JBL D-208, what's the sauce.

[trainbuftony]

About 10 years ago I walked out of a thrift store with a JBL d208 driver I paidc$15 for. I was coming out as the local jbl hoarder dude was going in, and I assured him I got all of the "good stuff" showing him my prize. He said yeah I've got one of those...
My response: So am I buying yours or are you buying mine.

He doesn't answer questions.
Doesn't sell things.
A mystery wrapped in an enigma.

We went our separate ways.

Last weekend I vended at a swap meet, and I finally broke him of the "no deals" curse.
I was selling the 208, and s bunch of other stuff. He ended up with some jensens I had, and i made him a cash on the spot offer to come buy his 208.
Finally a breakthrough.
We are now making deals, building trust, and making future plans to work together on things. Good.
It took long enough...

So now I've got a mint JBL d208 in a Karlson enclosure and another in a cheap. Corner box. Has anyone had great success with a cabinet design for these?

I mated them up thinking JBL, couldn't possibly sound bad. Hooked to my 299d, the Karlson seems to be less than an ideal match.

What is the ideal match for this driver?

Selling them is also an option as I've got a lot of project speakers, some with far more potential than these. At least that's what my gut tells me. Am I crazy to think I could build a pair of boxes and have some decent speakers?

Other drivers I have would require more plywood, and the wood for the cabinets is financially out of the question at the present moment.
What would you do?
Theres no wrong answers.

 

[Riley Casey]

Use them as a midrange driver in a sealed enclosure between a 15" in a vented box and a 1" compression driver on a baby cheeks horn would be my suggestion.

 

[sregor]

T/S from the web (don't recall where, but they were out there - maybe LansingHeritage)
Best to get them measured - who knows what they look like after over 40 years.

 

[Nyjblbob]

The D208’s are nice mids that go pretty high, sealed or even OB.
Match them with a pair of EVSt 350a
Tweeters 3,500 hz
Xovers and a nice pair of 15” foam edge JBLs 5 cu ft ported cabs

 

[trainbuftony]

These drivers are still sitting, occasionally calling at me from the corner-"hey Tony, do something with us"
I'm thinking more full range, single driver back loaded horn, as a direction, vs a crossover and 3 way arrangement.
Build some really beautiful cabinets trimmed out in walnut with pointy aluminum legs.
Theres a shop back on the east coast that apparently can rebuild them to like new condition and I'll probably do that...
If I make them work right in pretty boxes, and bring them indoors, it will be good practice making cuts and setting up the saw for the bigger speakers I'm eventually going to need to build.
Still open to great ideas...

 

[Nyjblbob]

IF you really want to sharpen your woodworking skills you can build a pair of Top Loader Hartsfields.
JBL actually offered the 208's/216's as a low cost option.
Then just as owners did in the 50's when they realized that no matter how big the horn cabinet is
they will never produce any audible Bass below 60hz.
they bought the proper Big components. 150-4's and 375's.
the D208's are nice drivers . even in some nice big tall back loaded horn loaded cabs,
I remember seeing a nice pair in DIY. you still need a sub. and probably a super tweeter.

 

[Nyjblbob]

Tony;
These might be what you are looking for the d208's
not too hard to build.
I would make them a bit wider, and maybe some outriggers
they look a bit unstable. A big dog's tail could tip them over.

 

[Mr Boochie]

Know anyone with a Fender Champ or Vibro-Champ sitting around? I have not heard a Champ with a D208. But, it's supposed to be quite good. I run Weber speakers in my Champs and VCs.

https://rocknrollvintage.com/products/1965-fender-vibro-champ-w-jbl-d208-serviced

 

[trainbuftony]

Well, I hired an expert and had them re-coned. They are supposed to be in today's mail. I'm excited about them, the recone man put cloth surrounds on them and optimized them for Hifi.
Apparently the cloth surrounds allow more cone movement and theoretically more bass.
They will probably get used with 6bq5 push pull amps. So right about 15 watts of power.

 

[trainbuftony]

Well they showed up and I did my inspection and they look immaculate. They are going to be very nice. The Gentleman who did them is named Alan Helms, and he claims to be the last person alive who rebuilds these properly.
That's probably not much of an exaggeration.
He was able to recone both in a factory style cone, and dust cap in a reasonable amount of time, (returned a month or 2 after shipping) and for a reasonable cost (two and a half Benjamin Franklin funnypapers. 3 , including shipping.) It has yet to be determined what I'll build out of them, but I'm leaning toward a "bel-aire" tribute piece.

My mind could change 12 more times by tomorrow so what I did, is I put them back in their bags, back in their shipping boxes and sealed them back up with tape. That way I can't put a screwdriver through them by accident, which is the obvious "next step" for anyone like me who has "Murphy" on the payroll...
The drivers are safely tucked away in their boxes waiting for their turn in the spotlight.
As much as I'd like to look at them and display them and hold them in my hands, its better that they stay undamaged in their shipping cartons until I have a solid plan for them.

 

[Nyjblbob]

I'm kinda thinking trying open Baffle with my D216's, even though I have the bullets and a cabinet maker friend
to also make the tributes. But in reality i have so many BIG sound speakers, would the Belair's ever get any air time??

 

[trainbuftony]

It's not often someone completes my thoughts so accurately.

I'm a big speaker guy.
Large format, whatever.
A speaker should be as big as a piano, in order to properly replicate that instrument...

I'm giving strong consideration to putting these in my kitchen, above the cupboards for playing the radio through.

 

[GordonW]

Know anyone with a Fender Champ or Vibro-Champ sitting around? I have not heard a Champ with a D208. But, it's supposed to be quite good. I run Weber speakers in my Champs and VCs.

https://rocknrollvintage.com/products/1965-fender-vibro-champ-w-jbl-d208-serviced

As long as the Champ has an 8 ohm output transformer (the original Fender transformers were made for the original 4 ohm speakers, in the Champ), then this should work well.

Using an 8 ohm speaker on a Champ with the 4 ohm output transformer will work- but it will lose quite a bit of output level. And that can be a problem, when you're only talking about 6 or so watts to start with...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Mr Boochie]

As long as the Champ has an 8 ohm output transformer (the original Fender transformers were made for the original 4 ohm speakers, in the Champ), then this should work well.

Using an 8 ohm speaker on a Champ with the 4 ohm output transformer will work- but it will lose quite a bit of output level. And that can be a problem, when you're only talking about 6 or so watts to start with...

Regards,
Gordon.

I'm usually running my Champs close to "dimed" or "12" --- on older tweeds. Using the volume knobs on the guitars to tailor the sound. Full blast, there isn't too much difference in the volume level between 4 and 8-ohm speakers. The 4-ohm may overdrive, a bit sooner in the volume level. Those old transformers in the Champs (in the blackface and silverface era) are pretty tough cookies. Most of the earlier tweed era OPT are not. I like the original Triad transformers, but the ones Fender put in the early Champs were really not made for full output, all the time. They were built for students (like most of the tweed era Champs). Finding replacement Schumacher transformers is getting a bit tougher (read $$$).

I've been using Mercury Magnetics Toneclone output transformers for fixes with blown output iron. They are pretty darn good. Esp with modern speakers, like Weber alnico. I would LOVE to try that JBL with a Merc Mag, fully restored Champ!

 

[absolve2525]

Well they showed up and I did my inspection and they look immaculate. They are going to be very nice. The Gentleman who did them is named Alan Helms, and he claims to be the last person alive who rebuilds these properly.
That's probably not much of an exaggeration.
He was able to recone both in a factory style cone, and dust cap in a reasonable amount of time, (returned a month or 2 after shipping) and for a reasonable cost (two and a half Benjamin Franklin funnypapers. 3 , including shipping.) It has yet to be determined what I'll build out of them, but I'm leaning toward a "bel-aire" tribute piece.

My mind could change 12 more times by tomorrow so what I did, is I put them back in their bags, back in their shipping boxes and sealed them back up with tape. That way I can't put a screwdriver through them by accident, which is the obvious "next step" for anyone like me who has "Murphy" on the payroll...
The drivers are safely tucked away in their boxes waiting for their turn in the spotlight.
As much as I'd like to look at them and display them and hold them in my hands, its better that they stay undamaged in their shipping cartons until I have a solid plan for them.

Did you ever use these in a project? I forgot I have a pair, one of them tests open . Do you have contact info on the individual who repaired yours? (PM if you don't want to post publicly) What a neat set of drivers, I bet they have great midrange. Mine have been on the shelf for years. Thanks!