le5-2 buy used or have repaired?

[lcfur667]

I have been looking at used speakers on e-bay. A (so called) Jbl certified company in california will repair these completely for $110.00 each. Since any used speaker is bound to be 20-30 years old, should I have them repaired or buy used.

Thanks for your input,

lcfur667

[Zilch]

To make your decision even more difficult, my local JBL Authorized reconer guy (Audivex, Berkeley) will do them for ~$80 apiece, assuming reconing is all they need, plus freight to and fro.... :)

He's last on the official list here:

http://www.jblproservice.com/service/california.html

[lcfur667]

I am now the proud (I hope) owner of a pair of le25's won on e-bay. They were Jbl factory rebuilt and never even taken out the box. The seller had a very high rating and volumn. I am currently bidding on a pair on le5-2's whose auction is ending a 6am tomorrow. I completely fried my original L100A's which I bought new in 1973. I am rebuilding the crossovers with original valure components (though a different cap vendor). Do you think that crossover is good? What refinements could I or should I do?

Thanks

lcfur667

[GordonW]

In my experience, ALL LE5-2's will soon need to be reconed, if they haven't been already.The original adhesives that hold the voice coil to the paper former willl eventually fail... and the coil will start buzzing. It's apparently a time-related degredation...

New recones will not have this problem... the newer adhesives are more stable.

Regards,
Gordon.

[duaneage]

Do you think that crossover is good? What refinements could I or should I do?


I think the crossovers are definately in need of new caps. I also think the 6 db/oct slopes are a main cause of driver death in these speakers, and not having a coil on the woofer makes them too midrange heavy for me.

If they were mine I would design a 12db/oct slope for them and reverse the polarity of the midrange. I would also add a zobel network to the woofer to tame the large impedance rise it has