Originally Posted by
Beowulf57
This is the first time in around 50 years that I have seen any other cabinets identical to those I am using! Where did you get them...did you build them? Do you know the origin or who made them?
I have been collecting audio gear and speakers for approx the last 20 yrs. Most of what I picked up was due more to being in the right place. I found these BLH cabs about 8 yrs ago from a friend of mine who deals audio F/T and he found no real value in these for resale, but he knew I liked old vintage speakers and he picked them up for me cheaply.
Lately, I have been working on my home repairs and found it necessary to get rid of quite a few old speaker cabs. These are part of what I kept once I started selling/pitching things to make room.
My left channel (D131) and right channel (D130) cabinets are identical except that the outside height of the D131 cabinet is 27.625", the D130 cabinet is 29.125". So, the larger driver has a 1.5" taller cabinet. The driver mounting method is also different: D131 is mounted to a brass ring with about 2" of mounting area all around and this ring is then screwed into the solid 5/8" hardwood ply front of the cabinet; D131 mounted to a 5/8" solid hardwood baffle that is screwed onto two metal side plates using machined decorative bolts into captive nuts.
As to which driver to use, that depends on a number of factors. These cabinets were originally designed to use extended range drivers such as the JBL D131, D130 or the EV Wolverine. That's the reason the driver feeds a back-loaded horn and also fires forwards. The crossover between the horn and the front radiation is probably somewhere around 180-220Hz, but I've never measured it precisely.
I'm assuming you want to use the extended range of a D131/D130 and depending on the exact dimensions of your cabinets, they might have been biuilt with either 12' or 15" drivers in mind. To my ears, the D130 is more powerful and open sounding than the D131 (the driver is about 2dB more sensitive), however the D131 may have a slightly more "solid" sound in the lower bass. There is a bit of difference in the tonal character of the bass, but this does not adversely affect the sound and is not at all noticeable when listening to music.
I see using a JBL 2225H and Altec 902/811B and crossover TBD later. Crossover building is easy enough for me to accomplish. My pair of D131/2202 recones have a fs that keeps me thinking the LF response might be a bit thin. Of course, that is always subject to change!
Are you planning to extend the system with drivers such as the LE85 and 2405?
I plan to keep it a simple 2-way if possible!