Proud new owner of L300s

[turtletrax]

My Father purchased them new before I was born (I am 34) and they were only moved once from our first home to the other and sat there ever since. He passed away and I always knew they were great speakers and had no intentions of letting anyone get their hands on them

They are in great shape except for the non-original cloth on the grills and the dust cap has a dent on one of them, but I plan to get them reconed and I will source out original cloth. I also plan to restore the crossover networks with new and better caps eventually. This of course will be down the road as I just had another addition to the family and that brings the total to three

Here are some pics















I have them connected to my Anthem MRX 500 that feeds 2x Monster Signature series 3350 3 channel amps at the moment because I really like the room correction that the Anthem brings, but will most likely pair them with the Pioneer Spec 2 preamp and power amp that I also inherited just to keep the vintage theme going.

I just wanted to also say that I am extremely pleased to find such a wealth of knowledge and a genuine love for JBL in this forum. I look forward to sharing the goal of restoring these speakers to their full glory, even if it takes a long time.

Regards,

Damon

[Mr. Widget]

They are in great shape except for the non-original cloth on the grills and the dust cap has a dent on one of them, but I plan to get them reconed and I will source out original cloth. I also plan to restore the crossover networks with new and better caps eventually. This of course will be down the road as I just had another addition to the family and that brings the total to three

Welcome to our world of insanity...

I would suggest refoaming and dome replacement so that you can keep them as original as possible. As you will discover digging through the miles of posts here, the 136A woofers in your L300s were "improved" a few years later and replaced by the 2235H. It is better in many respects, but it does sound a bit different. Unfortunately JBL does not offer the replacement kit for the 136A any longer and any authorized repair center will use 2235H kits. By replacing the foam surrounds and just the dome or domes, you will save money and preserve their original sound.

As for crossover updates. May or may not be necessary. If you use current audio grade caps of the same value you will likely do no harm.

In any case, I hope you enjoy your speakers for many years to come. With care, you may even be able to pass them on to the next generation.


Widget

[Mannermusic]

Welcome to our world of insanity...

I would suggest refoaming and dome replacement so that you can keep them as original as possible. As you will discover digging through the miles of posts here, the 136A woofers in your L300s were "improved" a few years later and replaced by the 2235H. It is better in many respects, but it does sound a bit different. Unfortunately JBL does not offer the replacement kit for the 136A any longer and any authorized repair center will use 2235H kits. By replacing the foam surrounds and just the dome or domes, you will save money and preserve their original sound.

As for crossover updates. May or may not be necessary. If you use current audio grade caps of the same value you will likely do no harm.

In any case, I hope you enjoy your speakers for many years to come. With care, you may even be able to pass them on to the next generation.


Widget

Yes to all the above, and I wouldn't even remove the domes, just pull or suction the one out - does not look like anything serious. POP!

[bill8888]

I'm glad you're going to keep the L300's. I posted the following in this forum back in 2008:

Should I Sell My L300's?

I’ve had my L300’s for 25 years now, and I always expected to hand them down to one of my kids (age 10 and 13) when I die. I don’t really listen to them much, but I figured they were a nice heirloom that my kids could hand down to their kids. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw an auction on Ebay for a pair of L300’s. The seller inherited them from his father who recently died, and it seems he couldn’t wait for the body to get cold before he’s hawking them for cash. So then it occurred to me that my kids might do the same thing when I die, so I ask myself why I’m holding onto these speakers. I mean I could sell them for $3K and buy myself a nice Rolex or something. My wife think I’m nuts.

[Lee in Montreal]

Dust cap is very easy to fix. Grab a vaccum cleaner and suck the bump out of the cap.

Congratulation for your new aquisition.

[JeffW]

I mean I could sell them for $3K and buy myself a nice Rolex or something. My wife think I’m nuts.

And the kids would just hock the Rolex.

[grumpy]

Grab a vaccum cleaner and suck the bump out of the cap.

... with the vacuum cleaner.

Make sure to leave a leak to allow you to modulate the amount of vacuum;
a hose adapter with a slide 'leak' is optimal. Otherwise the vacuum could
swallow your dust cap. Not at all a happy ending.

[Lee in Montreal]

Of course. As usually, proceed with caution.
As was successfull performing such operation with a not too powerfull vacuum cleaner.

[turtletrax]

Welcome to our world of insanity...

I would suggest refoaming and dome replacement so that you can keep them as original as possible. As you will discover digging through the miles of posts here, the 136A woofers in your L300s were "improved" a few years later and replaced by the 2235H. It is better in many respects, but it does sound a bit different. Unfortunately JBL does not offer the replacement kit for the 136A any longer and any authorized repair center will use 2235H kits. By replacing the foam surrounds and just the dome or domes, you will save money and preserve their original sound.

As for crossover updates. May or may not be necessary. If you use current audio grade caps of the same value you will likely do no harm.

In any case, I hope you enjoy your speakers for many years to come. With care, you may even be able to pass them on to the next generation.


Widget

It seems that anyone I talk to with experience in vintage audio is telling me the same. Nothing is really damaged in an serious way, so I am thinking I will leave them alone. It is just hard to imagine that they need nothing after 35+ years

Yes to all the above, and I wouldn't even remove the domes, just pull or suction the one out - does not look like anything serious. POP!

I considered trying to suck them out but based on the fact they are not replaceable per se, I wanted to disturb them as little as possible

I'm glad you're going to keep the L300's. I posted the following in this forum back in 2008:

Should I Sell My L300's?

I’ve had my L300’s for 25 years now, and I always expected to hand them down to one of my kids (age 10 and 13) when I die. I don’t really listen to them much, but I figured they were a nice heirloom that my kids could hand down to their kids. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw an auction on Ebay for a pair of L300’s. The seller inherited them from his father who recently died, and it seems he couldn’t wait for the body to get cold before he’s hawking them for cash. So then it occurred to me that my kids might do the same thing when I die, so I ask myself why I’m holding onto these speakers. I mean I could sell them for $3K and buy myself a nice Rolex or something. My wife think I’m nuts.

I actually ran across your post when I searched the L300 after getting them.

Dust cap is very easy to fix. Grab a vaccum cleaner and suck the bump out of the cap.

Congratulation for your new aquisition.

I had heard about doing it with the vacuum, but again was worried about damage

And the kids would just hock the Rolex.

So true

... with the vacuum cleaner.

Make sure to leave a leak to allow you to modulate the amount of vacuum;
a hose adapter with a slide 'leak' is optimal. Otherwise the vacuum could
swallow your dust cap. Not at all a happy ending.

Makes perfect sense. Actually feel like I will take a sensible stab at getting that dent out now.

Of course. As usually, proceed with caution.
As was successfull performing such operation with a not too powerfull vacuum cleaner.

My have to borrow a weaker vacuum!

Thanks for all your help guys. I will treat these with all the respect they deserve and listen as often as I can. I will get some pics when I set up the old Pioneer spec stuff

[rdgrimes]

I've never had any luck at all with a vacuum on dust caps. They just laugh at me and don't budge. I tried a 5HP shop vac on a LE14H-1 with a step-down adapter (read: major suck), and it did nothing. The older the woofer and the longer it's been dented seems to play a role.

Replacement caps are generally designed to fit right over the old cap's footprint. But I've never been that bothered by a dent in a woofer, that's that the grills are for.

[1audiohack]

Just last weekend one of my kids dented one of my 2227 caps, a little water applied to the edges of the dent with a wet towel corner to increase flexibility, then with the hose end in contact with the dust cap while modulating the vacuum force at the vacuum itself by holding the hose in close proximity to the source and walla, you'd never know it happened. This method has never failed me.

I'm glad you get to keep those 300's!!!

[Mr. Widget]

I tried a 5HP shop vac on a LE14H-1 with a step-down adapter (read: major suck), and it did nothing.

Really? 5HP... and I bet it plugged into a standard 120VAC outlet? Sorry, just a peeve of mine. A true 5 HP motor requires about 50 amps at 120 VAC or 25 amps at 240 VAC.

I used my 10 amp canister house vac, and it sucked the domes of some ADS woofers a bit more aggressively that I would have liked, but by the second woofer I had the modulation down and it worked pretty well. You could still see a hint of the damage but it looked significantly better.

In this case since these 136As are so old, I would take them to a highly regarded repair center and have them refoam the pair and replace the domes. New JBL domes are now black instead of gray, but perhaps someone could suggest a source for a suitable gray dome.


Widget

[Eaulive]

Really? 5HP... and I bet it plugged into a standard 120VAC outlet? Sorry, just a peeve of mine. A true 5 HP motor requires about 50 amps at 120 VAC or 25 amps at 240 VAC.

I know... I have one that says 5HP "peak power"

[Lee in Montreal]

I know... I have one that says 5HP "peak power"

That's probably when you hit the nitrous switch...

I bought a freshly JBL reconed 2226 for only $80 because the cap was kinked from unproper storage. 30 seconds with a vacuum cleaner and it turned into a perfect driver.

[1audiohack]

I don't know, I guess it could be true. Has anyone really ever measured how hard a horse could suck?