Best use for 130A woofers.

[maxhifi]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, and also new to JBL. I recently responded to an ad for home made speakers, and took home two large cabinets which each contained a plastic speakerlab mid horn about the size of a klipsch heresy horn, a speakerlab tweeter similar in size to an EV T35 but with a plastic horn, crossover networks, and a JBL 130A

It was an incomplete project from the past, the cabinets don't match each other and both had some water damage.

I think the best parts here are the JBL 130A, and I would like to get some ideas about how to use them. For example, what's the best cabinet for the 130A? What are some good mid and treble options for pairing them with?

I have not tested them apart from with a frequency sweep,and the frequency sweep said they do work properly. I get the impression the original owner bought them in the 1960s and never really used them, but the dust caps were pushed in over years of storage. Thankfully the rest of the cones are fully intact and free of damage.

Is my assertion/guess that the speakerlab components are inferior to JBL correct? And finally, what kind of performance can I expect?

To add some context, my present speaker system is a pair of klipsch la scala. I have a home workshop and am capable of decent quality cabinet work.

As I said, I am absolutely new to JBL.

Any comments are appreciated

-Max

[speakerdave]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, and also new to JBL. I recently responded to an ad for home made speakers, and took home two large cabinets which each contained a plastic speakerlab mid horn about the size of a klipsch heresy horn, a speakerlab tweeter similar in size to an EV T35 but with a plastic horn, crossover networks, and a JBL 130A

It was an incomplete project from the past, the cabinets don't match each other and both had some water damage.

I think the best parts here are the JBL 130A, and I would like to get some ideas about how to use them. For example, what's the best cabinet for the 130A? What are some good mid and treble options for pairing them with?

I have not tested them apart from with a frequency sweep,and the frequency sweep said they do work properly. I get the impression the original owner bought them in the 1960s and never really used them, but the dust caps were pushed in over years of storage. Thankfully the rest of the cones are fully intact and free of damage.

Is my assertion/guess that the speakerlab components are inferior to JBL correct? And finally, what kind of performance can I expect?

To add some context, my present speaker system is a pair of klipsch la scala. I have a home workshop and am capable of decent quality cabinet work.

As I said, I am absolutely new to JBL.

Any comments are appreciated

-Max

Welcome to Lansing heritage forums. The 130A (2220A pro equivalent) is a legacy driver with a great history.

I would suggest you begin by exploring the Library (tab above).

[speakerdave]

If the 130A is to be your woofer, it will take a 10 cu ft bass reflex cabinet, and the bass extension may not be much more than you have with the La Scalas.

The pro equivalent was used by Drew Daniels as a mid bass driver from 80 to 300Hz in his Ancient Audiophile system.

"Swifty" Shoji Sugawari uses them in pairs in 20 cu ft sealed cabinets in Basie, his jazz-dedicated hi fi night club in Japan. See Tokyo Trip Day 3 thread.

[maxhifi]

If the 130A is to be your woofer, it will take a 10 cu ft bass reflex cabinet, and the bass extension may not be much more than you have with the La Scalas.

The pro equivalent was used by Drew Daniels as a mid bass driver from 80 to 300Hz in his Ancient Audiophile system.

"Swifty" Shoji Sugawari uses them in pairs in 20 cu ft sealed cabinets in Basie, his jazz-dedicated hi fi night club in Japan. See Tokyo Trip Day 3 thread.

First, thank you for the response and info!

I have had a read through the library as much as possible before joining the forum, and I see the 130A was used as a component of the 001 system, where it was paired with a LE175DLH. I get the impression that used LE175DLH drivers are quite expensive, and I am also curious if using the 130A up to 1200 Hz doesn't result in some beaming at midrange frequencies. Then again, I'm not about to second guess what the JBL engineers came up with, they are the professionals.

Wow, that place in Japan looks like it was a wonderful place to visit. Everything about that setup looks just fantastic. So much atmosphere! Nice use of black and white photos too.

I think the ancient audiophile system is way over the top for my needs - I would most definitely be using the 130A as woofers, in a much more simple setup with passive crossovers, and only a single amplifier. If they won't go deeper than the La Scalas that's okay, and size isn't really an issue either, more so interested in what's the best way to use with them. I do of course hope that they could sound as good as La Scalas.

-Max

[Earl K]

My vote for usage of 130a woofers would be to build them into something like the following ( click the pic to go to the link's last page );



The 152i horns ( waveguides ) seen here above are currently available from Parts Express as a cloned/surplus buyout; HERE!

These are a very nice sounding ( & well-behaved ) waveguide.



PS; If the pics within the 1st linked-to-thread don't show ( ie; because of a Photobucket block ) one can always use a browser extension such as "Photobucket Embedded Image Fix".

[maxhifi]

My vote for usage of 130a woofers would be to build them into something like the following ( click the pic to go to the link's last page );


The 152i horns ( waveguides ) seen here above are currently available from Parts Express as a surplus buyout; HERE!

These are a very nice sounding ( & well-behaved ) waveguide.



PS; If the pics within the 1st linked-to-thread don't show ( ie; because of a Photobucket block ) one can always use a browser extension such as "Photobucket Embedded Image Fix".

Well that horn is sure affordable! And a very attractive looking product.. my room has two corners at the front too, that could easily go where the Klipsch are. I'm going to have to go through the diyaudio thread to figure out what he did for a compression driver, and crossover.