Damaged JBL LE120H-1 Woofer cone. Repair or replace?

[angelaudio]

Hello fellow Akers I hope you find yourselves well.

I recently acquired a pair of JBL L7’s and one of the woofers looks like it got shot...not sure if it was hanging around all those looters and took a rubber bullet in the side Anyway, I’ve attached a picture so you all can see the extent of the damage. I’m wondering whether this woofer would perform well if I did some sort of patchwork OR if I would be better off just purchasing a recone kit. Any input is much appreciated. TIA

P.S. I am aware that the driver needs to be refoamed

 

[Chris Brown]

I'd try to fix it. You don't have much to lose by trying, aside from some time and the small cost of a refoam kit. Since the woofer is down on the side of the cabinet, you won't really see it much anyway.

It looks like a small rodent chewed it's way inside, probably using the inside of the cabinet as some kind of nest. Make sure to clean out the rodent droppings that probably got left behind inside the cabinet, etc. Make sure no wires got chewed up also.

 

[angelaudio]

I'd try to fix it. You don't have much to lose by trying, aside from some time and the small cost of a refoam kit. Since the woofer is down on the side of the cabinet, you won't really see it much anyway.

It looks like a small rodent chewed it's way inside, probably using the inside of the cabinet as some kind of nest. Make sure to clean out the rodent droppings that probably got left behind inside the cabinet, etc. Make sure no wires got chewed up also.

Thanks Chris. Will check inside and make sure the critter ain’t still in there!

I’ve read that people use layers of tissue paper to repair paper cones, but any idea what kind of glue would be best suited for this application?

 

[toddalin]

Hello fellow Akers I hope you find yourselves well.

I recently acquired a pair of JBL L7’s and one of the woofers looks like it got shot...not sure if it was hanging around all those looters and took a rubber bullet in the side Anyway, I’ve attached a picture so you all can see the extent of the damage. I’m wondering whether this woofer would perform well if I did some sort of patchwork OR if I would be better off just purchasing a recone kit. Any input is much appreciated. TIA

P.S. I am aware that the driver needs to be refoamedView attachment 1888120View attachment 1888121View attachment 1888122

Saw the pics on C/L and recognized it. The cone is toast. Have it replaced. There are local places that can do it. If you can't get an original cone, do both.

 

[angelaudio]

Saw the pics on C/L and recognized it. The cone is toast. Have it replaced. There are local places that can do it. If you can't get an original cone, do both.

JBL doesn’t sell the cone kits for the LE120H-1 woofer, so I would have to go for the Simply Speakers cone kit. Will the performance of the new cone be audibly different than the original?

 

[toddalin]

JBL doesn’t sell the cone kits for the LE120H-1 woofer, so I would have to go for the Simply Speakers cone kit. Will the performance of the new cone be audibly different than the original?

Have you tried Speaker Repair Pros in Garden Grove? This is the guy who did all the work at Orange County Speaker. He does list JBL cones (price on request).

He would probably be the best person to ask about any differences.

http://www.speakerrepairpros.com/services.html

 

[Chris Brown]

Will the performance of the new cone be audibly different than the original?

Of course. You can't replace an entire cone with something non-stock and expect that the performance will be the same. It might not be too bad, simply because these are 4-way speakers. That woofer is crossed over at 180hz, meaning it functions more like a subwoofer, compared to a woofer in a 3-way which would usually have to reach up to 800-1000hz. It's also entirely possible that doing a patch-job on the cone will affect the sound in a negative way. So really, what's the lesser evil here?

I would personally still lean strongly toward trying to repair the original cone first. This is a small missing section, not a case where someone kicked in the cone or the voice coil burned up. And again, you really have nothing to lose by trying to repair it other than some time and the tiny cost of a refoam kit. You have a 2nd functional woofer with no cone damage that you can swap back and forth for testing purposes to be able to evaluate your own work after the repair. If the result of the patch job is unsatisfactory, the option of having them re-coned is still there, same as before. If you re-cone them first however, and the result is unsatisfactory, you're basically screwed.

 

[Chris Brown]

I’ve read that people use layers of tissue paper to repair paper cones, but any idea what kind of glue would be best suited for this application?

I don't know if there is a "correct" way to do it or not. I don't think tissue paper on it's own is going to work to repair an entire missing section, that is usually used to help patch a tear. I would find a thick-paper material that is approximately the same thickness as the cone, and use the missing section of the cone to trace out a replacement piece. You could then potentially use tissue paper to help hold the new section in place. Since it's on the edge, the new foam will also help to hold it in place. Wood glue or elmers glue works well. Depending on where you get your refoam kit from, it will often come with glue as part of the kit, which you could also use to help patch the section.