JBL l150

[Will2225]

Hi I found a pretty junky pair of JBL l150s for sale locally. I got the seller down to 300. They're in rough shape but for 300, do you think I could still fix them up for not crazy money? I'm pretty handy, and am pretty sure I could fix up the cabinets myself. Not sure how hard it would be to fix the tweeters and mids though. What do people think, 300 for a rough pair a good deal?

 

[hjames]

Have you heard them? Do you like the sound?

Do you want to keep them, or flip them?
Not sure what the white centers are on the mids and tweets ...
what if you presume you'll need to replace them?

The specs are here -

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/specs/home-speakers/1979-l150/page2.jpg

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/specs/home-speakers/1979-l150/page3.jpg

Oh, crossover and named list of drivers are here
https://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Technical Sheet/L150 ts.pdf

LE5-10 is the mid, the tweeter is 033

 

[Will2225]

I use to own a pair of JBL l112 speakers that I really loved.

I think I'll probably have to replace the tweeters and the mids, but we'll see.

I really love working on vintage speakers and I've been looking for a new project. If the cost of fixing them is less than 500 or around 500 I would be willing to buy them. I'm mainly looking at them as a project for the next six months to keep me busy on my off days. I'd like to restore them and either give them to my dad as a retirement present or flip them. I definitely don't need them, but I think they could be a good project to work on and learn more about speaker repairs. I've recapped speaker crossovers before and have also found that I'm actually pretty good at restoring old speaker cabinets. I don't have much experience on repairing the tweeters or mids but I'd be willing to try and learn. Just trying to get a sense of how much it would cost to fix them, if I can do all the repairs myself or at least 90 percent of them.

Also, thanks for the quick reply. I appreciate that.

 

[swechsler]

Probably not worth it if you're planning on flipping them. If you are going to keep them for yourself and you don't mind making them non-original, then maybe. Replacement tweeters will cost at least as much as you'd be spending on the speakers, that's assuming you can even find them (both the tweeters and replacement diaphragms are long out of production). This doesn't appear to be one of the tweeters that you can get cheap Chinese diaphragms for. I'd probably try to find a similar tweeter from a different manufacturer. If the mids work you can replace the dust caps (originals were aluminum so replacements will not match, appearance-wise, but shouldn't affect the sound); replacement mids will run at least 200 for originals or maybe 120 for copies.

 

[Will2225]

Thanks thats good to know. It might not be worth it then...

I found this site offering replacement diaphragms for the 033 tweeter used but hard to say whether it will work or not.
https://reconingspeakers.com/product/jbl-033-034-aftermarket-diaphragm/

I wouldn't be opposed to replacing the tweeters with something non original. I'll have to think about it a bit more because the cost seems to be a bit higher than I thought.

 

[swechsler]

The mids may be repairable by Millersound, but that may cost about as much as buying good working replacements.

 

[swechsler]

Thanks thats good to know. It might not be worth it then...

I found this site offering replacement diaphragms for the 033 tweeter used but hard to say whether it will work or not. https://reconingspeakers.com/product/jbl-033-034-aftermarket-diaphragm/

That seems like a reasonable replacement, assuming yours are 033 tweeters (they should be). Surprised my search didn't find them. Might want to ask on the Lansing Heritage forum.

With this new information, if the mids work, and you assume that the replacement diaphragms will work, then it seems like it would be a good deal.

 

[Will2225]

That's good to know, thanks for your reply. I think I'll buy them. I don't really care about making money on them if I try to flip them. I just enjoy working on vintage speakers and I think worse comes to worse I'll be able to get my money back and hopefully learn a bit in the process.

 

[hjames]

I think big JBL speakers are always a fun project, unless they are too beat or have part swapped.
(Radio Shark woofers, for instance!)
Good luck!

 

[Will2225]

I think big JBL speakers are always a fun project, unless they are too beat or have part swapped.
(Radio Shark woofers, for instance!)
Good luck!

Thanks! I appreciate that! I've fixed up some l112s before but this will be a bigger project. Should be fun!

 

[ivandezande]

Looks like a fun project, I hope the actual cabs are in good shape. Good luck!

 

[Will2225]

Looks like a fun project, I hope the actual cabs are in good shape. Good luck!

Unfortunately the cabs are in pretty rough shape. I think I'm going to try and completely reveneer them. One speaker has some water damage on the bottom near the side. I'll have to remove the veneer and use some Bondo to fix that spot and to square off some corners. The good news is that all the drivers work except for one. Both mids need replacement dust caps but actually sound quite good. Should be a quick fix. One tweeter needs a new diaphragm and the other looks mint but isnt working. Probably either the crossover or the l pads. I'm planning on doing a total restoration on these starting with the cabs, then the drivers, and then caps on the crossovers. Considering the shape theyre in, they actually still sound pretty good. I ended up paying 270 because of the damage, I definitely feel like I over payed but still it'll be a fun challenge to try to restore them.

Any advice on removing the old veneer and applying the new one would be appreciated.

 

[swechsler]

I don't think you overpaid, the woofers and mids are easily worth that amount, even in their current condition. The fact that you're doing the work yourself, and that you can get those cheap replacement diaphragms (I'd replace both, even if it turns out that the one unmolested tweeter works), makes it even better.

 

[Will2225]

Thanks I appreciate that, and I think you're right. I should have ordered a second replacement diaphragm. I only ordered one so far but I placed orders for the replacement caps today and bought the supplies I need to fix the cabs. The main part of the work is going to be fixing the cabs up. There's a fairly large part of the wood damaged on the bottom side of one of the speakers. I scraped out the damage, sanded it and masked off the area with painters tape. I'm currently working on fixing it with Bondo wood putty. I sprayed the area with contact cement after I sanded it to seal it because there was a slight amount of water damage. After the bondo I'm going to try patching the veneer on, sanding, and restaining it completely. I was going to completely reveneer them but the cost of the veneer is fairly significant. Ive read up on patching veneer and I think I can handle it. It's a pretty exciting project for me and considering the cost wasn't too crazy, I don't mind experimenting a bit on making the cabs look right. Considering the amount of damage to them, and the one tweeter not working, I'm surprised they sound as good as they do. The bass is really incredible.

 

[swechsler]

If it turns out that other tweeter works and the old diaphragm is in good shape, you can probably resell it (the old diaphragm, not the tweeter) for more than you spent for both third party diaphragms. These things are rare.

 

[RossW]

Nice job negotiating! I saw those for sale, saw the asking price, and was like "hell no!".
For $270 you did really well though. I can't wait to see them when you're done with them.

 

[Will2225]

Nice job negotiating! I saw those for sale, saw the asking price, and was like "hell no!".
For $270 you did really well though. I can't wait to see them when you're done with them.

Thanks Ross! Yeah I saw them for sale awhile ago and she was asking a thousand, then a week later 500. I asked her for 300, and then honestly was a bit disappointed when I saw them in person, so I pointed out some of the damage to the cabs that's going to be hard to get fixed and got her to knock off thirty dollars. The good news is that all the drivers work. The non functioning tweeter was just due to a loose wire in the crossover. The actual work required to get the speakers to work technically is very minimal at the moment. It's just going to take some elbow grease to get the cabs looking better. I did the front and back of one speaker today. I'll attach photos. There's a tiny bit of paint that got on the foil cap, probably going to be impossible to get it off, but overall I think the progress is going well.

The seller was actually pretty dishonest. There was clearly some water damage that she claimed wasn't water damage and was just a result of it being "old". She also said, "believe it or not but in good condition these sell for twelve thousand". Yeah okay, I'll play dumb. They're junky looking Jbl's but it's already been a blast working on them.

 

[Will2225]

Here are some more photos on the work I've been doing. There was some water damage on the side of one speaker near the bottom. I dug out all the rot and sealed it with contact cement then used Bondo wood filler and sanded it down.

The fixed stand was also in bad shape on one side. I used a spoon knife to get rid of the rot, then created a structure with paint sticks to fill in the Bondo. When I was done it looked good but wasn't secure. I made an l shape using some wood and secured it inside. Using some screws I fastened it to the inside of the stand. I hid the screw holes and will fill later with putty. Overall it's not a perfect repair for the stand but considering what I had to work with, I think it's okay. Once I paint it, it will look much better.

 

[swechsler]

Why didn't you just build a new stand rather than patching the old one? It's just painted particle board, isn't it?

 

[Will2225]

I don't really have any tools to build a new one or a way to cut the wood. In hindsight I probably should have just found a way to cut the whole stand off and found someone else to make the stand for me. Maybe I should still do this. I just feel like it would be hard to cut the stand off, but a new one would probably be better. I was just experimenting with what I had but maybe I'll go in a different direction.