How do I upgrade JBL L110

[deepelem]

Hi, I am new to the forum so hello everyone. I am just resurrecting my JBL L110's after 15 years .. the drivers are being refoamed now and I was wondering if anyone had upgraded this speaker at all. Are there better tweeter/mid units out there and is there anything internally or with the crossover components that can be done.

[bluebill]

I'm in the same boat; new to this forum, my 4412's need foam surrounds replaced, and I'm wondering whether to stay factory or start frankensteinizing. May I ask: who is doing your surrounds? I've tried it once(beat up Bose 901's I got free from a friend), but the results were not satisfying. I would also love to hear from anyone about perhaps replacing crossover components with high-end parts, etc. Also, are there any woofers that will improve on the 128H-1's? Thanks in advance.

[servojohn]

Find a pro audio shop in your area that recones loudspeakers if you aren't confident about refoaming your drivers.

If you are thinking about cabinets, go follow the thread I started about reproduction cabinets for the 43XX/L100 range of product.

Best regards,

John

[BMWCCA]

May I ask: who is doing your surrounds? I've tried it once(beat up Bose 901's I got free from a friend), but the results were not satisfying.

I've done several similar pairs with kits from Rick Cobb. Google search this site for his contact information. He won't steer you wrong! Any mistake will have to be yours!

I would also love to hear from anyone about perhaps replacing crossover components with high-end parts, etc.

They already are high-end parts. What's wrong with what you've got?

Also, are there any woofers that will improve on the 128H-1's?

There are darn few 12" woofers that work any better. I don't know of any. What's your complaint with the 4412s the way they are?

[bluebill]

There's nothing wrong with the 128's; I love these speakers. They must have over 10,000 hours on them. When has that stopped anyone from the urge to tinker? OTOH, your comments have made me think, "if it's not broken, don't fix it!"

I thought I read somewhere the caps and resistors in some of these monitors were cheapys and the sound was improved by replacing them with better ones.

I'll look into the Rick Cobb kits; thanks for the 411, I appreciate your interest!!

[BMWCCA]

I appreciate your interest!!

Just consider me an opinionated JBL dilettante who has owned a pair of L112s since they were new and also has 4412A and L150As. I'm sure there are tweaks even including a charge-coupled solution that could be tried though I think they work pretty darn well as they are for a 12" "bookshelf-size" three-way. But then I've not heard the Century Gold Limited Edition model.

[bluebill]

I send Cobb an e-mail to his e-bay account...fingers crossed! My favorite thing is when a friend hears the 4412's and their face lights up and they stop in their tracks. "These are really good speakers, aren't they?" is what they all say. Nice.

[deepelem]

Getting back to the L110,s ,, I am in UK and the drivers are being done by a UK specialist using surrounds I bought off Ebay in America. I had not heard of Rick Cobb until after I bought them .. They have not arrived yet so I have no idea of the quality .. There are several people on US Ebay selling foam kits .. These are supposed to be the real thing.

I guess noone then has found it necessary to do any tweaks to the electronics or upgraded the drivers .. I was playing the speakers with completely foam free surrounds for a while and they still sounded mint haha

[SMKSoundPro]

I have L110's in my workshop office and listen to them 5 day a week for 8-10 hours straight. I find them quite enjoyable and would not change or alter them.

I reconed one woofer with a JBL LE111 kit as needed, whereas, the other woof I had was refoamed by someone else and in good shape. I had one tweeter that didn't work but a little time and patience got it fixed.

All this for $50 for the pair of L110 in a Portland Salvation Army store with grills and in their original shipping boxes. I already had a pair of LE111 woofs sitting on the shelf I got off of ebay, one good, and the other scratchy sounding so a full recone was in order ($200+)

For about $300 total, my L110's are whole and sound just great!!!

I do not consider changing them, as I believe they are perfect for their use. If I want different speakers to play with, I have many other options.

Good luck with yours! You'll love them with a good quality solid state amp.

Scotty.

[Fred Sanford]

I guess noone then has found it necessary to do any tweaks to the electronics or upgraded the drivers .. I was playing the speakers with completely foam free surrounds for a while and they still sounded mint haha

Hopefully you didn't ruin the woofers' voice coils by doing that, but generally the L110s are well-regarded as they came from the factory. There may be tweeters that folks like better out there, but physically adapting them & then tweaking the already-complex crossover seems to have kept people enjoying them as-is. I know I love mine, they're used every day.

je

[bluebill]

Mr Cobb answered my e-mail promptly; $27 including shipping. Good luck Deep. Fellow deadhead?

[deepelem]

Thanks for all the comments .. and I am getting the drivers reconed as well so should be OK. Nice pics TDK .. I will post one of mine when I get them done .. My cabinets are a bit shabby though ! I used to run them from a NAkamichi 730 receiver but I am gonna try them out with my Radford STA 25 which has just been serviced and see if that makes them any sweeter .. That little Radford has amazing grunt for it's size :

I got my surrounds from > geoaliwil < on Ebay .. they sound good people and have communicated well .. Has anyone here used them .. Am I allowed to post links .. ??

Hi BlueBill ... fellow deadhead indeed .. .. Did you catch any of their recent shows .. I was gonna buy one of the live recordings from them off the web site ..

Cheers ........ Brian

[bluebill]

Last time was in 2003, near Boston; with Joan Osborne and Jimmy Herring. I got the show on cd from the dead website; very nice.

I got the surround kit from Cobb. One woofer is done, will do the other tonight. Detailed instructions helped make the first one fairly easy. When the adhesive cures(24 hours), I'll give them a test run. Maybe a Dick's Picks?

[bluebill]

Foam replacement success. after some gentle burn-in, they crank. Bass never sounded better. Thanks BMWCCA for the assist!!

[4343]

I'm loving my L-110's, but I have 4412A's in another room...

I find the tweets to be a bit lacking* now after listening to the 052Ti's for a while. IIRC, the recommended replacement tweeter is the 052Ti, so I'm going to experiment a little. I have available the 104H-2 mids as well, and a set of 4410A crossovers to try.

*The 033's were both pushed in when I got these, popping them out helped considerably, but they still have little dimples around the lower part of the dome that causes a bit of lobing that bothers me when using them near-field.