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JBl L150 restoration thread

one of the midrange speakers is out on my L150s as well. dunno how common this is, but its common enough to be on multiple message boards and a youtube video.

tried to remove it, but its glued in. any tips?

HTHMAN said:
You will love those speakers. I had the mid driver go out on one of mine and it was one of the ceramic resistors that went bad. Check them out.

Edit. Just looked at the schematic. Probably not a resistor. Try bypassing the pot and see if that is the problem. Maybe just needs a good cleaning.
Click to expand...
 
HTHMAN said:
You will love those speakers. I had the mid driver go out on one of mine and it was one of the ceramic resistors that went bad. Check them out.

.
Click to expand...


i JUST bought a really nice lookin set of L150s and one of the mids went dead silent. after readin this and a few other threads i used a jumper to bypass the 2.4ohm (says 2.5 in the official schematic) resistor and ill be damned the mid driver bounced to life.

im very grateful for this forum
 
ceylon said:
i JUST bought a really nice lookin set of L150s and one of the mids went dead silent. after readin this and a few other threads i used a jumper to bypass the 2.4ohm (says 2.5 in the official schematic) resistor and ill be damned the mid driver bounced to life.

im very grateful for this forum
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you got the mid driver working again! AK really is the best! I miss my l150s. I wish I had tried them with a more powerful amp as I never had enough juice to really let them shine. Hope you enjoy your JBLs!
 
good to hear from you, will. im new here.

on that note, i got a question...

im drivin em with a marantz 2325. now, i got into home stereo via recording studio and live sound--id end up with a LOT of hand-me-down gear and salvage, including home decent stereo stuff (KLH model 319 speakers, coupla tape decks, several working late 80s receivers, for example). ive always had stereo gear but never bought any til this year at age 46 (im 47). my first buy was a $20 6 cd-changer, then a brand new entry level sony TT from a dope addict for $60...

...and now im drivin these L150s with a marantz 2325. since theyre 300W speakers, and damn thirsty at that, why not grab one of my 400WPC crown ce2000 power amps and let the JBLs drink their fill?

what are some considerations before doing that?
 
ceylon said:
...and now im drivin these L150s with a marantz 2325. since theyre 300W speakers, and damn thirsty at that, why not grab one of my 400WPC crown ce2000 power amps and let the JBLs drink their fill?

what are some considerations before doing that?
Click to expand...
I do not find mine hard to drive at all. I am using a Realistic STA-2000 receiver and do not need to push it at all. Although we were in the receiver wars in the late 70's when those speakers came out, JBL was not going to limit its market to just TOTL receivers and amps. That 300W figure is power handling ability before you fry them, not recommended power.
 
HTHMAN said:
That 300W figure is power handling ability before you fry them, not recommended power.
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While I agree they are not hard to drive (I have L150A and L112), normally when JBL lists an amplifier power limit they have in the past said to double that rating to ensure necessary headroom. That's not saying you should be looking for 600-watts to drive yours, but it is essentially suggesting that the more the merrier. If you can stay in the room with the L150 playing anywhere near the limits of a 150-watt amp, you're either stupid or deaf . . . or both!! Remember: If it sounds bad, turn it down!
 
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HTHMAN said:
I do not find mine hard to drive at all. I am using a Realistic STA-2000 receiver and do not need to push it at all. Although we were in the receiver wars in the late 70's when those speakers came out, JBL was not going to limit its market to just TOTL receivers and amps. That 300W figure is power handling ability before you fry them, not recommended power.
Click to expand...

oh, JBL recommends a 300W amp for L150s.

hard to drive may not be correct--perhaps i mean inefficient. for example, i dont have to turn up my cerwin vega D5s much for them to get loud. the L150s dont get very loud til right before 11 o clock on the dial.
 
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BMWCCA said:
I posted that over on LH for those close to Michigan, but I get the feeling this guy might be trying to hold an auction on Facebook Marketplace.

At this point its just a guess as to what drivers they actually contain.
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yeah...maybe..terrible photos and they dont even take the speaker grills off.
 
BMWCCA said:
While I agree they are not hard to drive (I have L150A and L112), normally when JBL lists an amplifier power limit they have in the past said to double that rating to ensure necessary headroom. That's not saying you should be looking for 600-watts to drive yours, but it is essentially suggesting that the more the merrier. If you can stay in the room with the L150 playing anywhere near the limits of a 150-watt amp, you're either stupid or deaf . . . or both!! Remember: If it sounds bad, turn it down!
Click to expand...

man, the second day i had em i cranked my marantz 2325 to 3 o clock and it sure was loud, like close to live music loud, and crystal clear. man that was fun. my brother had some zappa album he wanted to hear on em.
 
ceylon said:
oh, JBL recommends a 300W amp for L150s.

hard to drive may not be correct--perhaps i mean inefficient. for example, i dont have to turn up my cerwin vega D5s much for them to get loud. the L150s dont get very loud til right before 11 o clock on the dial.
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The JBL L-150s have an 88dB while the CV is 96dB, so that is to be expected. Still, The CV is a pretty highly efficient speaker, but the JBL is not highly inefficient and there were not a lot of 300W amps or receivers in 1979.
 
HTHMAN said:
The JBL L-150s have an 88dB while the CV is 96dB, so that is to be expected. Still, The CV is a pretty highly efficient speaker, but the JBL is not highly inefficient and there were not a lot of 300W amps or receivers in 1979.
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ah ok. i understand.

no there werent a lot of300W amps, but, regardless, that was JBLs recommendation--in their own words, "an amplifier capable of delivering up to 300 watts continuous sine wave per channel is recommended." they werent exactly mass market speakers.
 
ceylon said:
good to hear from you, will. im new here.

on that note, i got a question...

im drivin em with a marantz 2325. now, i got into home stereo via recording studio and live sound--id end up with a LOT of hand-me-down gear and salvage, including home decent stereo stuff (KLH model 319 speakers, coupla tape decks, several working late 80s receivers, for example). ive always had stereo gear but never bought any til this year at age 46 (im 47). my first buy was a $20 6 cd-changer, then a brand new entry level sony TT from a dope addict for $60...

...and now im drivin these L150s with a marantz 2325. since theyre 300W speakers, and damn thirsty at that, why not grab one of my 400WPC crown ce2000 power amps and let the JBLs drink their fill?

what are some considerations before doing that?
Click to expand...


I use to run mine with a marantz 2325 and they sounded very good but not incredible compared to some other speakers I used. I may also not have had a big enough room for them. I would hook them up to your crown amps to test them just for fun, who knows might sound very good.

When I sold them, the buyer hooked them up to a cheap powerful amp with more watts per channel than my marantz and they really did sound very good. The bass was so powerful.

I always liked my marantz 2325 but have found moving away from receivers and integrated amps to separates is really a big improvement in sound. I do miss that amp and those JBLs, but for what the marantz costs now a days I think you can do better for the money. Still, an excellent amp though.
 
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