JBL L222 Disco's + L220 Oracle's

[Steve Gonzales]

HEY BOB, THAT'S MY SUPER DUPER FEEDBACK LOOP THAT GOES ROUND AND ROUND AND FOOLS THE LE85 INTO THINKING IT'S A 375! HA HA HA! SERIOUSLY, IT JUST LOOKS LIKE A CLUSTER BUT IN THE PICTURE THE X-OVER IS JUST HANGING THERE PRIOR TO INSTALLING THE SPACER. I HAD TO UNSCREW THE X-OVER FROM THE BACK PLATE THEN SLIDE THE SPACER IN AND SCREW IT DOWN THEN PUT THE X-OVER BACK ON THAT BACK PLATE THEN SCREW THE THING TO THE SPACER. TRY DOING THAT WITH ONE HAND FREE!. IT LOOKS ALOT TIGHTER THAN IT REALLY IS, ACTUALLY THER IS ABOUT .75 INCHES OF CLEARANCE SO THOSE YELLOW WIRES GO TO THE FAMOUS 076 TWEETER. I JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR INTEREST IN MY LITTLE PROJECT, IT FEELS GOOD SHARING THIS WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE, THANK YOU!

[Zilch]

Originally posted by Steve Gonzales
I should say the BEST thing about all this is that both pairs were going to the dump....

Same here. Mine were smoked, thrashed, and nasty throughout, but still had the 076's. That was about 10 years ago, before folks got "hip" to 076.

My first discovery after refoaming and reconing was that the lower half makes one helluva nice sub. This forum made me do it! Somebody here, I forget who, uses them for that.

That encouraged me to resurrect the top, as well. A dead LE5, smoked L-pads and one inductor. What a pleasant surprise. They DO rock!

Still gotta redo the the cabinets, tho....

[Zilch]

Maybe a finisher guy would have some suggestions how to deal with their fragmented bases:

[Steve Gonzales]

I fixed my 220's with a wood based laquer putty that is made from walnut dust being careful sand first with 220 sandpaper and then taking an exacto knife to 'clean' the edges of the veneer to make sure of a steep transition between the partical board and veneer edge and poking small irregular divits in the partical board edge with the sharp point to give th surface some 'tooth'. Laquer putty dries extremely fast so I use my fingers in a 'pinching' position and quickly build up and fill those areas. In about 15 minutes test the cure by lightly power sanding with 320 or 220 grit. touch it to the spot and see if the paper clogs and if it doesn't clog I continue with super light pressure being careful to orbit around a wide area until you shape it and get it flush. It sounds funny but I actually several colored felt pens to fake the grain if there is too big of a blank spot and it takes practice! touch and gently blot and wipe as needed. then I use WATCO danish oil to finish and seal. Where are you located? I would love to help you. Here is a picture of my L220 cab after finishing and it had the same problem

[Steve Gonzales]

To tell you the truth, I would do a complete refinish. It is so hard to match the stain and get a good result. I do a three step process that renews without giving up that 3D glow and depth that age brings to good veneer. First careful patch and sanding then WATCO a full 2 coats then wait overnight after wiping off the final coat then the real secret is to use MINWAX Finishing wax, apply a liberal amount being careful to 'push it into the wood in ALL directions then let it set for 2hrs before buffing it off completely so the only wax left is virtually 'IN THE WOOD'. Once that is done I apply 3 good coats of satin laquer and let the cure overnight. I then take a very fine scotch brite pad and dampen it. I burnish the finish with the grain with ultra light pressure keeping the pad tapped out for residue build-up as well as slightly damp for lubrication. The results speak for themselves. Look at the glow of a finish that is within 1 hr after completion. It really has depth and glows doesn't it.

[Zilch]

Originally posted by Steve Gonzales
Where are you located?

I'm in Berkeley. As you know, they are beasts to haul around. Have some other cabs to rehab, as well, so I gotta find a good local cabinet guy. Now I have a method to suggest, thank you....

I found this from a former incarnation of the forum, 8/31/00. I ain't sayin' who said it, tho....

"Seriously, I can hardly think of a less desireable JBL than the L220. They used a cone midrange and were inefficient and tubby sounding. They do have salvage value for the tweeters, the lens over the mid, mabye the LE-14s and maybe the box, but that's about it, IMO."

[Lessee. That leaves the LE5's. Looks like you solved THAT little problem, heh, heh....]

And then, our moderator:

"Regarding the L220. I have not personally auditioned a pair. However, I do have a bit more development information. As a word of warning, it may not be what you want to hear.

The L220 was designed for a specific sonic character that was inherently inaccurate. The model name was the "Disco," which is a none-too-subtle clue.

During this time, product development was largely driven by market concerns which overuled technical issues. One JBL engineer from the period described the L220 as 'dreadful.'"


Well, O.K., then. I just got bad taste, is all.

[Steve Gonzales]

funny how a slight cosmetic change, an LE14H instead an A and a funky 'Disco' name instead of the cool Oracle one and it's a mush box all of the sudden. Oh well, to each his own. thanks for that Zilch, it is very interesting. I was just up your way picking up those 220's and some Altec 15's. If you don't find a cabinet guy in the next month or two maybe I could stop by and do the hard part and show you how to finish the cabs? Let me know and we can figure it out.

[4313B]

Since you have both the L220 and L222 why don't you post to the forum how many discs are on each passive radiator? I've long since forgotten.

[Steve Gonzales]

there are two metal disc's on both the L222's amd L220's. I have a old PR15 from an Olympus and it has wood fiber disc's. If anyone needs the weight of the metal disc's i could weigh one and find out. I also have a JBL technial paper on the use and tuning an enclosure for the PR8, PR10 and 15. It preceeded the PR12 so no luck there.

[4313B]

Hmmm, it appears someone changed your PR15C's at some point then. The L220 and L222 had different tunings.

The fiber discs for the PR15C are ~20 grams and the metal discs for the PR15C are ~100 grams. Two metal discs is quite a lot of mass...

Here's an old post - http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...pr15c#post5463

[Earl K]

Hi Steve,

- I went looking for this thread because of some info I'm lacking.
- I still didn't find it .

- So,,,

Just what is the inside dimension ( front to back ) between the L94s' backside and the originals' back-panel ?

[Steve Gonzales]

Hi Earl,

My 2395/375's are perched on top of my pairs so not much of a chance to quickly get that info but not to worry, I contacted member F350SD and asked him to get that distance for you, should be later today or tomorrow. I had him to measure from the back of the little baffle board to the inside edge of the fir strips that the backplate mounts to. Remember, the crossover components also take up some room there too, as those big caps are tall. Now that I think about it, it was you that suggested the Selenium horn, right?. Oh, now I understand...

BTW: when I sent the L220's to England, I left the crossover off and the H92 attached without the LE85. The H92 took every little bit of room, i.e., it is the distance that you are looking for except that the crossover was not taken into account so if you look at the picture in this thread of the H92, you can see that it would be the distance from the counterbore/flange, to the mounting flange for the driver.

[pmakres1]

Hey Steve,
I read with interest this thread and the posts dealing with the damaged bases..I too have had this problem with my left L220 speaker. It happened over 20 years ago, in the apartment I was living in at the time the speaker was sitting just outside of a bar that separated the kitchen from the living room; what happened was the dishwasher leaked water under the bar and onto the carpet where the L220 was sitting. We all know what happens when particle board gets wet-it swells! Needless to say, I was not a happy camper! I think there may be too much swelling for a sanding/refinishing approach. What do you think? There is about 1/8" swelling in the right corner, a bit less in the left corner. And of course, you can see some swell cracks all along the top surface of the front piece, which I did my best to fill in with black coloring to make it less noticeable. There is a tiny bit of swelling on the side panels as well, but mainly the damage is confined to that front piece. I'd be happy if I could at least fix that piece. Over the years I have toyed with ideas on how to repair it. Do you think a cabinetmaker could make me a new piece to match the cabinet? By the way, that cabinet that you posted a photo of after refinishing looks SUPERB! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this..this is really the only major defect in my otherwise pristine pair of L220's (aside from perhpas a grille fabric replacement at some point).

Best regards,

Peter

[Steve Gonzales]

I am very picky and if something drove me crazy, I'd fix it. that doesn't look bad at all for all the trouble you would go through. It is very difficult to get a dead-on match to an old, well maintained finish (tone-depth of color). Personally, I wouldn't mess with it unless it drove me crazy..

[pmakres1]

Steve,
I know what you mean, I've lived with it for 20 years..just every now and then I'll look at it it and say Hmmmm....but you're right, it would probably be a lot of trouble and may not be worth it.

By the way, I meant to ask you, have you ever seen any of those L220 grilles turn up that have the cutout for the lens? They used to be available, and I always thought they were pretty cool. I've yet to see one turn up on eBay, but that doesn't mean they never do.

Thanks for your quick replies!

Best regards,

Peter