New Metregon owner

[Coreypet]

I bought a Metregon 230 when I was 18 for $150 bucks at a local thrift store. I knew what it was and it was mint. I then moved to NYC for college and then LA for grad school where I stayed for 15 years. My Metregon just lived in my parent's basement for the 20 years. I am now married moved to a new home, and I finally got my Metregon back! It's mint, completely original, and unmolested. All I did was deoxidize everything and replace a few washers with nylon washers. It took a few days of slowly cranking it up to get everything pushing right, but it sounds pretty amazing now. I have a few questions for the other Metregon owners out there. Right now I am running a small tube amp a Jolida FX10 it's probably only pushing 5 watts to each side, but it's still very loud, and I can only turn it up half way before the wife and dog run out of the room, LOL.

1. Seems that it doesn't have that bass that hits hard, has anyone added an external bass speaker to the system if so any suggestions?

2. What amps are people running and what was the originally suggested amp? I am only running my Jolida because of that's what I had on my other small room system. I am not rich just a school teacher, so please keep ideas under $1,500.

3. My grain looks to be walnut, but it has a more reddish color like mahogany or teak any ideas on what wood they were made from?

Thanks for letting me be part of the forum. It wasn't letting me upload photos so I can email them if you want to see outside and inside shots.

Corey

[BMWCCA]

Great story! What driver sets are in yours, especially what woofers?

[Mr. Widget]

Follow these instructions to share the glory!

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?31847-How-can-I-post-photographs



Widget

[Earl K]

Very Nice Story!

We would all love to see some pics / especially to try to figure out the wood type.

82380

It's always possible the woofers that you have in there ( are not D130 but le15's with hardened Lansaloy surrounds > that'll now need replacing ).
- Hardened surrounds would account for the lack of bass.
- If they are D130's, then they weren't considered a bass speaker.

If you look at the above picture you can see the effects of a hardened surround.
- Frequencies below @ 70hz are attenuated more than 10db ( with 10db being represented as "1/2 as much" to ones hearing ).

:)

[Coreypet]

They were for sure d130s with 075 and n2400 cross overs. Hope this link works to see a bunch of pics.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gL0Gr1fd22PmTlIV0y6Tc5rX9z5TGhnF

[Coreypet]

8238682387823888238982390

[Robh3606]

In a word WOW! That system is killer!


Seems that it doesn't have that bass that hits hard, has anyone added an external bass speaker to the system if so any suggestions?

Treat those woofers with care. They could be narrow gap D130's that when JBL was still supporting the vintage gear rated a trip back to re-cone. They unfortunately do not support them anymore and in later years they opened up the VC gap. That said a modern re-cone may not fit in them even if it is a genuine JBL kit. I would consider adding a decent subwoofer it will give you the low end and protect the woofer from over excursion which may be needed with bass heavy music produced these days.


In case you have not seen this http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/specs/home-speakers/1960-C45-metregon.htm



Rob:)

[Mr. Widget]

Beautiful condition and beautiful walnut! Congratulations on the score!


Widget

[BMWCCA]

Beautiful system! :applaud:

The D130 could use a larger box but even then it's just not capable of producing deep bass that many expect today. I've had the same driver complement, the 030 system, in my home for over 60-years and derived many hours of pleasure from listening to them. But they just can't hold a candle in the bass department to my 4345s with their 18-inch woofer.

Love them for what they are!

[hjames]

What a gorgeous system!
Thanks for sharing pix with us!

[Coreypet]

Rob,

Yes, narrow gap would make sense for the sound they are putting out. Any suggestions for a nice inexpensive sub to pair with this system?

Corey


In a word WOW! That system is killer!



Treat those woofers with care. They could be narrow gap D130's that when JBL was still supporting the vintage gear rated a trip back to re-cone. They unfortunately do not support them anymore and in later years they opened up the VC gap. That said a modern re-cone may not fit in them even if it is a genuine JBL kit. I would consider adding a decent subwoofer it will give you the low end and protect the woofer from over excursion which may be needed with bass heavy music produced these days.


In case you have not seen this http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/specs/home-speakers/1960-C45-metregon.htm



Rob:)

[audiomagnate]

Rob,

Yes, narrow gap would make sense for the sound they are putting out. Any suggestions for a nice inexpensive sub to pair with this system?

Corey

Nice and inexpensive don't usually go together. The Dayton kits from Parts Express are a good value and easy (and fun for some people) to put together.