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Thread: LE14A questions.

  1. #1
    Senior Member Doc Mark's Avatar
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    LE14A questions.

    Greetings, All,

    It's seems that I've found a lovely pair of LE14H-1's to go into my "new" L250's, and I am planning to be able to pick them up by year's end. However, that having been said, as a side project, I have a few questions about the LE14A woofers. I've perused the forum and found lots of great information on a DIY refoam of the LE14A, using Rick Cobb's surrounds. And, though it appears to be a somewhat onerous task, it also appears that this most certainly can be accomplished by someone who is handy working with his/her hands. I also know that, if I ended up owning the LE14A woofer that Grumpy and I found in a cabinet set out for trash pickup (on HIS street!), I could easily take it to Edgewound, and he would do a stellar job of refoaming, or even rebuilding this woofer, and it would be better than I could do, myself. However the cost would be fairly high, when considering that I will end up buying the LE14H-3's a little later.

    So, here is my question: Is the LE14A a good enough woofer, dated though it may be, that it is worth the efforts of a DIY refoam, using one of Rick's surrounds? Will the end result be something that would sound good in a good cabinet design? In the end, after a bit of a coin toss, I may not end up with the LE14A, at all. But, just in case I do, I'd like to know if it's worth saving and using, or if such an effort would not be worth the time, and money, involved in undertaking it? Thank you, for your thoughts, and comments on this. I hope to hear from those that have trod this path before, to learn how it turned out for them. Take care, and God Bless!

    Every Good Wish,
    Doc (who is looking forward to sharing an evening of BBQ, good company, and a bit of gambling, with Grumpy and Sweet Bride!!)
    The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

  2. #2
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    Hi Doc,

    While I slightly prefer the sound of the le14H ( no suffix ) to the le14a , I must say that ( IMO ) each & every le14 variant is worth repairing & owning .

    Personally, I think you should spend the time & effort on refoaming them ( research how best to detach the old lans-alloy surround from the cone / there are various advices offered here & at other forums like AudioKarma ) .

    The le14a is slightly more efficient than the newer le14H-1 .
    - The older shorter coil le14a's are not good candidates as standins for the "over-sized" box volume ( as found in the 250 series of boxes ) / they pretty quickly run out of Xmax .

    You might need to touch up the white paint job ( there's a Zinsser product, "Cover-Stain White" I think that apparently does the trick nicely ) .
    - FWIW, the added weight of the paint is negligible to the ts parameters ( from all reports compiled over the last 10 years ) .


  3. #3
    Senior Member Doc Mark's Avatar
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    Greetings, Earl, and All,

    Thank you, very much, Earl! I finally found a few other comments about using the LE14A, that helped with my questions. I was hoping to learn what sort of bottom end I could expect from this old woofer, if it, indeed, ends up belonging to me. I tried to find the T/S parameters for the LE14A, but so far, have failed to locate them on LH. Found all the other LE14 variants, but not the LE14A. Do you have that info, by any chance? Thanks, again, for your comments, and God Bless!

    Every Good Wish,
    Doc
    The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Doc Mark's Avatar
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    Greetings, Earl, and All,

    Finally found them, online. Here are the T/S parameters for the LE14A:

    http://www.jblproservice.com/pdf/thi...parameters.pdf

    Not listed is the SPL, efficiency is noted. Now, I can play around a bit more, and learn more about all the LE14 speakers. Take care, and God Bless!

    Every Good Wish,
    Doc
    The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

  5. #5
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    Hey Doc,

    I'm very glad to see you take up the L250 challenge presented by TD! I'm envious, as this is something I'd love to do. I have several LE14A woofers and use them in the L55 sized cabinets (about 2 cubic feet) and the bass is excellent. When mounted in a proper sized box this woofer only gives up a few dB of maximum SPL and a smidgen of low end to the 2235. If you have WINISD you can compare the 'theoretical' results for yourself.

    see this thread for lots of info on box volumes for LE14A...
    http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...-big-for-LE14A

    As Earl says above, xmax is lower in 'A' variant, so maybe keep the volume under control? Also, I see no reason to simply not try the 'A' out until you get the correct H-1 or H-3 version. It's nice that you're in California - OC is there for reconing and the supply of these in your part of the world is much better than almost anywhere else!

    looking forward to seeing the finished results!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Doc Mark's Avatar
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    Morning, tomee,

    Thanks for the shout, and the very kind words, Sir! I, too, am glad that I took Doug up on his more than kind, and very generous, offer to be the new caretaker of his old L250's!! Doug is a very nice, kind, and honest man, and I was really happy that Sweet Bride and I were able to spend an evening with him, and his lovely Lady, at one of the JBL Soiree's! It was good to see him again when I picked up the L250's and drivers, too.

    I look forward to having the L250s system up and running, but will wait, patiently, for that to happen. In the meantime, I "may" run them bi-amped to a pair of 2235H's in a 5ft3 box, or to the 2245H's, in the 4645 cabinets. Might be fun to see how they sound with those two woofers working the bottom end! As the L250 system was, at one time, marketed with the B460 sub and it's BX63 crossover, I'm betting that combo will sound pretty good. I'll just run the woofers up to 400HZ +/- a few cycles, and see.

    Thank you, very much, for the great link you shared on the various boxes for the LE14A drivers, too!! Excellent reading, and good information within it. I actually have the original JBL Enclosure Tuning Chart, which came with an Enclosure Design package, which I bought brand new from JBL back in the late 1970's, I believe. And, it's interesting to note that the old cabinet that Grumpy and I found, out on the street for the trash to pick up, turned out to be 4.92ft3, which is very close to what JBL recommended as the largest box size for the LE14A, back in the 1970's!! I'll have to check the tuning of that old box, and see what it appears to be.

    In any case, thank you, again, for the kind words, and for your suggestions, tomee!! You are right in that, one of the benefits of living in CA, is that parts availability for older JBL stuff is much better than in many other places! But, CA has quite a few negatives, too, just like many other places. I'll post more here, as things progress, but that won't happen before I test the 4-way system that is very close to being ready!! Take care, and God Bless!

    Every Good Wish,
    Doc
    The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

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