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Thread: JBL C56 Dorian Restoration

  1. #1
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    JBL C56 Dorian Restoration

    Hi, I was searching for information on JBL C56 Dorian speakers and ran across these forums. I have a pair of these...brown wood cabinet and marble tops. They are fairly loud; however, one of the woofers is suffering from foam rot and the other isn't too far behind. What is my best bet to get them back into at least decent shape? Does refoaming them work? Or can I install new woofers in them? I am fairly handy, but don't know much about speakers. I assume I can't just stick car subs in there. I am driving them with an old pioneer amp (has loads more power than my newer amp!) IF anyone is familiar with these speakers or has any repair suggestions, drop me a line.

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    Picture

    HEre is a picture of the drivers.
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  3. #3
    RIP 2011 Zilch's Avatar
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    First, go to User CP, above, and update your profile to display your location.

    Have the surrounds on your woofers replaced by your local JBL Service Center:

    http://www.jblproservice.com/service/index.html

    It'll cost about $50 apiece to get them working properly again....

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    Smile Welcome birkato

    Quote Originally Posted by Zilch
    First, go to User CP, above, and update your profile to display your location.

    Have the surrounds on your woofers replaced by your local JBL Service Center:

    http://www.jblproservice.com/service/index.html

    It'll cost about $50 apiece to get them working properly again....
    Zilch

    Back on the job, I see.

    birkato

    Zilch's advice is good. We need to know where you are. In addition, he implied it but I'll be explicit: don't replace the woofers with anything else! Get them fixed.

    Those cabinets, drivers, and crossovers were painstakingly designed to work together. Although it's common to think a 12" or 15" speaker is interchangeable with another 12" or 15" speaker, it's not. Even among JBL's own products, there are many types of 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18 inch drivers, all of which have characteristics designed into them for specific applications.

    Getting those fixed is your best bet, or finding and installing an identical pair in better shape. The latter will cost you more. It's possible JBL will have a recommended substitute driver, but it will change the sound in some way.
    Out.

  5. #5
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    Location

    I am in Minneapolis, MN. I will contact one of the JBL service centers. Thanks!

  6. #6
    Ballylongford
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    Have the surrounds on your woofers replaced by your local JBL Service Center:



    It'll cost about $50 apiece to get them working properly again....
    Maybe I'm missing something here: I also have a pair of these with the Lansalloy (sp?) surround woofers and I've checked with the local JBL repair shop here in the SF Bay area; (I believe I got the name from Zilch), as well as several other JBL repair facilities.

    What I was told is that JBL does not offer a repair or a replacement for the surrounds in these units; if something has changed recently on this point due to unexpected updates, please advise

    Thanks

  7. #7
    RIP 2011 Zilch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ballylongford View Post
    What I was told is that JBL does not offer a repair or a replacement for the surrounds in these units....
    You were told correctly. JBL does not offer surrounds, only complete recones. All surround replacement is done with aftermarket materials by others. Lansaloy was discontinued by JBL many years ago when improved materials were developed.

    JBL's stance is that after 15 or more years of use, other mechanical elements of the cone assembly have aged as well, and should also be replaced to re-establish performance to original factory specification. The difference in cost is substantial, however, and most users only opt for a complete recone when the cone itself or voice coil have been damaged.

    Call Audivex again. He does resurrounds routinely, but has told you the truth: they won't be JBL factory original surrounds, because JBL does not offer any. If there was any confusion regarding this, it's because he's impeccably honest about it. You have to inquire about alternatives; as an authorized JBL Service Center, he's not going offer them up front unless asked.

    Any assertion (as routinely occurs on eBay, for example,) that replacement surrounds are "JBL factory" is an outright fabrication....

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    Junior Member jaymanaa's Avatar
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    I found this thread while looking for info on a pair of Dorians I'm trying to freshen up, and thought I might add a couple questions. First on the LX10 crossovers, the caps appear to be wax-potted units marked "Globe Aerospace". I was curious as to whether or not these were original (the covers on the crossovers had screws instead of rivets). They still measure ok at 12uf, so I would hate to replace them with a lesser capacitor. Would anyone have a recomendation on this? I'm also looking for suggestions on inductor replacement, as the present ones appear to be de-laminating. I was thinking a .9mh with DCR of .26 air core? Last but not least, I would appreciate advice on what to do about the surrounds. The ones I have are actually in pretty good shape, but I know I need to deal with them at this time. Has anyone ever used Orange County for this procedure on LE14As? I'd like to keep these as stock as possible, but it doesn't appear that Landsaloy is available. I sure do appreciate any advice you guys could give me. Thank You Kindly, Jay

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    Junior Member jaymanaa's Avatar
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    Well, after some more searching here and a couple other places, I think I got it figured out. Lots of good JBL history and info here, and I appreciate the opportunity to look. Sorry if I unwittingly breached some forum etiquite or something, Jay

  10. #10
    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaymanaa View Post
    ....Sorry if I unwittingly breached some forum etiquite or something, Jay
    Not to worry... just gotta perk up someone's interest. Knowing that you've
    checked around in the existing material here helps. If you have remaining
    questions, I'd ask them again. -grumpy

  11. #11
    Junior Member jaymanaa's Avatar
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    Well, I got the crossovers all finished and gave them a whirl. I think they are much better especially in the higher frequencys. Seems to be much better detail, and they are even trying to image a little. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do (if anything) with the woofers. The surrounds look fine, and I must confess, I did the brake fluid trick which softened them up quite nicely (at least for now). I'm definately open for suggestions on the woofers. I bought these with the hopes of replacing the Heresys in my basement/shop, and I think they probably will. So far the only testing has been with a souped up Dyna 70 and CDP (no pre), but I'm really liking them better, the longer I listen. Here's a couple pics too. The new components were the same specs as stock. I also replaced the tiny spring hook ups, so I could use some larger speaker wire. Jay
    Attached Images Attached Images      

  12. #12
    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
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    nice cleanup on the crossovers... glad you're enjoying them!

    -grumpy

  13. #13
    Senior Member Baron030's Avatar
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    Hi Jaymana

    Since, your crossovers have screws instead of rivets. They may not have been completely original. And yet all of the old components do look to be original. Upgrading the old caps and replacing the small iron core coil with a larger air core will make an improvement in the over all sound. But, I would recommend that you replace then steel hardware holding the coil to the case with brass or nylon hardware. Otherwise, the iron will throw off the inductor’s value.

    Baron030.

  14. #14
    Junior Member jaymanaa's Avatar
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    Thanks for the tip. Will do, Jay

  15. #15
    Junior Member jaymanaa's Avatar
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    Hello all, hope you all don't mind me digging up this old thread, but I've got an idea and wanted some opinions and or advice. The Dorians have been wonderful living room speakers for years now. I'm power them with my incarnation of an ST35 driven by a Rotel RTC850 tuner / pre. I've been using different SS preamps because I like the MC cartridge capabilities and low noise floors. My favorite has been the Hafler Iris, but it's down for a repair right now, so the Rotel is doing a fine job of subbing. My question for you all is about the "tater masher" horns in the Dorians. They sound good to me, but not fantastic. They don't cause any fatigue or other problems, I just feel like they are the weak point of the speaker system. This brings us to a pair of 600hz Egarhorns I happened upon, with JBL 2425HS drivers already installed and ready to go. It's my understanding from talking to a couple guys that run the Edgars is that they seem to like crossing around 800 or a bit higher, and with my tired old ears, I would think they would go as high as needed. I was thinking of making some stands for the horn / driver assembly that would sit on the marble tops of the Dorians and be able to be pointed as needed. Is there any reason I just couldn't unhook the interior horn at the back of the crossover and connect the new drivers there (seems to simple). If this seems like something that would be worth a shot, does anyone know where the stock crossover crosses at? Good idea, bad idea, give it a whirl?

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