L*6 series; why no gaskets?

[audiomagnate]

I'm not a big fan of this series, especially the L56, but ended up with a pair of L46's which came in a package deal with a pair of L300's I just snagged. I figured I'd refoam and recap them and send them on their way, but when I swept them afterwards there was a nasty buzz at 85 Hz. It turned out it was the the ungasketed tweeter frame buzzing against the cabinet. Adjusting the wood screws reduced but didn't eliminate it so I used a dab of gasket sealant to fix the problem. These are actually very nicely made speakers with high quality parts and beautiful cabinets; I can't figure out why JBL decided to save a few pennies on something so essential.

[rdgrimes]

The L46 beats the L56 all over the place. I worked on L46 and L86 and never saw any gaskets either. Also never had any noises. I would have looked for a wire or crossover causing that. BTW I think I may still have L46 grills and crossovers around here somewhere.

[audiomagnate]

The L46 beats the L56 all over the place. I worked on L46 and L86 and never saw any gaskets either. Also never had any noises. I would have looked for a wire or crossover causing that. BTW I think I may still have L46 grills and crossovers around here somewhere.

I agree, the L56 is just a miserable failure. It bottoms out extremely easily and the hole in the midrange is cavernous. The 46 doesn't bottom out like the 56 and the mids are a little better. I'm thinking the 56 was just a way to complete the line. I do like the way they look though.

[SEAWOLF97]

I agree, the L56 is just a miserable failure. It bottoms out extremely easily and the hole in the midrange is cavernous. The 46 doesn't bottom out like the 56 and the mids are a little better. I'm thinking the 56 was just a way to complete the line. I do like the way they look though.

COMPLETELY agree with your & Rd's assessments of the L56. :( and I also liked the L46.

L56 can't handle much bass . The bass surround is some funny polymer/plastic thing. Good looking cab that can fool the unprepared buyer, tho 034 is OK.

I bought a single L56 two weeks ago and pulled the drivers (was on bike) , left the cab. There were NO gaskets.

My son moved to Chicago and didn't have room to move his L100's. he missed JBL's and bought some 56's there. happily stopped using them when a surround failed. On my visit, repaired the surround , allowing him to get out from under them and carried over his Century's . Was like an early Xmas present for him .... happy Camper now.

46,56,86 ... by far the best was L86.

[audiomagnate]

It looks like there's a gasket on this one which looks original (see "grille maintenance" tag). I wonder if they added gaskets later in the run to address the buzzing or removed them to save a few cents.