I strayed down the Vintage JBL path...

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JayMX
JayMX Posts: 435
in Vintage Speakers
...but I sold em. 😂
Haven’t posted my most recent resto projects, been a busy few months... but I figured I’d pose the question, I liked the build quality and the bass of these JBL's but the LE-25's... I'm not sold. Who here loves the top end of these old gals?

These were both pretty ratty... the 4301's had mismatched drivers and the one, proper 8” needed a refoam. Bought a replacement 116H off eBay, refoamed the other, reworked the cabs. Built new grilles from 1/2” MDF (strayed from the original design), new cloth, bought new badges. I liked these the best. Cool looking and decent sounding, but I prefer my Monitor 5a's.

Did the L26’s next. Cabs were very beat. Water damage, scratches. Brought them back. Stained a little to hide some of the worst scars. Painted and re-covered the grilles, new badges. New tweeter dustcaps, new foam doughnuts. Woofers were in great shape. Installed some Dayton binding posts. Fun project. Didn’t love the sound. Prefer my Monitor 7’s.

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Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (3x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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Comments

  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,546
    edited January 2020
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    Nice clean up on them! I actually really like the LE25 tweeters. I had them in some 4311s.

    It always fun to try out new gear. I do miss some of my old JBLs.
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  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,432
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    Beautiful work!
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)

    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
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    Nice work. Always loved JBL woofers, even their mids tend to be good, however their tweeters are not so good to my ears. Their Metal Domes are the worst.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • Faustin
    Faustin Posts: 1,149
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    Very nice work resurrecting them.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,183
    edited January 2020
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    Nice work indeed. I have a friend who is enamored with his JBL 4412 Studio Monitors, just as I am with my Polk 7Bs. I like the way the JBL's sound but it doesn't seem like the bass extension is so hot (45 Hz - 20 kHz +/- 2 dB). Don't know how they compare to the models you had.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Crown D150 amp
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    Nice Re-finish...What did the crossovers look like?
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,546
    edited January 2020
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    Some day id like to have a pair of JBLs with the 077 tweeters. Problem is they alone cost more than most of the speakers I've owned. Some day, some day.
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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 435
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    xschop wrote: »
    Nice Re-finish...What did the crossovers look like?
    The 4301’s have two caps in sand-filled “anti resonance” tubes. The L26’s had just one. I’m sure they could benefit from a replacement but I was lazy and I had buyers as-is so I didn’t dig into them.
    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (3x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    "Buyers as is" is audio serendipity me thinks.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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