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Thread: 1400PRO cone kits made in Mexico

  1. #1
    Senior Member Eaulive's Avatar
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    1400PRO cone kits made in Mexico

    Since the thread this was posted in got moved to a far away off-topic forum, I will repost here.
    When I think about it, maybe I was off topic in the first place

    My experience with cones made in Mexico
    I have to recone a batch of 1400PRO woofers and I had to wait a few months for the cone kits, as they were out of stock.
    There was one left apparently that I received two months ago, and yesterday I received three more.
    Now those 3 are made in Mexico and to the best of my knowledge I see no difference.
    They look the same, cone, coil, former, replacement connectors, DCR, everything.
    Only the box, packaging and thinks like stickers and markings are slightly different.

    Oh, yes, one major difference was in the building process. The US cone I received had the cat's wiskers attached to the connector and I had to solder them on the cone, while the Mexican cone had the wiskers attached to the cone already.
    The latter I prefer, however for this particular frame the connector is hard to reach when mounted and it gets tricky to solder. The US unit was easier to build, but I had to apply glue on the cone connections, wich didn't look as good as when they are done at the factory.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eaulive...7624477511093/

    I suspect these cones will sound the same and last as long as the US made cones, I don't see why not.

    The customer will tell me.

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    ...as long as it is a JBL kit it should be OK.

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    Senior Member Valentin's Avatar
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    Well, it really isn't a JBL kit, it's a recone kit made in Mexico to JBL specs, but even that isn't enough sometimes.
    The plant is owned by JBL/Harman so it is JBL

    It like saying Eversts are not JBL because the cabinet is made in Denmark the terminals in some other country etc etc etc.

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    Will prices really drop significantly?

    They could just pocket a great deal of the differential because isn't the whole point to make more money?

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    Senior Member Eaulive's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    Well, it really isn't a JBL kit, it's a recone kit made in Mexico to JBL specs, but even that isn't enough sometimes.
    I don't know what could possibly go wrong, I mean, the coils are machine wound, the cones are machine pressed, the only thing that is made by hand _I think_ is the assembly of the cone/spider/coil, even the outer compliance is glued in place by machine, yes? correct me if I'm wrong.

    Now the cone/spider/coil assembly is made on a jig, where the operator has only to appy the glue, he doesn't have to have any engineering skills to do that I guess.

    The only thing that has to remain is the QC, this has to be as thorough, and more that at Northridge, but I suspect the cost of maintaining that department is small compared to all other production lines and shipping handling employees.

    When Motorola started manufacturing their commercial radios in Mexico and Malaysia years ago, everybody announced the doom, today Motorola is still one of the top in this market.

    It's sad for the employees, surely terrible for some, but I don't think (moving to Mexico) will have a negative effect on the product quality, many other things could, but not this.
    Last edited by Eaulive; 07-30-2010 at 09:48 AM. Reason: spelling

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    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    That's an outstanding argument to buy aftermarket recone kits at a fraction of the cost. How could anyone screw them up? Since we're no longer supporting a vast U.S. based infrastructure within JBL why on earth would we still pay their premium prices for a mere recone kit?
    a good point...

    assuming the performance is there, i suspect that will be the trend...
    especially given how difficult it is for a layman to obtain a genuine kit directly from JBL.

    i am sure that is of little consideration to the folks involved.

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    Senior Member Eaulive's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    That's an outstanding argument to buy aftermarket recone kits at a fraction of the cost. How could anyone screw them up? Since we're no longer supporting a vast U.S. based infrastructure within JBL why on earth would we still pay their premium prices for a mere recone kit?
    I don't agree, like I said, the quality control makes a difference, I don't really care if the cone was made in the US by Bill or in Mexico by Pedro, what I need is to know that JBL quality control approved the kit and guarantees the specs for it.

    When I buy a 50 bucks aftermarket recone, it maybe the same, but it maybe not...

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    Aftermarket kits are not made on OEM factory jigs and do not use OEM factory materials in the cones, formers, coils, spiders, surrounds, etc.; right? They are not assembled by OEM trained technitions and the QC is not factory JBL.

    Altec went banckrupt and completely liquidated teh company in the 1990s but Great Plains Audio purchased the original Altec tooling and today they make kits and diaphragms, etc. using factory specs and materials. For all practical purposes, I consider these parts factory OEM but some purists do not. I've used these for years and they are solid performers.

    What are the annual unit volumes on the Everest?

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    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by robertbartsch View Post
    For all practical purposes, I consider these parts factory OEM but some purists do not. I've used these for years and they are solid performers.
    IMO, the point being made here by the folks around 'back when' is that the offerings have been greatly reduced...

    from my understanding, Altec, in it's heydays, had several cones/diaphragms/etc for each of their somewhat specialized market segments...

    and when GPA took control of the tooling, they worked on engineering a more basic/utilitarian set of replacement offerings...

    i do agree that they are solid performers.

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    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Valentin View Post
    The plant is owned by JBL/Harman so it is JBL

    It like saying Eversts are not JBL because the cabinet is made in Denmark the terminals in some other country etc etc etc.
    THIS is a good point!

    scottyj

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    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    But, seriously, IF the Mexican made JBL parts are good, and I don't know or say which way this is going to go, but as long as the Mexican made JBL parts SOUND and HOLD UP like the JBL we became used to, I think people WILL use them, even those who bitch the hardest.


    scottyj

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    In one of the threads, maybe the "end of an era" sticky, Don McRitchie says that the 2245 was produced in Mexico towards the end of its run. Lots of guys still like those drivers.

    OK, found it

    The Mexico plant that is being used to outsource the manufacturing is a Harman owned facility that has been producing JBL products for around 30 years. This plant most recently has been producing the lower end professional product line, but has also had experience in producing high end product. For example, the 2245 was produced at this plant in the latter part of that product’s life cycle.
    I don't know if my 2245s were built in Mexico or the US.

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    Post withdrawn.
    Last edited by 4313B; 07-30-2010 at 05:43 PM. Reason: Full disclosure is impossible, therefore there is nothing of value I can add to the discussion.

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    Senior Member Eaulive's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffW View Post
    I don't know if my 2245s were built in Mexico or the US.
    There has to be some way to find out, some kind of test involving guacamole.... or a donkey

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    First, it does not matter much that OEM kits will be made by JBL factories in Mexico and not Northridge if you need a vintage kit for an L100 woofer or an aluminuim diagragm for an old compression driver if these will no longer be made - PERIOD.

    My understanding is that JBL OEM kits, diaphragms and other repacement parts will only be made for CURRENT production drivers or drivers that have been discontinued for less than 5 years.

    The term "outsourced" has a specific meaning. For example, if JBLcontracted with an independent third party to supply voice coils, this would be an example of outsourcing. Moving JBL production of the 2245 from a JBL plant in Northrige to a JBL plant in Mexico is not outsourcing.

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