Hi I am trying to add horn tweeter on top of the JBL S99 which has LE14A woofer. The speaker is amazing new condition including cabinet and grill, only way to preserve the original appearance and improve the mid and high frequency is adding horn tweeter on top of the box. I will bypass the current tweeter LE 20-1 and it will be 2way speaker. ( LE14a and horn tweeter) I want to go with modern compression drive and horn instead of vintage JBL tweeters. Please suggest good candidates for this project and also ready made crossover . Some suggest that it has to be 1.2K hz crossover but I don't see any at Parts Express. Thanks
Adding horn tweeter on JBL S99/ LE14A woofer
- Thread starter loomspah
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Question: have you checked the capacitors in the existing crossover? I don't know what type of caps are in there, but if they are electrolytic, they might be out of spec and, if so, replacing them might be a good move - you might realize the LE 20 isn't as dire as you fear. I'm not a particular recapping zealot, but many older systems have some charm if working correctly. (And I applaud your intention to preserve the original looks.)
I very strongly second wallacefi's suggestion of looking at the Econowave thread. By now, it is enormously long, but what you are intending to do is more complicated than it might appear at first glance (and your interest in a ready made crossover suggests you are hoping for a simple solution - there may be simple solutions, but they are either expensive or not very good). Know that standard crossovers are designed with dynamic drivers in mind, and may not be suitable for what you want to do.
I also recommend searching for Pete Basle's various threads and posts on compression drivers and wave guide/horns. The standard recommendations of drivers and wave guides have gotten considerably more expensive with the passing years, and what used to be an affordable lark which resulted in surprisingly good sound has become costlier - you are likely looking at hundreds, not tens of dollars. Pete seems to enjoy finding relatively unknown or overlooked affordable possibilities, and often has suggestions for crossover implementations.
I used his suggestion of a cheap JBL wave guide when I realized that the normally recommended Parts Express waveguide was so large that it would require moving the port (and there were no good alternate locations that didn't require major modifications or limitations on placement) of the Dorians I was econowaving. I ended up having to put the fretwork grill (my sister in law wanted nice looking) on extensions to accommodate the baby butt cheeks aspect of the JBL wave guide, but it looked fine. And sounds great.
There is a guy who sells crossover boards for Econowaves. You'll need to buy the components - Parts Express has them, so it isn't difficult. He lists what you need with some different driver modifications, so you can probably find something that will work for you.
I very strongly second wallacefi's suggestion of looking at the Econowave thread. By now, it is enormously long, but what you are intending to do is more complicated than it might appear at first glance (and your interest in a ready made crossover suggests you are hoping for a simple solution - there may be simple solutions, but they are either expensive or not very good). Know that standard crossovers are designed with dynamic drivers in mind, and may not be suitable for what you want to do.
I also recommend searching for Pete Basle's various threads and posts on compression drivers and wave guide/horns. The standard recommendations of drivers and wave guides have gotten considerably more expensive with the passing years, and what used to be an affordable lark which resulted in surprisingly good sound has become costlier - you are likely looking at hundreds, not tens of dollars. Pete seems to enjoy finding relatively unknown or overlooked affordable possibilities, and often has suggestions for crossover implementations.
I used his suggestion of a cheap JBL wave guide when I realized that the normally recommended Parts Express waveguide was so large that it would require moving the port (and there were no good alternate locations that didn't require major modifications or limitations on placement) of the Dorians I was econowaving. I ended up having to put the fretwork grill (my sister in law wanted nice looking) on extensions to accommodate the baby butt cheeks aspect of the JBL wave guide, but it looked fine. And sounds great.
There is a guy who sells crossover boards for Econowaves. You'll need to buy the components - Parts Express has them, so it isn't difficult. He lists what you need with some different driver modifications, so you can probably find something that will work for you.
malden
Lunatic Member
The original LE20-1 is a very good tweeter.
What is it about the S99 that makes you want to mod them?
There is a specific Econowave crossover, for the LE14A:
That, with this horn:
and this driver:
... will work. Some tweaking may be needed for best performance, but it will sound at least good, out of the box (I've done it).
If you want to do it with no tweaking- this is the driver that the crossover was originally designed for. It's more expensive, but it should be plug-and-play:
AK member @wiredbecker had been offering the Econowave PC boards, for the crossovers, at least at one time. I don't know if he has them anymore, but hopefully he can comment on that.
Regards,
Gordon.
That, with this horn:
Dayton Audio H6512 6-1/2" x 12" Waveguide 1-3/8"- 18 TPI
Dayton Audio H6512 6-1/2" x 12" Waveguide 1-3/8"- 18 TPIThe Dayton Audio H6512 high frequency waveguide is precision molded from durable ABS plastic, and has an industry-standard 1-3/8" x 18 TPI throat for mounting screw-on style drivers. Its unique flare geometry exhibits a nominal 90°...
www.parts-express.com
and this driver:
PRV Audio D280Ti-S 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18 TPI
PRV Audio D280Ti-S 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18 TPIPRV Audio D280Ti-S 1" Exit Pro Audio Titanium Compression Driver The D280Ti-S delivers superior sound quality with its titanium diaphragm, offering both durability and precision. With a power handling capacity of 80 watts RMS and a...
www.parts-express.com
... will work. Some tweaking may be needed for best performance, but it will sound at least good, out of the box (I've done it).
If you want to do it with no tweaking- this is the driver that the crossover was originally designed for. It's more expensive, but it should be plug-and-play:
JBL Selenium D220Ti 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18
JBL Selenium D220Ti 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18The JBL Selenium D220Ti-8 horn driver's diaphragm is formed from pure, rigid, light, and extremely thin titanium (0.025 mm). To avoid stress and distortion, the suspension has specially designed reinforcement. An injected-molded phase...
www.parts-express.com
AK member @wiredbecker had been offering the Econowave PC boards, for the crossovers, at least at one time. I don't know if he has them anymore, but hopefully he can comment on that.
Regards,
Gordon.
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Hi Gordon, Thank you for your feedback. This should be the best option I am looking for and will go with JBL compression driver. Thanks for your great help.There is a specific Econowave crossover, for the LE14A:
View attachment 3722426
That, with this horn:
Dayton Audio H6512 6-1/2" x 12" Waveguide 1-3/8"- 18 TPI
Dayton Audio H6512 6-1/2" x 12" Waveguide 1-3/8"- 18 TPIThe Dayton Audio H6512 high frequency waveguide is precision molded from durable ABS plastic, and has an industry-standard 1-3/8" x 18 TPI throat for mounting screw-on style drivers. Its unique flare geometry exhibits a nominal 90°...www.parts-express.com
and this driver:
PRV Audio D280Ti-S 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18 TPI
PRV Audio D280Ti-S 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18 TPIPRV Audio D280Ti-S 1" Exit Pro Audio Titanium Compression Driver The D280Ti-S delivers superior sound quality with its titanium diaphragm, offering both durability and precision. With a power handling capacity of 80 watts RMS and a...www.parts-express.com
... will work. Some tweaking may be needed for best performance, but it will sound at least good, out of the box (I've done it).
If you want to do it with no tweaking- this is the driver that the crossover was originally designed for. It's more expensive, but it should be plug-and-play:
JBL Selenium D220Ti 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18
JBL Selenium D220Ti 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm 1-3/8"-18The JBL Selenium D220Ti-8 horn driver's diaphragm is formed from pure, rigid, light, and extremely thin titanium (0.025 mm). To avoid stress and distortion, the suspension has specially designed reinforcement. An injected-molded phase...www.parts-express.com
AK member @wiredbecker had been offering the Econowave PC boards, for the crossovers, at least at one time. I don't know if he has them anymore, but hopefully he can comment on that.
Regards,
Gordon.
One more question on Econowave Crossover component , I cannot find inductor L2 2mH / 0.143 DCR. Only thing close to the spec is Dayton IC182 and it is 2mH / 0.29 DCR is it acceptable?? thanks
Been there, used that exact inductor, it worked just fine. You will be good to go.
Regards,
Gordon.
Finally I add the JBL horn driver on top of S99 ; sounds fantastic, thanks to all the members and schematic for the crossover. Special thanks to Gordon.
I am getting another set of LE 14A and horn driver to build another set; this time I will make custom cabinets since S99 is bit small for the woofer.
I am getting another set of LE 14A and horn driver to build another set; this time I will make custom cabinets since S99 is bit small for the woofer.
Attachments
Nice job, bet that sounds very good.
BTW, what horn is that?
BTW, what horn is that?
The horn looks a lot like this example found on ePay ( also available from "their dedicated website" ) ;
BiRadial Horn
BiRadial Horn
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Edit: A larger version just the same brand:
Measurements here: Altec Model 19 Technical Info? Similar Econowave?
Measurements here: Altec Model 19 Technical Info? Similar Econowave?
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Hi Loomspah, I responded to your chat a few weeks ago but never heard back from you. Glad you were able to wire up the le14a variant crossover. I definitely recommend pickup up the Dayton copy of JBL Econowave waveguide. It's the basic waveguide the circuit was designed around. Looking forward to seeing your larger build!