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Thread: Need some advice on these 135A woofers

  1. #1
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    Need some advice on these 135A woofers

    I picked up a set of beat up L45 Flairs, I have enough projects already and wasn't looking for another. They only wanted $10 for the pair and the cabinets were bad enough I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be temped to restore them. Just save them from the trash bin.
    They have the standard load with the 135A woofers. One woofer just needs a bit of cleaning on the cone and a new surround. The other had the surround rot patched with what looks to be caulk. The caulk for the most part is only on the surround, there are a few places were it goes on to the cone an 1/4 inch or so. What would I use for cleaning the cones? My guess is that the caulk is old and rubbing alcohol might loosing it up. Would that hurt the aquaplas cone?
    I have successfully done new surrounds on 6 different 12" JBL woofers and I didn't have to remove the dust caps on them? Is it recommended to use shims on these 135A woofers?
    I'm most likely not keep them, Would it be better just to sell them as is?
    Thant in advance-
    Brad
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    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    Pretty obvious the paint/caulk has made unknown changes to the cone material. Recommended tip - have them reconed, fresh as new - otherwise, there is no way of knowing what their performance will be like

    Quote Originally Posted by xbartx View Post
    I picked up a set of beat up L45 Flairs, I have enough projects already and wasn't looking for another. They only wanted $10 for the pair and the cabinets were bad enough I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be temped to restore them. Just save them from the trash bin.
    Thanx in advance-
    Brad
    2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
    7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460

  3. #3
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Looks like they just caulked over the Lansaloy surround material. I've never done one but I seem to recall most Lansaloy replacements using conventional foam surrounds are generally installed on the front of the old cone so you might not be in as bad of shape as you think. That's considering the age of the drivers and understanding that the proper repair is a re-cone, not just a re-surround, but . . .
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

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    Knowing that I'm most likely not going to keep them, it seems that I should just sell them as is and let the new owner decide on a re-cone or foam.

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    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    For about twenty-five bucks you can re-surround them yourself. And that's all you've lost if it doesn't work out since a re-cone will destroy all evidence of your handicraft if that's their destiny.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

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    I did my best to remove the Lansaloy surround and think I got most all of the caulk off the cone. Can anyone tell if the new foam should be put on the front of the cones, like was suggested. What is the thought there?
    After removing the dust cap, what should I be looking for to determine the condition of the voice coil.
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    Quote Originally Posted by xbartx View Post
    I did my best to remove the Lansaloy surround and think I got most all of the caulk off the cone. Can anyone tell if the new foam should be put on the front of the cones, like was suggested. What is the thought there?
    After removing the dust cap, what should I be looking for to determine the condition of the voice coil.
    Resurround kits from looneytune2001 are considered the best choice by most ( if not all ) here at this forum . Rick Cobb is the seller .

    Re; attachment of foam to front or back of cone ?

    - Do a mockup either way / & then look at the spider holding the voice-coil in place .
    You want the spider to look flat / not sagging in or bulging out .

    - Deflection either way from flat, positions the voice-coil unequally, ( above & below ) the top-plate ( gap ) .
    - This positional skew, will negatively effect Xmax ( ie; you'll get distortion earlier ) ...

    - You want the spider to lay as flat as possible when the woofer is facing cone up .

    <> cheers

  8. #8
    Senior Member SMKSoundPro's Avatar
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    I just refoamed a pair of 136 woofers a couple of months ago and I put the foam behind the cone. I don't know of many JBL woofers with foam on the front.

    Refoam with looneytoons kits, and you won't need to remove the dust domes. Re blacken the dust dome with something, and there you go.

    In the shop, we used a round piece of cardboard that fit exactly over the dust dome, held it with one hand while spraying a little flat black paint into it. A perfect black dust dome everytime!

    I put my 136's right back into my L200B's here at the workshop and they just sound great!
    Scotty.
    One step above: "Two Tin Cans and a String!"
    Longtime Alaskan Low-Fi Guy - E=MC² ±3db

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    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SMKSoundPro View Post
    I just refoamed a pair of 136 woofers a couple of months ago and I put the foam behind the cone. I don't know of many JBL woofers with foam on the front.
    Maybe it was the Lansaloy or simply the white cones that brought to mind these photos from another thread showing the Lansaloy obviously on the front of the cone. I know there are others showing the same re-surrounded with the foam on the front, too. But I agree, I don't know of any woofers that came originally with foam on the front.

    http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...ull=1#post7110

    http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...ll=1#post86497
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

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    The gap for the cone seems really small for these woofers, using some 35mm film that has a thickness of 0.0053"and I can just get it in. Is this a normal shim thickness for these woofers?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by xbartx View Post
    The gap for the cone seems really small for these woofers, using some 35mm film that has a thickness of 0.0053"and I can just get it in. Is this a normal shim thickness for these woofers?
    FWIW, you're not increasing the value of these woofers by resurrounding them before resale .

    My advice ? Sell the drivers without surrounds ( either old or new ) and let the new owner worry about refurbishing them to his specification ( ie ; take the old surrounds off if you can do it cleanly ) .

    At this point, I think you should quit while you're ahead . Leave the other dust-cap in place assuming it's still in place .
    - It does look like you've done a nice job of removing the old surrounds .
    - Is the other woofer as clean looking around the edges ?


    - You're damned if you do & damned if you don't, if you choose to put new surrounds on either the front or the back ( with these old Lansaloy type woofers ) .

    - Those white 135A cones are very rare and ( sometimes ) are wanted by restoration experts / when they are doing refurbishments of the original 4350.

    - They might prefer to take your woofers "as is" // removing the cone assemblies to do a full rebuild of the kit ( using new spiders & new surrounds ).

    If I were you , I'd concentrate on getting up to speed in how to bomb-proof pack them for shipping by gorillas ( that type of info is here on this site ) .


    <> cheers

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