LE8's

[Zilch]

Were these ever called LE8's? They're 208's no?

Or is LE8T only the one we know and love?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38074&item=3736046064&rd=1

[boputnam]

Sure look like D208's...

But dang, if he didn't get the polarity right! :thmbsup:

Maybe he is reading the back labels right, too... :hmm: But every LE8 I've messed with (except the "2") has white aquaplas on the face...

[speakerdave]

Originally posted by boputnam
But every LE8 I've messed with (except the "2") has white aquaplas on the face...

Yeah. And a different magnet and basket. Those are D208/216's.

David

[Zilch]

Even zoomed and enhanced, I can't read the foils.

Somebody's messed there, apparently....

I don't think they ever made LE8's without foam surrounds, either.

Not even the "Whizzer" ones....


Now, help me tune my 4625's. :p Hee, hee.....

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2731

[Paul Joppa]

There are three, actually, that I know of.

The D208 goes way back. I have a pair, and "punchy" is the word. Like the D130 and others of that ilk, response rises smoothly but fairly steeply (2-3dB per octave), in this case to a little over 2kHz; then it drops back maybe 10dB and is flat though ragged up to 12-15kHz. Sensitivity around 95dB in the bass, less in the treble, higher in the midrange. The coolest thing (and I'd love to hear one if any still exist!) was its use on the Hartsfield. It radiated out the front, with a curved extension connecting the back side to the horn. The wavy-plate lens was retained, so you could not tell from the outside that this was a single 8". Parahrasing the faux-cowboy saying, "all box, no speaker"!

The LE8 has a pretty long history; IIRC there is an old version with black cone. The LE8-T was a major revision, white cone with damping treatment, surprisingly flat response. Something like 89dB sensitivity. The LE8T-H is the ceramic magnet version; the kit is still available but I don't know about the speaker. It has a different frame, clipped on four sides so it looks almost octagonal. The foam surround is a nonstandard size, the only one available in the aftermarket is way too stiff (doubles the resonance frequency!) and JBL sells it only in the complete kit.

There is a pro 2115, built on the LE8T frame but with a black cone of significantly less mass, sensitivity about 92dB. It has a rising response, but much less than the D208, giving maybe 3dB more sensitivity in the 1kHz-2.5kHz range and otherwise flat over most of the audio range. This kit still exists; I had a couple LE8Ts reconed as 2115s recently.

[boputnam]

Originally posted by Paul Joppa
IIRC there is an old version with black cone. :yes:

Good memory. That LE8T-2 is quite different from the LE8-t. We went around on this some time back...

http://audioheritage.csdco.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86&highlight=aquarius

[Paul Joppa]

Thanks for the link; I missed that thread the first time. It makes sense that there would be a consumer labeled version of the 2115.

But I was thinking there was something older than the Aquarius, and went looking in the catalogs. Is this site's library a great resource, or what!? Here is the one I remembered; I have a dim memory that someone posted about it several months ago:

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1962/page08-09.jpg

This shows a LE8 from the 1962 catalog, which apparently introduces the "new" LE series in a separate section. The picture is a little blurry, but appears to me to show a black cone with a large whizzer cone, and an aluminum center dome.

Only two years later, in the 1964 catalog:

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1964/page13.jpg

there is an LE8T with no whizzer, and a white cone.

In the 1969 catalog:

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1969-home/page22.jpg

there is a D280, which appears to be a D208 with a white cone, supposedly "water resistant".

The 2115 appears in the 71 Pro catalog.

All of these have a white surround - didn't someone post a while back about this white plastic/rubber stuff getting stiff and cracking? My LE8Ts - I don't know when they were manufactured - had rotted dark gray surrounds when I got them, and the current kits have what appears to be the same. The dark surround first appears in the 1974 pro catalog on the 2115, though the 74 home catalog shows an LE8T with white surround.

In the 1979 components catalog, there is the LE8T-H, which I assume is the ceramic magnet version. I suppose that dates mine to between 74 and 79.

So .. all these appear to be different 8" fullrange speakers:

D208/2110
D280
LE8
LE8T
LE8T-2/2115
LE8T-H

I haven't even tried to figure out the 8" midranges ... :)

[Zilch]

The seller, an apparent upstanding guy, revised his cool tweed box auction to correct the error after receiving a link to this thread.


"This has been a public service message."

Thanks, Gary. :)

[boputnam]

Originally posted by Paul Joppa
...All of these have a white surround - didn't someone post a while back about this white plastic/rubber stuff getting stiff and cracking? Who, Paul - nice bit of archivery!

And, you must be referring to Sir Lansaloy!

Search on Lansaloy (http://audioheritage.csdco.com/vbulletin/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=79809&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending)