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2230 Update

Mike Sweeney

Mike Sweeney

Well-Known Member
Oh the joys of a restoration ;) So I finally had some time to put into the 2230 of mine. I could not get the stereo lights ( 2) to work. I had pulled the bulbs which were toast and replaced them with some LEDs I gotten off eBay as a package deal. The LEDs were warm white and worked fine on the indicator lights. They, did not work on the Stereo indicator. I thought there was an issue but I had 12 volts to the LEDs, then dropped to 10 by a resistor until the threshold was hit where the voltage went to 15. I had a pair of LEDs from irebuildmarantz which I tested with a battery and they worked fine. Then I got to thinking, I've seen where the warm LEDs are noted to be polarized.. the RED ones from IRM were not. That made me think that the ones I put in were and it matters for this application. So pulled the front apart.. again :) Then pulled the warm LEDs and replaced them with the non-polarized RED LEDs.. bingo!! everything works and yes, the ones I pulled are fine.. but they are polarized LEDs.

I got all of this done and thought I was done with the bottom of the unit until I snipped a OEM tie by the rotary switch and FM dropped out.. completely.. as did AM. I found out that it's a loose/bad solder/pinched wire.. somewhere right by the switch. This is going to take some work to track down. I can jiggle and sometimes it dies then comes back.. sometimes weak.. sometimes strong. But damned if I can get the exact wire to repeat it :/

Note.. why replace caps on the tone board? because of the OEM 3.3 uF cap ( all of them were this high or higher) coming in at 22 ohms and over 40% off vs the .20 ohms and less than 2% off of a Wilma cap. Virtually every electrolytic has drifted one way or the other. This unit has been unusual with several corroded/dead caps. I don't often see that so far with this being my 5th Marantz so far. It will be an interesting trend to see if certain models lend themselves to failing caps.
I should add after recapping the tone board, this unit really came to lift sound wise. It worked before, it was just sorta flat and not much range on the various tone adjustments. Not the case now.

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Yeah.. it's fun ;) I could be at the bar getting into trouble and spending my money or I can be in the garage on the bench getting into trouble and spending my money :D
 
I believe those little Elnas are similar to the infamous Sanyo sky-blue "capsistors" in Pioneer gear. Good call replacing them.
 
Mike Sweeney said:
Yeah.. it's fun ;) I could be at the bar getting into trouble and spending my money or I can be in the garage on the bench getting into trouble and spending my money :D
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Uhh, are you married? If you’re going to hang with this hobby, it’s very important to get the vernacular right. Repeat after me.....It’s not spending money — it’s an INVESTMENT. :D
 
Steven Tate said:
Uhh, are you married?
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That would be 20 years in Dec.. she's very long suffering ;) You know why? because of this..
This is my youngest at 11 learning how to solder and assemble a digital clock kit. She gets to use the same stuff I use for the restorations and I teach her what the parts are and how they work. In fact, I just bought a her a cheap temp controlled iron. It's not a Weller but it gets the job done at 1/4 of the cost. She's already asking when she can do a restoration ;) This is why my wife doesn't complain about my spending money on this hobby.. too much :)
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You're being a great role model... if she has an interest, definitely encourage it. Some day she will speak of you fondly.... with warm memories.
 
Mike Sweeney said:
That would be 20 years in Dec.. she's very long suffering ;) You know why? because of this..
This is my youngest at 11 learning how to solder and assemble a digital clock kit. She gets to use the same stuff I use for the restorations and I teach her what the parts are and how they work. In fact, I just bought a her a cheap temp controlled iron. It's not a Weller but it gets the job done at 1/4 of the cost. She's already asking when she can do a restoration ;) This is why my wife doesn't complain about my spending money on this hobby.. too much :)
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For some reason, this really makes me feel good. Young'n's learning how things actually work, man what a great start she's getting. She'll do whatever she wants to do in life, that's for sure.
 
Mike Sweeney said:
That would be 20 years in Dec.. she's very long suffering ;) You know why? because of this..
This is my youngest at 11 learning how to solder and assemble a digital clock kit. She gets to use the same stuff I use for the restorations and I teach her what the parts are and how they work. In fact, I just bought a her a cheap temp controlled iron. It's not a Weller but it gets the job done at 1/4 of the cost. She's already asking when she can do a restoration ;) This is why my wife doesn't complain about my spending money on this hobby.. too much :)
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This is.... AWESOME!!
 
Hi Steven: Please tell me about your modified L 100s. My favorite speaker ever. I have done some mods on mine as well but would like to compare notes if you will?
 
ElCovina said:
Hi Steven: Please tell me about your modified L 100s. My favorite speaker ever. I have done some mods on mine as well but would like to compare notes if you will?
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I built some modern crossovers replacing the very simple crossovers that originally came with the speakers. The information was posted by AK member R Swerdlow with quite a lot of supporting documentation. I really did it as an experiment to see if I could tell the difference. I would have to say the difference was enormous. Mainly, the old crossovers allowed lots of non-bass to reach the woofer and it caused all kinds of muddiness. The new crossovers get the right frequencies to the right drivers and result in a much cleaner sound. I also tried R Swerdlow's mod of closing off the port with a plumber's plug to keep the woofer coil from translating so far - essentially turning it into an acoustic suspension speaker. I was very dubious about it, but it sounded so much better that I left the plugs in. A bonus is that I feel better with such an old driver being driven with about 1/5 of the translation of the voice coil. Before plugging it, that 45 year-old woofer cone was flopping in and out in a way that looked like it could damage something. Now, it stays in a nice comfortable envelope of translation that I believe will lengthen the life of the driver. And I believe the sound is better - less muddy. Anyway, my thread is kind of long, and the Photobucket crime may have wiped out the pics. Here are a few pics of the speakers and crossovers.
Steve

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/new-to-me-jbl-l100s.740739/

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Thanks, Steve. Really good mods. Yes, the photos were up and very good. I liked the "plug out" on the woofer. The crossover work was superb. You have to be a tech! I had my oldest pair of L 100s completely rebuilt (all genuine JBL parts- hand labour), installed an L 166 tweeter, later, an L-80 crossover, new polyfoam inside to replace old glass wool insulation, and new 5 way binding post connectors for banana plugs with big wire. I play them hard and they deliver. I also really like is AK guys like yourself who continuously share good stuff about this hobby keeping it fun. We learn a lot, too. It's good.
 
Thanks! This was my first effort at speaker modding. The result was great and they have been moved to the top of the rotation over the Klipsch Fortes. That’s partly because I mainly listen to classic rock where the L-100’s are great. If I listen to classical or easy listening, it’s usually the Klipsch. Your mods sound like a real upgrade. Would love to hear that combo. :thumbsup: BTW, I’m definitely not a tech. Just a dentist that likes to try new things.
Steve
 
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