JBL D130 Factory reconed as K140??

[Toxophilite]

I picked up A JBL D130 recently that had obviously been re-coned as something else
I'm thinking a K140
It has a straight ribbed cone with a 'k' written on it in white(on the back), aluminum dust cap(a little pushed in) Doped separate cloth surround. Looks like a pro job

I'm wondering if it might be a factory or JBL dealer job because it has the original D130 serial number 51644
and then stamped into the metal right above the original serial number it has a new one 16499
Any idears?
Thanks[ATTACH]68602[/ATTACH

[Toxophilite]

No insight into this??

[NickH]

Its a legit conversion so to say. The d130 and the d and k 140 where pretty much the same frame and magnet. Some cosmetic differences from the d to k but that was it. The only issue is very old d130's had a much tighter magnet gap. Now I couldn't tell you if a k140 kit would fit in one of these or not though. I also can't tell you if that's a jbl cone either. I'm no where near as experienced as others on here. I do know that if you need an opinion on a cone to see if its jbl then post a photo of any hand written writing on the back of the cone.


Nic

[Toxophilite]

I kind of thought it was factory because who else would bother (or even know what size number would be probable) giving it a new serial number when it became a different speaker??
Anyway here's a picture of the only writing on the back of the cone
It clearly is a bass speaker now(sounds like one compared to the other D130 I have)
And the recone job looks really good

[NickH]

Ya to be honest that seems a little peculiar. I've never seen that. But I'm no jbl expert. Because to be honest using character punches on cast iron is a bad idea. Its very brittle and using punches on it is just asking for it to crack in half. It breaks like glass. But I wouldn't worry about it unless you plan to take apart the magnet.
I just don't see jbl going to the trouble plus they didn't punch the metal. They used embossed labels. But as I've said I'm no expert.

Nick

[Wagner]

Ya to be honest that seems a little peculiar. I've never seen that. But I'm no jbl expert. Because to be honest using character punches on cast iron is a bad idea. Its very brittle and using punches on it is just asking for it to crack in half. It breaks like glass. But I wouldn't worry about it unless you plan to take apart the magnet.
I just don't see jbl going to the trouble plus they didn't punch the metal. They used embossed labels. But as I've said I'm no expert.

Nick

The numbers aren't in cast iron
With a sharp die stamp, the force to impress those numbers would be next to nothing
You could practically do it with the palm of your hand
Nothing close to cracking a magnet
Ever wonder why they're almost always flawed or "F'd" up in someway? (the foilcals on the backs of those big old Signature series woofers?)

[Toxophilite]

Yes it's just the aluminum foil decal, not into the magnet.

I don't know anything about JBL factory or authorized repair shop procedures
I just couldn't see why anyone other than the factory or an authropized repair person would bother to put a new serial number on it
It clearly has been make into a different type of JBL speaker, Why would a home recone person or miscellaneous repair person bother??
It seems like a poor if not next to useless ruse.
It has the original number, it's not an attempt to obliterate or hide what it was
I guess it could be a number for a company that used the speaker but even that seems implausible

Any JBL employees out there that might know?

And how does one identify a proper JBL K recone kit?

[NickH]

I would tend to agree with you. Is the k the only writing on the back of the cone? If that's it then I doubt its a jbl cone kit. There usually a grease pencil date and then a stenciled number which I believe is usually part part number on the back of the cone.


If there's anything like that take a picture of it and post it.


Sorry I can't be of more help.


Nick

[Toxophilite]

Found the number, it was hiding!! White stenciled number 52254 and some white grease penciled things; there's a K in another place there's a fancy looking R and a 2, and a 5 in yellow pencil

[Toxophilite]

Anyone recognize that cone number? ( 52254 ) or is there a ex-JBL person or expert that ca give me some insight on this?
There is surprisingly little information online and I've been searching.

THanks

[Wagner]

Could be the date the work was done; do you guys put the day in front of the month in Canada, Euro style?
So maybe it means 16/4/99 (16 of April,1999)?
I doubt very seriously JBL would have know what number would have been the right one sequentially, and even then, even going on the assumption that the factory did in fact did do the repair/recone especially so long after the Northridge earthquake and all of the time that elapsed since the woofer was first manufactured.
Bet you a nickel it's the date the work was done and a more reliable method of keeping warranty claims on the up and up (anyone can find a white grease pencil)

Thomas

[Toxophilite]

Thanks, and that could be a plausible explanation for the stamped in number on the foil decal
i hadn't thought of that
Though I imagine it could've also been re-coned prior to 1994.
I'm not stuck on it being factory I just thought the stamp was curious and was hoping to make sure of what I had K140 or D140?

I was also very curious if anyone knew what the cone code for a proper JBL K140 recone kit
This one has the stencilled on number of 52245. It is stencilled on quite separately from any grease pencilled annotations (of which there are a couple)

Do you guys write your dates in reverse down there??

[Wagner]

Thanks, and that could be a plausible explanation for the stamped in number on the foil decal
i hadn't thought of that
Though I imagine it could've also been re-coned prior to 1994.
I'm not stuck on it being factory I just thought the stamp was curious and was hoping to make sure of what I had K140 or D140?

I was also very curious if anyone knew what the cone code for a proper JBL K140 recone kit
This one has the stencilled on number of 52245. It is stencilled on quite separately from any grease pencilled annotations (of which there are a couple)

Do you guys write your dates in reverse down there??

Beyond my suggestion (which is the best/I beta dollar I'm right) theory so far, worrying over what that second, stamped number means is a losing game, big time
With the information you have, you will NEVER know with certainty what it is you have (or don't) so why waste anymore time over it?
You still haven't established/determined the actual parameters of the transducer itself yet, have you? So what difference do the numbers make; that's all they are, numbers, and for all you know their accuracy for whatever they represent don't mean shit (or not anymore anyway)
Measure it with any of the many software programs out there so you know what it is, functionally, and be done with it
That, or have it reconed by a pro with genuine JBL parts to be whatever it is you'd like it to be and then you can stop fretting over it and sleep at night

Good luck on your quest

Thomas

[Toxophilite]

Oy vey!
It thought someone might have an idea
This seemed like the place to find the information I was seeking. It's not a "Quest" ,I've only had 2 responses!
So, sorry for bugging you
For my part, I'm not losing any sleep, I'm just curious and I thought there might be someone here that was knowledgable enough to cast some light on this.
I guess anything written on a speaker always means nothing! I learned something!

I'll see if I can find the un-named speaker testing programs( I have piles of high end music recording software , I've never used it in that application though) and I'll see if it's at all possible for me to determine what you are talking about here in my apartment

thanks again and sweet dreams!!!

[Wagner]

Oy vey!
It thought someone might have an idea
This seemed like the place to find the information I was seeking. It's not a "Quest" ,I've only had 2 responses!
So, sorry for bugging you
For my part, I'm not losing any sleep, I'm just curious and I thought there might be someone here that was knowledgable enough to cast some light on this.
I guess anything written on a speaker always means nothing! I learned something!

I'll see if I can find the un-named speaker testing programs( I have piles of high end music recording software , I've never used it in that application though) and I'll see if it's at all possible for me to determine what you are talking about here in my apartment

thanks again and sweet dreams!!!

Relax fella, I'm having a hard time believing you're taking that (what I said) the wrong way
Or any kind of way for that matter
You're asking a question that there's no way to answer with anything better than an educated guess
(unless the guy who actually did the work on your driver ages ago is here on the boards and members your exact driver and serial# exactly; hell, he may still even have his copy of the work order and the owner's instructions!)
The point is, without any hard and fast knowledge or data regarding your driver everything else is a complete waste of time
And to think for one instant, that JBL maintained sequential continuity within a line or batch of drivers is just plain silly (they stamped each and every serial number into repaired/serviced drivers IN ORDER?! YEARS after the fact?) Yeah, right
I do believe they would have/could have possibly made a replacement with a number already in existence, but I hardly doubt that during the pre "computer in every pocket" era and barcodes, they kept a running track of the serial number of every D130 or K140 they ever made that made it back home for repairs or service

Plus, there is nothing that resembles any sort of JBL cone or kit number on your driver at all

Aside from the fact that the die size for the secondary stamp is too large and heavy; I have never seen any example of JBL assembly line stamping that looked like that heavy (of course THAT doesn't "prove" anything, but still it doesn't look quite right)

I still maintaining it's some shop's way of protecting themselves from free warranty repairs, 'cause if you think about it, why change the number at all? (and from the looks of that foilcal. that was probably most likely a "working" driver, as in no stranger to the bench)

So, there's my "answer" (wild ass guess), see if you can make it fit whatever the scenario is that you're looking for

My theory's the best one I've heard yet