JBL L52 Classic
Hi-Fi Choice|Yearbook 2022
JBL's re-released Classic ♫ series channels the design language of its Seventies models and the L52 brings all the principles of the series down to a size where they'll fit into most spaces.
JBL L52 Classic

Like the larger L82 (HFC 473), the L52 is not a reproduction of a speaker it produced in the Seventies but an 'inspired by true-life events' take on the style of the time.

A two-way design it uses a 25mm titanium dome tweeter (as seen in the other models) placed in a shallow waveguide. This crosses over at 2.8kHz to a 133mm pulped paper cone augmented by a front bass port. The L52 Classic retains the facility to adjust the high-frequency output via a rotary control. There's no boost, but the output can be rolled off to suit brighter equipment or rooms. Connection to an amplifier is via a single set of speaker terminals.

As a relatively small driver in a small cabinet, it doesn't have quite the same seismic potential as its bigger siblings. JBL quotes 47Hz24kHz albeit at +/-6dB. It is relatively benign and should not prove too difficult to drive, while the front port reduces its interactions with rear walls effectively.

This story is from the Yearbook 2022 edition of Hi-Fi Choice.

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This story is from the Yearbook 2022 edition of Hi-Fi Choice.

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