LOOKY WHAT I JUST GOT......more L100s!

[Fred Sanford]

A good friend just stopped in yesterday to unload some toys he thought I might appreciate. One is a Portable T-Amp :

http://www.si5.com/products.php?pID=4005

...should be fun and maybe even useful to have around, for testing or for outdoor tunes. I'll let you all know what I think of it once I've fired it up.

**********************************

The other is a set of L100s. From what I can tell from resource material here, it's a pair of later L100As. Cabs a little rough but fixable, grilles seem modded (cloth on some protruding frame) and also a little rough. Woofs and mids look absolutely pristine, really made me gasp when I took them out to look & check models/serial #s. Tweets will need some love, one has a crinkle through the cone (might even have been a factory defect, can't tell) and the other looks like it's taken a good hit at some point ("pooched" keeps coming to mind whenever I look at it, not sure which forum member first used that in relation to f'd up tweeters). The tweets didn't come out of the cabs easily, so I didn't push my luck.

L-Pads have a touch of static, there's a sound coming from the woofer cone of the 294016 cab that sounds like it might just be the speaker leads making contact with the back of the cone, we'll see. Overall, they seem to play fine.

Some info, then more posts with pics.

Cabinet labelled L100 serial # 294320 A:

123A-3 # 91897
LE5-2 # 347924
I assume tweeter is an LE20-1, couldn't verify. Crinkled cone.

Cabinet labelled L100 serial # 294016 A:

123A-3 # 95284
LE5-2 # 348019
I assume tweeter is an LE20-1, couldn't verify. Pooched!

je, surrounded by black walnut.

[Fred Sanford]

First is the crinkled cone, tough to show in a pic, runs from roughly 12 o'clock to roughly 4 o'clock in this pic.

Second & third are the thoroughly crushed cone tweeter, very sad.

je

[Fred Sanford]

First pic is the cabs with grilles, then loaded cabs.

je

[Fred Sanford]

Look like modded frames to me, but then, I've never seen OEM frames. I can't figure how the stock foam would have been held by these as they are now.

je

[Fred Sanford]

123A-3s, just beautifully brand new looking. Pics don't do justice.

je

[Fred Sanford]

LE5-2s, pretty as the 123As.

je

[johnaec]

One is a Portable T-Amp :

http://www.si5.com/products.php?pID=4005

One of those, along with something like an iPod, would be nice to take along whenever buying used speakers. A number of time's I've brought along a small AC powered amp and portable CD player, but battery operated would be easier...

John

[Fred Sanford]

Yep, or on a construction site where we're installing multiple pairs of speakers and need to check the installations & wiring quickly but power outlets may still be few & far between. I used to carry an old JVC cassette boombox with speaker outputs for that. I'll find a couple uses for this little toy, its reputation seems to be for use as the mid/hi or hi freq amp in a bi- or tri-amp setup, not sure if I'm going to test that any time soon.

It works, I fired it up last night. Usable, predictably not a lot of push when cranked but pretty clean. I was a bit surprised at how smoothly it started to break up when pressed harder from a hotter input signal, it distorted noticeably but not harshly. Good to know. This was with a regulated 12V supply, not batteries.

je

[hjames]

A nice clean 15 watts/ch of power - hey - Strom ought to get one for his Ltex ... I hear they play nice with lo power!

(duckin' and runnin')

[Fred Sanford]

A nice clean 15 watts/ch of power - hey - Strom ought to get one for his Ltex ... I hear they play nice with lo power!

(duckin' and runnin')

They're pretty honest about being "nice clean" up to about 9W (0.04% THD @ 9W/4 ohms), but then they list "15W @ 4 ohms, 10% THD".

Steep drop once you're over the edge, no?

But, these go to eleven!

I noticed they don't mention dimensions on the site (duh!), to me that's half the attraction. It's only 6" W x 3.5" D x 2" H, and most of that's the battery bays (8 x AAs).

je

P.S. Yes, I thought of our ThunderStorm when I saw the amp's specs.
I'll try the amp today in my TR225s to see if I can rock the house, I'm doubting it. It gave a bit of thump with L100s, loud enough to sing along at least.

[Fred Sanford]

We spoke lately about some great steel-string acoustic players- it looks like I might be getting the call to run the sound for George Winston for a small, private charity concert nearby with him playing slack key Hawaiian style guitar. Last year they used this:

http://richardritchey.tripod.com/sit.../fender.pa.jpg

I'll need to unpack more stuff to check it all before the show, should be a lot of fun. I like a deadline.

je

[Fred Sanford]

One of those, along with something like an iPod, would be nice to take along whenever buying used speakers. A number of time's I've brought along a small AC powered amp and portable CD player, but battery operated would be easier...

John

...and MP3s of sweeping frequency tones...

je

[Fred Sanford]

OK, I found what was making the noises from the woofer, and it seems like more factory issues- somebody was in a rush when these were coming through QC off the assembly line.

The more obvious noise was the tie-wrap for the bundle of wires up towards the midrange doghouse, it was never trimmed and was able to contact the woofer's cone. But then, taking the woofer out, I noticed that only 3 of the screws had T-Nuts! The fourth screw must have just come out predictably the first time I removed the woofs, so I didn't even think to look. There's not enough wood at the screw hole site to support a T-Nut, and from what I can tell (I'll get a mirror & maybe a camera in there tomorrow) there's no sign the T-Nut was never installed. The screw, when in place, vibrates just enough on any extended bass notes to be audible. When not in place, the hole whistles (especially if the port is plugged, right Zilch?). I suppose it's also possible that the woofer frame could flex in extreme circumstances, but that's not really my # 1 concern. I'll look into options, like maybe a strip of metal that could attach where there's good wood, and have the correct thread nut somehow secured to it and aligned with the screw hole.

Fun.

je

[Zilch]

No holes allowed with plugged ports, nope.

[If the T-nut WAS in there, yer gonna hafta find it now.... ]

[Fred Sanford]

No holes allowed with plugged ports, nope.

[If the T-nut WAS in there, yer gonna hafta find it now.... ]

No sign on the inside of the baffle that the t-nut was ever pressed in properly, and I did find it- wedged in the edge of the inside of the woofer, stuck in the doping and vibrating between the frame and the pleated edge of the cone. It had glue & wood chips in the threads, doesn't look like a screw had ever been in it. I had another type of t-nut with the same thread (slid in from the inside of the opening towards the screw hole), grabbed onto the wood that was still there nicely.

Sounds MUCH better now. So, of course, going with the various bad influences of this forum, I stacked 'em & threw a Lava Lamp on top! This one's for you, Superbee.