JBL L36 restore

[Chris Brown]

I bought these on craigslist for $40 a few years ago, but the original owner had replaced the woofers with car subs so I just kept them in storage until I could find replacement woofers.

I finally found a pair of 125a drivers at a reasonable price, and bought a refoam kit also. I've refoamed speakers before but never a JBL (had my L150's done professionally and my L100T's where already refoamed when I bought them) and I've heard a lot about how the voice coil gaps are tighter. I'm going to remove the dust cap and use shims, also a little worried about possibly cutting the cone as i remove the dust cap since it's inverted, seems like it will be trickier.

The other big issue is going to be the port tubes inside. Retardus Supremus had to butcher them in order to make room for the big subwoofer magnets on the infinity subs. Not sure what the original ports looked like or what my best bet would be as far as fixing them.

Finally, I've noticed a few differences between the two that has me raising an eyebrow. For one, the insulation in one is considerably blackened compared to the other. What would cause that, smoke? Also, even though they are both cut, the port tubes on the inside of the speakers appear to be completely different. One port tube is made of what looks like compressed cardboard and achieves it's 90 degree bend via 3 separate segments that have been glued together. The other port tube is made up of what looks like plastic and is one single piece with a molded 90 degree bend in it, like you would expect with PVC pipe, etc. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be the same. The last thing is that one has a serial number while the other doesn't have any serial number at all (Just blank where it should be listed). Is it normal for only one speaker in a pair to have a serial number?

You can see from the pics that one of the dust caps on one of the tweeters has been pushed in. Both of the dust caps on the mids are dented, one with minor dents, the other with a larger dent where someone used a safety pin or something to poke through the dust cap and try to lift it up again - with less than stellar results. Thankfully they all seem to work fine, so once I get the 125a's in there the speaker will at least be functional on a usable level. The grills are in excellent shape at least.

http://gotnorice.dnsdojo.com/DSC05549a.jpg

http://gotnorice.dnsdojo.com/DSC05551a.jpg

http://gotnorice.dnsdojo.com/DSC05555a.jpg

http://gotnorice.dnsdojo.com/DSC05557a.jpg

[Triumph Don]

Only refoam kits I've used never needed shims. Don't worry about the port tubes or dirt, it's just internal patina! After you get the correct woofers installed, have your wife switch the speakers so you can hear the different port tube length. Then go to KMart buy some PVC and bring them back!

[brutal]

I bought these on craigslist for $40 a few years ago, but the original owner had replaced the woofers with car subs so I just kept them in storage until I could find replacement woofers.

I finally found a pair of 125a drivers at a reasonable price, and bought a refoam kit also. I've refoamed speakers before but never a JBL (had my L150's done professionally and my L100T's where already refoamed when I bought them) and I've heard a lot about how the voice coil gaps are tighter. I'm going to remove the dust cap and use shims, also a little worried about possibly cutting the cone as i remove the dust cap since it's inverted, seems like it will be trickier.

The other big issue is going to be the port tubes inside. Retardus Supremus had to butcher them in order to make room for the big subwoofer magnets on the infinity subs. Not sure what the original ports looked like or what my best bet would be as far as fixing them.

Finally, I've noticed a few differences between the two that has me raising an eyebrow. For one, the insulation in one is considerably blackened compared to the other. What would cause that, smoke? Also, even though they are both cut, the port tubes on the inside of the speakers appear to be completely different. One port tube is made of what looks like compressed cardboard and achieves it's 90 degree bend via 3 separate segments that have been glued together. The other port tube is made up of what looks like plastic and is one single piece with a molded 90 degree bend in it, like you would expect with PVC pipe, etc. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be the same. The last thing is that one has a serial number while the other doesn't have any serial number at all (Just blank where it should be listed). Is it normal for only one speaker in a pair to have a serial number?

You can see from the pics that one of the dust caps on one of the tweeters has been pushed in. Both of the dust caps on the mids are dented, one with minor dents, the other with a larger dent where someone used a safety pin or something to poke through the dust cap and try to lift it up again - with less than stellar results. Thankfully they all seem to work fine, so once I get the 125a's in there the speaker will at least be functional on a usable level. The grills are in excellent shape at least.



black = overspray

that is all.

[Audiobeer]

I might have a scoop for you, can you give me the dimensions of yours?