JBL c56 Dorian
- Thread starter LQ24
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Zonker92
All shiny and chrome
If you can get a nice pair for a good price, get them, because they have some collector's value. Which components do they have?
I have not had a pair, but here is more information:
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?3816-C56-Dorian
I have not had a pair, but here is more information:
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?3816-C56-Dorian
It's great to be on AK now, this site is a wealth of information and full of awesome audio conversation. The speakers are not in the best of shape but I'm going to take them in to have them put new foam and hopefully repair where someone has soldered speaker wire to the ports. They were given to me and I just hope with a little bit of work they can be brought back. I don't have the grills and have looked online but have a feeling they are gonna be next to impossible to find. Thank you guys for the feedback and info, I'm really excited to converse and pick up all kinds of great knowledge from everyone
gdmoore28
Super Member
Yep. I suspect those grills are going to unobtanium. But if you are handy with woodworking, you could build some very attractive alternatives.
How do they sound to you?
Didn't realize that you already have them. Can we have a pic of them? Pics inside would be great, too. Maybe we could find out why the input wires are going thru the port.
GeeDeeEmm
How do they sound to you?
Didn't realize that you already have them. Can we have a pic of them? Pics inside would be great, too. Maybe we could find out why the input wires are going thru the port.
GeeDeeEmm
Ahh thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. I've just really gotten into the vintage equipment over the last couple years and still have a lot to learn. I think I've gotten pretty lucky with my finds so far. I've been able to acquire three pretty awesome receivers, a pioneer sx-1010, a sansui 5500 and a toshiba sa-7150. The pioneer and sansui are in almost pristine shape and the toshiba was handed down to me and went through some pretty wild years with me in my younger days ha. I'm definitely excited to get these jbl speakers back up and rocking and hooked up to one of these receivers.Not trying to keep this post going but looks like one of the woofers is seized up and both are hardened with little to no play. The guy said the cabinets themselves are in pretty good shape and the tweeters seem to be in good shape as well, also the inputs won't be a problem to replace. Is it worth replacing the woofers in the cabinets and what woofers would everyone suggest putting in, should I stick with jbl or go a different route? Thank you guys in advance for any input and suggestions and sorry for my lack of knowledge, I'm kinda learning a lot of this as I go along ha.
gdmoore28
Super Member
I don't know my JBL woofers very well, so one of the JBL experts will need to chime in here, but the problem you're experiencing with those is very common. Somebody will be along to tell you which way to go with them. And I would suggest going with the advice you get here rather than whoever you get to work on them. In all honesty, most techs work with so many different brands of gear that they never get to know the intricacies the way the guys here do. They'll be able to tell you exactly how to proceed in repairing those woofs.
I love those Pioneer and Sansui receivers. If my experience with vintage Sansui is any indication, that 5500 should kick out some great bass response with the JBLs.
And, by all means, keep this post active. We want to see what you do to bring these classic speakers back to life.
GeeDeeEmm
I love those Pioneer and Sansui receivers. If my experience with vintage Sansui is any indication, that 5500 should kick out some great bass response with the JBLs.
And, by all means, keep this post active. We want to see what you do to bring these classic speakers back to life.
GeeDeeEmm
Gingie
New Member
Well I found a pair C56 Dorians(with LE14s and masher tweets) as well here in Ft. Lauderdale area for $40.00 that I'm going to restore. Nailed it! The owner was moving and didn't want to take them. My win. I'm somewhat new to vintage speaker stuff. Does anyone no a place here in the Miami Ft Lauderdale area that could re fome them? Closest place is in Lake Worth that I know does good work. I also have a set of '85' Klipsch Heresys. Even with the torn and cracked surrounds on the LE14as, the Dorians blow away the Heresys. Thought I would never say that but. Also the mounting plates on the woofers are black. Was this an option when new or were they painted?
Gingie
New Member
Thanks for the info. Was wondering because the only ones I've seen with black mounts are the ones I have.
Gingie
New Member
So pulled the LE14 drivers and ready to put new surrounds on. Who offers a re foam kit that includes the gasket on the outer edge of the surround? Spoke with Simply Speakers (who has the kit) but they do not offer it with the gaskets. They said it was not necessary to have them. Well I want them to keep things looking nice and original. The are very hard, dried out and believe they will disintegrate when i remove them.
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Zonker92
All shiny and chrome
I try to pry / peel off those skinny plastic gaskets and reuse them. I haven't seen them disintegrate completely, but sometimes they get brittle and break into a few smaller segments that you can still glue back on. I've never seen new ones for sale.
You can find white replacement surrounds on eBay, but I have no idea whether they are correct in terms of compliance or dimensions.
If you're feeling lazy and/or flush, you can often find nicely refoamed LE14As on eBay; then just reuse the shipping boxes and sell yours As Is, on eBay.
You can find white replacement surrounds on eBay, but I have no idea whether they are correct in terms of compliance or dimensions.
If you're feeling lazy and/or flush, you can often find nicely refoamed LE14As on eBay; then just reuse the shipping boxes and sell yours As Is, on eBay.
Gingie
New Member
Thank you sir for the info. I ordered the new surrounds from Simply Speakers. Going to give it a try. Satisfaction of doing it myself and all. I was able to get the plastic gaskets and the surrounds off the frame very easily. Now the surrounds on the cons them self. That's going to be fun. I've been told rubbing alcohol will release the adhesive. Shall see what happens. Hope that is the case.
I also pulled out all tweets and crossovers. Cleaned the L-pad with contact cleaner and the static i gone now. That was easy. Other than the black paint on the fram faces thess Dorians are completely un molested. As far as I can tell. Tweeters even have the red wax seals intact. I do believe they have been removed at some point because the screws that mount the clamp ring just don't look right.
look right.
Gingie
New Member
One more thing since you're the only one that is answering all my question. Thank you very much for that. The mash
er lens. Is the alignment of the perforation of the steel plates critical? One of them looks lined up and the other one just looks thrown in. I have some light surface rust I need to take care of on one of them.
Zonker92
All shiny and chrome
I doubt that a minor misalignment out of perfect concentricity would be audible, but it might slightly change the dispersion pattern. I’d fix it if I could, just because it would bug me; they appear to be easy to disassemble. Read more here:
http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/technical/lens.htm
http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/Acoustic_Lens_Family1.pdf
http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/technical/lens.htm
http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/Acoustic_Lens_Family1.pdf
