After much research I bought a pair of 2225H's on ebay for $250 and $40 shipping.
For what I'm using them for (home hi-fi, paired with midrange horns and a ribbon tweeter, ~5+ cu. ft. vented enclosure, tuned to 25-30hz), I would prefer to use the 2235H, and I understand that these can be reconed to 2235H's, and I've seen the kits for around $70 each. These are replacing some 15" RTR woofers (
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=303-422) that are currently in the cabinets. I bought these custom made speakers which have high quality mid and HF drivers and nice custom cabinets and very nice crossovers... the cheap woofer seemed out of place. However it actually sounds pretty darn good, and can make quite a lot of bass if asked to. But, I haven't heard the JBL's yet so who knows how big the difference will be.
Buuuut actually I need these to go up to around 800hz with a 6db slope from there, so I'd like to retain some of the midbass sensitivity and transient response of the 2225H, so my question is this. I've seen re-foam kits for 2235's for 30 bucks. If I change the 2225H to a foam surround, will it be exactly the same as the 2235 EXCEPT for the difference in moving mass? And, is this difference in mass due solely to the 35g mass ring? I would like to just refoam the 2225's and put a few layers of mod podge on the cones, front and back. for added stiffness and mass. This way i could increase the mass slightly but not all the way to where the 2235 is... I'd aim for about half-way.
My fear is that the 2225 with the refoam will not have as much linear xmax as the 2235. Based on JBL's specs the 2225 only has 5mm while the 2235 has 8.5mm. So, the question is whether the difference is due to the surround or some other component difference.
Can anyone answer this question with certainty? If I don't get the 8.5mm xmax with a 2225 refoam and slightly additional mass, then I'll have to go all the way and recone them, because I want lots of clean bass.
Thanks!