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droh
08-27-2004, 08:24 PM
Like a lot of folks here my love of JBL is genetic - my Dad had them in the early 60's and I've loved the sound for decades. But I've also been very intrigued by the LOOK of JBL. There are some outstanding designs in the stable - The Paragon of course, the infamous L100 and the daring Aquarius series.

I'm finishing up the restoration of a pair of L100 - watching the progress of the raffle pair inspired me to get going. And I am just now embarking on a project to restore a pair of Aquarius IVs recently acquired on ebay. I'm attaching a "before" pic here, you'll see they are in very sad shape. If there is any interest I'd be happy to add more pics to this thread as I proceed.

Audiobeer
08-27-2004, 09:04 PM
Absolutely! I"d love seeing these restored!

droh
09-03-2004, 12:10 PM
Okay I've started working on this renovation. Everything is disassembled and I've collected some additional parts. The photo on the left shows the drivers that came with this pair. Tweeters are in okay shape just have some smashed domes. One woofer is missing and the other is severly damaged, it's completely dead. I won some other ebay auctions and scored some additional drivers, the whole collection is shown on the right. The additional LE20 which I don't think I'll actually need and a single LE8T-2 which was intended to replace the missing driver. I then found another auction for a pair of LE8T-2s, this pair in the center of the pic is what I think I'll end up using.

droh
09-03-2004, 12:15 PM
Maybe the most intriguing parts of the Aquarius speakers are the various pieces that serve to create the dispersed sound. Pictured on the left is the piece that sits above the LE8T-2 (it's upside down in this pic) On the right is the piece that disperses the sound from the tweeter. This is mounted in front of the tweeter and at a 90 degree angle to the woofer.

Figge
09-03-2004, 12:19 PM
bring out the brake-fluid and get started!:)

i think those could be really nice speakers when your done!:yes:

Figge
09-03-2004, 12:28 PM
Originally posted by droh
If there is any interest I'd be happy to add more pics to this thread as I proceed.


ofcourse were all intrested. after all were jbl nuts!

id love to see those bangedup jbls get back in shape.

droh
09-03-2004, 02:01 PM
I think the new pair of LE8T-2s are beyond the brake fluid fix. One cone was "repaired" in many places with some kind of glue, but now thw whole mess is hard as a rock from glue and stiff lansaloy. The other hasn't had any "repairs" but has a number of cracks and even some missing pieces. So I bought some new surrounds from Rick and that's another phase for this project.

On the other hand, the single LE8T-2 that I got is in amazing shape. The lansaloy is actually pretty pliable and still perfectly shaped. It's not quite as soft as a new surround but darn close. It shows only a little cracking at the point it attaches to the frame. That one I think can still be saved. I have no idea how it has survived all this time. It actually sounds pretty darn good.

Here's a closeup of the pair of drivers that shows the shape the lansaloys are in.

droh
09-20-2004, 12:41 PM
It's been a while but I am making some steady progress on the restoration effort. I started at the bottom - where the most damage could be found. The bottom of these towers have just some cheap glides to protect the particle board. I've seen and heard a lot about these bases taking a beating. My pair sure did. One of the speakers has some significant water damage causing not only crumbling of the base but also some swelling of the sides and some corner separation. There isn't really a base per se, it's really just the sides of the cabinet coming down with a little routed out reveal at the bottom. So the solution was to do a pretty massive routing out of the whole base area and them gluing in a new base. Here's a before, during and after shot of how that went. As you can see I've also repaired the damage to the sides and the next step will be applying new veneer.

Figge
09-20-2004, 12:45 PM
I just LOVE to see such pictures! long live !JBL:s!

droh
09-20-2004, 12:46 PM
The Aquarius IV is actually made up of two pieces, the top section contains the tweeter and the dispersion horn for the low frequency driver. This top piece is seperated from the lower section by a square frame made of masonite. There are actually some spacers that hold most of the weight, but if those happen to be gone, as in my units then the masonite was taking the weight and the result is the crumble of broken stuff on the left here. The one spare top that I bought came with an intact frame. On the left are the two new frames that I made up working of the model of the one good one. I've got some pieces left over if anyone out there is in need of a replacement. I'm also shopping for some black grill cloth to go on these things. It's not the black stretch stuff, it's more like a burlap kind of thing. Anyone know of some sources?

boputnam
09-20-2004, 12:59 PM
Hey, Don...

Can you retitle this Thread: "Rescue Mission Aquarius IV" - it's gonna be a keeper, and it would be nice if Search results would show a meaningful Title. :yes:

Audiobeer
09-21-2004, 06:35 PM
Keep the photo's coming! I'd love to see a pair of these done in the "Giskard" Piano Black!

Mr. Widget
09-21-2004, 06:52 PM
Originally posted by Audiobeer
I'd love to see a pair of these done in the "Giskard" Piano Black!

Ick! Beautiful wood anyday. :yes:


Widget

4313B
09-21-2004, 07:30 PM
Originally posted by Mr. Widget
Beautiful wood anyday. :yes:Been there, done that, bored as hell. :p

droh
09-21-2004, 09:15 PM
I'm in the process of reveneering this pair right now. I scored some large pieces of American Walnut on ebay so each side will actually be a single piece. It would have been nice to just restore the old veneer but with water damage and gouges that wasn't possible. And I do kind of like the idea of these single pieces.

There is a pair of white AQIVs that have been listed on ebay several times now but not made the reserve, probabaly because they are missing the LE8T-2s, it might be fun to get hold of those and make them piano black. But I've got enough projects going. I still have three pair of 4301s and a pair of 4411s to finish. Oh and a pair of L100s too.

Zilch
09-21-2004, 10:24 PM
Originally posted by droh
I'm in the process of reveneering this pair right now. Tell us about reveering. Do you just fill and sand the dings and overlay the old veneer or strip it off first?

How, how, how?

John Y.
09-22-2004, 11:55 PM
Originally posted by Mr. Widget
Ick! Beautiful wood anyday. :yes:

Widget

As you can see from my avatar, the Hartsfield I own is in piano black refinished by a piano company in Atlanta, GA shortly after I bought it around 1959. Originally mahogany. I was into an oriental white and black furniture theme at the time. Changed out the grill to white to complete the theme.

John Y.

Mr. Widget
09-23-2004, 12:08 AM
I saw a pair in rosewood once that have really stayed with me.

Somehow though, a Hartsfield in piano black is different from an Aquarius IV. Also it is amazing that you have had the speaker for some 45 years. I wonder if that is a Forum record! Very Cool! :thmbsup:


Widget

paragon
09-23-2004, 06:12 AM
Great John,

Show us more from this !!

Regards
Eckhard

louped garouv
09-23-2004, 06:33 AM
Originally posted by Mr. Widget
I it is amazing that you have had the speaker for some 45 years. I wonder if that is a Forum record! Very Cool! :thmbsup:


Widget

thats only 9 years short of double my age.....
i hope my gear keeps up that long, with proper care.....

droh
10-27-2004, 12:19 PM
Sorry folks, it's been a while but the Aquarius IVs are making some slow progress. The cabinets have now been reveneered and all the sides have been sanded and fixed up. A new reveal has been routed for the base.

Here's a full shot of the cabinets - before and after, ready for finishing:

droh
10-27-2004, 12:21 PM
The tops before and after:

droh
10-27-2004, 12:23 PM
That's one piece of veneer that covers the front and across the top:

droh
10-27-2004, 12:25 PM
This was one of the worst corners, particularly water damaged and the joint had opened up:

Zilch
10-27-2004, 12:52 PM
Are those NICE or WHAT!!! :)

droh
09-13-2015, 06:43 PM
I was always kind of disappointed when I was reading posts on this board and saw a thread where someone was working on an ambitious project and the the thread just died, never got to hear how things worked out. And then I went and did it myself.

I started this project 11 years ago (almost to the day) but stopped posting after only a month or so. In my case it was a combination of things, mostly it was because I started a new job and didnt have time to keep working on these speakers, but it was also a matter of hitting a major snag and getting discouraged.

Well I am back to the project, and actually have been making some good progress, I have overcome my snag - issues with the reveneering - more on that later.

Over the years I accumulated a second pair of AQ4s and a few important parts for this restoration project, I will be adding some posts to walk through all of the sub-projects as I work through them.

droh
09-13-2015, 07:38 PM
As I restarted this project I first took on dealing with some of the internal components, here are pics of the crossovers before and after. You'll notice some strange stuff going on here. One of the crossovers had either been repaired or maybe reworked by the factory. It actually shows markings that it might have started out as an LX-12-5 crossover, but the crossover for the AQ4 is an LX12-7. You can also see that the wax cup was opened up, what you can't see is that the coil had been replaced. For some reason they then used that expanding insulation foam instead of wax for the repack.

I replaced all of the components in the crossovers, the capacitors for obvious reasons, but I also replaced the coils, the one that was in the repaired crossover was wildly out of spec (44mH instead of 2) I'm not sure why it was wrong, it had the correct markings, maybe it was damaged at some point, maybe my heat gun did it in when I removed it.

The second pic shows the new components in place, the last pic shows the crossovers after I refilled them with fresh bees wax. It all looks much tidier now.

I also replaced the L-Pads with new old stock exact replacements, plus a couple of new sets of genuine JBL push connectors.

670046700567006

Mr. Widget
09-13-2015, 08:58 PM
Very nice work... keep it coming!


Widget

Odd
09-14-2015, 12:22 AM
Great work.
I did something similar when you took a break.
Link (http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?35758-JBL-S109-Aquarius-4-restaurasjon&highlight=)

droh
09-14-2015, 06:33 PM
Great work.
I did something similar when you took a break.
Link (http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?35758-JBL-S109-Aquarius-4-restaurasjon&highlight=)

Thanks Odd, I saw your thread - that had a lot to do with my getting back to this project. Your pair looks wonderful.

droh
06-07-2016, 07:38 PM
Where does the time go, another 8 months passed and I haven't sent any updates, but I did get more done last Fall and recently have pretty much finished up my rescue mission. I'll try again to give some updates.

Audiobeer
06-07-2016, 08:21 PM
Veneer work looks fantastic! Love that stuff!

droh
06-07-2016, 08:47 PM
The pair of original Aquarius 4s that I bought on ebay were in such sad shape that they only included one woofer, and that one was in very bad shape. The surround was gone after a butchered attempt at refoaming and the cone itself was crumpled. I haven't even attempted to fix that driver, instead over the years I was able to acquire another pair of LE-8T2s from another set of Aquarius 4s. This pair was in much better shape, but of course the Lansaloy was stiff as a board, and on one there were many cracks with some attempted fixes. With a lot of patience and some MEK I was able to remove all the Lansaloy on both drivers and I replaced the surround with some nice white foam surrounds. They fit perfectly and I love that they make the drivers look back to original.

And oh boy do they sound wonderful. Combined with the completely rebuilt crossovers these speakers sound very, very good. I know that these models are not real highly regarded but I kind of wonder if that is based on auditioning units with hardened surrounds and bad crossover caps? When I auditioned these restored units I was delightfully surprised with how good they sound, even some substantial bass, especially given just an 8 inch woofer.

Some pics of the restored drivers are attached.

[/ATTACH]719587195971960

droh
06-07-2016, 08:54 PM
Audiobeer - yeah I am very pleased with how the veneer work turned out. It basically took two tries after running into issues with the glue on my first attempt. But the second attempt worked out very nicely. I then applied 5 coats of oiled walnut finish, spread out over several days. The luster just gets better and better, the pictures don't do it full justice.

7196271963

Mr. Widget
06-07-2016, 10:30 PM
Congratulations! Those are beautiful! You make me want to track down a pair and restore them.

Where did you find the surrounds?


Widget

Odd
06-07-2016, 11:58 PM
Very nice job!

I am very satisfied with the sound in my Aquarius IV too.

droh
06-08-2016, 01:13 PM
Congratulations! Those are beautiful! You make me want to track down a pair and restore them.

Where did you find the surrounds?


Widget

I bought them on the proverbial online auction site. Try searching for "Replacement Foam White Edge for JBL LE8T" it's a guy in California. But I notice he doesn't have any LE8 size surrounds listed at the moment, but he does have the other sizes. They were a bit pricey, but I love that they are a perfect fit and the right color, they even seem to age to the same yellow/white

Audiobeer
06-15-2016, 06:58 PM
Again they are absolutely gorgeous!

Cilvaring
09-22-2017, 12:11 PM
Maybe the most intriguing parts of the Aquarius speakers are the various pieces that serve to create the dispersed sound. Pictured on the left is the piece that sits above the LE8T-2 (it's upside down in this pic) On the right is the piece that disperses the sound from the tweeter. This is mounted in front of the tweeter and at a 90 degree angle to the woofer.

Hi droh.

Absolutely amazing job. I know it's been a long time since you've "rescued" them but I'm sure they still look as nice as they do on the pictures and still play very nice sound.

I got a set of Aquarius IV from my father a few months ago and want to replace the LE8T-2 drivers.
Considering this I have a question. How did you manage to get them apart. Or should I say, how did you get the top part off? Studying your pictures I have the feeling they're glued on but I didn't use to much force (yet) to try and get mine apart.
Could you give me just a quick hint on how you got them apart?

Thanks in advance for your help and once again, very jealous of your success on them.

Greetings from Switzerland

droh
09-22-2017, 01:03 PM
Hello Cilvaring,

Thanks for your kind words, I finished that pair quite a while ago and actually sold them on the auction site. As a result of that I had a couple of people ask me to restore pairs for them, so I have done three pairs now. I just love bringing those beauties back to their original look and sound.

To disassemble there is no glue involved, so no need to use any force. The LE8T-2 is kind of buried inside the cabinet, so it is a slightly complicated process but not hard to do. Start by removing the tweeter panel on the back of the top piece, there are four screws on the upper and lower edge of the panel itself, just remove those, you do not need to remove the three screws on the plastic diffuser. With those 4 screws removed the panel should come right off, there will be two wires probably soldered onto the LE20 tweeter, I would suggest cutting them a few inches from the tweeter so you can use a wire nut to reconnect them later. You will have to pull the wires out in a later step.

With the tweeter panel removed if you look inside the top you will see the top of four bolts on the bottom of that box. These bolts actually hold the top piece and the woofer in place, they are quite long and go down through some wood dowels and into the woofer frame and lower box. Carefully remove those four bolts and now the top section can be lifted off. Be careful not to break the frame that holds the black grill cloth, but that frame can be removed as well. Now is when you will notice that the red and black wires are actually threaded through a couple of holes up into the top section, you can pull those out.

With the top section and grill cloth frame removed the LE8T-2 should be clearly visible on the top, but it is flush mounted in there, I use a small screwdriver just inside the mounting holes to gently pry it out, it is not glued in, but over the decades they get quite tight in there, but it should come out with some gentle pushing and tugging. There are two wires attached of course, but there are push connectors on the woofer.

You say you want to replace the LE8T-2 - I hope you mean replace the Lansalloy surround and not the whole woofer, that is a very special woofer designed specifically for this speaker, I don't think you will find another that works as well.

Good luck with your project - feel free to reach out with any other questions. I have quite a bit of experience with that model now, and even have some spare parts around.

Dave




Hi droh.

Absolutely amazing job. I know it's been a long time since you've "rescued" them but I'm sure they still look as nice as they do on the pictures and still play very nice sound.

I got a set of Aquarius IV from my father a few months ago and want to replace the LE8T-2 drivers.
Considering this I have a question. How did you manage to get them apart. Or should I say, how did you get the top part off? Studying your pictures I have the feeling they're glued on but I didn't use to much force (yet) to try and get mine apart.
Could you give me just a quick hint on how you got them apart?

Thanks in advance for your help and once again, very jealous of your success on them.

Greetings from Switzerland

Chevelle
09-22-2017, 01:09 PM
It is very easy to remove the top. Just unscrew the LE20 tweeter in the back. Then you see inside four screws to be removed, then you can lift the top off. When you put the top back on do not forget the four spacers between the LE8 and the top.

Hjalmar



Hi droh.

Absolutely amazing job. I know it's been a long time since you've "rescued" them but I'm sure they still look as nice as they do on the pictures and still play very nice sound.

I got a set of Aquarius IV from my father a few months ago and want to replace the LE8T-2 drivers.
Considering this I have a question. How did you manage to get them apart. Or should I say, how did you get the top part off? Studying your pictures I have the feeling they're glued on but I didn't use to much force (yet) to try and get mine apart.
Could you give me just a quick hint on how you got them apart?

Thanks in advance for your help and once again, very jealous of your success on them.

Greetings from Switzerland

Cilvaring
09-22-2017, 01:48 PM
Thanks so much for your explanation.

I don't know yet if I will be replacing the Lansalloy or not. We have a JBL Store around here. Before replacing the Lansalloy I might just ask there if they have a replacement for the LE8T-2 or maybe even have a pair of LE8T-2 around. Allthough they might not even know what I'm talking about. Here, people working at stores often don't have the experience, I would expect from someone working there.

Of course I would love to give them to you to restore for me but getting them from Zurich to Boston won't be easy or cheap. I could maybe take them with me, when I go to visit family again in R.I. ;)
All jokes aside. Thanks again for the advices.

I'll be starting on them tomorrow and might even post some pics. But since the housing of both are still in very good shape I don't think I'll be doing anything on them. Maybe some day I'll make them black or white but for know I'm very happy with the wood.

Sam


Hello Cilvaring,

Thanks for your kind words, I finished that pair quite a while ago and actually sold them on the auction site. As a result of that I had a couple of people ask me to restore pairs for them, so I have done three pairs now. I just love bringing those beauties back to their original look and sound.

To disassemble there is no glue involved, so no need to use any force. The LE8T-2 is kind of buried inside the cabinet, so it is a slightly complicated process but not hard to do. Start by removing the tweeter panel on the back of the top piece, there are four screws on the upper and lower edge of the panel itself, just remove those, you do not need to remove the three screws on the plastic diffuser. With those 4 screws removed the panel should come right off, there will be two wires probably soldered onto the LE20 tweeter, I would suggest cutting them a few inches from the tweeter so you can use a wire nut to reconnect them later. You will have to pull the wires out in a later step.

With the tweeter panel removed if you look inside the top you will see the top of four bolts on the bottom of that box. These bolts actually hold the top piece and the woofer in place, they are quite long and go down through some wood dowels and into the woofer frame and lower box. Carefully remove those four bolts and now the top section can be lifted off. Be careful not to break the frame that holds the black grill cloth, but that frame can be removed as well. Now is when you will notice that the red and black wires are actually threaded through a couple of holes up into the top section, you can pull those out.

With the top section and grill cloth frame removed the LE8T-2 should be clearly visible on the top, but it is flush mounted in there, I use a small screwdriver just inside the mounting holes to gently pry it out, it is not glued in, but over the decades they get quite tight in there, but it should come out with some gentle pushing and tugging. There are two wires attached of course, but there are push connectors on the woofer.

You say you want to replace the LE8T-2 - I hope you mean replace the Lansalloy surround and not the whole woofer, that is a very special woofer designed specifically for this speaker, I don't think you will find another that works as well.

Good luck with your project - feel free to reach out with any other questions. I have quite a bit of experience with that model now, and even have some spare parts around.

Dave

Cilvaring
09-22-2017, 01:50 PM
Thanks for the pictures Chevelle.

They are very helpful.
By the way: Nice white you have on those Aquarius.

Sam


It is very easy to remove the top. Just unscrew the LE20 tweeter in the back. Then you see inside four screws to be removed, then you can lift the top off. When you put the top back on do not forget the four spacers between the LE8 and the top.

Hjalmar

droh
09-22-2017, 04:09 PM
They have not manufactured the LE8T-2 for decades, so even a knowledgable JBL person would not have that solution for you. And as I said the design of the LE8T-2 was very specific to the Aquarius IV.

But there is a good chance that a JBL dealer might be able to replace the surrounds on your drivers, there is no doubt that they need to be replaced, but that is all they really need.

For the wood cabinets I certainly agree the wood is very nice on it's own. You will be amazed how much better you can make them look by just giving them a good cleaning, a light sanding and a new coat of oil using something like Watco Danish Oil.

One more thing that might be needed is replacing the capacitors in the crossover, every pair I have worked has had caps that have drifted out of spec.


Thanks so much for your explanation.

I don't know yet if I will be replacing the Lansalloy or not. We have a JBL Store around here. Before replacing the Lansalloy I might just ask there if they have a replacement for the LE8T-2 or maybe even have a pair of LE8T-2 around. Allthough they might not even know what I'm talking about. Here, people working at stores often don't have the experience, I would expect from someone working there.

Of course I would love to give them to you to restore for me but getting them from Zurich to Boston won't be easy or cheap. I could maybe take them with me, when I go to visit family again in R.I. ;)
All jokes aside. Thanks again for the advices.

I'll be starting on them tomorrow and might even post some pics. But since the housing of both are still in very good shape I don't think I'll be doing anything on them. Maybe some day I'll make them black or white but for know I'm very happy with the wood.

Sam

Chevelle
09-23-2017, 12:26 AM
Yes I like the white color. I restored them and they were sold to Stockholm, Sweden.


Thanks for the pictures Chevelle.

They are very helpful.
By the way: Nice white you have on those Aquarius.

Sam

Cilvaring
09-23-2017, 03:59 AM
I'll have to take a look at them. I'd rather just replace the Lansalloy on them.

Regarding the cabinets, that sounds like a good idea since I'm taking them apart anyway I might as well give them a oil job.

Thanks for hint on the capacitors, also there: If I'm opening them up anyway I'll replace those as well.



They have not manufactured the LE8T-2 for decades, so even a knowledgable JBL person would not have that solution for you. And as I said the design of the LE8T-2 was very specific to the Aquarius IV.

But there is a good chance that a JBL dealer might be able to replace the surrounds on your drivers, there is no doubt that they need to be replaced, but that is all they really need.

For the wood cabinets I certainly agree the wood is very nice on it's own. You will be amazed how much better you can make them look by just giving them a good cleaning, a light sanding and a new coat of oil using something like Watco Danish Oil.

One more thing that might be needed is replacing the capacitors in the crossover, every pair I have worked has had caps that have drifted out of spec.

Donald
09-30-2017, 09:17 PM
I saw a pair in rosewood once that have really stayed with me.

Somehow though, a Hartsfield in piano black is different from an Aquarius IV. Also it is amazing that you have had the speaker for some 45 years. I wonder if that is a Forum record! Very Cool! :thmbsup:


Widget

My first JBLs were a pair of Dorian S12 bought at Allied Electronics on south Western Ave. in Chicago in 1968. I still have them. 49 years. 3rd from left in my avatar.

ian r
04-10-2018, 11:46 PM
[QUOTE=droh;380188]As I restarted this project I first took on dealing with some of the internal components, here are pics of the crossovers before and after. You'll notice some strange stuff going on here. One of the crossovers had either been repaired or maybe reworked by the factory. It actually shows markings that it might have started out as an LX-12-5 crossover, but the crossover for the AQ4 is an LX12-7. You can also see that the wax cup was opened up, what you can't see is that the coil had been replaced. For some reason they then used that expanding insulation foam instead of wax for the repack.

I replaced all of the components in the crossovers, the capacitors for obvious reasons, but I also replaced the coils, the one that was in the repaired crossover was wildly out of spec (44mH instead of 2) I'm not sure why it was wrong, it had the correct markings, maybe it was damaged at some point, maybe my heat gun did it in when I removed it.

The second pic shows the new components in place, the last pic shows the crossovers after I refilled them with fresh bees wax. It all looks much tidier now.

I also replaced the L-Pads with new old stock exact replacements, plus a couple of new sets of genuine JBL push connectors.[QUOTE]

Is removing the back input and pot panel a glue free and non destructive process? i find the push connectors very restricting re modern cables..so im thinking of that modification too but need to go in as the presence pot is either kaput or needs cleaning..i should also check my xovers as best i can ( being non teccy)

ian r
04-11-2018, 07:40 AM
Would like to register that ;-)

Woofer
02-16-2019, 06:42 PM
Absolutely excellent work droh.
Truly outstanding.

There's a pair here in Sydney Australia that could do with some rescuing.
I'd give 'em a go, but they're just in the wrong place at the wrong time.... [I'm in Melbourne, so not an option.]

Do a search for "RARA JBL ANTIQUE SPECKERS 1967" on the 'Bay.

Woofer.