Need help with L96's (longish)

[makscopes]

Hi, I am new to this forum! I just scored a pair of L96's for $20 for the pair. They do have a number of issues (which I will discuss), but who is complaining at $20 for the pair!

Here are the issues in order of priority:

(1) One of the LE10H-1 woofers has been replaced with an aftermarket woofer.

(2) One of the LE5-12 mids has a tear in it. It still plays and looks like it can be mended.

(3) Both speakers are missing the Positive terminal for hookup. Should I go NOS or just get some from Parts Express?

(4) One of the 044 tweeters is missing the "screen" and has a bit of the silver coating coming off the dome. It sounds just as good as the other, perfect looking tweeter, so not much of a concern.

(5) Lastly, one of the grills is missing (the guy I bought the L96's from says he will hold it for me if he finds it).

(6) The cabinets have a few scuffs and bruises. I may just re-veneer them with some quality walnut.

Now, knowing these issues, will these be worth restoring? If they are, where can I get a woofer (and how much should I pay), and possibly a mid or tweet?

Are there any other issues I should be aware of?

Thank you very much for your responses. I have restored a number of speakers (mainly Klipsch), but never JBL's. From what I can tell, the drivers are built like a tank!

Thanks!

Milton

[makscopes]

There is nobody here that knows enough about the L96's to give me some direction if they are worth restoring? Please guys, I need your help. Please chime in.

Thanks,

Milton

[Zilch]

They are not worth restoring to resell at this time.

That may change, tho.

They are definitely worth restoring to enjoy.

One of JBL's nicest vintage bookshelves....

[grumpy]

I'll twist Zilch's reply around a bit (not much ) and say yes, they're worth restoring.
Just not for profit. $ investment for sound? well worth it, IMHO.

All the parts are availble on Ebay (often), except for the missing 044
screen (cut out some HD window screen to fit).

Suggestion:

Get the woofer, mend the mid, put on whatever terminals you'd be happy with,
listen for a few months. Don't underpower or cheap-out on the source or you won't
hear what these can do.

Then, if they're keepers, - clean up the boxes and start looking for an LE5-12.
I've made replacement MDF grill frames for these (table and jig saw) so it can't
be to hard, and Zilch has the cloth

-grumpy

[makscopes]

Thanks for the responses. I have already mended the LE5-12 with some rubber cement and a tiny bit of tissue. Good as new sonically, but looks like it was repaired.

I am not planning on selling these, so I am going to start looking for a LE10H-1 woofer. Anyone got one to sell? How much are they worth?

I am going to get some better terminals from Parts Express and fix that too.

They sound nice now, even though one of the woofers is not original (the replacement is a Scorpion 10" woofer - interestly enough, it has aluminum trim which matches the origingal woofer). The original sounds much deeper than the replacement - even though it has no surround. So I can only guess to how it would sound with 2 matching original woofers with surrounds.

Anyway thanks for the advice. I just now need to find out how much the woofer should cost.

Milton

[Zilch]

Please do not play your "good" woofer with no surround.

I don't see you mentioned that originally.

You can easily damage the voice coil as there is nothing but the spider holding it in alignment in the gap.

The weight of the cone is enough to render the voice coil askew....