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Robh3606
09-03-2003, 07:56 PM
Ok Bo

I wanted to do this outside that baffle thread. Lots of good info in there, figured this belonged outside. Kind of off topic. What they are is 122A's for the 12"s. Should be 2214's but I used what I had and any woofer good enough for the L166 Horizon couldn't be that bad. The lower mids are 115H's as they should be. Got those from a pair of L20t's I had in storage. The 093Ti were NOS off E- Bay. The crossover is also NOS XPL200A from the same guy!! Boy was that a lucky week. No one else was even bidding on the stuff!! Yahoo!! The tweeters are 050 Golds used in the Century Gold again another Ebay no one else bidding score. Tweeters should be 046 TI. So as you can see a hodge podge of drivers not the original design. Sounds real good though. The baffle spacing for the step I got from someone in the forum. The vertical driver spacing I got from scalling photo's in Paint Shop Pro. Counting pixels works very well as long as you have at least one hard dimension and good pictures. Right now they are under my stairs until I can get them up and running agian. No actives on these never got a DX-1 for them. I figured the idea behind the neoprene was to eliminate the baffle effects. I figured I could never replicate the cabinets so I took it to the next step which was minimum baffle and neoprene where I coundn't. Had a great time building them. If I ever get the chance I will put the correct drivers in.

Rob:)

Robh3606
09-03-2003, 07:57 PM
Under construction

Don C
09-03-2003, 10:43 PM
I bought sets of those midranges and crossovers on ebay as well. For a while I had the idea to get a pair of Citation 7.4 subs. (LE14H) Then attatch my L20Ts to the sub, with the tweeter removed, and put a module similar to what you have up on top. But the supply of new 7.4s has dried up, so I need a new plan. The parts are just sitting in the closet, waiting for me to find the time someday.

Ian Mackenzie
09-04-2003, 02:51 AM
Hi Rob,

I like you construction, must have taken ages to do that and I see you stole the crown jewels, or is that the star of David.

Perhaps you are the Pink Panther out of retirement..muhahahaha.


I'll bet the waf factor is nice.

Ian

jblnut
09-08-2003, 06:13 PM
Wow - I'm amazed that you were able to make these yourself!
They look great and I'm sure they sound just as nice. You're making me want to transplant the same XPL mids from my 140's into my L250's.....


jblnut

Don McRitchie
09-08-2003, 06:32 PM
There were a few prototype XPL250's built by JBL before the project was cancelled. It was basically an L250ti with the XPL mid. Greg Timbers considers it one of the best systems he has designed and kept one of the prototype pairs.

Robh3606
09-08-2003, 08:02 PM
Thanks jblnut! :o

They were lot's of fun to build and a really just 3 stacked boxes. If you can make one you can certainly make 3! You are lucky to have what you have. So is the XPL dome smoother than the polpropylene mid in the L250ti?? Never had the pleasure of hearing a pair. I like the 140's nice speakers.

Hello Don

That must be one nice looking/sounding speaker system. So it died with the Cascade system too?? I wonder what else has been in the engineering stages but never made it to production??

Rob:)

boputnam
09-08-2003, 08:08 PM
Originally posted by jblnut
Wow - I'm amazed that you were able to make these yourself!
REAL glad you (re)posted the pics! Nice!

Don McRitchie
09-08-2003, 08:30 PM
That must be one nice looking/sounding speaker system. So it died with the Cascade system too?? I wonder what else has been in the engineering stages but never made it to production??


Not that much. I always find cancelled projects or even market failures interesting because of the lessons learned. Therefore, I have made a point of seeking out information on such projects. The most famous was the ill fated L400 that is described in the Everest profile. There was a mini home version of the 4350 that made it to the prototype stage in the early 80's (used 12" drivers instead of 15"). Finally, Lorr Kramer described a truly bizarre system in the 80's that he was working on with Greg that died quickly. Off hand I can't remember any of the details. I'll have to go back and check the interview recordings.

4313B
09-09-2003, 05:58 AM
Just in case anyone is interested - the 093Ti and 046Ti are in stock and available.

merlin
09-09-2003, 02:55 PM
Wow I do like those:)

I am considering doing something similar but really don't know where to start.

My bass cabinets are now built, just awaiting the finishing touches. The 1500AL drivers are sitting around ready to start firing and I have the custom crossovers loaded on the PC.

So the bottom end is sorted but I would love to build a four way in much the same way as you, placing the other units on top of the bass cabs.


Just in case anyone is interested - the 093Ti and 046Ti are in stock and available.

If that's the case, would anyone be kind enough to advise an isolated Brit as to a suitable mid driver and crossover setup, or just point me in the right direction.

Thanks

Michael

jblnut
09-09-2003, 05:07 PM
Well since you asked...

I'm sort of in the middle of comparing different upper mids for my L250. Right from the get-go, I was never really 100% happy with the sound from the LE5-11s. I think it has something to do with spending the last 10 years listening to the poly 305G's in my 940's. Or maybe the most recent year listening to the 093TI in the XPL140's. For some reason the old paper LE5-11 just sounded a little "tired" and "dead" to me. So, you may recall my post about swapping in a supposed "upgrade kit" a few months ago. The kit turned out to be a bust, as the tweeters were wrong and the crossover was for a later 250TI Jubilee (wouldn't fit into my cabinet easily). The best thing I discovered though was that the 104H-2's that came in that "kit" sounded great when used with the original L250 crossover. So I promply sent the kit back, then swapped mids between my 4410's and the L250's. Then Robert suggested I track down the correct 104H poly mid for the 250TI and that's just what I did (got a pair on ebay 3 weeks ago for $50 - score!). They should be here any day and I'll be glad to post my impressions if there is any interest.

So far my perference is for the stunning 093Ti. I just can't say enough good things about this driver. The imaging, clarity, and realistic "edge" it gives to brass instruments is just amazing. Next on the list would be the smooth 305G or 104H-2. They don't grab your attention like the 093, but they are very easy to listen to. I hope the 104H to be even better...we shall see.

The only question is how long will it take me to unbox the 140's and remove the mids. I'm getting really curious now....

jblnut

4313B
09-09-2003, 05:36 PM
"They should be here any day and I'll be glad to post my impressions if there is any interest."

I'm interested!
So you are going to replace the LE5-11's with 104H's in a stock pair of L250's right? No other mods?

"I hope the 104H to be even better"

Than an 093Ti? Hmmm, don't hope too much. Different animal.

"So far my perference is for the stunning 093Ti."

Oh right, I remember you had XPL140's. :) None of the XPL's are shabby in my opinion. :) I think the XPL90 is easily the best of the 6.5"-based 2-way systems JBL has put out since the little L15/4301. I'm thinking about putting my 093Ti's and 046Ti's with a pair of LE10H's or 2122H's but haven't decided yet. I might just go for a 4-way instead. LE14H-1, 115H-1, 093Ti, 046Ti. Maybe I'll use the 112H instead of the 115H-1. Who knows :p

Anyway, let us know what you do :)

jblnut
09-09-2003, 05:50 PM
That's right - I'm just experimenting with different upper mids in an otherwise factory stock L250. When I said I hope the 104H to be even better, I was referring to my continuing upgrade path of le5-11 -> 104h-2 -> 104h. I don't think I'll actually put the 093's in there (mostly because I believe the hole spacing is off), but it is a remote possibility if I get really bored :-).

I do love listening to the L250, but there are things the "little" XPL140 did better. One of them would be higher volumes. The L250's just don't seem to be as clear and effortless as the XPL's were. At lower volumes (read most of the time) the L250 has a much fuller sound though - can't beat a good JBL 4-way. Although it was not a high-end speaker, the 940's I grew up listening to really spoiled me on 4-ways. I got used to that 8" upper bass driver and the distinct fullness it adds to the music. I still have the 940's in boxes right next to the XPL140's. If the business climate ever turns around, my basement-turned-home-theater will see them get some use again. Can't wait....

jblnut

Robh3606
09-09-2003, 05:52 PM
Hello jblnut

I did a similar thing with a Jubal I was using. Didn't like the Le-5-x that was in it so I swapped a 104h-2 and liked it right away!! Then I ebayed a single 093TI for like $40 and was curious and dropped it in. It was a mess with no crossover mods but you could tell it was something special. Once I saw the 093 pair and crossover up that was all the excuse I needed to give it a go.

Thanks Merlin

1500-AL!! WOW I guess you could go that way with the 093/046 but I would look into a 10" or 12" mid and the new 2430. Do a price comparison see what you get value wise. I like my XPL's but I really like my mains. The big speakers are just not as power hungry. They actually sound very similar at low levels but the bigger speakers just won't run out of steam and you can't match the impact they can give you. I personally like the big drivers better.

Rob:)

Robh3606
09-09-2003, 06:17 PM
"I might just go for a 4-way instead. LE14H-1, 115H-1, 093Ti, 046Ti. Maybe I'll use the 112H instead of the 115H-1. Who knows"

Now that is one mean sounding system!! If you do we want pictures!!!

Rob :)

pasadena
09-17-2003, 10:41 AM
Don,

Are you able to source a photo of the JBL XPL-250 prototype?

Cheers

Mark

jblnut
09-22-2003, 06:41 PM
Just to put some closure on this comparison....

I received the poly 104h's and promptly installed them, moving the 104h-2's back into my studio's 4410's. My first impessions were that they didn't sound much different from the 104h-2, and that's a good thing. Continued listening confirmed that they were perhaps slighly smoother overall, or said another way - I simply stopped being able to hear the effect of the upper mid driver and just concentrated on the music. I then put the original le5-11's in just to make sure that I was on the right track. Well, the le5's are on ebay now if that tells you anything. I realize that the 104h may not have been designed for this speaker, but it sure sounds great in there.

jblnut

4313B
09-22-2003, 07:03 PM
Cool jblnut!
Thanks for the feedback :)