Thank you for this review!

great reviews and awesome sound demo which really highlights the key differences between these speakers. great song choice too.

Another awesome video!

What an eye opener...ahem...ear opener. I never liked the sound of more modern JBL designs, but these L100's seem to bring you into the same room as the live performance. Excellent!

KEF sounds cleaner, transparent, JBL is more like you’re there, listening to this live. Please upload another video with more comparisons, I’d love to hear more of JBL, very interesting speaker.

As a guitar player, I'm hearing a lot more finger movements on the JBLs than the KEFs, making it sound like the actual guitar is in the room. I've had several KEF speakers in the past- I'm actually surprised how laid back this pair is. Obviously I'd want to hear them in person before any final judgements. Enjoyed the comparison. Thanks

I wanted to love the JBL but the KEF sounded better for me

I've now listened to both recordings (twice) using two different pairs of reference-grade headphones, and I think that all of your observations are spot on. The JBLs yield a classic, West Coast, live-in-the-club ambient sound. The KEF R11s produce music that is restrained, balanced, and has depth. (You can really hear the differences when the bass guitar and the harmony vocal make their entrance. This song selection, by the way, was very revealing and was a great selection for this comparison.) Personally, I prefer the tonality and balance of the KEFs. Over the long haul, I would worry that the dynamics and the forward sound of the JBLs would become fatiguing ... whereas I suspect that KEFs can be tuned and repositioned, over time, and obtain greater flexibility with their sound as your hearing and musical tastes change. As one of the commentators observed, the sound of a JBL loudspeaker is a lot like the sound of a Klipsch loudspeaker: it's either your cup of tea or it isn't. (I own Klipsch and KEF loudspeakers, and I'm quite pleased with both of them!) I also detected a touch of sibilance with the JBLs (as did another commentator), which I found to be worrying ... This was a helpful and worthwhile comparison. Thanks for posting it! Good job!

It will be interesting to compare them to vintage Cerwin Vega, Technics or Fisher. Great video!!

I have Kef R11 in the living room. And JBL L100 Classic 75 in the basement together with the JBL SA 750 amplifier. I have to admit that i use more time in the basement for the moment 😊

I like the clearer sound of the Kef's but the JBL's are so much more balanced. I feel like the kef's are missing something in the midrange.

Great Job ! Thanks for the video One day i hope to purchase a JBL 4400 series blueface, I could almost bet your Denon would sound amazing with the JBL 4450s/4445 😆 Monsters

Would love you to review the smaller L82s. Those L100s are way too big for my place! From your review they sound what I am looking for though, as I need a speaker that performs well at lower listening levels.Thanks.

Nice review. I have the L-100 classic on the way. Pairing with Luxman 590axii.🤞

Great review! Thanks. Don't you know will it worth to make such pair Marantz PM7000N or Denon DRA-800H with JBL L100? I'm interested in Spotify streaming music via Wi-Fi. Though I'm trying to choose acoustic and amplifier. Actually there are some ideas in my budget: (JBL L100 vs Transpuls 1500) + (Marantz PM7000N or Denon DRA-800H). Thanks for your advice!

I'd pick whichever one sounds better to me using material I am familiar with to audition. Went to the store to pick up a pair of B&W one time, came home with PSB's after auditioning. Never even heard of them before then. Still got them, they've been fantastic. This is the way.👍👌 The JBL is built on the architecture of the monitor speaker of the day which in turn reflected JBL heritage of horn loaded speaker systems for live music/sound reinforcement. Its a traditional old school approach which has certain characteristics, the JBL sound. A lot of music has been recorded and played back over the decades on JBL speakers. Good review, thanks for your observations.

Like Klipish, if your a fan your a fan. The JBL’s can set a soundstage that are very sweet to the ears. Great review explaining your experience with them. Their beautiful too! KEF’s are nice too, but have the KEF matching and analytical sound about them . Very nice midrange. Thanks for the review! 👍

they both sound great, i think the jbl needs a bit of time to break in and balance out. thank you & congratz on your beautiful new speakers

Fan club President here 😬, I’m obviously biased, but these speakers are amazing. You’re impressions are similar to my experience with the standard 100 Classic, but I’m sure those 75th are just phenomenal.

Without doubt JBL. good job man

Very good 👍🏾 Always a JBL fan. (KEF R11 also good)

How wide is your room? Both those speakers look great in there but the JBLs just look so cool. Love that you compared two speakers instead of just talking about them in generic terms - nice review!

I play with kef bbc monitor P60 K300, amazing sound, and at moments i vary with jbl 4312....different but also amazing sound....and when i want real goosebumps i put actif system with jbl 2245, in mids P audio neo 10" and midhighs beyma amt tpl 150...and even the small kef 102 reference with subwoofers added can produce nice sounds ,,,so the secret is 'variation'.....of sound presentation ...like paintings....

When you listen to the song when it first starts you can hear in more detail with the JBL the sliding of the guitar strings then you can with the Kef.

When I heard the sound demo they were soo different. Like in every way. I'm very surprised and I love kef but it sounded like the jbl went warmer and deeper. But yea the kef sounded very coherent and the sound was everywhere.

Great video! How long do you feel like it took the mids to break in on the JBL L100 Classic 75?

Great review but never heard you give a price comparison between the two. Maybe I missed it. Thanks.

I like both

I like your program very much. Please tell me that I have JBL4367 and L100c speakers, and I want to match the Mclntosh amplifier. How should I match it? thank you

The Acoustic Energy AE520 Speakers with all speaker drivers made of Carbon Fiber are the biggest bargain on the market right now at $5K A Pair ! They can hang with the Big Boys !

I like KEF's line of speakers, I own a pair of LS50 Meta's and I've heard the R11's, based on this demo I favor the JBL's, I'm going to have to eventually get a pair!

Thanks for the quick response for me. L82 are very very large in size. What bookshelf speakers can you recommend in a smaller size?

The JBL are getting closer to their best sound with this amp while the KEF are not. Even with this ho-hum amp the KEF still sound better to me. I think the KEF would also shine more than the JBL moving up the food chain with amp/preamp. Be fun to see you do this with the R11 Meta and see if the JBL still does as well.

JBL without any doubt. More natural, more opened and precise.

I have the JBL L100's right now paired to a McIntosh MA8900, but have been looking at the Wharfedale Elysian 2's a lot lately. Everything you said about L100's is what I like about them. How would you say they compare to the Elysians? What similarities and differences do they have?

My pooch agrees. JBL wins by a hair. Would love to hear both with other music samples. Thanks!

The best thing going on here is your room. This is the 4th time I've listened to it. Well balanced. While I prefer the overall natural and more live sound of the JBL it seems to me to have some overhang (?), by which I mean certain notes seem to linger a bit longer than they should...giving the impression that the JBL is not as quick as the KEF.

PLEASE: WHO is covering Neil here? I am dying to know, I have tried hard to find is but it's difficult as it's been covered 9billion times. Love this.

The differences between JBL and Kef you describe are noticable, but you should have added a more challenging song for these speakers (more instruments, extremer pitch range etc.) to come to a final conclusion for listeners. Anyway, really good sounding speakers.

You should move the mic closer to the speakers, this way you can hear more what the speakers sound like and less what the room is sounding like. Also the JBL are placed more back than the KEF and that will make a sound difference in itself. Moving the speakers out into the room brings out the midrange, which is what can be heard in the KEF. Putting the speakers back against the wall thickens up the bass and brings down the midrange.

With 12 inch woofer, should the low end drop so much?

Wondering between the jbl l100 and kilpsch heresy. For a 3m by 3m room.

Jbl vocals much more natural. Jbl warmer sounding which I like. Both sound great to me.

I think the 12 inch tells a different story and I love it!

Hi! Now you made me change my mind. If only I can listen both myself. So, will the JBL sound better than the R11s in a 60sqm long room like mine? Low volume auditions. And what amp would you recommend in the 1.5-2k euros price range? Thank you!

Do you still need a subwoofer if you're using L100? Isn't the L100 12" driver won't hit deeper bass?

Any chance in reviewing the S.M.S.L M500 MKII Audio DAC & Headphone Amplifier? I heard it is on par with the Denafrips Ares II R2R DAC.

Jbl for certain. Both very nice though.

One more thing. Those REL subwoofer drivers are totally bettered by those JW300PW-8 in JBL. After many hours of running, i think JBL's bass will be better than REL's. And also, after running-in the drivers, the JBL will wake up before 55 db.

hi tharbama do you try to replace the synergistic purple fuse on the main ac you amp and listen the earth drum on the jbl l100

Can you suggest any amplifier on budget? Currently have R11 and have plan to get R2C in future. Currently powering them using marantz 6015. Thanks in advance

Hello what’s your opinion about pairing JBL’s with nad M33? You might heard or have your opinion about that 🤔 I owe jbl l100 classic,not 75th anniversary but still probably 99% same sounding speakers

I have speakers like those with the tweeter off to the right on both. Is there a trick to position them for good imaging

hi thanks a lot for the very interesting reviews Speaking of in room response what do you think about correction with an electronic equaliser? not that you room needs much The non eq response is very nice already Kind regards gino

Great Video ! Yes ! JBL takes the price !

My thoughts. the JBL has more power to the string, but the vocals are much more clear with the Kef.

Which model REL subs do you have? I know audiophles adore the REL's but i have a pair of the SVS SB3000 and I think they are pretty good but I am intrigued by what the REL's can do.

The Kef's sound lively and musical. The JBL much flatter sound, probably more accurate? For listening prefer the Kefs any day!

Fantastiše

感觉kef 处理的声音过于干净，缺少乐器该有的一些残响，kef 声音虽然精致，但是不够自然，JBL声音感觉自然，很想现场试听！

They sound clean open like the usual Jamo in a way to my ears...

Hey, off topic, but could you tell me your impressions between the elac uf52 vs criton 1tdx? They are on my short list, how much better is the 1tdx, but being a bookshelf vs a small tower

I picked the Marantz SP1515 which is bigger (15" woofer) thus better than the JBL. 3' tall, 2' wide, 1' deep.

L100s have more midbass. I'm not a fan of either speaker. They both sound like entry level kit that needs refinement. The tweeter in the JBL is like a 20 dollar part, come on JBL, you can do better. I like your mic placement. I want to hear what a speaker sound like in a room, not just an algorithm. Your room is sorta average, comparable to ours. Good job.

I prefer the liveliness and punchiness of the kefs.

From your Music Sample judgeing, I would say the KEF's are cleaner, the JBL are colouring the Sound, I am using Shure SRH1540 Headpones to listen. So the Question is: Do you like it if your HiFi Speaker have their own Sound ? For some that is ok, for some not.

Hello! Please advise me of good bookshelf acoustics to listen to in the evening at a low amplifier volume. jazz, vocals, classical. Budget from 1000 to 2000$

What’s the difference between JBL L100 75th Anniversary and the L100 brand new on sale? Found 2 pairs of 75th but not feasible to get it to me. Both the KLH Model 5 and the Polk R700 are not available in Singapore.

hi, do you EQ them for correct the in room response? ty

You say you have them 18-20 inches from the wall, how far do you have them apart? Is that measured from the middle of the speaker or the edge? Thanks.

The kefs had way more detail and clarity but the jbls made me it seem like the singer was in the room with me .. 😊

Il serait intéressant de pouvoir comparer avec les pioneer tad s-1EX qui me paraissent bien plus fidèle et donnent l'impression d'écouter la chanson en direct.

JBL SOUND 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻🎶🎼🎵🎶🎼🎶🎵🎶🎼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Can you please let me know the singer of Heart of Gold ? Additionally, I am thinking of adding the JBL to my current setup. I have a McIntosh MA900 and a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica III. What do you think ?

Can't beat big boxes, unfortunately i cannot accommodate either but if i had to pick one, JBL would get my cash . Both sound great .

Hello Mr. Tharbamar. I am really interested to get the L100. Do you think it will be too much for a 11ft x 17ft room?

Hard to decide both sounded good on their own right but Kef is more natural more spacious and details on vocals

just to note, music track artist is Wies Kavelaar not Nicole Van Duin. same album

I like them both. JBL has much more natural tonality. It sounds more natural.

Is Rel the best subwoofers for JBL do you think?

There seems to be quite a lot of sibilance on the JBL tweeter. I was looking at another recording on a you tube demo for this speaker and encountered the same thing. Disappointing as I much prefer the JBL sound to the KEF R11

Kef vs dali please

JBL 100% superior to KEF for sound quality. KEF sounds brittle and metallic where as JBL simply sounds musical.

How can you compare sound both speakers in a totally different position

I like to KEFs better, they sound Fuller on the opening guitar notes, and I hear a shrill in her voice on the JBLs.. I'm wondering how you could say off axis is bad with the r11 which are known for their off axis response, when your sidewalls are only 4 ft away from the speakers, so how off axis could you possibly get, and I'm sure at higher spl's the KEFs have a much tighter base response which you did not mention..I'm sure the 100s bass starts getting muddy at higher spl's

For my money, I'd buy the L100

headphones is all time the best is No1 (clearanceness perspicuity clarity) 2, JBL need more space

I m 64 I listened to both on my Sony MDR 7506 headphones.. The recoding from both pairs is superb R11 huge smooth Bass , being FS maybe L100 was more on clarity of words and Acoustic guitar , bass on lower side But both seems to be winner considering the Audio bandwidth is now getting narrowed with age ( I m earlier audio recordist) Superb quality work by this gentleman Thanks

Jbl sounds classic kef sounds modern but both good speakers.

Which version of Black Dog did you use?

JBL looks badass, still, I would pick the KEF soundwise.

JBL sounds like you ARE THERE. Kef like you are in a room close by

Hi...I have a question..I have Lintons!!!I want to replace it with Audio Monitor Gold..Is it worth the exchange?Thank!!!!!!

Hej, jak grają warto kupić? Dziękuję 🇵🇱

Listening to this comparison with JBL studio 580 ☺️ probably not good I like the look of the kef but i am biased to jbl. The sound is very close in this song over my speakers. I feel like the JBL hurt my ears a little more but it's fine I'll go jbl because JBL is my brand. 😊

There is no contest. KEF is my taste.

JBL no doubt. We have the original L100 during 70's, it was driven by SAE pre and power amplifiers (the company no more exist). Classic 3 way design , 12 inch paper dome , high efficiency , suitable for all kind of music. JBL is usually best paired with class A or tube amplifier. Denon may be a bit dry and better pair with British speaker.

JBL L100 Classic 75th 100%

Non c'è storia, JBL N°1. La voce è naturale e la chitarra acustica ha una timbrica da purista.

I think the JBL supposed to be placed a bit to the front away from the wall. it's a no-no for that kind of box to be as near to the wall like that