New Acquisition, Wonder What I Got???

[toddalin]

I purchased these today after inspection yesterday.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-Custom-Speakers-with-6-Stands_W0QQitemZ230027175223QQihZ013QQcategoryZ470 94QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://i17.ebayimg.com/01/i/08/46/88/ef_1.JPG


http://i20.ebayimg.com/03/i/08/45/e8/a2_1.JPG


The gal told me they had only been used half a dozen times or less.

The seller, a production studio, told me that the cabinets were made for them and the gent who made them based them on an Altec design. They also have 6-foot high matching custom-made stands. (Can you imagine for rear surrounds?) However, they are obviously a 4320 design and even have the "C50 Monitor" badge on their backs. Furthermore, they are cut for an 075 and an N7000 crossover w/block-off plates. They have LX-5s mounted in the second recess. The backs also have the cut rectangular areas with wood fill typical of JBL. However, they are unported (infinite baffle). Were they ever offered from JBL unported?

If someone went to the trouble to copy a JBL cabinet and were only mounting a 2-way, why would they go to the trouble to put in all of the unused holes/block-offs?

The woofers have the foam surrounds, but the frames are grey (looking at the outter lip). To me this would infer a 136 as I thought the 2235s were black. They are reported as being redone, so who knows.

The horns are also a mystery. With a 500 Hz crossover, one could expect a 375, but the in the JBL literature, the LX-5 was also recommended for the 175 and 85.

I wanted to see the throat diameter and we tried to pull a slant plate. These are made of thin wood and have no foilcal (as opposed to my plastic HL-91). After we pulled the screws in the wedges that hold one of the plates, we found that the plates were also stuck on with adhesive tape and not wanting to break it, left it in place. I was not able to peer though the plates (11) to see the diameter.

Today when I went down to pay, I noticed that the bottom plate had broken at the seam, but would be easy to fix. (We may have done this trying to remove it.)

Will be interesting to see what's in there when I pick them up later this week.

[Phil H]

Could they be C50 SMs with a LE15As?

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1964/page36.jpg
http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1966/page04.jpg
http://cgi.ebay.fr/paire-JBL-C-50-L-200-studio-monitor-actif-vintage_W0QQitemZ270023744855QQihZ017QQcategoryZ93 383QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[toddalin]

Could they be C50 SMs with a LE15As?

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1964/page36.jpg
http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1966/page04.jpg
http://cgi.ebay.fr/paire-JBL-C-50-L-200-studio-monitor-actif-vintage_W0QQitemZ270023744855QQihZ017QQcategoryZ93 383QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sure looks right to me. Probably with an S7 load. None of the pics show if they were ported or not.

At $400/pair, not too bad a deal.

[subwoof]

2215B woofers ( or LE15B )
Second guess = 2205/2231 frame with 2235 kit
LE85 driver
H92 horn

I have seen this combination before - these components were sold off the shelf by "loudspeaker component" dealers that were independent of the pro / consumer ones.

Someone scrounged the components rather than buying the kit or the 15 frame would be black. The lead wires are not factory ??

The lens are indeed L91's but are the very old version.

what do I get if I win?

:D

sub

[toddalin]

2215B woofers ( or LE15B )
Second guess = 2205/2231 frame with 2235 kit
LE85 driver
H92 horn

I have seen this combination before - these components were sold off the shelf by "loudspeaker component" dealers that were independent of the pro / consumer ones.

Someone scrounged the components rather than buying the kit or the 15 frame would be black. The lead wires are not factory ??

The lens are indeed L91's but are the very old version.

what do I get if I win?

:D

sub

I picked them up today and opened one up. :) Sorry Subwoofer you didn't win. :( Components include the standard S7 load of an LE15A, LE85, HL91, and LX-5.

Interesting that they don't sound as good as my usual setup (2205 reconed as 2235, LE175/HL91, 075, custom made 800Hz/7,500 Hz in L200A cabinets..., which I could understand.

However, when I switch wires such that the LE175 in the L200 cabinet is replaced by the LE85 in the C50 cabinet (either one run off the 800 Hz crossover in the L200 cabinets), the LE175 has a clearer, more articulate vocal. The LE85 sounds more muffled, though everything appears to all work fine. This may be real (I believe that the the 175 may be a slightly newer design) or because the LE85 horn is not located in line with the woofer and tweeter as the LE175 is. When I turn the 075 off, the LE175 does seem to have a littler more upper frequency extension/articulation than the LE85. (I expected just the opposite and was going to trade them, but see no reason for that now.)

The LE15As show they were reconed by OCS on Dec. 5, '94.

Still, not too bad for $400/pr.

[edgewound]

I picked them up today and opened one up. :) Sorry Subwoofer you didn't win. :( Components include the standard S7 load of an LE15A, LE85, HL91, and LX-5.

Interesting that they don't sound as good as my usual setup (2205 reconed as 2235, LE175/HL91, 075, custom made 800Hz/7,500 Hz in L200A cabinets..., which I could understand.

However, when I switch wires such that the LE175 in the L200 cabinet is replaced by the LE85 in the C50 cabinet (either one run off the 800 Hz crossover in the L200 cabinets), the LE175 has a clearer, more articulate vocal. The LE85 sounds more muffled, though everything appears to all work fine. This may be real (I believe that the the 175 may be a slightly newer design) or because the LE85 horn is not located in line with the woofer and tweeter as the LE175 is. When I turn the 075 off, the LE175 does seem to have a littler more upper frequency extension/articulation than the LE85. (I expected just the opposite and was going to trade them, but see no reason for that now.)

The LE15As show they were reconed by OCS on Dec. 5, '94.

Still, not too bad for $400/pr.

My experience has just been the opposite with LE85 and LE175...could be the magnet could use a recharge, or maybe the crossover could use a refresher.

[toddalin]

My experience has just been the opposite with LE85 and LE175...could be the magnet could use a recharge, or maybe the crossover could use a refresher.

I expected as much also.

Both were through the same 800Hz/7,500 Hz crossovers that I had previously built (Perfect Wind coils/Solen Caps/Theta By-pass caps/Mills resistors) and were discussed here ad nauseum.

[Zilch]

As with all such acquisitions, you'll want to measure the LE85s, and refurbish as necessary.

I've previously posted RTA response curves for LE85 and LE175 (in the "Keeper" thread, as I recall).

Generally, LE175:LE85::2418H-1:2426H

If the red seals are intact and they aren't up to snuff, sell them and buy some trashed ones to refurbish, two for one, very likely....

[Thom]

I never thought the 85 crossed at 500 with that short horn very happily, still you stole them. I had a friend who had a K140 instead of an LE15 and crossed about 1200 sounded pretty good. A longer horn will make that driver happier at 500 but I think it's always hard to match horns to the LE15 except at concert levels and then it cant be beat. The LE85 is a much newer design than the 175, The whol LE (linear efficiency) series were an after thought the 175 is a desighn brought over from Altec. I don't Know if that makes it better or worse it just is. If you want an expensive system that is hard to make sound right at low to medium levels play with an S8. I had a friend with a Parigon who added 6 feet and a passive radiater behind each woofer. it sounded pretty good. That speaker is held in such reverence because so few people have heard it. It origonaly cam with 150's and then they switchedit to LE15's without changing anything else. I have a woofer maybe someone could identify. I used to have 2 in a 4520 cabinet but one got away. It came out of a theatre and was part of an ampex sound system. The frame is a D130 but with out an O ring groove on the back and with a metal ring on the front of the frame that makes it about 3/8 inch deeper. The magnet assy is a 375 and one actually had 4 drilled and tapped holes as if it was going to be a 375 and they grabbed it for this woofer. The dust cap is an inverted cone and there are three paper rings running around the outside for stiffening, obviously hand glued. I believe it must be closer to a 150c than anything else but the 27 lb magnet assy sort of sets it apart. The hole that would have gone to the throat is stuffed. Any one else ever seen one of these?