JBL L80T3 - A Couple of Restoration Questions

[falbs]

Hello,

I've been lurking as around these forums for the last year or so after getting back into audio after ten years away. I must say lansingheritage.org is a brilliant source of information, so much so it's taken this long to need to ask a question!

I recently acquired a pair of L80T3 speakers (SN’s: J191-01160 and -01133) to add to the collection. They are in a fair condition with all original drivers present (035TIA, 104H-2, 127H-1.) The LF drivers are in dire need of a refoam and one of the tweeters domes has taken a knock, as the previous owner had removed the grilles, but it still appears to work. The cabinets are in an OK condition, just normal wear and tear.

While I cannot perceive any difference in performance of the damaged tweeter to the good one, would it have suffered any major internal damage I should look out for? Could I safely pull the dome back into shape using one of those tiny suction cup things used in model building? (Micromark #81851)

With the cabinets – can anyone say what timber option the veneer is? If at all possible I’d like to be able to lighten these a bit as I’m not a fan of timber this dark. Could I get away with a light sand and oil, or is the timber already close to what it’s meant to be?

Hopefully the attached pictures give enough info – let me know if any more is needed.

Many Thanks for your time.

Cheers,

Steve Falvey

[grumpy]

Hi Steve,

Could I safely pull the dome back into shape...

Figure that it will never look proper, as you would essentially be trying to re-form
foil, ... sure, why not take a stab at it... folks here have reported various levels of
success in returning domes to a rough estimate of their former surface... suction cup,
vaccuum cleaner (partial vaccuum), tape, ... Also figure it's pretty well thrashed and
you -might- make it worse... those tweeters seem to be available on Ebay fairly
often. You can also order the grille covers that belong on those tweeters from JBL.

If you -must- do the refoam yourself, or have some experience doing so, do a
site search for Rick Cobb (refoam kit source) and a DIY thread from boputnam.

With the cabinets –

Those cabs do appear darker than "normal" in the photos. Perhaps a good cleaning
is in order. Careful with that "veneer"... it's on the thin side. Whatever you do, do it
lightly.

-grumpy

[falbs]

Hi grumpy,

Thanks for the opinion on the tweeter . I'll try my local JBL parts sources before I go the ebay way, and ordering stuff from JBL.

With the refoaming, I notice Rick Cobbs' kits rely on a tone source for the centering. Are there any disadvantages to the tone method people have encountered?
In days gone by having painstakingly removed dustcaps, used shims, and the nightmare of cutting lengths of generic "speaker" foam to avoid the expense of a re-cone, it seems an amazingly simple method.
The fact one can now buy complete third party kits with preformed foam rings for about every driver under the sun is amazing in it's own right!

Cheers,

Steve