Paragon Woofer Alternatives

[jcdahl]

Well folks, I am getting ready to rebuild another Paragon. This time it will wind up either in Rosewood or Black "Piano" Ebony. Now what woofers to use? My choices are:

1) Recone a pair of LE-15's,

2) buy and install a pair of used 2225's, or

3) buy and install a pair of used 2235's

What do you all think about this?

[Mr. Widget]

I would go rosewood or real macassar ebony.

How about another woofer choice? The JBL K145. It isn't the same, but it is somewhat similar to the 150-4C.

You might PM oldmics to rattle his cage. He has quite a bit of Paragon experience.

Widget

[Maron Horonzakz]

I have seen only one rosewood Paragon from the JBL factory. It resides in ST Louis in all its glory. Ive heard both the 150-4 and the LE-15 in the Paragon. I liked the LE15 the best. The 2235 would be interesting. If you have them try them. some adjustment in xover might be needed.

[GordonW]

I used to have a pair of rosewood finish C36 Viscounts... and boy, I can just imagine how GORGEOUS a whole Paragon would be with that lovely wood on it...

And yet another alternative woofer suggestion- why not a 2234? Basically, a 2225/2231/2235 frame, reconed with a 2235 kit, but WITHOUT the mass ring installed. This should give parameters that are more likened to the LE15, but with higher excursion capacity and cleaner bass. And, if you later want to make them into 2235s... all you have to do is order a pair of the 2235 dustcaps, cut off the old caps, install the mass ring, and put on the new caps... relatively instant 2235...

Regards,
Gordon.

[jcdahl]

I have the LE15s but I thought I might try to aquire a pair of the 22xx series instead of having the LE's reconed. They are in pretty bad shape.


I am leaning towards the Rosewood myself.


Maron, Do you know whow owns the one in St Louis. I would like to see a pic of it.

[Maron Horonzakz]

I havent seen Harvy for about a year now. Im sure he still has the Paragon. He used to own a audio store. When I get down to St louis Ill try to get a picture. A rosewood Paragon Is rare & a photo on this site would be nice to see. I wonder if Audiobeer or one of the other St louis guys remembers Harvy Bender & his place Hi Fi West.

[rpstephen]

I have finally gotten around to installing my 2234 woofers in the paragon. Result is much improved bass: deeper & better defined, much less wooly. My furniture rattles on the SACD "The MAgic Box". That annoying rumble on Telarc SACD Sibelius symphony #2 turns out to be a poorly recorded tympani. Downside: The sound stage became 2-dimensional. I suspect crossover problems. The 2234 efficiency seems to be fairly close to the LE-15a possibly making it a better choice than the 2235. I would like to redo the crossover. Is there an xover that JBL used the with the 375 & 2234/2235 that could be used as a model? I think JBL never went with the 2234/2235 in the paragon because they would have had to redesign an "off the shelf" xover. Not likely on an extremely low volume money losing product. I would rather have the paragon with the le-15a if I can't get the xovers modified, since I miss the paragon in 3-d. But I would not be happy now that I have heard better bass.:)

[jcdahl]

Are you sure your 2D soundstage problem isn't merely a reversed speaker polarity?

[Mr. Widget]

Originally posted by jcdahl
Are you sure your 2D soundstage problem isn't merely a reversed speaker polarity?

That is a good call. I would double check all wires. The LX5 crossover is certainly not specially tailored for the Paragon's stereo image. It is a straight up second order affair. Here is the schematic.

http://www.jblproservice.com/pdf/Network%20Schematics/3115%20Network.pdf

The nominal 8 ohm impedance of the 2234 vs the 10-12 ohm nominal impedance of the LE15A will affect the crossover point but I doubt it would have any affect on the stereo image.

Widget

[rpstephen]

I think 2234 may be crossing over higher causing some interference effects with the 375s. I also noticed a bit of lower mid range roughness. I have played around with the crossover wires & not noticed much difference with phasing. Still a 2-d soundstage. But I will recheck again. Thanks :)

[Micha748]

I would go rosewood or real macassar ebony.

How about another woofer choice? The JBL K145. It isn't the same, but it is somewhat similar to the 150-4C.

You might PM oldmics to rattle his cage. He has quite a bit of Paragon experience.

Widget

For sure the K145s are the best choice. The cone is similar to the old 150-4c (thinner for better midrange), but the magnet is same as LE-15a or b.
The magnet is double size and construction is from "Linear Efficiency", best ever...
Problem could be the basket, because this is a lot thicker than LE-15.
I have K145 at home, but never tried it on my Paragons, -
just because the problem is another one...:

The problem is more the midrange, I would say from 300Hz up tp 1200Hz, because the horn is to small.
Has somebody done any changes and got it better?