JBL Minigon Question

[yesterdaze]

I acquired the Minigons from an elderly, local man. He says these were two of the original Minigons production line and that Mr. Lansing built these in his garage in 1958...

These looked great, so I brought them home knowing I would have to re-foam the woofers. I was surprised to discover the LE8T full range drivers in the cabinet, rather than the 10" woofers. Were not all of the Minigons populated with the 10" woofer driver? It seems the normal 10 inch woofers were professionally replaced with the LE8T. Can you speculate why someone would remove the 10" woofer in favor of the LE8T driver? Is this an upgrade?

[Maron Horonzakz]

My publicationSC509 shows that it could be ordered with the LE8 or the LE10A I dought they were made in Lansings garage..

[John W]

Hi yesterdaze, welcome to forum.

You can find some scans of sales catalogs in the Library section. This page from the 1962 catalog shows a couple configurations for the Minigon

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/catalogs/1962/page20-21.jpg

Are the surrounds cracked or just stiff and hard?

[BMWCCA]

I acquired the Minigons from an elderly, local man. He says these were two of the original Minigons production line and that Mr. Lansing built these in his garage in 1958...

Pretty easy to confirm. Let's start with some basic facts:

° James B. Lansing: born 1902. died 1949

Need we go any further? ;)

[yesterdaze]

The surrounds are gone. Not stiff, hard, or cracked, but rather flaked off and fallen off the driver

[HCSGuy]

In this era, you could purchase most JBL Enclosures with several driver loadings, depending on your budget, or buy the drivers and use their guide to build your own enclosure. The important thing was that you bought their drivers - hell, wasn't the Hartsfield available with a LE8t?

Regarding the claim that they were built by Jim Lansing in his garage, pure ignorance. As BMWCCA pointed out, Mr. Lansing committed suicide in 1949, before any of the products JBL is famous for came out. It was under his successor, Bill Thomas, that the Hartsfield came out and made the company well known. After the Paragon, then its less expensive siblings, the Metrogon then the Minigons. So by the time your speakers were made, JBL was an established corporation. -sorry.

However, don't go messing with the ones you've got - get the drivers to member Edgewound or post for a good reconer in your area for advice - they may be refoamable, or you may have to haunt Ebay for a clean pair of replacements or recone kits (don't know if they're still available). This speaker is known for being a collectible, not for its sound quality - a pristine pair in teak, with the LE30/LE10A are worth about $2k. Even then, the LE30 is known as one of the worst sounding tweeters JBL made and didn't survive long. Other than bass, the speakers may actually sound better with a restored LE8t.

Post some pictures, let us see what you scored!

[Maron Horonzakz]

I remember hearing the Minigon with the LE8,,and later with the LE10/30...I thought the LE10 version was a totel failure...What were they(JBL) smokeing???

[yesterdaze]

Here are th pics. These make the cabinets look old & Ugly. They really look much better in person.

[hjames]

Well, they look like a big fun collectable ... congrats!

[grumpy]

Note that someone poked some 077 tweeters in there as well...

Apparently these units have some 'history'. It would be interesting
(sort of) to see the backside of the units and how the tweeters
were mounted (LE30 mount, modified?) and wired up.

[yesterdaze]

Hello Grumpy. Just got back from the Pizza Parlor. Here are photos of the crossover and tweeter mounting. You believe there is some history with the speaker system. What do these pics tell us? Is the 077 a better tweeter then the LE-30?

[grumpy]

When I say 'history', I mean a journey/story. Not a place in history.

The unit appears to have originally been an LE10/LE30 model that has been
retrofitted with a non-standard component set, but still a JBL-complement,
including the crossover ... which may be something like a 3105 network.
My -guess- is that someone indeed cobbled this pair of speakers together in
their garage... Just not Mr. Lansing. Interesting pair, but I hope the cost was
commensurate with the value of the drivers and tough, but collectible cabs.

077's (2405 with an acrylic wedge), appear to have been available starting in
the mid-seventies. I'd expect the Mingons to have more value with the stock
drivers.

[Robh3606]

The 077's seam odd but the original adaptor plate for the LE-8 is there? It looks like it was originally an LE8 based system.

Rob:)

[yesterdaze]

I agree. The adaptor suggest this was originally set up for the LE8T driver. Still is the 077 a better tweeter then the LE-30?

Rob, what makes the 077 odd?

[HCSGuy]

the 077 is a newer generation tweeter, having not come out until the Minigons were gone. Also, they're really more of a UHF Driver than a tweeter, as they sound best crossed over above 8k. This works with the LE8t, but wouldn't with the LE10a. The LE30 or 075 can be used down to 2.5k or so (don't know what crossover the LX3-1 divides at) and is more appropriate for a 2-way.

[HCSGuy]

Is the 077 better than an LE-30? Absolutely. Pristine LE-30's, with no dents (rare) go for $500 or so to people who will put them on shelves and look at them. 077 (or the 2405 pro equivalent) were used in many speakers, including all the large format studio monitors through the 70's and early 80's (43xx and 44xx). Provided it is used as a UHF driver, it is still a relevant driver for high efficiency uses. They are still worth 400-500 in great condition.

[Harvey Gerst]

In this era, you could purchase most JBL Enclosures with several driver loadings, depending on your budget, or buy the drivers and use their guide to build your own enclosure. The important thing was that you bought their drivers - hell, wasn't the Hartsfield available with a LE8t?

Regarding the claim that they were built by Jim Lansing in his garage, pure ignorance. As BMWCCA pointed out, Mr. Lansing committed suicide in 1949, before any of the products JBL is famous for came out. It was under his successor, Bill Thomas, that the Hartsfield came out and made the company well known. After the Paragon, then its less expensive siblings, the Metrogon then the Minigons. So by the time your speakers were made, JBL was an established corporation. -sorry.

However, don't go messing with the ones you've got - get the drivers to member Edgewound or post for a good reconer in your area for advice - they may be refoamable, or you may have to haunt Ebay for a clean pair of replacements or recone kits (don't know if they're still available). This speaker is known for being a collectible, not for its sound quality - a pristine pair in teak, with the LE30/LE10A are worth about $2k. Even then, the LE30 is known as one of the worst sounding tweeters JBL made and didn't survive long. Other than bass, the speakers may actually sound better with a restored LE8t.

Post some pictures, let us see what you scored!
The Hartsfield could be purchased with a JBL D208. AFAIK, it was never made with an LE8T. At least, none ever left the factory like that.

The Minigons were all produced when we were on Casitas Ave.

[HCSGuy]

Thanks for the correction Harvey, nice to read you again!

[L200B]

The 077's seam odd but the original adaptor plate for the LE-8 is there? It looks like it was originally an LE8 based system.

Rob:)

The adaptor plate is used with the LE10. I believe the actual construction of the cabinet is different in LE8 models.