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Anybody identify these vintage JBLs?

pilotputz

pilotputz

Super Member
Hey!
Picked up these old JBLs this weekend and can't seem to find any info on them:
Could be that they're homebrew, I guess.
They look to have LE8ts in them with a passive radiator.
All have the old white surrounds that are hard as a rock.
Just wanted to know what you folks' thoughts are.
Thanks!!!
 

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My guess was early 60s.
Doubt Antiques Roadshow would be of much help, though.
I was curious if folks thought they were worth restoring.
Four surrounds is a lot of work!
The boxes are very well built.
So if they're homebrew, dude knew what he was doing.
 
Those are lovely looking cabinets. If DIY, they look very professional. If the parts are available, I'd try to fix them up. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice, guys!
I don't think I've ever listened to a pair of LE8s before.
And the surrounds look like they're pretty easy to come by...
Seems I have no excuse other than extreme laziness!
 
Jayrosc said:
What type of veneer is that? One pic almost looks like bird's eye maple...
Click to expand...

I thought so too Closer pics of the sides/top please.

The vanes reminded my of the Minigon wall mounted speakers. No idea what drivers those had, but I just wondered if they may have been rebuilt from a pair of those. If they're custom, they must have got the vanes somewhere.
 
I don't see any knots that Birds Eye Maple has, could be Sycamore or Ribbon Maple, high end no less and with JBL divers, someone wanted a very nice set of speakers, 60s ish.
 
It's not birdseye.
I think it's just sun fade on the fronts that make it look that way.
Here's a photo of the back.
 

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Here's a couple close-ups of the fronts.
Almost looks like tiger maple maybe.
 

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They are home brew, I think, but done by a professional cabinet maker. Those are lovely. Send the drivers to Andyman [AK member] he can refoam them.
 
I'm thinking that they have a 16 ohm full range (LE8T's) and the PR8s then it would have no crossover. Which would be a great setup with a nice tube amp. Really a classy look and just down right beautiful. What's the story behind them?
 
What I know about them:
I picked them up this weekend from a guy who got them out of a storage auction.
I got them with the console that ran them.
They were run with a Dynaco 70 and McIntosh MX110.
The Dynaco still had the speaker wires connected to the amp and they were on the 16 ohm setting.
Thanks, guys, for confirming that they're not JBL cabinets.
Do you think they'd sound better without those wood baffles over the drivers?
 
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