Recone or new surrounds??

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02-05-2015, 06:24 PM
Eric M.

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Recone or new surrounds??

I pulled my stash of JBL speakers out of 25 year storage and although all worked and some were brand new, not all did so well. I have attached some pictures. The cones look good and all VCs move freely within their magnets, it's just the surrounds that are shot. Could I get away with new surrounds or will I need to recone?
Also, any recommendations for repairs in the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area?

LE15A
2121
LE8T
2245 (brand new)
123A (surround look alright, the gaskets stuck together and tore a bit when pulling apart)

Thanks,

Eric M.
02-06-2015, 12:55 AM
yggdrasil

In my experience new surrounds will give you functional drivers. Recone gives you new drivers.

For critical listening the best choice will be recone.

Good luck.

Johnny
02-06-2015, 07:47 AM
Horn Fanatic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric M.

I pulled my stash of JBL speakers out of 25 year storage and although all worked and some were brand new, not all did so well. I have attached some pictures. The cones look good and all VCs move freely within their magnets, it's just the surrounds that are shot. Could I get away with new surrounds or will I need to recone?
Also, any recommendations for repairs in the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area?

LE15A
2121
LE8T
2245 (brand new)
123A (surround look alright, the gaskets stuck together and tore a bit when pulling apart)

Thanks,

Eric M.

As long as your speakers have not been used in that condition, have the foam surrounds replaced by someone reputable. Unless there is a question of rubbing voice coils there is no need to re-cone them. The only authorized JBL repair station that I knew of in the Bay Area was an outfit in Los Gatos, but that was 25 years ago. I don't remember the name of the company, but the chap who owned the business' name is Marty. I remember he had a Western Electric WE 555 driver resting in a display case collecting dust. If only I knew then what they are worth today I would have bought it from him.

If that is a 123A in the photo, it appears to be in excellent shape. Don't fix what ain't broken. What ever you do, don't let yourself be talked into unnecessary re-cones.

Keep in mind, real JBL cone kits for many models are becoming scarce. Keeping the original cones will retain your speaker's vintage value. Some folks have gone to the trouble of having their components re-Gaussed, but it's unlikely that a re-cone station would have that apparatus on site. Your speakers would need to be sent back to the factory for that procedure. The worst thing that one could do to an ALNICO magnet, is subject it to excessive heat. In your case I wouldn't worry about it.

H.F.
02-06-2015, 11:14 AM
Eric M.

Thanks.

I think I'll do just that, replace surrounds. I've been looking around the Bay Area for speaker shops. I found one that is authorized by JBL, is it important to make sure they are authorized?
When talking to him he knew off the top of his head all about the speakers I have (good sign). He also mentioned there may be issues with the spiders since some of the speakers were facing up when stored. I can see he's correct when looking at the 2245, the spider has sagged.
I'll do a Google search for your guy Marty is Los Gatos.
I think I'm going to drop these off 1 pair at a time, just to make sure I like the quality of work being done.

One other question for you. I also pulled out of storage brand new 2405 and 2445 and used (but working when stored) LE85, 075 and 077. I'm going to test them, but do you think I have anything to worry about after 25 years in storage? Anything I should be looking for on these? It's not so obvious with these as the big cone speakers when something isn't right.

Thanks,

Eric M.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horn Fanatic

As long as your speakers have not been used in that condition, have the foam surrounds replaced by someone reputable. Unless there is a question of rubbing voice coils there is no need to re-cone them. The only authorized JBL repair station that I knew of in the Bay Area was an outfit in Los Gatos, but that was 25 years ago. I don't remember the name of the company, but the chap who owned the business' name is Marty. I remember he had a Western Electric WE 555 driver resting in a display case collecting dust. If only I knew then what they are worth today I would have bought it from him.

If that is a 123A in the photo, it appears to be in excellent shape. Don't fix what ain't broken. What ever you do, don't let yourself be talked into unnecessary re-cones.

Keep in mind, real JBL cone kits for many models are becoming scarce. Keeping the original cones will retain your speaker's vintage value. Some folks have gone to the trouble of having their components re-Gaussed, but it's unlikely that a re-cone station would have that apparatus on site. Your speakers would need to be sent back to the factory for that procedure. The worst thing that one could do to an ALNICO magnet, is subject it to excessive heat. In your case I wouldn't worry about it.

H.F.
02-06-2015, 01:47 PM
grumpy

Check foam/padding condition in back caps of non ring radiators...
02-06-2015, 06:41 PM
Horn Fanatic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric M.

Thanks.

I think I'll do just that, replace surrounds. I've been looking around the Bay Area for speaker shops. I found one that is authorized by JBL, is it important to make sure they are authorized?
When talking to him he knew off the top of his head all about the speakers I have (good sign). He also mentioned there may be issues with the spiders since some of the speakers were facing up when stored. I can see he's correct when looking at the 2245, the spider has sagged.
I'll do a Google search for your guy Marty is Los Gatos.
I think I'm going to drop these off 1 pair at a time, just to make sure I like the quality of work being done.

One other question for you. I also pulled out of storage brand new 2405 and 2445 and used (but working when stored) LE85, 075 and 077. I'm going to test them, but do you think I have anything to worry about after 25 years in storage? Anything I should be looking for on these? It's not so obvious with these as the big cone speakers when something isn't right.

Thanks,

Eric M.

Grumpy has good advice regarding the damping material inside the compression driver covers. Some may have foam, some may have felt, depending on the model and year of manufacture. One thing about your storage facility. If it's in the Oakland area I would be concerned about the humidity and salt content of the ambient air. That wind coming off the bay can be brutal. For example, a mutual acquaintance of Hal Cox and I told me that Hal had the bulk of his equipment in an Alameda storage unit for many years. He told me after viewing the contents he noticed many of the cabinets were in very poor condition because the unit was not climate controlled. I would imagine under the right conditions cone loud speakers could suffer some degree of damage, which may have contributed to the demise of your surrounds. Also, salt air loves aluminum. Your speaker aluminum domes however, appear to be in excellent shape. The compression driver diaphragms should definitely be inspected.

BTW - The shop Marty had was not far off the Lark Ave east bound exit off of Hwy 17, a few doors down from Coast to Coast Hardware. As I said, it's been 25 years and those business may or may not be there. I learned a few years ago on a visit to Los Gatos that a restaurant I frequented where Lark meets Winchester, has been raised. The shopping center where Marty was may have suffered the same fate.

H.F.