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Thread: Aquarius IV Rescue Mission

  1. #31
    Member droh's Avatar
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    Back Again, and almost done

    Where does the time go, another 8 months passed and I haven't sent any updates, but I did get more done last Fall and recently have pretty much finished up my rescue mission. I'll try again to give some updates.

  2. #32
    Senior Member Audiobeer's Avatar
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    Veneer work looks fantastic! Love that stuff!

  3. #33
    Member droh's Avatar
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    The LE8-T2s

    The pair of original Aquarius 4s that I bought on ebay were in such sad shape that they only included one woofer, and that one was in very bad shape. The surround was gone after a butchered attempt at refoaming and the cone itself was crumpled. I haven't even attempted to fix that driver, instead over the years I was able to acquire another pair of LE-8T2s from another set of Aquarius 4s. This pair was in much better shape, but of course the Lansaloy was stiff as a board, and on one there were many cracks with some attempted fixes. With a lot of patience and some MEK I was able to remove all the Lansaloy on both drivers and I replaced the surround with some nice white foam surrounds. They fit perfectly and I love that they make the drivers look back to original.

    And oh boy do they sound wonderful. Combined with the completely rebuilt crossovers these speakers sound very, very good. I know that these models are not real highly regarded but I kind of wonder if that is based on auditioning units with hardened surrounds and bad crossover caps? When I auditioned these restored units I was delightfully surprised with how good they sound, even some substantial bass, especially given just an 8 inch woofer.

    Some pics of the restored drivers are attached.

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  4. #34
    Member droh's Avatar
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    For Audiobeer - the veneer on the tops

    Audiobeer - yeah I am very pleased with how the veneer work turned out. It basically took two tries after running into issues with the glue on my first attempt. But the second attempt worked out very nicely. I then applied 5 coats of oiled walnut finish, spread out over several days. The luster just gets better and better, the pictures don't do it full justice.

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  5. #35
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Congratulations! Those are beautiful! You make me want to track down a pair and restore them.

    Where did you find the surrounds?


    Widget

  6. #36
    Senior Member Odd's Avatar
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    Very nice job!

    I am very satisfied with the sound in my Aquarius IV too.
    43XX (2235-2123-2450-2405-CC 3155)5235-4412-4406-4401-L250-18Ti-L40-S109 Aquarius lV-C38 (030) 305P MkII

  7. #37
    Member droh's Avatar
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    The usual place...

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    Congratulations! Those are beautiful! You make me want to track down a pair and restore them.

    Where did you find the surrounds?


    Widget
    I bought them on the proverbial online auction site. Try searching for "Replacement Foam White Edge for JBL LE8T" it's a guy in California. But I notice he doesn't have any LE8 size surrounds listed at the moment, but he does have the other sizes. They were a bit pricey, but I love that they are a perfect fit and the right color, they even seem to age to the same yellow/white

  8. #38
    Senior Member Audiobeer's Avatar
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    Again they are absolutely gorgeous!

  9. #39
    Junior Member Cilvaring's Avatar
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    Disassembly

    Quote Originally Posted by droh View Post
    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


  10. #40
    Member droh's Avatar
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    Disassemply - don't use force.

    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



    Quote Originally Posted by Cilvaring View Post
    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


  11. #41
    Senior Member Chevelle's Avatar
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    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


    Quote Originally Posted by Cilvaring View Post
    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

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  12. #42
    Junior Member Cilvaring's Avatar
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    Disassembly

    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

    Quote Originally Posted by droh View Post
    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

  13. #43
    Junior Member Cilvaring's Avatar
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    Thanks for the pictures Chevelle.

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

    Sam

    Quote Originally Posted by Chevelle View Post
    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

  14. #44
    Member droh's Avatar
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    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cilvaring View Post
    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

  15. #45
    Senior Member Chevelle's Avatar
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    Yes I like the white color. I restored them and they were sold to Stockholm, Sweden.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cilvaring View Post
    Thanks for the pictures Chevelle.

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

    Sam
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