JBL CF100 (What's the Lowdown?)

slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
All you vintage JBL fans, please educate me on the JBL CF100

A friend has these and seems to be a bit underwhelmed with the mid-range.

He says his AJ Pio towers are much more clear in the mid range.

Are these CF100 any good? How are the crossovers' longevity?

Any known problems?

Im pretty sure these were refoamed before he bought them.

He us driving them with a vintage pioneer integrated, I believe.

Thanks!
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
I bought a pair of CF150's back in the late 1990's when they were bring closed out. Funny you mention the lightness of the midrange. I distinctly remember feeling like they lacked presence! 850Hz seems like a crazy high crossover for a 15" woofer to go to a 6.5" mid.

It was an unscientific hack job, but I soldered in a new low-pass capacitor for the midrange (can't remember what value or what estimated frequency I wound up with), and it made a hell of a difference! It was all those babies ever needed, and I kept them for nearly 15 years. Probably shouldn't have sold them even then.

Looking at those CF100's... 1400Hz for the woofer to mid seems pretty nuts too. Try taking out the mids and playing some music directly to them (not loud!) to make sure they're working properly. My bet is the crossovers are just a shitty design. Looking at the two schematics, the 100 has a 5 LCR element design, while the 150 has 11.
 

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