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

[Aaron]

For an easy better-than-stock upgrade, a guy could replace the old caps with poly units, trade the iron core inductors with air cores of a larger gauge and toss the fragile stock binding posts in favor of gold plated brass parts.

I'd like to kick my L110s up a notch as well.
I was thinking of using 035Ti tweets, 104H-2 mids and LE10H woofers... of course this will require a completely new crossover.
Anything already out there made to work with that combination?

[BMWCCA]

I'd like to kick my L110s up a notch as well.
I was thinking of using ... LE10H woofers... of course this will require a completely new crossover.

What's in there now? I thought they were LE10H-1s?

[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.

[Aaron]

Mine are just the L110s, not the L110As, so they have LE111As in there now.
Actually, I don't really have a problem with the stock woofers, it's just that I have a pair of NOS LE10Hs freshly refoamed on the shelf... it would be a shame not to use them.

[4343]

Mine are just the L110s, not the L110As, so they have LE111As in there now.
Actually, I don't really have a problem with the stock woofers, it's just that I have a pair of NOS LE10Hs freshly refoamed on the shelf... it would be a shame not to use them.

I'm really happy with my (completely reversible) "upgrade". I put in the XO's from a pair of 4410A's, (mounted to a piece of ply made up in the shape and size of the original XO, so it bolts in the same way) and the 104H-2's and 035's you mention earlier.

The sound is closer to my 4412A's in the front room now, so going from one to the other is less of a shock to the system...

I'm sure it's less than ideal with the LE111A's, but I like it. The 4410 XO might be better, it has L-Pads, but I don't miss them at all with this setup.