Who uses their vintage speakers as "daily drivers"?

[MikeBrewster77]

what do you think?

Nice kitty ... nice kitty ... stay away from the speaker grilles, kitty

Good looking set - with a 5th for a center (or something comparable) and a decent sub, your friend would have a nice surround sound system.

[Cactus Bob]

Can't help but dive in on this thread!! Good stuff!!

I run my 250ti's nearly everyday with 2 bridged Yamaha PC2002's. They are sooo addictive.

My 240ti's & L150A's are sidelined because of them, but still I still move them in for a little action once in a while and love them both.

At least 1 or 2 times a week I use my C40's / 030 with my tube amps which are shared with a pair of EV Regency III's. The EV's seem to edge out the C40's, but don't tell anybody.

The BR system has a pair L50's on JBL stands which sound terrific & use 1x week maybe

L56's in the den with a SS Lafayette receiver / PC. 2x week (doctors orders)

[Theebadone]

I just can't resist takin the 4410s for a spin at least once a day. The little Mcintosh 250 sounds soooo good on them i can't resist.

[Cactus Bob]

Correction C40 with 001 load. Can't edit original post.

Can't help but dive in on this thread!! Good stuff!!

I run my 250ti's nearly everyday with 2 bridged Yamaha PC2002's. They are sooo addictive.

My 240ti's & L150A's are sidelined because of them, but still I still move them in for a little action once in a while and love them both.

At least 1 or 2 times a week I use my C40's / 001 with my tube amps which are shared with a pair of EV Regency III's. The EV's seem to edge out the C40's, but don't tell anybody.

The BR system has a pair L50's on JBL stands which sound terrific & use 1x week maybe

L56's in the den with a SS Lafayette receiver / PC. 2x week (doctors orders)

[Xeon_Flux]

Thomas' reply was perfect ("You are sooooooooooo wrong!). Here, we hardly listen to anything else. Every room has a little bit different sound. Living room - 4350B, master bedroom - L220, second bedroom - 4333, third bedroom - L150, front porch sitting area - Control 29, back patio - Control 30, garage - L110, studio - 4345. Kitchen is built-in Boston Acoustics. Pathetic by comparison.

I agree doodle6. I'm running a pair of 412C's [full range drivers] from the '60's in homemade folded horn cabinets. These bad boys handle everything from TV to radio to cd. It is my main entertainment center and they've been doing daily duty for over 7 years now. Re-foam kits are cheap on eBay if you need them. As long as there is no voice coil rub that needs professional servicing there is no reason not to use the old vintage speakers as daily drivers especially if you come across a set cheap or free. The main thing is to match the system to the drivers & don't over-drive them. They should last you a long time and give you great service.

[Xeon_Flux]

Vintage JBL's are nice to look at , but that was not the first consideration when designed . Mine are on all day every day. Properly maintained, there is no reason why they shouldn't outlast us all . In my experience , its amplification that causes more damage to speakers . A good quality signal will extend the life of any speaker vintage or new . Personally , I don't advocate the use of vintage amplifiers , especially those originally designed for PA use . enjoy, relax and get good amps . Rich

Exactly right - I couldn't have said it better myself. Clean power and signal is an absolute must if you want to drive any speaker at full load. I'm partial to the early '80's Yamaha's. They had monster transformers and discrete circuitry and put out extremely clean power. I'm currently running an AV-50 [120 watts p/channel] and also have a RX-V300K [60 watts p/channel]. Both of these are being used for home entertainment systems. I picked up the AV-50 for under $50.00 & the 300K for under $80.00 and all functions work on them. You can get a fairly decent product relatively cheap if you do some research and know what to look for.

[Doc Mark]

Howdy, All,

As I've mentioned here before, we listen to our L300's every single day, both for music, and when we enjoy movies. The 4411's were moved upstairs, and await a place to be used, and other systems, including the DIY 4-way, and the L250's are currently incomplete projects, but will be used when finished.



I think that, someday, we may have to move to a larger place, so there is more room for JBL systems!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[martin2395]

All of the parts, except the 2235H's are easily obtainable so I just use my 4343's every day. They are speakers to listen to, not some holy oracles only to look at and admire

Not to mention that you will blow your ears off before you blow the speakers

[SEAWOLF97]

My daily drivers are ESS AMT 10b bookshelves. Sure , I've got lots of finer JBL's
but these are just so sweet and right sized for the installation. Vintage from the
late 70's/early 80's.
I've refoamed them and their 10 inch passives. The Heil HF/MH in these 2 ways
is just so right.

As mentioned before ...vintage speakers are NOT Ming vases , use daily until no longer
repairable. enjoy. Nothing in my price range made today will compare

The were priced about the same as Jubals when new, but are now in production again (updated, no doubt,
and with an updated price = $4,450. Don't know if that a single or pair )

http://www.themusic.com/detail.cfm?id=450200

[idylldon]

My 4320s in my studio. I just rebuilt the crossovers, installed new diaphragms in the horns, and built new crossovers for the 2405 tweeters my friend is bringing over on Tuesday. He's also bringing a rebuilt Allen Organ tube amp so I can try that out. I'm slowing dialing these in but so far they're sounding pretty good.



Cheers,
--
Don

[Nordschleife]

Very nice studio, Don! Steinway Model B?

[shureman]

I do. The 150-4's, the 375's, the 537-500's, N500's, N7000's and 075's have been in daily use since I bought them second-hand in 1971. Haven't refoamed or refurbished anything. Still sound fine to me, though my 69-year old ears maybe missing something...

[idylldon]

Very nice studio, Don! Steinway Model B?

Thanks! It's been many years in the making. It's a '68 Steinway D that's been recently restrung, regulated, and voiced. Since I'm a piano tuner, it pretty much is ready to play at any given moment. I don't allow the room to swing more than 10 degrees F, so it's amazingly stable. The sad thing is I'm a guitar player so I don't play it! It does, however, get quite the workout in the studio, everything from jazz to classical to pop to rock.

Cheers,
--
Don

[1audiohack]

My 4435's run every weekday in my office.

I noticed last month that the surrounds are cracking on the 2234's. They have never asked for anything until now. Time for a little maintenance.

Barry.

[jblnut]

Unlike "garage queens" in other motorized hobbies, vintage JBL's are meant to be used! Most every system in our house gets regular/daily use as well as the occasional chance to strut their stuff at house party volume. I've lost one 035Ti in the past 10 years - that after too many margaritas and a bunch of people wanting to watch an AC/DC BlueRay Concert DVD at realistic levels. I must have run the HK AVR7200 out of juice on my fronts (4410s) and that takes some doing.

Looking back it was way too loud and we try not to let it get that out of hand any more :-)

jblnut