C60 Sovereign S7R, S8R owners out there?

[Brad Anbro]

I would like to get in touch with others who own (and use) JBL Sovereign
speaker systems with either the S7R or S8R (or whatever) driver pack-
ages installed.

I own a pair of JBL C60 speaker systems (and the matching equipment
cabinet). They are the darker oak finish, which I think was the "Golden
Oak" finish. Evidently, when these speaker systems were purchased
new, they were bought in "kit form," meaning that the cabinets were
purchased and the various chosen drivers were installed in them.

When I first bought these systems (used) in 1980, they had the LE14,
LE175 and the 075 drivers installed, along with the lower-power cross-
over networks. One of the LE14 drivers developed a rubbing voice coil
so I retired them and replaced them with JBL Pro 2235H 15" L.F. units.
I also replaced the cross-over networks with higher-power JBL Pro units.

I went with the JBL Pro components because I found a JBL Pro dealer
in the Chicago area that was willing to sell the components for what I
thought were very good prices. I am now condidering upgrading the
mid-range drivers to something on the order of 375s, 2240 or 2241
drivers.

I am 57 years old and an industrial electrician by trade. I also own a
pair of L100s, which I bought new in 1974. My musical tastes range
from older Classical (hard) Rock, Classical pipe organ music and contem-
porary or theatre-type pipe organ music. I use a Crown DC-300A and
a Crown IC-150 as the power & pre-amp for operating the systems.

I would very much appreciate hearing from other Sovereign owners
and what they might have to say about their systems.

Long live JBL...

Brad Anbro
Roscoe (Rockford), IL

[John W]

Hi Brad,

I recently picked up a pair of Sovereign S8R cabinets from a local sale and am in the process of “restoring” them. At some point in the past everything but the cabinets, grills and passive radiators were removed and sold by a previous owner. Unfortunately the reason the remaining parts were not also cashed in was pretty obvious. The cabinet finish was dark greenish brown and flaking off in various places. A cat used the grills to sharpen it’s claws and when the cat wore through the grill fabric it went happily on to the cones of the passive radiators and scratched holes in one of them too.

Right now I don’t plan on buying 375s, LE15s, or 075s for that matter. Original crossovers are probably out too. They will never be pristine, so my goal is to make them sound as good as possible without paying a “collectors” premium for parts.

Here is what they consist of so far:

• 2440 mid drivers on some replica horns and lenses
• 076 tweeters
• Re-coned radiators
• Re-coned woofers on E130 motors
• Active crossover between the woofer and mid @800hz with some 40uf capacitors to protect the drivers
• The upper part of this crossover for the tweeters:

o http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=130246&postcount=36

They sound pretty good, but are still a work in progress.

I’ve been looking hard for some suitable fabric to try and recreate the pleated grills and am also looking for a pair of H93 horns. If anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear them.

[yggdrasil]

I have a pair of S8R's. When I fired them up for the first time 3 years ago I was rather disappointed. They played simple material quite ok, but any complications resulted in very blurred details.

After a year or so I changed the poweramp with marginal effect. Then I tried 3 different preamps (simple Nelson Pass designs) I was working on and the results was simply shocking. I also tried switching in a Pass inspired power amp with similar results. I have tried all these amps with my 4-ways with similar results but not as huge differences.

The crossovers need to be completely redone with regards to this configuration. The crossover between woofer and 375 need some special attention. It might need to be moved and I am considering active.

John: Since your speakers won't be original, I would look into other horns than the H93/L91 combo(it is not an especially attractive combination).

[Beowulf57]

I have a pair of S8R's. When I fired them up for the first time 3 years ago I was rather disappointed. They played simple material quite ok, but any complications resulted in very blurred details.

After a year or so I changed the poweramp with marginal effect. Then I tried 3 different preamps (simple Nelson Pass designs) I was working on and the results was simply shocking. I also tried switching in a Pass inspired power amp with similar results. I have tried all these amps with my 4-ways with similar results but not as huge differences.

The crossovers need to be completely redone with regards to this configuration. The crossover between woofer and 375 need some special attention. It might need to be moved and I am considering active.

John: Since your speakers won't be original, I would look into other horns than the H93/L91 combo(it is not an especially attractive combination).

I have a question re: the S8R crossover (LX5): was the connection to the 375 polarity reversed relative to the woofer?

[yggdrasil]

I noted the color coding when I started restoring the speakers:

N7000
1: Green
2: Black
3: Black
4: Red

LX5
1: Green
2: Black
3: Red
4: Black

Hope this helps.

[Beowulf57]

I noted the color coding when I started restoring the speakers:

N7000
1: Green
2: Black
3: Black
4: Red

LX5
1: Green
2: Black
3: Red
4: Black

Hope this helps.


Thank you very much...yes it does. The polarity to the 375 is reversed. I have been using an LX5 for 20+ years with an LE85/HL91 with the polarity to the HF section reversed. This was based upon a JBL Network Service Bulletin (6-74). I recently changed the connection so both the LF and HF connections were the same polarity and the sound improved markedly: the lower midrange "suckout" disappeared and the presentation was richer, more coherent and more delineated. As it seems now, that bulletin referred to the use of the LX5 in the S8R with the 375 and the shorter HL93 horn and not to the use of the LX5 with the LE85/HL91!

[Caledon Ken]

Good day.

I'm new to this forum and in searching for information on restoring I came across this thread. My post on restoring is within that thread.

I have a pair of Sovereign C60's, S8R's, serial Number 10892, and 10893. They are in working condition but need to be restored. I live outside of Toronto Canada. The units have been in the "Family" since they were purchased.

Not sure what I'm going to do with them, restore and just leave alone. I'd like to eventually restore them, we will see. Last time I had thoughts on restoring it was 2003. My how quickly time passes.

[Maron Horonzakz]

It wont get done collecting dust...

[Caledon Ken]

How true but it keeps the expenditures to a minimum. From the other thread parts may not be available so the decision on what to do will be quick.

The real investigation begins.