L65 Jubal upgrades

Hi All,

Saw a post on the AA Speaker forum which prompted me to think (always a dangerous thing!). I remember the L65 Jubal as an interesting speaker but sounding a bit too forward, even for a JBL, and the bass was "not quite right", a bit boomy. Is my recollection correct or what are your experiences with this particular speaker? Is it true that the Box is too small for the particular bass driver used in it?

The second thing was some L65 users had subbed the L100 woofers (any or all 3?) with much better results. They attributed that to the box being much bigger and tuned better for the L100 woofer as well as having the 12 db/octave rolloff from the crossover being helpful in reducing upper working range output from the woofer.

Since I'm not familiar with the T/S parameters of each woofer and because the L100 and L65 boxes are so different, is there any validity to this modification.

And since we're on it, what are good mods for the L65, if any?

Can they get close to my L300's?

Regards,

Bart

Hello Bart

"Is my recollection correct or what are your experiences with this particular speaker? Is it true that the Box is too small for the particular bass driver used in it?"

Not for the 122A in the L65A run the T/S in a box program like WinISD

http://www.linearteam.dk/

It's free and has a large database.

That woofer tunes up nice and flat in about 2CuFt. with good bass extension.

"The second thing was some L65 users had subbed the L100 woofers (any or all 3?) with much better results."

The 123A ,2213 need something like 15Cu. Ft to tune up flat. In 2Cu. Ft they have a pronounced hump from about 45Hz up to 100Hz depending on the volume and tuning. They might like it better but in that box size the 122A has it beat.

The 126A don't know the 129H has the same T/S as the 122A so that's another keeper.


"Can they get close to my L300's?"

That is up to you:p

Rob :)

And, mind your LF polarity.

That 12x series is repleat with polarity swaps - i.e., JBL wandered off it's long-held negative convention and made some of them positive. Not many, but a few. And, not that it matters none, but just make sure if you start swapping LF's that you honour the inner-cabinet phasing of the transducers, is all... ;)

That polarity crap is addressed in numerous threads out here - use the Search button and some clever strings, and you'll find it all.... :yes:

"I remember the L65 Jubal as an interesting speaker but sounding a bit too forward, even for a JBL, and the bass was "not quite right", a bit boomy. Is my recollection correct or what are your experiences with this particular speaker?"

Basically we would run around to every Jubal 65 port we saw and stuff the dirtiest sock we could find in it :p

Actually, it isn't a real good idea to "floor load" an LF transducer that is operating very high up into the frequency range. If you get the L65's a few feet off the floor they aren't so bad. Of course that kind of negates the "end-table configuration", yet another example of function following form :D

"And since we're on it, what are good mods for the L65, if any?"

Replace the whole mess with a 5.0 cubic foot floor standing enclosure loaded with a 2231/2235 mounted up off the floor and go, go, go! :p

"Can they get close to my L300's?"

That depends on what you call close. Hand grenade close? Tweezer and magnifying glass close?

"That depends on what you call close"

Horseshoes???

Hand grenades:eek: :bomb: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Rob:D

Quote:

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Originally posted by mech986
And since we're on it, what are good mods for the L65, if any?

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Hey, Bart...

I don't think this is what you were after, but I'm nearly done with my own Modified L65's. But, this is an oddity.

See, I had these ol' Altec Model Nine cabinets headed toward kindling, but I also had these pristine reconed LE14A,s and some apparently unused LE5-9's, and then both the 2402 and 2405's, and some great-shape N65 networks off eBay, and viola!, there I was headed toward a L65.

Ducting took some Group Effort here, and the result is stunner. I've got three-coats of JBL Blue on the baffle, and now need to replace the L-pads (just arrived yesterday...) and will post the results - but that'll be after the gobblers suffer their annual massacre...

Happy T-day, y'all...!! :wave:

Hi, everyone:

I have a pair of the first version of the L65 Jubals (with the 126A's). They are sitting on top of record shelving units which are 32 inches high. This also places the LE5 and the 077's at approximate average ear level. The bass response of these units is what I'd call very honest. I also agree that placing them on the floor can lead to a pronounced boominess effect in the base response. They are being driven by a homebrew tube amp (which I bragged about on this sight once :D ). These L65's are the front left and right channels of a very unique 5 channel (NOT the 5.1 suround sound crap with the :die: subwoofer!) system which, as a whole, delivers incredible performance. As for modifications, there are none, other than my refoaming the woofers.

The first time I ever heard the L65's was around 1975 in a stereo store in Evanston, Illinois (USA). I was originally considering the L100 when I stopped by Audio Consultants one Saturday afternoon to check them out. We compared the two systems with several different amp/reciever combinations (mostly McIntosh, since they are an authorized dealer and service center) and different types of music. The L65's blew the L100's (and alot of their other systems) out of the water on all fronts.

Regards,
Charley

This is where I came in on this forum, with almost the identical question, so I guess I need to weigh in.

The sole function of my Jubals right now is acting as speaker stands for a pair of LSR32's. The best thing to do would be to sell your Jubals, scrape together another $4-500 and get some used LSR32's if you can find them. They do everything better.

But I know you won't do that because like the rest of us you are fascinated by the JBL legacy.

I think the next step up from the L65 is the 4315. Hard to find, and the 2108 bass/mid is practically unobtainable, the 124/2203 woofer only slightly less so.

If I were to finish this project now here's what I'd do:

I'd make two nice low-boy five foot cabinets and mount a 2235 in each wired with 12 gauge Monster cable and a good quality input panel. If you are up to it style them to complement the Jubals. Set the Jubals on top. I'd pull out the woofers and hang them on the wall in the Museum of Displaced Technology, AKA my garage. Make an adaptor plate for an eight inch and install a 2115 (or LE8T-2). Mind the polarity. This is the LE8 with a lighter cone. Not a common speaker, but I believe there are thousands of them in ceilings all over the country and they will be showing up in the used market with increasing regularity. I just bought two frames. The cone is still available, though a bit pricey. A pair of LE8T would probably do, at least temporarily. Dig down in your sock drawer and find two socks with mates in the Twilight Zone, roll them up and stuff the ports.

Do a search on these forums for the threads on crossover tweaking and learn about all the nice things that can happen to your hearing if you start fussing with capacitors. Do some of those modifications to the N65's you have. There might be some adjustments required to use the 2115 in place of the stock woofer. Other members of this forum can be of more help with that.

Biamp the 2235 at about 300 Hz. Use a good high-current solid state amp for the woofers and your choice of electronics for the top three drivers.

Get a SACD player and treat yourself to some new sounds.

Following this method you would get a dramatic change from the stock Jubals and yet you would not have wrecked a classic pair of speakers. They could be restored to stock condition very easily when you decide the 2235's need to be the beginning of some 4343's.

Well, that's my two cents.

Regards,

David

Quote:

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Originally posted by speakerdave
I think the next step up from the L65 is the 4315. Hard to find, and the 2108 bass/mid is practically unobtainable, the 124/2203 woofer only slightly less so.

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Any 124/2202/2203/2204 basket can take the C8R2203 (124A/H and 2203A/H) kit. Unfortunately that specific kit has been discontinued. I do have a work around with roughly eighty proper genuine JBL kits still available. I don't really advocate running out and building 124/2203's because they are pretty expensive but if you already have a pair and they need recones... ;)

The 4315 was the first four-way I ever owned. It is funny you should mention it because looking back that it exactly the migration I took speakerdave :p L65 to 4315 :yes:

Oh, another option would be to recone those 3-inch coiled twelves as 128H-1's. I think GordonW has done this very recently. IMO, they sound "better" than any of the other JBL model 12x "twelves" from 20 Hz to 1 kHz.

Hi there...I bought a pair of L 65's around 25 yrs ago mainly (1) 'cuz they looked really cool, and (2) well, they were JBL, so they must sound ok ...I was young (and poor) at the time, so the price was right....kept them all these years, I still think they are one of the best looking spkrs JBL ever built...I have the ones with the port on the bottom (much nicer, methinks :) as for the sound, well....pretty much what people said here, the boom and tizz...first thing I did was to toss the crossovers in the can and tri-amp the things...I think that helped immensely...no more compressed mushy sound...second thing I did was toss those (what I thought at the time and may still believe) hf units- I thought the plastic (er, 'scuse me, "crystal") wedge gave the drivers a cheap look, so I replaced them w/ 2405 h's....pure cosmetics, as cash was beginning to flow:) ...I like how they sound, but I wonder how my modded ones would stand up against say, the L 300's ,which seems to me, is a bigger box version of the 65's...(try not to laugh at me) I'm content with the low end, just wondering how different the "presense" would be, comparing the le-5's vs the horn in the 300...I guess I'll just have to get a pair of 300's to see...just rambling as it is Xmas day and I am at work (television Biz) and am passing time....anybody frankenstein their 65's into anything else?