Reconing or replacing LE25s?

[mashif]

I'm restoring my L-100s and the tweeters are shot. We all know there are no more JBL replacements or parts. So my choices are the third party copies from MidWest Speakers or Simply Speakers (MW Audio MT-LE25: 1.4 inch Cone Tweeter | Midwest Speaker Repair) or reconing the originals with an aftermarket kit which Speaker Exchange offers.

I'm looking for experience or at least opinions about these options. The replacement speakers from both places get good reviews, but I'm not sure if they're the same speakers or two different manufacturers.

[SEAWOLF97]

why do you say "the tweeters are shot"

[mashif]

why do you say "the tweeters are shot"

The diaphrams have some wrinkles and the edges are flattened. Would a photo help judge? I'm not sure if one of the wires broke when I removed what was left of the foam. I can't really tell if one works until I repair the crossover L-pads, but even if they sound, I'm not confident they'll sound like they should. But I'm also not confident that replacement or reconing is better. Thus my dilemma.

[SEAWOLF97]

those aftermarket ones MAY be OK , but I'd go with OEM
if at all possible.

Maybe post a WTB thread in our marketplace section ? Who knows , we all
have a lot of parts sitting around. Can't hurt, costs nothing.

[mashif]

those aftermarket ones MAY be OK , but I'd go with OEM
if at all possible.

Maybe post a WTB thread in our marketplace section ? Who knows , we all
have a lot of parts sitting around. Can't hurt, costs nothing.

Thanks. I'll try a WTB but everything I've read on here and elsewhere is that OEM no longer exists. I'm surprised someone isn't buying up original parts and offering OEM reconed LE25s.

[mashif]

I pulled my crossovers out to see if they were salvageable or needed replacement. They don't look like the ones recommended for replacements from Parts Express. They have two cylinders and the wiring doesn't seem to fit the 3 terminal model sold. They're the original 10285. I'm trying to attach pics so you can see.

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[Riley Casey]

They look shot or they sound shot? There is a difference. The JBL factory technique for testing these was to connect the tweeters directly to an amplifier outside of any cabinet or crossover. Connect a tone generator to the amp and sweep a tone from slightly below the recommended crossover to the top of the operating range. If you have a smart phone you can have a sweepable tone generator, see below. The level ( volume ) of the tone should be annoyingly loud but not piercing ( it doesn't take much 5khz to be annoying ). If you hear anything other than a pure tone then you do indeed have bad tweeters. Don't play music or any tones below about 1 kHz thru the tweeters when not protected by a crossover or you will indeed have bad tweeters. Are the L pads bad or just dirty? Dirty is a much more common problem. There may well be issues beyond that. The tone sweep test was how newly reconed drivers were tested but that's your base line test.

I have no experience with the replacement tweeters you linked to, my only experience is in buying after market ( usually Chinese ) compression driver diaphragms and the issue there was that I usually had to test half a dozen to find a matched pair. No idea if that's the case with these. I'd expect that buying fully assembled tweeters would make more sense than reconing the existing tweeters. Making the magnets and top plates are pretty easy compared to winding the coil and assembling the diaphragm so there probably isn't much to be gained from retaining the original JBL metal parts. All that said the first step is to actually test your existing tweeters. Also the cylinders are capacitors. They present an increasing resistance to the flow of electricity as the frequency goes lower thus preventing low tones from arriving at the midrange and tweeter drivers. Using a single capacitor on each mid and hi driver is an example of how these speakers were built to a price rather than a performance requirement. The studio monitor versions of these had much more complex and thus costly crossovers.

https://studiosixdigital.com/audioto...generator.html

I'm restoring my L-100s and the tweeters are shot. ...

[mashif]

[QUOTE=Riley Casey;436523]They look shot or they sound shot? There is a difference.


Thanks Riley. I do have an oscillator on my phone. I was concerned about how much signal I can send without damaging them. I'll try the headphone out and see if I get some signal. I don't need much.

I need to Deoxit or replace the L-pads. I'm going to try to Deoxit tomorrow and check with a meter. If it looks bad, I'll have to replace. I may ask your advice about that. I'm going to try to attach a picture if you have any feedback.

If the L-pads look good after cleaning I can just reinstall the tweeters and do the oscillator then and make a decision.

Thanks for the input.

[mashif]

Riley had a great idea and I just tried it. One tweeter does indeed sound with a 5k tone, but the attached photos shows what the diaphragm looks like. The other seems to have lost it's terminals and wires when I removed the foam and is dead. So my inclination is to replace or repair both, but I'm still looking for opinions about which. Do others agree with Riley that this replacement
MW Audio MT-LE25: 1.4 inch Cone Tweeter | Midwest Speaker Repair

is just as good or better, as reconing the original with an aftermarket recone kit from Speaker Exchange.

JBL LE25 Aftermarket Preassembled Recone Kit - Speaker Exchange (reconingspeakers.com).

The good thing is I can try the MW and return it if I don't like the sound, and then try the recone. But if the overwhelming opinion is to recone the originals, I may just do that.

Thoughts?

[jblwolf]

About 3 years ago I started searching for recone kit for both the 25/26 and found a company called roderick loudspeaker. I ordered a few kits and I was very impressed with the quality and sound. They do have a website and maybe you can see what they offer.

[mashif]

About 3 years ago I started searching for recone kit for both the 25/26 and found a company called roderick loudspeaker. I ordered a few kits and I was very impressed with the quality and sound. They do have a website and maybe you can see what they offer.

Thanks. I just sent them an inquiry about whether they have OEM parts. Meanwhile, the nice folks at Speaker Exchange insist they can do a great job with their aftermarket kit. Does anyone have experience with this company? A guy named Gene has been reconing JBLs for 40 years. I'm inclined to give it a shot but would love to know if anyone has dealt with them.

[mashif]

About 3 years ago I started searching for recone kit for both the 25/26 and found a company called roderick loudspeaker. I ordered a few kits and I was very impressed with the quality and sound. They do have a website and maybe you can see what they offer.

My LE25s are on the way to Mike Roderick. Thanks for the tip. He seems like great choice. And thanks to everyone who responded to my inquiry.