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Help w/ JBL speaker ID

M

maj75

New Member
I bought a pair of speakers that I was told were JBL speakers. I got them from the original owner who purchased them in Germany in late 70s early 80s. They had JBL grills on them. The tweeters are missing and the foam surrounds were gone. I paid $20.

I tried to ID them but the labels that run vertically where the crossover knobs go are missing. They are three way speakers with the speakers in vertical alignment and a port. I found a picture online of a L100 with the same arrangement, although I have seen other speakers identified as L100 where the speakers are not in vertical alignment. There are no other markings on the speakers other than a patent number on the panel for the speaker connectors.

I took them to a JBL authorized local repair shop, but they say they can't ID the speakers either, even after they took them apart. (I know nothing about the ability of this shop)

Any suggestions for IDing these speakers would be appreciated. I would post pics but they are at the shop presently. If they are L100, could anyone tell me what replacement tweeters I should use?
 
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If the crossovers are present and intact, i would think much could be determined from them.

I think our resident JBL expert Zilch can probably arm you with the info needed for a positive ID, hopefully he'll spot your thread title and be along shortly.
 
Does it look anything like this (obviously, this one is on its side)?

jbl_modelL100.jpg


If so, that's a very early model L100. They were only made with this configuration for the first year or two of their existence. Later models had the off-set alignment with the LE25 (square-flange) tweeter.

The drivers in the early L100 should be the 123A or 123A-1 for the woofer, LE5-2 for the midrange, and LE20-1 for the tweeter.

The other common vertical-alignment JBL 3-way speaker, that closest resembles the L100, from this era is the L50:

l50.JPG


It's got a 127A or 127H woofer (10" rather than the 12" in the L100), a LE5-6 midrange, and a LE26 tweeter. I actually own a pair of these- though, mine have been retro-fitted with later-model JBL woofers (127H-1). Nice speakers!

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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We'll need pics and/or driver models to be certain, but they could very well be L100s, as Gordon has shown, and if the early vertical-in-line variant, which had an actual honest-to-goodness crossover and not just level-adjustable highpass filters, also particularly desirable.... :yes:
 
MAN, you guys are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The speakers I got were the L50s shown in the pictures below. The grills match perfect!!!!

Any part numbers for woofers, mids and tweeters appreciated. My tweeters are missing, but I think that the others just need foam.....

Again, thanks a million!!!:banana:


GordonW said:
Does it look anything like this (obviously, this one is on its side)?

jbl_modelL100.jpg


If so, that's a very early model L100. They were only made with this configuration for the first year or two of their existence. Later models had the off-set alignment with the LE25 (square-flange) tweeter.

The drivers in the early L100 should be the 123A or 123A-1 for the woofer, LE5-2 for the midrange, and LE20-1 for the tweeter.

The other common vertical-alignment JBL 3-way speaker, that closest resembles the L100, from this era is the L50:

l50.JPG


It's got a 127A or 127H woofer (10" rather than the 12" in the L100), a LE5-6 midrange, and a LE26 tweeter. I actually own a pair of these- though, mine have been retro-fitted with later-model JBL woofers (127H-1). Nice speakers!

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
 
GordonW said:
The other common vertical-alignment JBL 3-way speaker, that closest resembles the L100, from this era is the L50:

It's got a 127A or 127H woofer (10" rather than the 12" in the L100), a LE5-6 midrange, and a LE26 tweeter. I actually own a pair of these- though, mine have been retro-fitted with later-model JBL woofers (127H-1). Nice speakers!

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...

Gordon, how did you get H-1s into L50s? Aren't the frames too big for the recess, & the bolt locations different?

Thanks,

je
 
Fred Sanford said:
Tweets are LE26, mids are LE-5-10s or 12s, woofs probably 125As, maybe 127Hs.

My $20 L50s should be up & running for Christmas...

je
Click to expand...

And, they're up! If the woofers look a bit blurry in the pic, you can blame Alice In Chains for that...:yes:

je
 

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Fred Sanford said:
Gordon, how did you get H-1s into L50s? Aren't the frames too big for the recess, & the bolt locations different?

Thanks,

je
Click to expand...

Lays on top of the baffle... I had to shift the woofer toward the center of the cabinet a bit to clear the grille (which is easy, since it's sitting on the larger hole/recess where the original frame rim went). Made new screw holes, at the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 locations, to accommodate the slightly off-set location.

Sounds great, looks good too. Grille fits fine. The original type woofers could still be re-installed... all you'd really need to do is to caulk the new holes I made (the original woofer frame will cover them up, inside the recessed hole).

I'll try to take a picture, whenever I can...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
GordonW said:
Lays on top of the baffle... I had to shift the woofer toward the center of the cabinet a bit to clear the grille (which is easy, since it's sitting on the larger hole/recess where the original frame rim went). Made new screw holes, at the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 locations, to accommodate the slightly off-set location.

Sounds great, looks good too. Grille fits fine. The original type woofers could still be re-installed... all you'd really need to do is to caulk the new holes I made (the original woofer frame will cover them up, inside the recessed hole).

I'll try to take a picture, whenever I can...

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...

Thanks- any issues making the frame/baffle offer an air seal? I'm having a tough time picturing the H-1 frame (squircle?) completely covering the sunken frame-recess area.

je
 
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