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JBL Decade 16 (L16) tweeter hunt (LE25)

S

Skaman

New Member
Hi all
I recently picked up a nice bundle of vintage HiFi gear (Marantz 1150, Thorens TD 160 highlights). I was rather excited about the JBLs that were in the lot until I got home and discovered that a) the refoam on the woofers had been stuck on the front and b) the LE25 tweeters have been replaced by some horrible "titanium super bullet" tweeters.

So, the questions are..... are these speakers worth putting the money and effort in to repair? If so does anyone know where I can find a pair of these tweeters?

I already have some nice HPM-100's (200w version), and leak sandwich (2-way) among others. I was hoping thee JBLs would pair up with my QUAD 33 and 303.

Thanks in advance
 
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You can get the tweeters from the US ebay, euro to US exchange is not bad, just need to find someone who will ship internationally.
While your at it looneytune2001 on the US ebay sells foams for JBL that people hi5 each other over, so ask him about a foam kit that also comes with a test tone cd to help align the foam correctly.
And finally, Just give it a go. Put it down to experience, I'm sure if you're not happy with the end result then someone else in France would love to relieve you of those speakers.

Regards
 
Hi Helle and thanks for the advice,
I've done the Ebay thing and the prices seem quite high so I was hoping to get an idea about how these speakers sound and compare before going for a full restoration. I have no idea of the value of them either and don't really want to end up out of pocket.
Thanks in advance.
 
You could check completed ebay listings in Europe, see if any have been sold and for what price.
As for how they sound, I don't know, I have a pair of L26 JBL's that I'm restoring now and they didn't offend me before the restoring took place, you could also visit the Lansing website, you may get more info there.

Looking at your other speakers the JBL's should be in the middle of the pack, people complain about how the HPM-100's are harsh and the LEAK's are a warm sounding speaker. I had the 600 series LEAK's. ( come to think of it people like complaining about everything).

Post a pic of your speakers, people on this site love sharp glossy images of speakers and you may get more responses.
 
Thanks again for your reply. I'll certainly get around to doing the picture thing at some point soon. Lot's of things going on right at the moment so I'll need to find the time to do that.
 
I've removed a front-mounted surround from an L19A woofer and installed a new one on the back side. I was able to dress the damaged cone surface with some thinned glue to make it look good again. It's not perfect, but it works, and it was a lot cheaper than a recone.
 
Well, I guess I'd better go for it then.
I have seen some tweeters not too expensive.
How much of a problem is the front foam? I imagine if JBL deigned these with rear foam it was for a reason.
I'll put some photos together when I get a moment.
 
L16 is very similar to the magnificent 4301B (wich in my opinion is pretty much unbeatable for that size of speakers)
more so than the L19. i think its the size of the encloshure thats more similar to 4301, L19 isnt quite as deep
i ve had L19 and 2 pairs of 4301b wich sounds way better than L19
i havnt heard or seen L16 as of yet

but i would buy the correct LE-25-2 tweeters in a heartbeat if i were in your shoes
if refoamed from the back or the front, i dont really think it matters performance wise, but it looks better when done correctly from the back
 
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Wow, that's interesting. I'll look up the dimensions. The many other pages I have read about these L16s seem to say the L19 is the closer relative of the 4301B.
So, does anyone on here have a pair of LE25s (or at a push the LE26's) for sale at a reasonable price? It seems the prices I'm seeing on E-ay plus shipping to France are nearly as much as pairs of these little speakers are selling for.
 
they all use pretty much the same drivers and x-over so it must have something to do with the dimensions. looking at pics i see that the L16 looks just like 4301 in size.
and i dont think its the JBL 43xx blue that makes it sound better.

as i said i have not heard the L16 so i might be wrong.
 
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I had a pair of L-16s but unfortunately, someone put in generic woofers. They sounded great, but I ended up moving them on. I wasn't about to try and source the woofers as I have too many projects at the moment and no space.
 
Well, a pair of tweeters pulled from some L 26s are on the way across the Atlantic. I'll be very interested to hear the difference between the original tweeters and those nasty looking bullets. I guess I'd better order some new capacitors too (well one per speaker http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Technical Sheet/L16 DECADE ts.pdf).
Final question for anyone who can answer - as the foams have been stuck on the front rather than the back, is that going to change the sound a lot? If so then just how difficult is it to get them off without damaging the cone? Is it worth it?
I promise to put some photos up.
Oh and if anyone has any tips on repairing a part of the veneer that is missing I'd be happy to read. It's about 2" by 3" on the top of one. The rest of the speakers are in pretty good shape ;-)
 
I would check out drbiggles or GD70 threads,
They have done some fantastic work bringing abused speakers back to, if not better than showroom condition.

As for the foams, when you or a tech finally pulls/clean them off you will unfortunately be left with a ring around the edges of the woofers, but that won't affect the sound.
If the person who refoamed these glued the foams on the wrong side on the woofer then you need to ask yourself did he use the correct compound/roll dimension foam.
(Was it a jbl spec'd foam)

Anyway, carry on.
 
i thought of that too. he probably bought generic 8" rings and they wont fit if mounted from the back.
still dont think that would affect anything much except for the appearence.
and as u said removing the foam will also probably remove some paper from the cone

hey skaman some pics would be nice :D
 
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I'm right in the middle of the biggest spring clean I have ever undertaken right now (to make room for more sounds ;-), I promise I will do photo's soon, before I pull those tweeters and begin work on them.
 
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