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Bought custom speakers... JBL D123 + Peerless

Aaron99

Aaron99

Active Member
Last weekend I responded to an ad for a 2010 "Baby" Marantz (10 watts per channel). I met up with a dear elderly couple that was downsizing. When I show up and the Marantz 2010 is filling the room with beautiful classical music. I look at the volume knob and it is at the 8 o'clock position. Looking over to the side of the room are a pair of speakers a little over 2 ft x 2ft x 2ft cubed.
The husband proceed to tell me that he built them himself in the early/mid 1970s. How could it be that a room was filled with sound with about 2 watts of power? He said he built the speakers to be efficient. He used JBL drivers and he couldn't remember what he used for a crossover and mid and highs.
Since the speakers wouldn't fit where they were downsizing to, they offered them to me for a great price.

I took them home and couldn't wait to try them out with my music.
I have never heard music sound so clear. I barely turn up the knob past 9 on my Marantz 2238 (38 watts per channel).

Because i was curious to how this was possible, I took the back cover off the box. Here are some pictures of the innards. The driver is in the back of the box with a horn shaped route made of wood to the front.

Does anyone have any idea what these may have been designed from? The speakers seem so efficient. I have never owned speakers that sound this good.

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Congrats, they look very nice and seem well built. Do the front grills come off? Curious if the midrange is connect to a horn or sharing the bass horn. How's the low end response?
 
Xtinc said:
Congrats, they look very nice and seem well built. Do the front grills come off? Curious if the midrange is connect to a horn or sharing the bass horn. How's the low end response?
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes they are well built. They are in immaculate shape. They were built with a glass top to prevent possible water rings from cups.


The front does not come off. There are two horn sections an upper one and a lower one. The midrange is going to the top horn. The Bass going to the bottom horn. The highs are mounted right in the middle of the speaker against the cloth.
 
I know some people may like the console look (components jammed right next to each other), but that lessens the stereophonic effect. Just a thought.
 
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Very nicely built. Did you ask him if they were from plans or did he design them himself?
You owe it to yourself to start looking for a nice tube amp, Those speakers would match very well.
Congrats

BillWojo
 
BillWojo said:
Very nicely built. Did you ask him if they were from plans or did he design them himself?
You owe it to yourself to start looking for a nice tube amp, Those speakers would match very well.
Congrats

BillWojo
Click to expand...

I had asked him and he said they were from plans. Although he couldn't remember where he got them. He thinks maybe based off of "gates horn". Although, I couldn't find anything on that when I search for that. That's why I asked if anyone knows what these may have been designed from...

I may have to dip my toe into the tube amp waters... :)
 
old thread and not certain if anyone is watching it. I am working on a fill speaker for my Khorns. Actually, Khorn bass bins + JBL 2360 horns with either EV or JBL 2" driver. Sound is amazing with tubes, but like eveyrone, i thirst for improved 300<->6/700 hz. The bass bins don't quite make it and the 2360's sound a little better crossed slightly higher.

Anyway, i ask because I have heard at least one person swear by those JBL d123's in this role, and now i see these speakers with what looks like a short horn on them using D123s. Does anyone know more about the horn on those D123s?

Of course, i really don't want a direct radiator positioned between a bass and midrange horn, so this design will need to be front loaded horn too (just as it appears the above speakers are)

BTW, I am also looking at the Volvotreter MidBass Horn (http://wp.volvotreter.de/projects/pics_plans/traxtrix-midbass-fronthorns/). Seem to be covering the right band and horn loaded. So looking for any feedback re: using the D123 in place of the EV EVM 12L he prescribes. No idea how appropriate that change would be.

Please limit your responses to this speaker + d123 as i expect i should start a separate thread re: building a horn to augment the Khorn - there have to be 100 people out there looking for ideas...
 
Thanks for renewing this thread...I'm fascinated with cone-driven mid-horns....like in the pics of the Peerless above. Years ago i messed with building wooden horns and attaching different (mostly cheap and not optimal) cone mid-drivers. Sometimes I would get really nice results though! Later, when I discovered some papers by Dr. Bruce Edgar I thought i wasn't so crazy after all!
FWIW my current (and probably permanent rig) uses some very high quality vintage cone mids without horn attached; they have a lot of the best characteristics of a horn without harshness I dislike (my tweeters are horns tho!...lol).
 
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