JBL 2231 genuine or knockoff?

[martin2395]

The more pictures of similar JBL units I look at, the less I know if it's original or not. There seems to have been variations in exact paper texture and glueing techniques over the years as well but I'd still say knockoff on these.
Has anyone ever measured an aftermarket recone vs OEM? Kinda want to get a DATSv3 for that.

[Odd]

I think the safest way to get a well-functioning 2235 is to buy a kit here.
https://www.ebay.de/itm/275230292040...Bk9SR8T2irPmYg

However, Upland Loudspeaker Service who is a member here has many complaints from other members here.
Try contacting him.

EDIT. I have not seen any complaints about his work.

[martin2395]

Well, I'd rather have a properly functioning 2231 (or otherwise a 2235 alnico), I'm just curious what I'm getting, before I rip the cone out and it turns out I destroyed a mint condition JBL recone.
The one on Ebay is a Franken-cone that;s going to destroy the value of the speaker these units go into as the visuals are wrong from the first sight (wrong suspension).

Please take look at this pair and tell me what do you think about these cones: CLICK. The units look mint but I have my severe doubts about the originality of the cones because all JBL units I've had had much more glue on the ends of the VC wires. However, would the Japanese bother with aftermarket? I've seen more in Japan with similar kind of glueing.

[Earl K]

Here's the pic of the two Japanese 2235's that are being questioned as authentic.



To my eyes, they appear to have the standard amount of glue over the VC wires.

[martin2395]

Correct, both the VC wire placement and glue seems fine on this one, but the woofers in the other cabinet look off, with the VC wires still shown, same story as with the woofer I've shown in my first post.
Take a look:


And actually both 2202A mids have almost no glue either:



I've never seen a genuine JBL recone or original driver unit with such glueing before. The only time I saw a similar job was with aftermarket parts where you have to solder the VC wire yourself.


p.s
Does the forum support a 'spoiler' or 'hidden' tag, as not to flood a whole page with pictures?

[Earl K]

I'm under the impression that JBL hasn't run a batch of 2202 recone kits for quite a few years now >> so yes, I'd be steering clear of that Japanese sale.



The viscosity of the black glue used on this aftermarket recone looks wrong ( too thin ) >> and that would explain some things with these apparent aftermarket reconed 2235's cropping up around the world.



No, there's no hidden "spoiler" feature for quoted posts ( or otherwise ).

Just be thankful the door is still open at LHF.

[martin2395]

OTOH, they claim the woofers have been refoamed so both the woofers and mids (considering the glue job on both is identical) must've been reconed probably a good 20+ years ago then.

What is the name of that black glue used?

[Earl K]

JBL switched away from the reddish hued Bostik 4035 ( a couple decades back ) to the blackish Moyen type ( & I don't really know the proper number >> though I imagine that Google does ).

See' Moyen-rs-3087-or-mi-3035-surround-glue-for-jbl-2235h-refoam

MOYEN 3087 at SpeakerEx

[martin2395]

It's rock hard after drying like a black epoxy, isn't it?
Some folks seem to recommend Loctite 4105 as well, that one looks easier to get in Europe.
The main question is if it won't start corroding the copper over time

[Earl K]

Here's some Bostik Adhesives info ( valuable IMHO, because it comes somewhat from JBL's hey-day of the early 2000's >> when they really cared ).

[rusty jefferson]

Don't necessarily discount the purple-ish color recones. I know there were versions of 2235h and 2245h that had the purple hue. I lost a 2235h to a small childs interest in the early '00s. OLDMICS re-coned it for me (it was original 1985) and the re-cone had that purple appearance. Ended up doing the other a year or so later so they matched. Don't have pictures of those that I can find but here's a picture of two 2245hs I had for a while. The left is an aftermarket kit and the right is (I think) the third version of the 2245h, which has the lighter color and purple tint to it. OLDMICS also supplied the factory JBL kit for this after I acccidentally blew up the matching aftermarket one. I sent this re-coned driver to Clark to help him restore a damaged pair of 4345s, and OLDMICS re-coned a spare basket plus that aftermarket kit with a pair of JBL kits from one of the last USA runs they did. Derek has those now and they are exactly like the driver on the right. Kind of light grey with a puple-ish tint. And they did sound much better than the aftermarket pair.

[martin2395]

You're right, I've seen them slightly reddish/blueish too while being genuine. I wonder if JBL had different suppliers over the years?. My main concern and creating this thread was mostly the glue over the VC wires looking odd as otherwise the material of the cone and everthing else looks to be JBL

[rusty jefferson]

...The worst thing is that aftermarket recones seem to have a purple hue to them?

Sorry, I should have quoted your earlier post.

[martin2395]

Sorry, I should have quoted your earlier post.

Ah now I get it. I think in general C8R2235 should be gray? Still I've seen them in different tints and then there is Kenrick in Japan who paints them black anyway.

[rusty jefferson]

Ah now I get it. I think in general C8R2235 should be gray? ....

Not necessarily, that was my point. The paper/binders/whatever did change over the years on at least certain cones. I'm sure of the 2235h and 2245h having purple-ish runs from JBL as I saw the factory boxes used by a factory re-coner (OLDMICS) in my area. Just didn't want you to avoid considering a pair that may be real JBL. In fact, the purple-ish ones were made later and might be considered more serviceable as they may not have had surrounds replaced yet, or only once.