Looky What I just got - Those Darned L200 Cabs (from Aberdeen)

[Titanium Dome]

Aw, no more Teddy.

My dad used to love hjames, AKA Harry James. Made me listen to him all the time.

I still listen to hjames today, but only the "girl" on Lansing Heritage. Must say I like her better.

[JBL 4645]

Bookshelf with random and odd objects placed within and on top will be doing something good or then again could be worse. Take a look at the heap I have lined along on the left side in my livingroom, now that’s bad LOL. I have no idea when I’m going to stick it in the bedroom, soon, soon.

Guess you could support a false ceiling that is even horizontally. You’ll have to remove a few shelves and anything less that I can’t see in the picture.

But I don’t see it as of paramount importance. The walls are odd shape same as mine that will be dealt with soon, soon. Does that room have window in the ceiling looks like it, looks like some natural light seeming though overhead.

[Fred Sanford]

Aw, no more Teddy.

My dad used to love hjames, AKA Harry James. Made me listen to him all the time.

I still listen to hjames today, but only the "girl" on Lansing Heritage. Must say I like her better.

I listened to lots of Harry James on my Dad's old 45s, actually only got rid of them very recently.

Still remember being awed by "Flight of the Bumblebee" on trumpet as a kid.

je

[hjames]

Okay - I've been playing with the L100Ts lately, the the crossovers that Duanage upped to T3 specs, so I haven't posted much on the L200 project lately.
Last I spoke I had gotten a pair of 2312 LongHorns and built some bump-out boxes, so I could put a hole in the back of the cabinet for the extended length of the longhorns with driver, and still have the back of the cabinet "sealed" so the ports would work. But I hadn't made the rear holes to do so yet.

Well, earlier this year I got a pair of 2425 horn drivers with aquaplas ti diaphram.


And in early June I got a pair of JBL 2397 "Smith horns", aka "Duck lips".
They're made for 2 inch drivers like the 2441, so I had to get 2327 adapters to mount up my smaller 2420 drivers.
And I did. And made cork gaskets and bolted everything together ... lots of bolts ...

I was going to test the smith horns with the loose 2425s, but then last weekend I decided to put them where they belong, in the 4341, which freed up the pair of 2420s they had come with.


So yesterday I took one of my 3-way L200s, laid it on its back and disconnected the Lpad lead from the internal horn, and ran it to the extra banana jacks on the back of that cabinet (left over from when I biamped them). Remember, these cabinets are using the 3133 Equiv circuits
(like 4333 system) 4313B shared with us a year or two back. And current drivers are 2234, 2420, 2405 slots - 3 ways.

Anyway, with a short jumper, I ran mids out of the cabinet and into the smith horn laying on top. I just did this with the left speaker, the right one still has the original 2307 and driver. Gave me a good chance to do a fair A/B (Thanks Toddalin)

Played Famous Blue raincoat and Aja - and it sounded like the right horn dominated the room. Seemed shrill. Unhooked the right speaker (2307 cab) and let it play single channel and - it sounded better!

The Smith horn has a wide sound stage but is very directional, height-wise.
This is only a brief comment and with luck I'll swap the other horn after work today and have more info for this thread, but ... time to scoot!

[hjames]

Okay - got home by 4PM today, rolled the other cabinet out of the corner, laid it out, pulled the woofer and switched the mid-horn wiring to the extra rear pair of banana jacks. flipped it back onto the wheeled plinth, put the glass on top, a thin sheet of foam, the horn assembly, and connected it up just like the left one yesterday, rolled it back into place on the right, then tested it - played these tracks:

Bryan Ferry - Avalon Ballroom - (live tracks from his Big Band tour of 98)
Van Morrison - No Guru ... - Track 2, then skipped around a bit
Steely Dan - 2 Against Nature - Dupree, and skipped a bit ...
Concrete Blonde - Mexican Moon - Dance Along the Edge (Thanks Ducatista!)
Lyle Lovette - Joshua ... - Church, and "Already Made up her Mind"
Peter Gabriel - San Jacinto and Shock the Monkey
Joe Jackson - Body and Soul - jumped around a bit
Oh, one other disc -
Giora Feidman Magic of the Klezmer (Cut 14 - Gershwin suite - Delos CD)
that sold us on the sound near immediately ... you can distinguish the reed noises now!

Emma says the effect is like going to a more accoustic speaker, and says she is hearing details we didn't hear with the 2307 horns - imaging is better as well. Sound field has better definition.

Its not strictly a double-blind test - The smith horns are using the 2420s that came with the 4341s (which probably have Tia diaphrams). The L200 2307/2420 horn combo came from the 4320s I got in Philly but they they are undisturbed as well - maybe AL diaphrams?? Just don't know.

But it sounds like a real improvement - Emma asked if we could maybe get a second set for the 4341s (she didn't realize the price of the 2397s, so I explained that side of it to her ...)

But - they are a hit!

(The real trick would be to get a set with a nice hardwood finish - but that's a ways down the road!)

[MikeBrewster77]

Emma asked if we could maybe get a second set for the 4341s ...

But - they are a hit!

Excellent! With the improvements in imaging and definition it sounds like it's definitely been a worthwhile investment. And when the OH asks you to possibly buy more, well ... you know you've done good!

[Doc Mark]

Morning, Heather,

BRAVO!! Well done, and thanks, very much, for the report!! I like the Duck-billed Platypus, too!! From reading your report, I'm even more excited about playing with my own 2397's. I, too, have a pair of 2420's, which are currently living in the 4333 cabs I got from Grumpy. But, my original plan was to use the 2397's with the 2445J's I got from Todd, and electronically cross them over. We'll see how that turns out. In any case, it's very nice to see that you've gotten right to it, and made this happen in your system. It's also very nice that Emma appreciates good sound, and is supportive in your love of the same!! Like you, I am blessed with my Sweet Bride, who is very supportive of this crazy, but very satisfying JBL hobby/devotion/love!! Again, well done, and thanks for sharing your impressions of this new setup! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[hjames]

Okay - 'nother darned change to the "parlor" system.
Its current got the L100T/3s at one end of the room and the L200+2397 3ways at the other ...was driven by a Yamaha CR1020 - that started acting up ...
Well, after some research and a fortunate ad in the local Craigslist ... I've added another Carver piece to my collection ... a 6250 receiver - with remote!

The sound is really good and its rated 130w/ch - certainly gets the L100T/3 kicking!

[cosmos]

But it sounds like a real improvement - Emma asked if we could maybe get a second set for the 4341s (she didn't realize the price of the 2397s, so I explained that side of it to her ...)

But - they are a hit!

(The real trick would be to get a set with a nice hardwood finish - but that's a ways down the road!)

Way to go Heather!

As luck would have it, I have a pair of L200B and a pair of 4320 sitting around collecting dust. I had given thought of making some Smith Horns myself.. although I thought I'd just do a two way... The other pair might get a set of Unity Horns.

If I do make a set of Smith horns, do you still want a set? Once you set up to make two, four are about as easy.. What wood are you thinking? My cabs are Walnut, so I figured I'd do Walnut..

[hjames]

Wow - you DO have quite the collection!
'course my newer interest in JBLs started with 4320s, then moved the parts into the L200s, which have a better SAF with Emma as well as me!

Interested in Walnut smith horns? Absolutely! We love the sound of the JBL smithhorns (even with 24020s!), but that grey is flat ugly, and painting them would ruin the collectors resale value without helping the looks much.
But there's always a place here for nice wood!

What kind of time frame - a winter project?

Way to go Heather!

As luck would have it, I have a pair of L200B and a pair of 4320 sitting around collecting dust. I had given thought of making some Smith Horns myself.. although I thought I'd just do a two way... The other pair might get a set of Unity Horns.

If I do make a set of Smith horns, do you still want a set? Once you set up to make two, four are about as easy.. What wood are you thinking? My cabs are Walnut, so I figured I'd do Walnut..

[cosmos]

What kind of time frame - a winter project?

With me, ya just never know.. I might get them done in a month or a year from now, it could still be on my to do list.. However, yes, I'd like to get them done in November or December...

Do you want 1" exits? Also, I am thinking 800 Hz, but may push it down to 500 Hz for a second set. The 800 Hz appears to be about 15.5" wide and 2.25" tall, while the 500 Hz calculates to about 37" wide.. according to the formula I have..

Here's a really nice looking project..