Aquarius IV Rescue Mission

[droh]

Like a lot of folks here my love of JBL is genetic - my Dad had them in the early 60's and I've loved the sound for decades. But I've also been very intrigued by the LOOK of JBL. There are some outstanding designs in the stable - The Paragon of course, the infamous L100 and the daring Aquarius series.

I'm finishing up the restoration of a pair of L100 - watching the progress of the raffle pair inspired me to get going. And I am just now embarking on a project to restore a pair of Aquarius IVs recently acquired on ebay. I'm attaching a "before" pic here, you'll see they are in very sad shape. If there is any interest I'd be happy to add more pics to this thread as I proceed.

[Audiobeer]

Absolutely! I"d love seeing these restored!

[droh]

Okay I've started working on this renovation. Everything is disassembled and I've collected some additional parts. The photo on the left shows the drivers that came with this pair. Tweeters are in okay shape just have some smashed domes. One woofer is missing and the other is severly damaged, it's completely dead. I won some other ebay auctions and scored some additional drivers, the whole collection is shown on the right. The additional LE20 which I don't think I'll actually need and a single LE8T-2 which was intended to replace the missing driver. I then found another auction for a pair of LE8T-2s, this pair in the center of the pic is what I think I'll end up using.

[droh]

Maybe the most intriguing parts of the Aquarius speakers are the various pieces that serve to create the dispersed sound. Pictured on the left is the piece that sits above the LE8T-2 (it's upside down in this pic) On the right is the piece that disperses the sound from the tweeter. This is mounted in front of the tweeter and at a 90 degree angle to the woofer.

[Cilvaring]

Maybe the most intriguing parts of the Aquarius speakers are the various pieces that serve to create the dispersed sound. Pictured on the left is the piece that sits above the LE8T-2 (it's upside down in this pic) On the right is the piece that disperses the sound from the tweeter. This is mounted in front of the tweeter and at a 90 degree angle to the woofer.

Hi droh.

Absolutely amazing job. I know it's been a long time since you've "rescued" them but I'm sure they still look as nice as they do on the pictures and still play very nice sound.

I got a set of Aquarius IV from my father a few months ago and want to replace the LE8T-2 drivers.
Considering this I have a question. How did you manage to get them apart. Or should I say, how did you get the top part off? Studying your pictures I have the feeling they're glued on but I didn't use to much force (yet) to try and get mine apart.
Could you give me just a quick hint on how you got them apart?

Thanks in advance for your help and once again, very jealous of your success on them.

Greetings from Switzerland

[droh]

Hello Cilvaring,

Thanks for your kind words, I finished that pair quite a while ago and actually sold them on the auction site. As a result of that I had a couple of people ask me to restore pairs for them, so I have done three pairs now. I just love bringing those beauties back to their original look and sound.

To disassemble there is no glue involved, so no need to use any force. The LE8T-2 is kind of buried inside the cabinet, so it is a slightly complicated process but not hard to do. Start by removing the tweeter panel on the back of the top piece, there are four screws on the upper and lower edge of the panel itself, just remove those, you do not need to remove the three screws on the plastic diffuser. With those 4 screws removed the panel should come right off, there will be two wires probably soldered onto the LE20 tweeter, I would suggest cutting them a few inches from the tweeter so you can use a wire nut to reconnect them later. You will have to pull the wires out in a later step.

With the tweeter panel removed if you look inside the top you will see the top of four bolts on the bottom of that box. These bolts actually hold the top piece and the woofer in place, they are quite long and go down through some wood dowels and into the woofer frame and lower box. Carefully remove those four bolts and now the top section can be lifted off. Be careful not to break the frame that holds the black grill cloth, but that frame can be removed as well. Now is when you will notice that the red and black wires are actually threaded through a couple of holes up into the top section, you can pull those out.

With the top section and grill cloth frame removed the LE8T-2 should be clearly visible on the top, but it is flush mounted in there, I use a small screwdriver just inside the mounting holes to gently pry it out, it is not glued in, but over the decades they get quite tight in there, but it should come out with some gentle pushing and tugging. There are two wires attached of course, but there are push connectors on the woofer.

You say you want to replace the LE8T-2 - I hope you mean replace the Lansalloy surround and not the whole woofer, that is a very special woofer designed specifically for this speaker, I don't think you will find another that works as well.

Good luck with your project - feel free to reach out with any other questions. I have quite a bit of experience with that model now, and even have some spare parts around.

Dave

Hi droh.

Absolutely amazing job. I know it's been a long time since you've "rescued" them but I'm sure they still look as nice as they do on the pictures and still play very nice sound.

I got a set of Aquarius IV from my father a few months ago and want to replace the LE8T-2 drivers.
Considering this I have a question. How did you manage to get them apart. Or should I say, how did you get the top part off? Studying your pictures I have the feeling they're glued on but I didn't use to much force (yet) to try and get mine apart.
Could you give me just a quick hint on how you got them apart?

Thanks in advance for your help and once again, very jealous of your success on them.

Greetings from Switzerland

[Cilvaring]

Thanks so much for your explanation.

I don't know yet if I will be replacing the Lansalloy or not. We have a JBL Store around here. Before replacing the Lansalloy I might just ask there if they have a replacement for the LE8T-2 or maybe even have a pair of LE8T-2 around. Allthough they might not even know what I'm talking about. Here, people working at stores often don't have the experience, I would expect from someone working there.

Of course I would love to give them to you to restore for me but getting them from Zurich to Boston won't be easy or cheap. I could maybe take them with me, when I go to visit family again in R.I.
All jokes aside. Thanks again for the advices.

I'll be starting on them tomorrow and might even post some pics. But since the housing of both are still in very good shape I don't think I'll be doing anything on them. Maybe some day I'll make them black or white but for know I'm very happy with the wood.

Sam

Hello Cilvaring,

Thanks for your kind words, I finished that pair quite a while ago and actually sold them on the auction site. As a result of that I had a couple of people ask me to restore pairs for them, so I have done three pairs now. I just love bringing those beauties back to their original look and sound.

To disassemble there is no glue involved, so no need to use any force. The LE8T-2 is kind of buried inside the cabinet, so it is a slightly complicated process but not hard to do. Start by removing the tweeter panel on the back of the top piece, there are four screws on the upper and lower edge of the panel itself, just remove those, you do not need to remove the three screws on the plastic diffuser. With those 4 screws removed the panel should come right off, there will be two wires probably soldered onto the LE20 tweeter, I would suggest cutting them a few inches from the tweeter so you can use a wire nut to reconnect them later. You will have to pull the wires out in a later step.

With the tweeter panel removed if you look inside the top you will see the top of four bolts on the bottom of that box. These bolts actually hold the top piece and the woofer in place, they are quite long and go down through some wood dowels and into the woofer frame and lower box. Carefully remove those four bolts and now the top section can be lifted off. Be careful not to break the frame that holds the black grill cloth, but that frame can be removed as well. Now is when you will notice that the red and black wires are actually threaded through a couple of holes up into the top section, you can pull those out.

With the top section and grill cloth frame removed the LE8T-2 should be clearly visible on the top, but it is flush mounted in there, I use a small screwdriver just inside the mounting holes to gently pry it out, it is not glued in, but over the decades they get quite tight in there, but it should come out with some gentle pushing and tugging. There are two wires attached of course, but there are push connectors on the woofer.

You say you want to replace the LE8T-2 - I hope you mean replace the Lansalloy surround and not the whole woofer, that is a very special woofer designed specifically for this speaker, I don't think you will find another that works as well.

Good luck with your project - feel free to reach out with any other questions. I have quite a bit of experience with that model now, and even have some spare parts around.

Dave

[droh]

They have not manufactured the LE8T-2 for decades, so even a knowledgable JBL person would not have that solution for you. And as I said the design of the LE8T-2 was very specific to the Aquarius IV.

But there is a good chance that a JBL dealer might be able to replace the surrounds on your drivers, there is no doubt that they need to be replaced, but that is all they really need.

For the wood cabinets I certainly agree the wood is very nice on it's own. You will be amazed how much better you can make them look by just giving them a good cleaning, a light sanding and a new coat of oil using something like Watco Danish Oil.

One more thing that might be needed is replacing the capacitors in the crossover, every pair I have worked has had caps that have drifted out of spec.

Thanks so much for your explanation.

I don't know yet if I will be replacing the Lansalloy or not. We have a JBL Store around here. Before replacing the Lansalloy I might just ask there if they have a replacement for the LE8T-2 or maybe even have a pair of LE8T-2 around. Allthough they might not even know what I'm talking about. Here, people working at stores often don't have the experience, I would expect from someone working there.

Of course I would love to give them to you to restore for me but getting them from Zurich to Boston won't be easy or cheap. I could maybe take them with me, when I go to visit family again in R.I.
All jokes aside. Thanks again for the advices.

I'll be starting on them tomorrow and might even post some pics. But since the housing of both are still in very good shape I don't think I'll be doing anything on them. Maybe some day I'll make them black or white but for know I'm very happy with the wood.

Sam

[Chevelle]

It is very easy to remove the top. Just unscrew the LE20 tweeter in the back. Then you see inside four screws to be removed, then you can lift the top off. When you put the top back on do not forget the four spacers between the LE8 and the top.

Hjalmar

Hi droh.

Absolutely amazing job. I know it's been a long time since you've "rescued" them but I'm sure they still look as nice as they do on the pictures and still play very nice sound.

I got a set of Aquarius IV from my father a few months ago and want to replace the LE8T-2 drivers.
Considering this I have a question. How did you manage to get them apart. Or should I say, how did you get the top part off? Studying your pictures I have the feeling they're glued on but I didn't use to much force (yet) to try and get mine apart.
Could you give me just a quick hint on how you got them apart?

Thanks in advance for your help and once again, very jealous of your success on them.

Greetings from Switzerland

[Cilvaring]

Thanks for the pictures Chevelle.

They are very helpful.
By the way: Nice white you have on those Aquarius.

Sam

It is very easy to remove the top. Just unscrew the LE20 tweeter in the back. Then you see inside four screws to be removed, then you can lift the top off. When you put the top back on do not forget the four spacers between the LE8 and the top.

Hjalmar

[Chevelle]

Yes I like the white color. I restored them and they were sold to Stockholm, Sweden.

Thanks for the pictures Chevelle.

They are very helpful.
By the way: Nice white you have on those Aquarius.

Sam

[Figge]

bring out the brake-fluid and get started!

i think those could be really nice speakers when your done!

[Figge]

Originally posted by droh
If there is any interest I'd be happy to add more pics to this thread as I proceed.

ofcourse were all intrested. after all were jbl nuts!

id love to see those bangedup jbls get back in shape.

[droh]

I think the new pair of LE8T-2s are beyond the brake fluid fix. One cone was "repaired" in many places with some kind of glue, but now thw whole mess is hard as a rock from glue and stiff lansaloy. The other hasn't had any "repairs" but has a number of cracks and even some missing pieces. So I bought some new surrounds from Rick and that's another phase for this project.

On the other hand, the single LE8T-2 that I got is in amazing shape. The lansaloy is actually pretty pliable and still perfectly shaped. It's not quite as soft as a new surround but darn close. It shows only a little cracking at the point it attaches to the frame. That one I think can still be saved. I have no idea how it has survived all this time. It actually sounds pretty darn good.

Here's a closeup of the pair of drivers that shows the shape the lansaloys are in.

[droh]

It's been a while but I am making some steady progress on the restoration effort. I started at the bottom - where the most damage could be found. The bottom of these towers have just some cheap glides to protect the particle board. I've seen and heard a lot about these bases taking a beating. My pair sure did. One of the speakers has some significant water damage causing not only crumbling of the base but also some swelling of the sides and some corner separation. There isn't really a base per se, it's really just the sides of the cabinet coming down with a little routed out reveal at the bottom. So the solution was to do a pretty massive routing out of the whole base area and them gluing in a new base. Here's a before, during and after shot of how that went. As you can see I've also repaired the damage to the sides and the next step will be applying new veneer.