First Listening Impressions of L250's and 240TI's

Just got my L250s refoamed and back together and another pair of 240TI's in my listening room. My first impression is that they both sound very good, but seem to lack a little high frequency. The Midrange is a bit reserved, and the bass is absolutely superb.

My comments are based on a comparison to my 300's. The mid and high frequency of the new kids on the block is a bit weak.

Is this because the 300's are colored in the mid to high frequency and are boosted too much? Or is this due to some degradation with the crossovers of the 250's and TI's? Or is it possible my personal listening tastes have become accustom to the 300's and that mid and high horn type sound.


I would be interested in some other members opinions
.

Thanks

MB

Are you referring to the L300's? If so, for me it was hard to get accustomed to the 240Ti's I had as well. They were very smooth sounding and have a very flat reponse and were very balanced. They do not sound at all like the "West Coast Monitor" JBL sound of the 70's. And if thats what you have become accustomed to, you probably will not subscribe well to the 240Ti's. My advice to you is to do what many esteemed members of these boards told me to do when I first got the 240Tis/ Listen to them for awhile without worrying about trying to compare them to what you have been used to, to see if your hearing adjusts. After a decent period of time, go back to the L300's and see if your tastes have changed. If not, I'd advise doing what I did and sell them.. There are plenty of members here that would be more than happy to take them off your hands. I regrettably cannot chime in about the L250's, but I'd imagine them to be closer to the 240Tis. The midbass impact should be more pronounced and a little more energy overall, but still much closer to the 240Tis than the L300's.. Its just different schools of thought and different designers and engineers who were able to utilize crossover design to more fully address some of the issues of the older speakers to get more of a flat response with less colorations and driver interactions.

To me this came at a price of overall detail as the crossovers "seem" to filter out more than what they should, but they are designed this way for a reason, to keep the system under more control and to keep the transducers operating in their proper frequency range with less interference and less transistioning issues. There's no such thing as a transparent crossover and if you definitely want to keep the 240Ti's, I'd recommmend to you what I was considering with my 240Tis and looking into active crossovers to better suit your tastes. Those transducers, simply put, are phenomenal and I am sure there are many members on these forums that can assist you in using active crossovers with these speakers.. I do agree that the factory crossovers leave little to the imagination and to me do more harm than good than when compared to very detailed and energetic speakers like the L300's. But then again, thats my taste and NOT FACT> The fact is the 240TI's are much more balanced and have less harshness and can handle a broader range of material . And according to many of the JBL experts are about the best bang for the buck of any speaker ever made by JBL.

I am not trying to tell you to get rid of the 240Ti's, just trying to let you know what my experiences with them were. And having owned both speakers at the same time, I feel qualified to do so, especially someone with seemingly similar tastes. I was impressed with the smoothness and overall balanced tonality of the bass on the 240Tis. I really enjoyed them for certain types of music, and I can understand why they are so well liked and appreciated. The crossover design of the 240Ti is great, and really can't be improved upon. (The reason why I recommend active crossovers should you decide to keep them, as there's not much tweaking you can do without altering the integrity of the speakers themselves). Its the crossover design that gives them their unique signature and it would be a shame to dismantle them.. I could not get myself to do it, but I know people using simple single cap networks on "newer" JBL equipment with great results. There is enough potential there to warrant looking into it more fully, but I wouldn't recommend this without doing some SERIOUS research on crossover theory and design as it may do more harm than good..

If you'd rather not mess with the crossovers, there are other options that are "in-between" the L300's and (L250's/240Ti's). I was rather impressed with the XPL series, those XPL250's are simply stunning. I'd also HIGHLY recommend 4313B's or L96's with charge-coupled 3113B networks. I was rather impressed with what such well thought out and sophisticated networks could do to keep a speaker system in balance without the sacrifycing all of the detail that I had grown accustomed to... For the money I cannot think of a better system that is as versatile or easy to listen to. At times I will even admit that the L300's would be TOO MUCH for me to handle. And I am into detail and speakers with a ton of energy and actually prefer a rising reponse in the mid-range to a smoother more flat response. The music just sounds more real to me. The tendency of the L300's to "shout" has NEVER been a concern with the 4313B's with the networks built for me by a member of these boards, and modeled from Giskard's schematics. I think I have $500 total in these speakers, and for the money cannot be rivaled with the proper networks by any speaker EVER made by JBL. IMHO.

There are speakers like the 4343 or 4345 that I think will rock your world if you are into the L300's,. Although they are more expensive and harder to find, you could sell your 240Ti's and L250's and be able to afford them. They are similiar to the L300's with more impact in the midbass (similiar to the L250's), without sacrifycing any detail across the entire spectrum. And to me they were a little less harsh sounding a little more balanced and could handle just about anything....

In my experience, it's good to give yourself a couple of days to retrain your ears. Also, make sure the SPLs are the same. Efficiency might make one seem better at the same volume control setting.

Having said all that, I find the L250s a bit weak in the HF dept. That's why there was a 250ti, I think. I'm surprised the 240Tis seem lacking, unless the drivers are losing it or you're, as you imply, accustomed to the L300s somewhat accentuated sound.

i would say live with them for a while and try wading through the collection of stuff you havnt heard in a bit.its entirely possible that tastes have changed and a more subtle mid/high may be more satisfying after repeated listening.

Hello mbottz

I switch between speakers all the time and it takes me a couple of days to get used to a new pair after running one for a couple of months. What I like to do is simply take a break for a couple of days and then come back fresh to the new speakers. See if that works for you. I switch between 4344 and XPL200 wannabees and I don't sense a spectrum change more of how focused the 4344's are in comparison.

Rob:)

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Originally Posted by mbottz

Is this because the 300's are colored in the mid to high frequency and are boosted too much?

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Yes, in part, probably. It's not huge, but it's there, ~2+ dB rise. Also depends upon how you have them set, of course. There's no denying compression drivers have a different sonic "character," as well:

Based on my own experience with 240Tis, your tweeters could probably use a new diaphragm. If we're lucky, JBL will start making the kits again.

How do you know if you need a new diaphram? Is there a sure way to tell?


MB

I just had the impression that the high end was rolled off. So I got new diaphragms and rebuilt the tweeters. It was well worth the effort. The improvement was so obvious that even my wife noticed, immediately.

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Originally Posted by Don C

I just had the impression that the high end was rolled off. So I got new diaphragms and rebuilt the tweeters. It was well worth the effort. The improvement was so obvious that even my wife noticed, immediately.

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I had the same problem, and resolution, with a pair of 18Ti's I got off eBay.

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Originally Posted by mbottz

I would be interested in some other members opinions

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Having had them all over the years, oftentimes at the same time and in the same rooms, I have to say that the L300 usually won the WOW contest. It was a very dynamic system.

I will also add that I sold my 4333's and L300's while I held on to the Ti Series considerably longer (actually until very recently when they were finally replaced with Tannoy DC's).

Finally, Greg isn't into regression. He did the L300/4333 in the 70's and the Ti Series in the 80's.

Regardless, the L300/4333 will always be special to some people, including me (I spent 15 years defending it against audiophiles), and nothing more than a grossly overpriced "hiss and boom box" to others. Whatever...

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Originally Posted by Don C http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/i...s/viewpost.gif
I just had the impression that the high end was rolled off. So I got new diaphragms and rebuilt the tweeters. It was well worth the effort. The improvement was so obvious that even my wife noticed, immediately


I thought there was nothing to do w/the 44ti currently. If this avalable I would like to get it done. I have/will replace(d) everything but the wood and tweeters in my 250ti. at this point I might as well finish them off perfectly if available

Mark

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Originally Posted by opimax

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Originally Posted by Don C http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/i...s/viewpost.gif
I just had the impression that the high end was rolled off. So I got new diaphragms and rebuilt the tweeters. It was well worth the effort. The improvement was so obvious that even my wife noticed, immediately


I thought there was nothing to do w/the 44ti currently. If this avalable I would like to get it done. I have/will replace(d) everything but the wood and tweeters in my 250ti. at this point I might as well finish them off perfectly if available

Mark

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I'm in that same line, as I wait and hope for a new run of 044Ti diaphrams...