Westlake BBSM-12 (Part 2)

[Andyoz]

A bit of a continuation of this thread from a year ago. http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...ghlight=bbsm12 Not really JBL but I thought I'd put it in the Lansing Technical help forum anyway.

Turns out that another pair of approx. 15 year old Westlake BBSM12's are up for grabs. They came out of a radio broadcast studio in Dublin. They are sitting in the showroom of a studio kit supplier, as they supplied them with the Genelec's that replaced the Westlakes. The good news is that all the woofers are fine but it goes downhill after that.

In one enclosure, both the mid and tweeter show signs of distress and overall that speaker does not sound right at all. The mid sounds harsh and the tweeter output is too low.

The other enclosure sounds great (really good actually) but there is a slight tear in the mid surround so that drivers is on the way out.

Will drop Westlake an email, but from what they told me last time I know this much:

1. They changed the type of woofers after Serial No. 757 from Audax to Focal as the Audax unit was discontinued (these are are Serial No's 771/772 so have the Focal woofers)

2. The midrange is an Audax PR17HR70. The only useful reference I can find is here http://www.cadaudio.dk/audaxunits.htm and that says the PR17HR70 has been repalced by the PR170M0. See note at the very bottom of page where it states PR17HR6-/70/100 has been rpalced by PR17oM0 - this one size fits all repalcement worries me! Would Westlake send a pair of replacement drivers if I asked them nicely? It's the only hope to salvage these speakers I think.

3. The tweeter is an Audax TW034X0 and that is listed in the link above as a current model.

Overall, I think there is just too much wrong with these though. If they want to let them go really cheap, I may be interested. Just drop in the nearest replacement Audax drivers I can get and have a blast.

Even listening to the "good" one of the pair, I can tell these things are very efficient with a revealing midrange. I only used my Bryston 3B for the demo but really needed my 4B to get them going. Not sure I could listen to them all the time, but would be a great second system to get another perspective on the CD collection. Will post photos later.

[Andyoz]

Photos attached in this order:

1. The good speaker (those marks on woofer surround rub off and dent can be pulled out)
2. The better of the two midranges (slight tear at 11 o'clock)
3. The bad speaker
4. The bad midrange (tears all over the place that look much worse than this photo shows)

I'm not surprised those midranges get damaged, the surround looks more fragile than most and these things were on stands in harms way

[KCCT82]

Hi Andyoz,

I don't know if Westlake will send you a pair of BBSM-12's mid, but I drove there and got a pair 2 summers ago. And don't use the "one size fits all" mid, it's not gonna be the same.


Exactly what you need right here...

[Andyoz]

Hi Andyoz,

I don't know if Westlake will send you a pair of BBSM-12's mid, but I drove there and got a pair 2 summers ago. And don't use the "one size fits all" mid, it's not gonna be the same.

Westlake will send them directly from the US but the cost of shipping, etc. makes it a little crazy.

Anyway, these things are huge (depth wise) and will never get past the wife at my place. They really need to be in a soffit. There is an amp and stands to go with them but they are still in the studio so have no idea what the amp is. Westlakes confirmed these are 15 years old so the amp is probably them same vintage. Could be an old Bryston 4B? Not sure what will happen to them to be honest as no one seems to want big, passive monitors in this part of the world anymore. It's all Genelec.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Reminds me of the Gale's...Elton John liked them..apparently...

[spirou38]

A bit of a continuation of this thread from a year ago. http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...ghlight=bbsm12 Not really JBL but I thought I'd put it in the Lansing Technical help forum anyway.

Turns out that another pair of approx. 15 year old Westlake BBSM12's are up for grabs. They came out of a radio broadcast studio in Dublin. They are sitting in the showroom of a studio kit supplier, as they supplied them with the Genelec's that replaced the Westlakes. The good news is that all the woofers are fine but it goes downhill after that.

In one enclosure, both the mid and tweeter show signs of distress and overall that speaker does not sound right at all. The mid sounds harsh and the tweeter output is too low.

The other enclosure sounds great (really good actually) but there is a slight tear in the mid surround so that drivers is on the way out.

Will drop Westlake an email, but from what they told me last time I know this much:

1. They changed the type of woofers after Serial No. 757 from Audax to Focal as the Audax unit was discontinued (these are are Serial No's 771/772 so have the Focal woofers)

2. The midrange is an Audax PR17HR70. The only useful reference I can find is here http://www.cadaudio.dk/audaxunits.htm and that says the PR17HR70 has been repalced by the PR170M0. See note at the very bottom of page where it states PR17HR6-/70/100 has been rpalced by PR17oM0 - this one size fits all repalcement worries me! Would Westlake send a pair of replacement drivers if I asked them nicely? It's the only hope to salvage these speakers I think.

3. The tweeter is an Audax TW034X0 and that is listed in the link above as a current model.

Overall, I think there is just too much wrong with these though. If they want to let them go really cheap, I may be interested. Just drop in the nearest replacement Audax drivers I can get and have a blast.

Even listening to the "good" one of the pair, I can tell these things are very efficient with a revealing midrange. I only used my Bryston 3B for the demo but really needed my 4B to get them going. Not sure I could listen to them all the time, but would be a great second system to get another perspective on the CD collection. Will post photos later.

Hi Andy,

In France there is a company that has cones and surrounds for your Audax PR17HR70.
The name of the guy is Syvain HOULBERT phone number 0033 0243 233 232. He is a very nice guy.
I just phoned him and he can replace the surround for Euro 42.50 each but before he checks if the cone is not too "tired". If it is, he changes the cone for a new one ( of course, it will be a little more expansive ), but the winding is not exactly the same ( the new one has square wire instead of round wire - or perhaps it is the opposite ). If the spider is bad, he also changes the spider.
I didn't asked, but perhaps he also has the Audax TW034 tweeter or the good diaphragm.

Let me know if you need of some help for contacting him.

Best regards from France.

Pascal

[Hoerninger]

In France there is a company that has cones and surrounds for your Audax PR17HR70.
The name of the guy is Syvain HOULBERT ...

Hello Pascal,

Syvain HOULBERT seems to be reachable via internet. Unfortunately I can only guess what he is writing in French.
Does he sell surrounds on its own?
(I need one surround for an Audax PR 170 MO.)

Regards
Peter

[spirou38]

Hello Pascal,

Syvain HOULBERT seems to be reachable via internet. Unfortunately I can only guess what he is writing in French.
Does he sell surrounds on its own?
(I need one surround for an Audax PR 170 MO.)

Regards
Peter

Peter,

If you think you will be able to change the surround I can ask him how to proceed and ask him if he speaks English.

Where should he send it exactly ?

But are you sure that the cone, winding and spider are perfect ?

Here is a link to his website, surround page
http://www.reparationhaut-parleur.co...ournitures.htm
look at "Suspension Mousse Plate" "152.120 PR17 PR170" and you will get the price .

He also has diaphragms for your tweeter :
http://www.reparationhaut-parleur.co...membranage.htm
look at "Equipage mobile pour réparation des tweeters Audax de la série TW025A, TW034X0 et PR120" "Dôme Tissu - Bobine 8 Ohms (TW034X0)" and you will also get the price, it's a lot cheaper than a new tweeter .

On the same page, you can also see the reconing kit for PR17 ...

Choose what you need and I will ask him the postage cost.

Best regards,

Pascal