Newbie! Just picked up thrashed L36s...

[paulfromcamden]

Hi!

I picked up a pair of fairly thrashed L36s at the weekend. They need a lot of work to make decent again but after a few days ploughing through the threads on here I'm feeling a bit more confident.

Good news is..
They were £17.
Mids appear to be OK
Cabinet is basically sound if a bit scruffy
They came with the grills (and some dead spiders!)

Bad news..
They have 3rd party woofers (Soundlab). Apparently the buyer bought them 10 years ago sans woofer.
One of the tweeters appears to be dead - I've switched them between cabs to check it's actually the driver thats at fault.
The tweeters dustcaps are dented. Time to get suckin I guess.
One of the mids dustcaps is cracked. I think I can live with this for now...
The grill pegs are mostly missing or sheared off. I guess it would be nice to fix this at some point.


Questions:

What's the best way to get the cabs looking smart again? The veneer looks mostly decent just grubby. There are some serious dings to the front but I'm in two minds about sanding it down or just touching it up with some paint. Anyone know what would be good paint to do this with?

What are my chances or sourcing 125A or 127As in the UK? Shipping from US isn't cheap.

Is my dead tweeter likely to be fixable?

The LE25-4s don't look the same as photos I've seen online. They have a metal surround filled with hardish foam. There's also some small orange foam showing that's mostly rotted away. Does this sound right? Can post pix if it helps. I suspect I'm better off buying a replacement pair anyhow so this may be academic...

Apologies for the long post and thanks in advance!
Paul


P.S. Nice site!

[SEAWOLF97]

a worthy project. Why dont people take care of their nice speakers ???

[paulfromcamden]

Thanks for the encouragement.

Lets see if these photos work...

[clmrt]

The Tweets are correct - the orange stuff seals the voice coil leads, as they run under the foam ring, thru the orange bits.

[paulfromcamden]

OK - thanks.

One of the tweeters is completely dead (unless anyone can suggest something?) so I guess I'm going to have to replace them both anyhow.

Do the tweeters as they stand (if they were both working!) need a foam filter fitted? All the others I've seen look more like these guys:

[Steelyfan]

OK - thanks.

One of the tweeters is completely dead (unless anyone can suggest something?) so I guess I'm going to have to replace them both anyhow.

Do the tweeters as they stand (if they were both working!) need a foam filter fitted? All the others I've seen look more like these guys:

Is there no foam whatsoever on your tweeters ? Because I see some present on your pictures ?
There are (at least) two types of appearances of the LE25 family, the one
one you have with a kind of rim, and the older one, depicted last, without rim surrounding the foam.

[grumpy]

If I'm not mistaken, the newer units (with the rim, as pictured) used neoprene
(or something similar) as the "foam", as opposed to the regularly deteriorating,
airy, open cell foam shown in the example pic further down. In any case,
it appears that ~100USD (perhaps a bit more) will get you a recone, and there's
always ebay...

example of a closed auction with various LE25 version pics:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-LE25-4-LE-25...QQcmdZViewItem

-grumpy

[paulfromcamden]

The penny drops!

Thanks guys.

As I mentioned, one of them is dead so I suspect I'm probably best replacing the pair anyhow... but it sure will help to know a bit more about what I'm looking for!

[GordonW]

If cosmetics aren't an issue, a LE25-2 can be used to sub in for a LE25-4. Both use exactly the same cone kit and are identical sonically.

Also, there is an available recone kit for the LE25-2 and LE25-4... it's part number D8RLE25-2. Kind of expensive, unless you can find someone who just has one "laying around"...

Regards,
Gordon.

[LRBacon]

Howdy Paul,
The tech sheet on the L36 suggests that the LE25-2 maybe substituted with a 035TiA. It is not the exact accoustic replacement, but it would be an upgrade and requires a little baffle modification. The midrange, LE5-6, may be replaced with either the LE5-10 or the LE5-12 as they are identical acoustically and only different cosmetically. Thought I would give you a few more options. Hope this helps.

Larry

[paulfromcamden]

Howdy guys.

To be honest I figure if I'm going to the trouble of smartening the cabs up I probably should invest in a cosmetically matching pair of tweeters as well. I just know it will bug me otherwise!

Thanks for the suggestions on alternative components - much appreciated.

Paul

[GordonW]

If you can find them easier, a pair of LE25-2 tweeters is a correct option for the L36. JBL used those in some of the L26 and L36 models... I know, I've seen them in person.

I'd hesitate before dropping the "Ti bomb" (035Tia) yet... those crossovers in the L36s aren't really set up exactly for those. It will probably take some tinkering to make them sound "right". Also, you'll have to modify the front baffle to make the 035Tia's fit...

Regards,
Gordon.

[paulfromcamden]

Don't worry - I'm going to try and keep everything 'stock' if at all possible.

Unless I get really stuck I think the only spec change will be a set of the 'twist' type binding posts that were apparently used on later L36s to replace the fiddly spring loaded posts I have. Just need to track some down