Help, Upgrade Woofers On L200

[Iconic]

PLEASE ANYONE, I OWN A PR OF JBL L200 ( MINT ) AND SURELY NEED TO UPGRADE THE BOTTOM END...WHAT'S THE BEST WAY (WOOFER) TO DO IT WITH? 2235...2225...??DO I NEED TO TUNE THE CABS AS WELL?
tHANKS
ICONIC

[boputnam]

Why do the LF's need "upgrading"...? They should be quite stunner, as designed.

I wonder, though, you say "MINT" - depending upon which L200 you've got, the LF's might have foam surrounds (L200B). Are they, and if so, does "Mint" mean they have the original surrounds?

Alternatively, if all is good, and you ain't pleased, you should leave these as-is, IMO, and consider a subwoofer.

[Robh3606]

Well it either a 2216 or a 2231. The 2216 is gonna be boomy. The 2231 should be a keeper. 2231 has a foam surrounds L200B

Rob:)

[Iconic]

Originally posted by boputnam
Why do the LF's need "upgrading"...? They should be quite stunner, as designed.

I wonder, though, you say "MINT" - depending upon which L200 you've got, the LF's might have foam surrounds (L200B). Are they, and if so, does "Mint" mean they have the original surrounds?

Alternatively, if all is good, and you ain't pleased, you should leave these as-is, IMO, and consider a subwoofer.

yeah you're right....they sound just fine with my V.A.C. PA100/100
but I'm curious to know, are the woofers suppose to have accordion surrounds?...look at pictures.
another thought was to use a pr of Altec 19 bottoms (cabs) from a pr of 19's that I have and go 4-way with my 077's ...any thoughts about it?.....I'm not too happy with the altec 19's (in my oppinion) side by side they don't sing like the L200's do!
Iconic

[Mr. Widget]

Based on that woofer photo you have the original L-200s with the LE15B woofers. Your speakers could be improved quite a bit with a few changes.

The best woofer for the job is the 2235H which replaced the 2231 as used in the L-200B. Unfortunately you will have to change the crossovers and ideally the cabinet tuning. Your woofers are nominally 4 ohms and the 2235Hs are 8 ohms.

I would also consider adding the 2405/077 super tweeter. The LE-85 doesn't quite have the HF extension that I like.

Here are images of the L200B and the L300 crossover schematics Giskard had posted. I got them from this thread:

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1465

[boputnam]

Yea, Iconic, those accordion surrounds are factory on those LF's. Widget has posted a good thought - maybe give that a try, searching eBay for the networks if you're not up to fab'ing them...

:idea: Then again, you may be able to get by with just swapping-in the 2235's for a start. Wouldn't hurt a thing...

[Robh3606]

Yep those are 2216's. Stock woofers. Like Bo's says a 2235 would be your best bet. Probably have to tweek the cabinet tunning a bit. Can you measure the port diameters and lengths. Then the internal volume so we can get a ballpark of what the box is tunned at?? I think the L200B had one port. You may be able to block one if we can get the port dimensions on either an L300 or an L200B. Any one have port size diameter and lenght on the L300??

Rob:)

[Iconic]

Thanks Mr widjet, boputnam,robh3606!!, I've dismounted the LE15b and took this picture...the ports measure about 7-1/8" long x 4" in diam: both exactly the same. I didn't measure the total inside dimm: but I would if needed.
I'll be calling JBL pro to see if I can get the 2235H's....I've also been scanning ebay for take offs to no avail. thanks for all your help....you guys are top-notch!........now I'm hooked again!
regards
Iconic

[Iconic]

sorry picture didn't load up.....what happened???

[Alex Lancaster]

AFAIK, the L200´s xover at 1200Hz, I don´t know about the L200B´s; If the same, it is way too high for a 2235H, even a little too much for a 2234H.

[Robh3606]

The 200B is set up with an 800hz crossover. Should be fine with a 2235. Agree that 1.2K is not a good idea. Can you give us the inside dimensions so we can calculate internal volume??

Rob:)

[Mr. Widget]

Since the L-200 (as opposed to the L-200B) was designed for the nominally 4 ohm LE-15B, using an 8 ohm woofer will change the woofer crossover frequency and slope from a 2nd order butterworth to a Franken order while the LE-85 will still be crossed over at 1200Hz. You may like it though. You certainly won't hurt anything by swapping woofers.

The L-200 cab is about 5 cu ft. I believe the 4" tubes are slightly over 4". In any event plugging one will give you a tuning that is a bit lower than ideal and using both will give you a pronounced bass bump and decrease VLF output. A pair of tubes that are 4" dia. and approximately 11" long will give you the recommended tuning for the 2235.

Widget

[Figge]

also try turning the HF lenses 180 degrees clockwise. i see in the picture that their upsidedown.