Paul Joppa
06-04-2004, 04:57 PM
I posted this on the newly revised "single driver" forum, but I think there may be little overlap so I am repeating it here. Hope that's OK.
I had some LE8Ts re-coned, so I am posting my experience in case others are in need of this. I just picked them up today.
I had heard that the recone kits are often not available, or "on back order" for extended periods. But when I emailed JBL about a month ago, they had just made up 30 kits. I assume many of them are still available.
An LE8T frame can also be reconed as a 2115, which is a little more efficient but not quite so flat. (The D208, which is even more efficient and even less flat, is on a different frame.) Since I had four frames, I had a pair done in each version. It may be some time before they are all mounted and broken in, but I'll report on what I hear eventually.
The problem is that the foam surround on old drivers gets the foam rot. The surround is not available separately, so you have to spring for the whole kit - cone, dome, voice coil, etc. - it runs about $200, installed. The surround is an unusual size, and as far as I have been able to learn there is only one non-JBL foam kit that fits. It is widely sold by reputable shops, but it is far too stiff for this speaker. Caveat emptor! A friend used it, and found the resonance frequency was twice the spec value after extensive breakin - over 80Hz. IIRC it was over 100Hz initially. My newly coned drivers are 57Hz, with zero breakin, so I have reasonable hope that they will meet the 45Hz spec after they "meet the music" for a few hundred hours.
I had some LE8Ts re-coned, so I am posting my experience in case others are in need of this. I just picked them up today.
I had heard that the recone kits are often not available, or "on back order" for extended periods. But when I emailed JBL about a month ago, they had just made up 30 kits. I assume many of them are still available.
An LE8T frame can also be reconed as a 2115, which is a little more efficient but not quite so flat. (The D208, which is even more efficient and even less flat, is on a different frame.) Since I had four frames, I had a pair done in each version. It may be some time before they are all mounted and broken in, but I'll report on what I hear eventually.
The problem is that the foam surround on old drivers gets the foam rot. The surround is not available separately, so you have to spring for the whole kit - cone, dome, voice coil, etc. - it runs about $200, installed. The surround is an unusual size, and as far as I have been able to learn there is only one non-JBL foam kit that fits. It is widely sold by reputable shops, but it is far too stiff for this speaker. Caveat emptor! A friend used it, and found the resonance frequency was twice the spec value after extensive breakin - over 80Hz. IIRC it was over 100Hz initially. My newly coned drivers are 57Hz, with zero breakin, so I have reasonable hope that they will meet the 45Hz spec after they "meet the music" for a few hundred hours.