JBL 99 Lancer--correct placement

[Bingo]

I have a pair of JBL Lancer 99's that my mother bought new in I believe 1970, and I am having restored. When she purchased them, she had the entire audio system installed by the retailer, a very high-end audio shop. The speakers were placed with the bass speakers on top. Most photos I see of the 99's show the bass speakers on the bottom(like most other speakers are shown). Additionally, I have an old JBL brochure that we kept from the time of when the JBL's were purchased, and it shows the Lancer 99's on their side. So, is there a "correct"orientation and placement of these 99's? Or ,is it "whatever sounds best"...

[tomee]

welcome Bingo!
my take would be to do whatever sounds best... but try to get the tweeter as close as possible to ear level when sitting, so in general that would be above the woofer. On their side works too, then try to get the tweeter high - this works if you happen to have a mirrored set of speakers. Those are excellent vintage 'bookshelf' speakers, but they're built for bookshelves that can actually hold heavy books. Did you get the complete system from your mother? I'm guessing the rest of the gear would be pretty cool to have up and running with these.

[Bingo]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to pick up the restored JBL's today. They were able to preserve the original White cones, and replaced the outer edges, and the spiders. The repair guy said they sounding good. Can't wait! Your are correct, my parents bought a system back in 1970, and included a Dual 1219 turntable, and a Sony STR-6060 Receiver. I had the turntable restored, and the we replaced the largest capacitors. I attached some Polk 10's and it sounded very good, but really want to see how the JBL's sound.. Tonight I will listen to the system for the first time in about 25 years, and can't wait!

[Doc Mark]

Howdy, Bingo,

Welcome to the LH forum! Well done on restoring your Mom's JBLs, and the other goodies she owned and loved!! I think you will be very happy with the results, though it "might" cause you to want to have other wonderful JBLs in your house, too! A good set of JBL speakers is kind of like a virus: The more you hear, the more you want!! No known cure, so far........!! ;):applaud: Have fun, and please post any comments you wish to share, after listening to your new/old JBL 99 Lancer system! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[tomee]

Nice stuff they bought back then, your parents did well! I'm sure you've googled it, but here's a nice site that describes the Sony... http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-STR-6060.html
Sounds like the shop is doing a good job on speakers - the LE14A woofers are a design wonder that can produce excellent bass even in a small-ish box like the Lancer 99. Enjoy the system, and post a pic here when it's all up and running. :)

[tomee]

Howdy, Bingo,

Welcome to the LH forum! Well done on restoring your Mom's JBLs, and the other goodies she owned and loved!! I think you will be very happy with the results, though it "might" cause you to want to have other wonderful JBLs in your house, too! A good set of JBL speakers is kind of like a virus: The more you hear, the more you want!! No known cure, so far........!! ;):applaud: Have fun, and please post any comments you wish to share, after listening to your new/old JBL 99 Lancer system! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

well said Doc! I got some Lancer99s about 20 years ago, foolishly sold them 10 years ago, but replaced them with L166s, and I now have L100Ts, L55s, and a boat load of parts for DIYing (like 6 loose LE14A woofers!!). :D

[Bingo]

After talking to one of the owners at The Speaker Doctor(Charlotte NC) who replaced the outer cones and spiders, and also based on the old JBL brochure that have, I decided to place the speakers on their side, on top of some bookcases. This seemed to be the best option, especially since the room I have is a bit tight, and getting the speakers higher made sense to me. This system has been stored for at least 30 years until I got all the pieces in good condition and back together for the first time this past Friday. The first thing to be played was The Rolling Stones' , "Through the Past Darkly(Big Hits 2)", which was released 1969, which I thought was appropriate. The JBL's sound very good. Very crisp, with lots of bass. I am thrilled with Dual 1219 and I find he old Sony STR 6060 OK but not great. Nonetheless, I had my girlfriend over that night, and she told me that she felt "18 again, after listening to several albums. Oh and we spilled two glasses of wine that night, in that room, so I have to wonder what I've been missing!!!

[Bingo]

I apologize for uploading incorrect photos before.

[audiomagnate]

They look awesome. It looks like your mom was a non-smoker; my LE-14's aren't nearly as white. 99's sound much better than they ought to. Did the shop attach the foam to the front or the back of the cone? The original Lansaloy (sp?) surrounds were actually attached to the front of the cone, which is different from what they did later on when they started using foam.

[Bingo]

No , there was a "no smoking" policy at my mom's house, so you're correct. As to the question about how the surround was attached(front or rear of he foam), I'm not sure. I likely will see the guy who did the repair again, as a friend has some speakers there, so I'll ask. The repair guy did tell me that he also had a pair of Lancer 99's, in original condition, and that his repair to mine, convinced him that he should go ahead and replace the surrounds, and spiders on his...he said mine sounded noticeably better.

[tomee]

Those look great, and the surrounds look OK too compared to how mine look (from what I can see in the pic). These are great speakers that can play loud and clean where most of the music is (40 to 13kHz) but they do fall off on the extremes compared to other JBLs. The Sony might be suffering from simply being 'old'...might need some key capacitors and other parts replaced. Enjoy! :)

[Bingo]

Yes, we replaced all of the Sony's power capacitors.