Looking for old speakers

[grotepw]

Since high school, I am a fanatic user of JBL products. During my college years I used high performance JBL and Altec speakers as a freelance dj.
At the age of fifty, my house is still equipped with brand new JBL monitors from the professional series. Personally I like the direct sound from a JBL speaker.
The home sound system is totaly digital and Mac driven.

About 25 years ago, I acquired a JBL speaker set, without label, with separately 2 filters N2400 and 2 drivers 075.
After more than twenty years in our basement, I now decided to refurbish this old system in order to use it with my old Harman Kardon Tuner and Amplifier and Thorens PU for my home office.

Investigation on your website learned me that the speaker set was originally a C53 Libra with LE8T extended range loudspeaker.
~Apparently the previous owner added some items like the N2400 and 075, positioned outside the speaker box.
The LE8T speakers are missing.
Further reading of the component catalogue of '75 learned me that the two add-ons are normally used with D123, 130 or 131.

I investigated on the internet and did find some JBL speakers, but not the original ones mentioned earlier.
I would like to restore the C53 Libra with LE8T and build new cases for the combination of the 075 N2400 and D130 or similar is possible

I would appreciate if somebody could help me on this matter

[Oldmics]

Are the componets that were the "add ons" outside of the enclosure,housed in any sort of shell?Or are they just loose componets?


Oldmics

[boputnam]

The LE8T speakers are missing.

I'm pretty certain I have a pair, NOS, with new surrounds. If you're interested, I could pass them along at my cost (which I'll have to research at home... ).

[Zilch]

23-1/2" x 14" x 11-3/4" deep. "Especially popular with the LE14C."

Recommended loads there:

1. LE14C
2. S11 - LE10A, LE20, LX11
3. S12 - LE14A, LE20, LX8

Previous owner may have found LE8T somewhat lacking in UHF sizzle and never got around to integrating those additional components into the cabinets.

I'd characterize 075 as "overkill," in that combination, but JBL did make some nice small systems using them....

[Paul Joppa]

The LE8T has a foam surround, which is subject to "foam rot" when old. The surround is not available separately, and all the non-JBL "replacement" surrounds that I have heard of are **far** too stiff. So look for one that has been recently re-coned, and expect to pay for it - not cheap! In fact, the driver frames are often available for free.

The recone kit is not always available; it seems to go out of inventory until enough demand builds up. I would be cautious about buying an empty frame until I was certain that a recone would be possible.

As for the 075/N2400, I think the classic combination is with the D130. That driver exists in many forms, including the E130 guitar speaker which is I think (?) the only current recone kit for all of them. Should not be hard to find some. They want a large box, maybe 150-200 liters, and they will work best with an amplifier whose output impedance is high - like a damping factor of 1.0! Some classic amps were built with switchable damping. Note that older versions would often be labeled 16 ohms but the same voice coil was later identified as 8 ohms; the same confusion applies to the crossovers. As far as I know, the N2400 (and N1200) never changed, though older ones are labeled 16 ohms and newer ones are labeled 8 ohms.

Incidentally, I have measured the response of an N2400 into 8 ohm resistive loads. The actual electrical crossover frequency is closer to 1600Hz. The combination does improve on the sound of a D130 alone, though I would call it a "vintage, nostalgic" sound. Very sensitive - 2 watts will drive most people from the room.

Incidentally, I also have an old Harmon-Kardon receiver which is going into a monaural setup with a D130. I plan to use an LE175 with potato-masher horn and an N1200, and my turntable is a Rek-o-Kut.