![]() ![]() If you’re looking for sonic neutrality, finesse or the last word in resolution these aren’t the boxes for you. These speakers are relatively fast and controlled at low frequencies, though perhaps not the most tuneful. Remember this is a 20cm unit where most of the competition packs 17cm at most, and those extra centimetres help give these boxes a pretty impressive bass reach. These are relatively big standmounters for the money and pack a correspondingly large mid/bass unit. Partner the L82s with smooth, controlled electronics and there won’t be an issue unless the speakers are provoked with particularly aggressive recordings. That titanium dome tweeter sounds less refined here than in the L100s, probably because it has a much wider frequency band to cover. You’ll have to be careful about system matching. Having the tweeters on the outside gives us a broader soundstage, but we gain a more solid presentation when they’re on the inside edge, so that’s how we leave it. There’s no indication from the manual as to whether they should be on the inside or outside edge, so we try both ways. These standmounters are made in mirror image pairs with the tweeters offset. After playing around, we end up with the speakers around 40cm from the rear wall, well away from the sides and slightly angled in towards the listening position. We’ve mentioned the stands, but room positioning plays a large part too. ![]() It takes a bit of work to get the best from these boxes. The best 30 hi-fi speakers of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime.We found that the L82s speakers sound considerably cleaner and punchier in the bass when sat on the similarly priced Custom Designs FS104 Signatures. While they may be the obvious choice, we’re not convinced they’re the best one sonically. The £175 ($250) JS-80 are neatly welded supports that lift and angle the speakers appropriately for most listening situations. The company makes dedicated stands to suit the L82’s distinctive appearance. There’s a choice of three colours – black, dark blue and the iconic orange. While we rarely write much about speaker grilles, they’re a bigger deal here because their geometric design is a clear link back to the original L100s from the 1970s. There isn’t the slickness of finish that we’re used to seeing from the likes of KEF, Dynaudio or Bowers & Wilkins, but the walnut veneer option looks nice enough. The enclosure feels suitably solid and the cabinet edges are nice and crisp. We don’t have any real grumbles when it comes to build. As before, there’s a dished waveguide around the dome to help with dispersion. ![]() This tweeter is the same as used on the L100s, but in that application the crossover point is set far higher at 3.5kHz. It’s tuned with a front-firing reflex port and crosses over to the 25mm titanium tweeter at 1.7kHz. The mid/bass driver is a bang-up-to-date unit with carefully optimised chassis and motor system designed with some of the most sophisticated facilities around. Their appearance may hark back to simpler times but the engineering certainly doesn’t. Glad to see interest in quality, regardless of age, is still present.It would be easy to dismiss the L82 Classics as a mere marketing exercise aimed at those who yearn to live in the past, but that would be a mistake. Skeptical going in, but before and after comparison of several demanding cuts revealed improved dynamics and vocalist clarity and subtleties not there previously. Recently updated the crossover electrolytics to audio grade film. Paired with a subwoofer and properly placed hard to beat expansive sound stage and clarity. About 10 years ago picked up a pair of Spica TC-60s. Took those home with a subwoofer and used for many years. Spent the next 3 hours comparing to everything in the store costing less than $5000 each. The salesman wanted to ignore my curiosity - until he gave in and hooked them up for a listen. Store owner brought them back from Convention, not hooked up. Stumbled across a pair of Spica SC-50s shoved in the corner of an audiophile store around 1980. Another friend had Yamaha NS1000s, a bit too bright. Heard a pair of Cerwin Vega that were surprisingly good. I went through too many that did not keep long. A friend had a pair of JBL L100s, in your face. A room mate in college had a pair of Warfedale sand filled, smooth and warm. ![]()
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