My JBL speakers off to a new home

[bigyank]

You provide me an offer I cannot refuse! Will await the pics! TD you are the man!

Yank

[Titanium Dome]

pull the horn from my "boner SVA"

In retropsect, a poor analogy, but quite the turn of a phrase, eh?

[Zilch]

[Ti Dome's playin' his B380 too loud.... ]

[Titanium Dome]

Okay, for nostalgia's sake, here's how my first SVA1800 arrived. So right off, you're in a better position than I was. This was right out of the box as it was delivered.

[Titanium Dome]

After arguing for a week, I decided I couldn't let them take it back and throw it away, so I negotiated a fair price and rebuilt the enclosure. The crossover survived all this fine.

However, one of the 8" woofers was not so lucky. It ended up with a split personality. The force of shipping impact broke the magent off the frame.

[Titanium Dome]

I was able to get a replacment 8" off eBay, but no luck with the soft dome tweeter, so I broke down and bought one from JBL. That's when I discovered there are eight screws holding the Bi-Radial horn in place.

After removing four screws and thinking it'd come right out, I later determined it wasn't just a tight fit. It was stuck. Glued? Not likely. So, I rubbed my fingers over the fake wood metal inserts and felt four distinct dimples, two on each side. I imagined that a careful peel of the faux covering would allow me to replace them, but that fantasy soon vanished as the metal/plastic buckled, deformed, and distorted during the removal process.

What I was left with was this:

[Titanium Dome]

You can see the four hex head screws. You can also see that the "finish" applied to the horn is carried over, so at least there isn't shiny plastic or a remarkably dissimilar surface underneath the stick-on wood.

Though the horn looks plastic, it's more like a plasticized fiber. It's very inert, though I don't know if it's SonoGlass or something else.

Removing the two yellow wires attached to the tweeter allows complete removal of the assembly. It's very easy to put it back in, but you'll be forever looking at those four hex heads unless you can find a pleasing way to cover them.

One thing to check is the integrity of the connection of the wires on the tweeter's terminals. As hard as mine was knocked around, a couple of the wires had come loose. However, once I reconnected them, the tweeter still made no sound whatsoever. A quick bench check revealed it was dead.

[Titanium Dome]

Here's a shot showing the rear of the tweeter as it sits on the horn.
Four Phillips heads here, though they're very short and easy to get out. They're also easy to drop, another reason I'd have the SVAs on their backs during any attempt to remove the tweeter from the inside. It's a short reach to the back of the cabinet, but it's a long way to the bottom when they're standing up, and there's a lot of stuff down there, including batting, wires, the crossover, the connectors, and the port, all in the way if something falls.

Plus, if the speaker is on its back, it's simple to put a small mirror right under the tweeter.

[Titanium Dome]

Here's a closer look at what your fingers will be seeing/feeling.

[Titanium Dome]

As I stated in an earlier post, these remove pretty much the way you think they would: remove the four Allen screws, take the driver out of the cabinet, disconnect the wires, and you're done.

Almost.

There is a ring of sticky adhesive as pictured below, and it's in an awkward place, next to the internal ridge of the driver's frame. Not knowing this, I was exuberant at getting the bad driver out, and you can see the results of my impatience. Some of the MDF came with it. The new driver covered it up okay, and you can't see it with the grille on anyway, but you should just be aware it's there.

[Titanium Dome]

After seeing/reading these posts, you might just decide to blow it off and send them back. I wouldn't blame you. There's a fair amount of risk. I had nothing to lose with my poor, broken 1800, and I kinda enjoyed saving it and bringing it back to life.

All in all I probably have $130 in it, most of that being the new tweeter.

However, if both woofers are good, they're fantastic 8 inchers and worth $175 each at new retail. You've got four of those. The crossovers are worth $130. You've got two of those. The horns are irreplaceable and the cabs are pretty substantial.

Before you count the tweeters out, make sure they're connected properly. Get rid of the gold straps and use speaker cable to join the HF and LF if you're single ampling. Of course, completely remove the straps or wires if you're going to use two amps, one for HF and one for LF. Double check that the tweeter's wires are securely attached. Make sure that there's no problem with the amp or its connections. (I've done worse, so I'm just mentioning things here. )

Good luck, whatever you decide. I hope this helped a little.

[bigyank]

I called the seller (company in NY) last night and as I stated in previous threads they have been very communicative and the packaging was awesome. They located the grill and the correct shorting bars (I actually tried this bi-amped since my Adcom gfa-5800 is built to do so) and were all set to ship these to me as well.

They are supposed to let me know today where we go from here. Until that time I am not going to open them up. My wife just wants me to ship them back and personally I do not feel like wrapping them back up.

TD, thanks for the pics as this job looks like something I can tackle without too much of an issue. I am not going to rip the covers off the horm.

By the way the part number for the trim panel (2) is 331290-001. Not sure if you contacted JBL but I just did to see if there is any availability.

Yank

[bigyank]

JBL just replied TD and you can order them as follows:

The part is called: Trim Panel
The part # is: 331290-001
The price is $ 10.71, not including shipping and handling (For U.S. based customers only).
Please add tax if you live in New York State, California, Florida, North Carolina or Arizona.
1. By sending us a return email with the type of credit card (Visa, Mastercard or Amex) the credit card #, expiration date, your name as it appears on the card, billing address (as it appears on your statement), shipping address, and telephone #.

2. By faxing this email and your credit card information to Fax # 516-682-3561. Again we would need the type of credit card (Visa, Mastercard or Amex) the credit card #, expiration date, your name as it appears on the card, billing address (as it appears on your statement), shipping address, and telephone #.

3. Or by sending a certified check or money order (payable to Harman Consumer Group) to:

The Harman Consumer Group
250 Crossways Park Drive
Woodbury, New York, 11797
Please allow 7-10 business days for shipping
Thanks again for your e-mail, and please let us know if you have any other questions.

So this is the least of my problems it seems

Yank

[Titanium Dome]

Thanks for the heads up.

[bigyank]

Okay just got a notification via email from the owner of the company I am dealing with and 2 hew tweeters are being ordered today. Guess I will undertake this challenge! Now that I know they are being ordered I have no problem opening one up.

Wish me luck!

Yank