Original L100t

[330indy]

Just thought I’d post a pic.
Bought in 1988
84618

[grumpy]

nice condition! I like the plinth :)

[DavidF]

Lot's to still like about these models after so many years. Sonically and aesthetically. Remember what our TV's looked like in 1988?

[330indy]

Factory JBL recone kits (preassembled) after I “bottomed out” both woofers with a QSC amp 15 years ago... 😳😬
I occasionally take a micro fiber cloth with Griots spray on wax (mild carnauba solution) to the surrounds to protect for UV. Surrounds are as new.

These like power. Kinda sleepy at low volume levels.

Threw a 10 Band Yamaha EQ70 at them to wake up the bass extension and tame the mids, at low volume. I dig the highs.
Full disclosure... I work for Klipsch (since ‘91) and 30 years ago these were nice. Today they are showing their age, especially against the RP line....
Anyways... I am a fan of JBL of old..... My formative years as a teenager and budding audiophile!

[330indy]

By the way, the reason why the woofer leads are sideways is because I rewired internally with VanDenHul silver clad copper monocrystal wire, soldered to the terminals of each of the drivers, to the crossover. And from mains to Tiffany binding posts. I did this mod in the early 90s.
shortest wires possible. Improved the midrange and highs notably.
Had to resolder of course with the recone job.
used silver content solder. Also bolstered the insulation to smooth the bass.. tighter and less tubby now.

This speaker responds well to judicious use of an EQ.
and it likes a bit of high current power.... amps with good damping factor...

[330indy]

Another pic
also harvested some mids and tweets from a friend’s old pair of L80ts at his condo garage in FL...
wasn’t practical to restore them from $ cost perspective
84698
84696

[ARIKIP]

They look to be in great condition. I still have a couple of pairs...one pair daily used in a Bedroom setup. I still shake my head at how good they still sound after all of these years. My original plinth on my bedroom pair had a fight with some blu-tack holding it in place on the floor...and lost. I ended up adding spikes to the bottom of the cabinet after removing the plinth. Great to see people still getting joy from them. Feel sorry for those L80Ts though....a quick refoam would have at least got them working....and they look to be in good nick as well.

[330indy]

Yeah I felt bad about the L80t pair.... too much dust and dirt in the gaps to refoam ...
using that original cone, etc.
considering what I do for a living we decided the money would be better spent on a new pair of floorstanders...

[Thorzdad]

Very nice!
I wish the veneer on my L100t's looked that good. Too many dry winters, I'm afraid.

I scavenged a couple of 035ti's from a pair of L80t's several years ago, too. Sadly, the last one went belly-up a couple of weeks ago. Unable to locate any NOS pieces or donor L80s, I took a leap of faith and ordered a pair of 035tia copies. So far, they sound quite good. Hopefully, they're more durable than the JBL originals were. I love my L100t's to death, but those tweets were a real Achilles heel.

[JackFlack]

I need to find some 2214H or 2214H-1 Woofers

[330indy]

What is happening to all your tweeters? are you blowing them? why so many failures, if I may ask?


Very nice!
I wish the veneer on my L100t's looked that good. Too many dry winters, I'm afraid.

I scavenged a couple of 035ti's from a pair of L80t's several years ago, too. Sadly, the last one went belly-up a couple of weeks ago. Unable to locate any NOS pieces or donor L80s, I took a leap of faith and ordered a pair of 035tia copies. So far, they sound quite good. Hopefully, they're more durable than the JBL originals were. I love my L100t's to death, but those tweets were a real Achilles heel.

[Chris Brown]

OP, speakers are really looking great!


What is happening to all your tweeters? are you blowing them? why so many failures, if I may ask?

I am very curious also. Something doesn't seem right in terms of having so many failures. I have three sets of speakers that use either the 035Ti or 035Tia (L100T, 4412, L5) and I've not yet experienced a single tweeter failure despite pushing all of them to party levels regularly for over a decade now.

The main known issue with these tweeters is the foam under the dome disintegrating over time, which in an extreme case can turn into what is basically goo and make it's way into the voice coil gap. I've not experienced any severe foam issues such as this myself, yet, but maybe environmental issues are different in this case and caused accelerated deterioration of the foam? Or perhaps this is a case of severe amp clipping?

[Ed Kreamer]

I also am curious about your 035 failures. I run mine pretty loud (concert volume) in both my 4408's and 4410's, and other that foam rot have never experienced failure. Amp problems? leaky caps? I also run 2214's hard and even with bottoming a couple of times, they have stood up to my abuse.

Ed

[Pigboat]

Acquired Last 6 months

2 pair 4406's
1 pair L36's

4 open tweeters

All from apparent corrosion from connectors,
extending to coil wire in guide heading to diaphragm.
Things act like DampRid. Oxidized screws
Took good pair and pressure tested them(Adcom GFA555/GTP565),
when wife was out of house, till my ears bled, no problems. :eek:
Repaired pair(Bitch), cranked the piss out of them, no problem
Received generic replacement coil/diaphragms, will try that next.

My question ???
Upon inspection are failures "fried" :confused:
or as describer above? :dont-know:

any alternative to this?
JBL 035Ti 035Tia Tweeter Damper Pad Pair

(https://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-035Ti-035Tia-Tweeter-Damper-Pad-Pair/254157623867?hash=item3b2cf9923b:g:YrwAAOSwIAdciC3 u)Brand New$39.9Buy It Now+$0.55 shipping

Any xover upgrades on
4406/L15/L36/4311's Parts lists?

How about swapping LE25 with 035T in my newly acquired $70 4311's :D
Still miss L166's lost to Greed.

2 cents

[Thorzdad]

What is happening to all your tweeters? are you blowing them? why so many failures, if I may ask?
No. They just stop working. One day, they're great, the next, silent. This time, though, there was a bit of audible roughness when I last played them. They next time I powered them up, it was silent.

I've had the L100t's since brand new back in the mid-80s. From the looks of my postings here, it looks like the first 0135 went out in 2009, so that isn't too bad, from what I can tell. I replaced it with an old new stock driver. After that, the second original 0135 seems to have gone down a few years after that. I sourced a pair of replacements from a similarly-aged set of L80s (so those 0135s had close to as many years on them as my originals). One of those two is the one that went out most recently.

My system is pretty simple, and I don't feel like I'm pushing them to any extreme. It's an old Carver CT-17 pre driving an old Kenwood M2A power amp. The L100s sit in my living room, adequately spaced away from the wall.

Beats me why they fail. I've gotten the impression from others that the 0135 isn't very durable. Is that not true? Is that string of failures over that length of time uncommon?

[SEAWOLF97]

any alternative to this?
JBL 035Ti 035Tia Tweeter Damper Pad Pair

Oh..thats too funny .. :rotfl:

$40 for 2 little pieces of foam . :eek:

good discussion of replacement foam here ==>>> [url]http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?29325-044Ti-questions-Help-needed&highlight=044ti+help (https://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-035Ti-035Tia-Tweeter-Damper-Pad-Pair/254157623867?hash=item3b2cf9923b:g:YrwAAOSwIAdciC3 u)




I've gotten the impression from others that the 0135 isn't very durable. Is that not true? Is that string of failures over that length of time uncommon?

Don't know where you got the impressions of the 035 :dont-know: They are usually pretty robust.

[330indy]

So strange....

because..... my L100Ts took a hit from a QSC amp and blew out my woofers, probably a 600 watt burst! The Tweets are fine!





No. They just stop working. One day, they're great, the next, silent. This time, though, there was a bit of audible roughness when I last played them. They next time I powered them up, it was silent.

I've had the L100t's since brand new back in the mid-80s. From the looks of my postings here, it looks like the first 0135 went out in 2009, so that isn't too bad, from what I can tell. I replaced it with an old new stock driver. After that, the second original 0135 seems to have gone down a few years after that. I sourced a pair of replacements from a similarly-aged set of L80s (so those 0135s had close to as many years on them as my originals). One of those two is the one that went out most recently.

My system is pretty simple, and I don't feel like I'm pushing them to any extreme. It's an old Carver CT-17 pre driving an old Kenwood M2A power amp. The L100s sit in my living room, adequately spaced away from the wall.

Beats me why they fail. I've gotten the impression from others that the 0135 isn't very durable. Is that not true? Is that string of failures over that length of time uncommon?

[Thorzdad]

Yeah, it really does perplex me. I'm not an audio expert by any means, so I'm just scratching my head trying to figure out what I might be doing, or if my very simple set-up is somehow at fault. I just don't know where to start.

[Pigboat]

Yeah, it really does perplex me. I'm not an audio expert by any means, so I'm just scratching my head trying to figure out what I might be doing, or if my very simple set-up is somehow at fault. I just don't know where to start.

2 pair 4406's
1 pair L36's

4 open tweeters

All from apparent corrosion from connectors,
extending to coil wire in guide heading to diaphragm.


My question ???
Upon inspection are failures "fried"
or as describer above?