JBL Vintage Speaker Restoration Done Right by Simply Speakers

[AJinFLA]

I've heard of them but I never had any dealings. I am sure they do similar work as Simply Speakers.

My dealings with them were all positive. But that was a long time ago.

Its cool to see Vintage stuff being reconditioned. Sometimes "they don't build it like they used to" is very applicable with successor speaker lines from the same company.

True, but that is not always a bad thing, especially when it comes to electrolytic caps, foam surrounds, etc.
Actually, with abundant PC power now available, they can use free software to improve the 20+ yr old XO's at little cost, so better than new is possible. Unless one yearns for the nostalgia of a hump, dip, etc. that contributes to that "vintage" sound .
If you ever decide to have another audio gathering in the area, it would be interesting to hear some of the older vs newer sound, to see if anything has changed much at all .

cheers,

AJ

[ozmedia]

Where did you come up with $15? The service they did on my speakers was slightly under $90 for everything.

L65s are a classic. I haven't seen those in quite some time. I bet they are quite good performers.



Try emailing Sean the owner at: info@simplyspeakers.com

He is usually very responsive from my experience.

Gene, you know RBH about as well as I do, judging by the build dates of the L65, would you say that was when RBH was their OEM designer ? I've always been interested in finding specific builds they did for others. The guys I have asked around RBH haven't really been around long enough to know, I suppose I could track down Roger Hassing, he may remember.

As for refoaming, I have two clients that refoam speakers, I got a set of vintage ScanDyna's done by the guy/shop I bought them from but they did a pretty poor job of it. One of his former techs now works at a better store so he cut me a great deal for the butyl rubber surrounds instead. They sound the same but will last a lot longer.

[lsiberian]

Great post. I look forward to building a vintage system someday.

[corey]

Sigh....

I wish I could/would have done this when the foam went out on my large Advents, but that was about 15 years ago.

[davidtwotrees]

I owned some L65 Jubals myslef. They were sweet sounding............The sad reality of the vintage set is that they get parted out because shipping is expensive for big speaks. I was fortunate to sell mine locally..........They were pieces of art that sounded really good, too. I always lusted after some L300's myself..........

[camaraderie]

Thanks for that article Gene. I still have a set which is in great shape that I use as utility speakers and have loved for probably close to two decades now.
They are a great example of well done, affordable engineering that provided better sound than anything else similar at the price point. I have recommended Control I's to several others for similar reasons...but you are right about them not being the same.
Anyway...good to know where I can go to have mine re-furbed when they finally give up the ghost...so thanks for that!

[tintasbarnes]

Great article! I also have some of these sweet boxes. Sadly one of my speakers has his paper pretty much worn out.

Question: where can I buy some swap speakers?

On ebay I didn't find any. I was searching after similarities and I've found this:

GW5028S Shielded Magnet Woofer
T/S Parameters

Z:8 ohms
Re:7.1 Ohms
Fs:80.1 Hz
Qms:3.9
Qes:1.2
Qts:0.9
Vas:4.2 Ltr
Sens:85 dB

Do you think it will do it?

(I'm not allowed to paste the link of the speaker since I'm new to this forum)

Thanks!

[mattsk8]

I've never had good luck w/ rebuilt woofers. It always seems like they loose bass responce after they're rebuilt. I've had 3 pair done. Some MA Pro 8" woofers (just had the foam surround replaced), some Cerwin Vega 8" woofers (blew one and had it rebuilt), and some Kickers. To me they never sounded as good after they were rebuilt. Could this just be a poor job or wrong material? I kinda gave up on speaker repair but maybe I just need a better shop??

This is a 2 year old thread BTW !

[Pyrrho]

I've never had good luck w/ rebuilt woofers. It always seems like they loose bass responce after they're rebuilt. I've had 3 pair done. Some MA Pro 8" woofers (just had the foam surround replaced), some Cerwin Vega 8" woofers (blew one and had it rebuilt), and some Kickers. To me they never sounded as good after they were rebuilt. Could this just be a poor job or wrong material? I kinda gave up on speaker repair but maybe I just need a better shop??

This is a 2 year old thread BTW !

I have had excellent luck with repairs; I have used Millersound.

If the wrong materials are used (e.g., improper size of surround, etc.), or if they do it wrong, then it could adversely affect the performance of a speaker. Done right, it restores them to like new performance.

[sawzalot]

This is a 2 year old thread BTW !

Old Thread - Old Speakers, All Vintage and as always- All Good

I too regret parting out/ tossing out older vintage speakers in my early HT days but I had no Idea .