Reconing vintage JBL woofers w/ aftermarket recone kits?

[z-adamson]

Been noticing that there are a lot of kits out there, but they do not have the aquaplas on them.

Are folks generally happy with the outcome of a reconed JBL woofer with a modern aftermarket recone kit without aquaplas?

[Ed Zeppeli]

I'd answer but at the risk of being shadow-banned by the deep state.

[1audiohack]

I'd answer but at the risk of being shadow-banned by the deep state.

What?!? You treacherous soul! If you have information we must know what you know and when you first knew it!

OK I will say it: Far better to keep it running the best you can rather than dumpster it.

I have aftermarket diaphragms in six of my large format drivers and am thoroughly satisfied. Thank you BrushWellman / Materion!

Seriously if the original kit's are unavailable, get the help of a qualified re-coner like edgewound, get them done and get on with your life.

There are lots of parts I can't buy for my old cars and I hate that but one can one do?

My best,
Barry.

[edgewound]

Been noticing that there are a lot of kits out there, but they do not have the aquaplas on them.

Are folks generally happy with the outcome of a reconed JBL woofer with a modern aftermarket recone kit without aquaplas?

What kits are you looking for?

I can and do use the identical Aquaplas material as used by JBL. I've got two kits listed on my website linked to eBay for sale, 2245H and LE14H-1 that are treated with Aquaplas. You can also send them me to do the work for you.

Other kits are possible too. The aftermarket parts have actually gotten pretty good. The key to doing a reproduction is in the treatment and assembly details to match as close as possible the JBL Engineering Standard.

I've had repeat buyers across the globe who are willing to invest in the effort it takes to reproduce a factory recone kit.

Hope this helps.

Ken

[Radley]

Hi,
There are a few reconer's left that are pure magic. It all depends on what loudspeakers one is using and for what purpose.

In the 80's the Clair S4 pa system was the gold standard. Everyone wanted to know what was inside them. Clair finally said it was kind of JBL. They would use a frame from this piece, a magnet from this piece, a surround from this piece, ect... so they could actually make a specific driver do what they intended it for.

A good reconer can tailor the driver to what your needs are if it's more than just OEM.

[Mr. Widget]

A good reconer can tailor the driver to what your needs are if it's more than just OEM.I think Clair Brothers and tweaks Meyer Sound performed are exceptional cases.

I agree that a good reconer is key, but to suggest that kit bashing a woofer will give you better results than the seriously advanced engineering that has gone into most of the drivers from JBL is more myth and legend than fact.

Back on to the original poster's question about non aquaplas coated cones, they will likely "work" however they will not have the same mass, or distortion and break up characteristics. I doubt the result will perform very closely to the original design goal.

In talking to Edgewound I know that when he cannot get a JBL OEM cone kit he very carefully tries to match the TS parameters to the original specifications by adjusting cone mass, voice voils, spiders etc.


Widget