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Thread: Dad’s DIY Paragons make the move…

  1. #1
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    Dad’s DIY Paragons make the move…

    So I have “warm-handed” inherited the family Paragons; dad is (still luckily) on his kick about it being: “better to give with a warm hand… than a cold one”.

    I can’t share in that… as luckily no dependents have come knocking on my door, unexpected or otherwise

    But something that all of us here JBL-nuts may share … ‘hearing loss’ in our {hopefully much} later years. Dad’s new speakers fit entirely behind his ears, and play to 145 DECIBELS! He also tries to limit climbing stairs, which is where the Paragons were for the last 25 years, slowly becoming the last thing to be disconnected where they sat still for the last 10 years (but they still ‘looked’ like they were speeding!;-).


    This pair was built by dad himself from around 1969-1974 (hey - cut him some slack, he doesn’t afford any to himself lol; he was building a house at the same time which he designed these around!).

    Dad also had great vision in his hey-hey-hey-days envisioning a day when a big screen tv would be affordable, and in color ... which he wanted to place in the center, with R+L Paragons flanking… ya know .. like normal stereophonics ?! So he gets on his letter-writing campaign with JBL and proceeds to design his own plans, while working with JBL folks and their plans, to be R+L halves. That’s the most striking difference anyway in these Paragons … but hey if you’re open to changing *that* … go bonkers right?? (..or maybe that's another one of my genetic inheritances :-0)

    These both use the LE15A… and so after removing a back panel and woofer, we found the surround to be harder than good ole American drywall… not that cheap toxic Chinese stuff… though really... what’s in this magical 'lansoloy' compound, with its type-of-rubber-that-never-wears-out-given-proper-lubrication!??? ... More magical JBL sorcery !!?!!! Hey these JBL speakers go SOOOOO fast … you need to apply brake fluid to them… and regularly !!! lolz. That Is Awesome!

    So a couple starter questions as I’m trying to revive these obese babies:


    1. is the brake fluid still the ‘solution’?? I scoured and finally found this post, which it seems to be the penultimate guide to the application of braking fluid to lansaloy surrounds:??
      (is this in fact ‘the one’, and still ‘applicable’ to the LE15A?) somebody mentioned to only DOT 3 and that Ford was best??

      http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...14A-and-others


    1. what’s the good word on using “other” woofers in Paragon(s) or something the size and brea(d)th of the Paragon woofer enclosure with big horns on the other side? I tried an old & sorta tired 2231A in one enclosure, unfort the other 2231A has beaten its last non-metallic-sounding breath. I can’t make any real ‘loud’ comparisons … because the right half is still stuck, between a magnet and hard place (Until I get in there and brake it!) So go bonkers here… I know every time I see a 15” opening … I think of stuffing a W15GTi MkII in it and plugging it straight to the wall! So .. What’s in your Paragons??? Or ya know, what else could be fitting for in there??


    Thx.
    Any feedback / hyperlinks very much appreciated! (pics, yes, I know .. I need to search for stuff)

  2. #2
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Congratulations on your acquisition. I'm looking forward to your photos! Pictures of the house, too??

    I work with brake fluid every day, but in its original purpose and application: vehicular brakes. We keep it sealed and away from everything else. It is one of the world's best unintentional paint removers. I can't imagine it ever returning your surrounds to the original durometer intended by the designers. If they were mine I would simply have the surrounds replaced with conventional foam surrounds. I'm sure someone can suggest a replacement driver such as the 2234 or 2235 but I can't see that you have anything to lose by trying a simple re-surround first.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  3. #3
    Senior Member frank23's Avatar
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    I have the big Olympus set, which is the same as the Paragon set, and I have chosen to get them together again first with a pair of 2235's I have and leave the hardened LE15's as they are for now so to make no decisions I can't come back to.

  4. #4
    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    Sounds very cool, and we'd love to know more ...

    But, as the old saw goes ..









    Quote Originally Posted by DanMan View Post
    So I have “warm-handed” inherited the family Paragons; dad is (still luckily) on his kick about it being: “better to give with a warm hand… than a cold one”.

    I can’t share in that… as luckily no dependents have come knocking on my door, unexpected or otherwise

    But something that all of us here JBL-nuts may share … ‘hearing loss’ in our {hopefully much} later years. Dad’s new speakers fit entirely behind his ears, and play to 145 DECIBELS! He also tries to limit climbing stairs, which is where the Paragons were for the last 25 years, slowly becoming the last thing to be disconnected where they sat still for the last 10 years (but they still ‘looked’ like they were speeding!;-).


    This pair was built by dad himself from around 1969-1974 (hey - cut him some slack, he doesn’t afford any to himself lol; he was building a house at the same time which he designed these around!).

    Dad also had great vision in his hey-hey-hey-days envisioning a day when a big screen tv would be affordable, and in color ... which he wanted to place in the center, with R+L Paragons flanking… ya know .. like normal stereophonics ?! So he gets on his letter-writing campaign with JBL and proceeds to design his own plans, while working with JBL folks and their plans, to be R+L halves. That’s the most striking difference anyway in these Paragons … but hey if you’re open to changing *that* … go bonkers right?? (..or maybe that's another one of my genetic inheritances :-0)


    Thx.
    Any feedback / hyperlinks very much appreciated! (pics, yes, I know .. I need to search for stuff)
    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

  5. #5
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    I can't find the pics from the first house. I was trying to picture teenage girls moreso in those days

    They were designed into a sort-of horn enclosure in the basement, it basically extended under the staircase; which barely fit the tv, the paragons and some equipment. Most of my pics were pointed the other direction towards the pull out couch and the girls in their pj's. I'm headed back to Houston and will scour for pics to scan from those days and during construction.

    Dad bro & me all taking a construction break, some of us just napping apparently.

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    This was after their 80's styled upgrades, restain, and new room for them.

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    (Left)

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    (Right)

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    The bottom trim is a skirt which conceals the awesome (1970's-grade) 6" casters. You can push these speakers around on the carpet with a finger or two.

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  6. #6
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    Rear 2-L60T surrounds, 1-L20T rear center
    Dad bought the theater chairs for $1 each during a Houston theater demolition. He sandblasted, re-cushioned, re-stitched and built the elevated-bleachers with center control tower for lighting and screen controls.

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    Center

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    Moving Day:

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  7. #7
    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    Very nice work - looks like a nice heirloom to have
    and a great way to always remember your dad!
    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

  8. #8
    Senior Member Audiobeer's Avatar
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    I've read quite a few posts here on the board but this one is at tops of my list. Love the history and love the fact your Dad wanted to give them up while he's still around. Just great history and thanks for sharing!

  9. #9
    Maron Horonzakz
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    Take off the lenz and rotate the horns to reflect off the curved panels...It will sound better,,,Thats what the curved panel is for,,,

  10. #10
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    Thanks all. I should have probably worded the title thread to more accurately represent whats in here...

    These are actually 2-way Paragons.

    At the time, (dad had only been in this country for 4 years, after coming here with only a suitcase, and a wife, and another suitcase) he couldn't really afford the drivers + the blueprints + turntable! I still have the original receipts all their correspondence, the blueprints, and all the documentation for the last 42 years on these super heavy babies


    He somehow managed to convince JBL that a 2-way system would work in these, and they came up with an S-7 system. According to their letters they didn't think the lenz would fit at but they advised him on some workarounds, sold him the instructions and blueprints, and directed him where to obtain all the supplies from their local authorized dealer (we were living in Baltimore at the time).


    So I think you're looking at the lenz on the horn in front of an LE85 . And the tweeters always pointed forwarded on the original design so thats the same, but the midrange (375?) is missing, its just the LE15A and LE85 and the (LX5?) x-overs.
    Luckily JBL had lifetime guarantees on these products at the time and we did blow the tweeters in them... twice, both during parties . The first one is a great tale!! The second not so much, was just 2 years later I think it musta been 1984ish, but the story ended well with JBL placing titanium diaphragms in the tweeters for us, and practically taunted us to "try n blow these!" .. which we never could .. though not from a lack of trying


    Can y'all tell the original x-over frequencies from the 3-way Paragon? I'm curious if the x-over frequency is different in these for the bass than the original design, and if so how what audible difference would that make coming out of the folded horn???

  11. #11
    Super Moderator yggdrasil's Avatar
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    LX-5: 500Hz and N7000: 7KHz.
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  12. #12
    Maron Horonzakz
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    It would be a waste of cabinet design and all his effert.. By not useing the curved reflective portion of the cabinet,,,You,l like the results..

  13. #13
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    I really like seeing the bond between generations and music/gear is the perfect bridge.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  14. #14
    Senior Member Hoerninger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maron Horonzakz View Post
    Take off the lenz and rotate the horns to reflect off the curved panels...
    So true.
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    Peter

  15. #15
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    So I returned the favor for dad over the holidays.... his "system" finally went "too quiet" for him

    Yes, recycling great gear with family & friends is awesome and fun! So I traded an old Dual turntable (which dad just fixed) to a guy in Austin for a perfect set of JBL L3's. I swapped out the 035Tia for some standards 035Ti's (I had slated the Tia's for another project already) and figured the 035Ti's would be brighter for him anyway and even moreso fit in really well with the tweets in the 3-L20T's for center and surrounds. Brought in my old Yamaha 100wpc X 5, and only needed to buy a 460Watt Polk (sorry) sub, some speaker wire, and it was all done and making noise. I should put a db meter on it tomorrow if I remember.


    Well the rear L20T is about 18" from the side of yer face sitting down at the end of the couch. Our test dvd was Dark Knight Rises. At about 50:30 batman is cornered on his motorcycle, which somehow turns into a jet-powered helicopter<!> and he rumbles off above all the cops and the cameras at about 20' in the air. The wind blast generated by that thing.... I'm talking coming out the port hole of the L20T ... was freakin' unbelievable ... it was like the helicopter was actually in the room..!!

    The folks didn't believe I had *not* installed a fan in the room and mom started actually looking around the room for it! She wouldn't believe the wind was coming from the speakers. Just a wild and awesome experience for everyone!


    I'll give the rotated horn a try, to reflect it off the panel... But I'm thinking if we bounce any more sound off any more walls before hearing them, we'd have to get some Bose badges for the front of these things ???

    Dad already sat me down for a 'serious conversation' .... he wants to "black contact paper" the center L20T to match the L3. After shitting a brick, I came back with an offer to find an L1 for his center...

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