JBL S-99/Lancer 99 LE-14a Rattle

[Alan Fletcher]

Greetings all...

Over the weekend I had the good fortune to come across a pair of S-99/ Lancer 99's in near mint condition. The wood is in great shape, the corners are sharp, and even the wooden fret grilles are in great shape! They even came with the original packing. They are sequential serial numbers and are left/right matched. The drivers are perfect with no dings, dents or tears. Both foam surrounds (does this mean they've been reconed at some point?) are perfect with no dry rot.

Tag Sale Price: $40 the pair. :D

Only one problem. One of the LE-14a's has a rattle to it. I don't think the voice coil is blown, more likely the rattle is coming from the cone itself. Is this possible to correct without a recone?

If I do have to have it reconed, who should I have do the work? I have a local place that recones JBL, but I'm wondering if someone could recommend something better?

Thanks,

Alan

[johnaec]

What a steal!! :) 'Guess I won't be trying to sell mine here... :( Seriously, though - congrats!

I'd pull the rattling speaker to see if it's anything obvious, such as leads vibrating against the cone, etc. Also, send a signal through it when it's out of the box to see if that makes a difference.

John

[Alan Fletcher]

I pulled the driver and examined it thoroughly, I had suspected vibrating leads, but that wasn't the case.

I did notice that when I move the cone in and out with my hand, it seems like the foam surround is making a sort of squooshing noise. Did the LE14a originally have foam surround? I would have expected ripple cloth for a speaker of that vintage.

-Alan

[Alan Fletcher]

All I could get before the battery died, they are under the safe care and gentle use of my girlfriend Tracy, at her apartment. Too many speakers and associated electronics here...

The files are large and I'm not downsizing them. I can't see any way of linking to pics here :banghead: ...So here are the individual links.

Sorry but you must click on each one in order to see them all... :(

http://webpages.charter.net/radio1065/SUC30068.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/radio1065/SUC30070.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/radio1065/SUC30072.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/radio1065/SUC30073.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/radio1065/SUC30075.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/radio1065/SUC30077.JPG

Aren't they just... adorable?? :p

Comments more than welcome!

-Alan

[Zilch]

LE14A originally came with Lansaloy surround, a cream-colored rubbery foam of indeterminate composition. Yours have been replaced.

Take the rattling driver to your JBL authorized service center and see if they can't rescue it. If reconing is the only answer, you've got a bit of a problem, as LE14A cone kits are NLA. Have them check with the factory to be certain, as JBL may occasionally make another run if demand has been high.

Otherwise, they'll be using an LE14H-1 kit, which is black, not white, and won't match the other one, at least not in color. There may be other differences, as well, which would necessitate reconing both drivers.

Several members of this forum may be able to supply you with a LE14A kit if they are not available from JBL, or may be able to rebuild your existing cone with component parts, depending upon the problem....

[edgewound]

Alan...

Later recone kits for the LE14A actually had grey foam surrounds. Zilch is correct...the first generation had Lansaloy surrounds, but it was later changed to foam. The white Aquaplas on your cones looks too clean...not yellowed...to be the original cones...maybe they were reconed with factory parts at some point. The noise you describe sounds like maybe the surround isn't glued down to the frame completely, and causing what's called a "compliance tick". It's also possible that the spider has torn away from the cone/coil joint. I'd be happy to check them out for you, if you'd like to PM me with your contact info....I see that we're quite a distance apart...whatever you're comfortable with. It's entirely possible to do a nice repair without reconing as long as the voice coil and cone are still in good shape.

Thanks,
Edgewound

[Lancer]

If reconing is the only answer, you've got a bit of a problem, as LE14A cone kits are NLA.Harman Service has 0 LE14A recone kits left.

JBL Pro Service has 29 LE14A recone kits left.

[pelly3s]

Alan if it makes it easier on you my shop is in West Springfield MA and we are a JBL service center. I think I might have a kit, but I could probably save the one you have there (I take more pleasure in rescue missions than reconing) it does look reconed by the terrible glue job on the dust cap.

[Alan Fletcher]

I went back to the tag sale yesterday with my girlfriend, and spoke to the owner of the house. He said he didn't know anything about them, he found them in the attic in their boxes... I think maybe the heat from being in the attic for years may have caused the glue to separate somewhere.

I figured they had been reconed. The black stripes painted on the flange were oriented in the wrong direction, and you can see that in the photo (shiny aluminum seen through the edges of the grille).

Thanks,

-A

[Alan Fletcher]

Thinking about this more, perhaps if I can obtain a kit, I could recone the speaker myself. Although I've never reconed a driver before, I have repaired them very effectively in designs which allow the removal of the magnet assembly without removing the spider and surround from their mountings (screws on back of magnet rather than under the spider as in JBL's).

I do have a more than adequate understanding of how speakers work on many levels. I believe I could do the work.

If by chance someone has a kit, and would be willing to ship it to me, please email me advising me of the cost, and what is included with such a kit (centering device, adhesives, etc).

Thanks,

Alan

[edgewound]

Alan..


While I'm sure you could do the repair yourself, Authorized Service Centers put their (my) franchise at risk by selling recone kits to the end user. That's part of the agreement with JBL. We can sell diaphragms, but not recone kits.

Sorry....just an FYI

Edgewound

[Alan Fletcher]

Well, so much for that idea...

-A

[pelly3s]

Alan after you called me the other day I was reconing an EV that had the same problem that you described and it turned out that the spider was fatigued in one spot and it was going off center and hitting the center pole of the mag. Also does anyone know if the LE-14a has a ring on the center pole that could have come loose.

[Alan Fletcher]

bump.