replacing a woofer in JBL L890

[wvtrumpet]

Hi guys,

Newbie here. I just recently purchased (last week) a pair of JBL L890's. Anyway, they arrived and I was very unimpressed with the sound. Come to find out that one of the woofers is bad. JBL is sending me a replacement. How difficult is it to swap the woofer? I really have no idea how to do this. I was also a little upset with their customer service. I was sent to seven or eight people before I got someone that could help me. Thanks everyone. Looking forward to responses.


Thank you , Neil

[rdgrimes]

You did pretty good by getting a fresh woof sent to you, here's hoping that's going to fix it. While you're waiting you could try swapping 2 woofers around to see if a different one works in that hole. Be sure to keep the wiring color scheme correct.

All you need is the correct tool for the screws holding it in, takes about 5 min to replace one.

[wvtrumpet]

Thank you, I will try that tonight when I get home. Score one for the little guy I guess :)

[rdgrimes]

As I recall, those use the star-headed furniture screws.

[wvtrumpet]

I was able to take out the woofer tonight. It was a very easy job. I did not try one of the others, but will. Amazing to me how badly one bad speaker was making the whole cabinet sound.

[rdgrimes]

I was able to take out the woofer tonight. It was a very easy job. I did not try one of the others, but will. Amazing to me how badly one bad speaker was making the whole cabinet sound.

Which is why I was curious about whether the woofer is really the problem. A bad crossover could cause the same symptoms. Swapping in a different driver will rule that out.

[wvtrumpet]

I took the old sub completely out of the cabinet and I hooked it up with alligator clips to the wires on my other speaker. Same thing, very garbled distorted sound. Glad its not the wiring and its the sub, so i can at the least change things out. Glad to have help here. Thank you!!!!

[hjames]

I took the old sub completely out of the cabinet and I hooked it up with alligator clips to the wires on my other speaker. Same thing, very garbled distorted sound. Glad its not the wiring and its the sub, so i can at the least change things out. Glad to have help here. Thank you!!!!

Umm - its a woofer, not a "sub"

[wvtrumpet]

Umm - its a woofer, not a "sub"

You sir are correct. Quick question: Will it hurt playing the speaker without the second "woofer" hooked up?

[rdgrimes]

You sir are correct. Quick question: Will it hurt playing the speaker without the second "woofer" hooked up?

As long as you avoid any shorts from the dangling wires it won't "hurt" anything. But the crossover won't behave the same with a different load, so they won't sound quite right.

[hjames]

You sir are correct. Quick question: Will it hurt playing the speaker without the second "woofer" hooked up?

You sir, are a trumpet (grin) ...
Some of us audio geeks are women ...

[wvtrumpet]

You sir, are a trumpet (grin) ...
Some of us audio geeks are women ...

Sorry :o:

[wvtrumpet]

Got the new woofer, put it in...Works great!!! Fantastic sounding speakers. Amazed out how messed up they sounded with the bad driver...