohm
ratingisgiven,
assume
that
theamp/receiverisnt designed
to handle4-ohmcombinedratings
even
if it doeshavetwo setsof
speakerterminals
onitsback
side.
your
wireisthinenoqgh,simply
insertit through
theholeand
gentlytightentheknob.lfyou
areusingthickerwire,first
seParatethestrands
intothree
equal
bundles.
Theninsertthe
centerbundlethrough
theter-
minalshafthole
andwrapthe
outer bundlesaround
theshaft
beforetþhtening.
5. Finall¡makesure
thatnoneof
thestrands
whichmakeup
either
ofthetwo speaker
wire
Rearof RIGHTLSeries
speakerasviewedfrom back
ffitrffi
++
RIGHT LEFT
I
:
I

Throughan
algebraic
formulal,
combined
nominalspeakerimped-
ances
(created
by
connectingtwo
,;-sêts
ofspeakers
to an
amplifier)
prodqcg,
alpwertotalimpedance
than
justoneset Forexample,
two setsof8-ohm
speakers
result
ina4-ohmcombined
impedance.
lfthecombined
impedanceof
oneLSeriesspeaker
andoneo<-
tensionspeaker
islowerthonthe
recommended
minimum
load,
your
amp/receiver
maynot beable
to
produceanyappreciable
volume
beforetriggering
itsinternal
protection
circuits
or fuse.
After determining
the Nominol
lmpedonceof the extension
speak-
ersand
tlreminimumallowable
loadimpedance
tlrattheamp/
receivercan
handle,consultthe
chartatrþht. lt indicatesthe
impedance
ofextension
speakers
which
canbe
played
atnormal
volumes
sìmultaneouslywith the
LSeries
speakers
inyourmain
listening
room.
lf
youramplifìerisr¿ted
foriust
&-ohm
loads...combine
Ll'swith l6-ohmextension
speakers
only.
L3'swith l6-ohmoctension
speakersonly.
L5'switJr l6-ohmextension
speakers
only.
L7'swith l6-ohmoctension
speakers
only.
lfyouramplifier
israted
for 4-ohrnas
wellas8æhm
loads,combine...
Ll'swith l6-ohmor 8-ohm
extension
speakers.
L3'swith l6-ohm
or8-ohm
e><tension
speakers.
L5'swith l6-ohmoctension
speakersonly.
L7'swith f6-ohmextension
speakers
only.
lfyouramplifier
isratedfor 2+hm,4-
ohrnand
S<,hm
loads,combine..
.
L|
's
with |6-ohm,
8-ohmor
4-ohmextension
speakers.
L3'swith l6-ohm,8-ohm
or
4-ohmextension
speakers.
L5'swith l6-ohmor 8-ohm
octension
speakers.
L7'swith l6-ohmor 8-ohm
octension
speakers.
NOTE:lfyourreceiverisnot
raædfor thekindofexænsion
speakers
you'dliketo add,orifyou
wantto power many
setsof speak-
ersatonceallover
yourhouse,
you
will needaspecial
impedance
matching/switching
box Consult
yourJBLdealer
for more
information.Also,
avoid
the
temptation
to hookany
morethan
one
setofspeakers
upto each
set
ofamp/receiver
speaker
terminals
nomatterwhat
theamp/receiver's
minimum
rated
loadimpedance
is.
OPERATION
Amplifier power
EachLSeries
speaker
hasa
maximumand
minimum
power
råting.Using
morepower
thanthe
ratinglisted
onpage12ofthis
manualfor yourparticularmodel
canleadto potentialdamage.That
doesntmean
youcantuse,forex-
ample,
20O-watt-rated
L|'swith a
250-watt
amplifier:
lt DOESmean
thatyoumust
becareful
andnot
turn upthevolume
sohighthatits
outputo<ceeds
themaximum
recommended
power
foryour
particularLSeries
speakers. È
While usingaverylowpbwered
amplifìer
athigh
volumes
probably
wont damageLSeries
speakerc,
it
can
produceanunpleasantaudible
effectcalled
"clipping."
lfthespeak-
ers
sound
fu:zyor distorted when
theamp'svolume
controlisturned
up,
you're
hearing
advanced
clip-
ping.lfthiseffect
occursand
you
wish
to regularlyenjoy
yournew
JBL
speakers
atextremely
high
vol-
umelevels,
invest
inanamplifier
witlr more RMSwattage
output
Theextrareseryes
ofpower will
reduceclipping,
improveoverall
soundand
letyou
get
theloudness
youwantwithout unpleasant
distortion.
lgeøay,6¡xRz)
-=q
ßl*Rz)
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+€dcr, R2búersrid hpeúnæcfûeeærr*n
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