3M Adhesive Remover or Goof-Off works.
James F.
Member
I installed the binding post today. The little area they are installed into prevents me from using my spade connectors though. So ordered some banana plugs. I like it. The hole was only slightly enlarged to 5/32, the originals will fit right back in without a problem if the need should arise.
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For the L166, you don't need to remove the Foilcal to get to the crossover. Very nice!
Regarding your "missing" inductor - it depends on the woofer. The 122A used an inductor. When JBL later went with the 122A-1, it need to have the upper range filtered a bit. Hence the inductor. See this post where member 4343 straightened me out.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-l166-confusion.609575/
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-l166-confusion.609575/
James F.
Member
I did decide to put the crossover back in and give it a listen for a while. I am still building another crossover from the schematic of the n166's to replace the OG ones with. I just wanted to hear the difference between them. Well, I have all but finished my speakers. I just have to install the repaired woofer. Here are some pics. The last ones of the speakers themselves. I will post one more set of pics of the old new crossovers when done. Thanks for all the help.
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Nice job! How's the sound?
My L166 has a more refined bass-to-mid than my L100. More focused high notes. I'm pretty sure the choke which is in my version of the L166 crossover helps the woofer. Quite nice, for a 12-inch.
James F.
Member
I haven't got to listen to them yet. Still need one of my woofers installed. That woofer turns out didn't need to be reconed, just repositioned. I will be driving down to Austin to pick it up on Wednesday. Hopefully will be hearing them that very night.Nice job! How's the sound?
My L166 has a more refined bass-to-mid than my L100. More focused high notes. I'm pretty sure the choke which is in my version of the L166 crossover helps the woofer. Quite nice, for a 12-inch.
edgewound
JBL Pro Authorized...
A few things.
That 122A has an awful refoam. It's possible to clean the adhesive off the front of the cone if one cares enough to figure out how to do it. The complete way to repair an older AlNiCo JBL woofer with the original cone/voice coil is to do a resuspension...replace both the spider and surround. A complete service with the original cone/voice coil is to tear down, clean the motor of rust and corrosion, and recharge the magnet. This is not trivial. It's noticeable. A 122A has a mass ring and not Aquaplas. Some had white Aquaplas and no mass ring. BTW...the mass ring is made of cast aluminum, not steel. Needs to be non ferrous for obvious reasons. The correct factory recone kit last available and specified for the 122A was is the C8R129H, which does have Aquaplas on the rear of the cone in place of the mass ring. The reason the ealier pictured 122A voice coil was bubbled was not from humidity cycling....but it was from the voice coil being burned by clipping. Nomex voice coil formers don't absorb moisture. The adhesive was outgassed from overheating, which resulted in the bubbles forming. The happens with Kapton formers, as well.
Those that say only original parts are acceptable for JBL systems. If the True Reproduction recone assembly is actually more accurate than factory production parts for Engineering Standard for moving mass, I'd say that's an actual improvement in performance. I've been told by quite a few customers that my True Reproduction recone kits for units such as the 2245H, 123A-3/2213/2213H, LE14H-1, 2235H kits actually sound better than the factory assembly. Why? Tolerance of 5% for moving mass rather than 20%, as measure from factory takeout moving assemblies. I also produce a 135A/2230A recone kit with the natural color Aquaplas applied to the front of the cone. Identical material as used by JBL. What are you going to do if your frame has a destroyed cone, burned voice coil or moving assembly? Have it reconed right by someone that actually knows what they are doing. The available aftermarket parts are actually very good, but the right parts need to used and the assembly executed properly for performance and reliability.
Take a look at my Facebook page for many recent videos and photos on how it's done right. Most likely, JBL will refer you to me if you were to ask them. Jim Lansing's daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter were in my shop just a few months ago. That's a pretty cool connection to the Lansing Legacy.
https://www.facebook.com/UplandLoudspeaker
That 122A has an awful refoam. It's possible to clean the adhesive off the front of the cone if one cares enough to figure out how to do it. The complete way to repair an older AlNiCo JBL woofer with the original cone/voice coil is to do a resuspension...replace both the spider and surround. A complete service with the original cone/voice coil is to tear down, clean the motor of rust and corrosion, and recharge the magnet. This is not trivial. It's noticeable. A 122A has a mass ring and not Aquaplas. Some had white Aquaplas and no mass ring. BTW...the mass ring is made of cast aluminum, not steel. Needs to be non ferrous for obvious reasons. The correct factory recone kit last available and specified for the 122A was is the C8R129H, which does have Aquaplas on the rear of the cone in place of the mass ring. The reason the ealier pictured 122A voice coil was bubbled was not from humidity cycling....but it was from the voice coil being burned by clipping. Nomex voice coil formers don't absorb moisture. The adhesive was outgassed from overheating, which resulted in the bubbles forming. The happens with Kapton formers, as well.
Those that say only original parts are acceptable for JBL systems. If the True Reproduction recone assembly is actually more accurate than factory production parts for Engineering Standard for moving mass, I'd say that's an actual improvement in performance. I've been told by quite a few customers that my True Reproduction recone kits for units such as the 2245H, 123A-3/2213/2213H, LE14H-1, 2235H kits actually sound better than the factory assembly. Why? Tolerance of 5% for moving mass rather than 20%, as measure from factory takeout moving assemblies. I also produce a 135A/2230A recone kit with the natural color Aquaplas applied to the front of the cone. Identical material as used by JBL. What are you going to do if your frame has a destroyed cone, burned voice coil or moving assembly? Have it reconed right by someone that actually knows what they are doing. The available aftermarket parts are actually very good, but the right parts need to used and the assembly executed properly for performance and reliability.
Take a look at my Facebook page for many recent videos and photos on how it's done right. Most likely, JBL will refer you to me if you were to ask them. Jim Lansing's daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter were in my shop just a few months ago. That's a pretty cool connection to the Lansing Legacy.
https://www.facebook.com/UplandLoudspeaker
edgewound
JBL Pro Authorized...
128H is the wrong recone kit for the 122A/L166. It works fine and is a reasonable last resort substitute if the 129H or 128H-1 was not available, which could have been the case at the time. JBL inventory is not consistent...if not flat discontinued. Parts from Mexico are pretty inconsistent quality, too.
James F.
Member
Yep, I am aware the refoam is shoddy at best and is probably the reason the other woofer was rubbing. The guy I am using currently said it just needed to be recentered or something like that. The refoam on that one looks as bad as the one in my pictures.
If you know how to get the glue off of those cones I would love to know how. Also if anyone knows of a way to clean the silver plate around the tweeter dome, I would like to know if you please. I know I've got a very nice set of speakers and at the moment I have no intentions of reselling them. I needed some better speakers to replace the Sony SSCS5's and a Klipsch R-100SW. These seemed the right direction to take, plus it gave me a project to tackle while around the house so much. I have no problem with reconing, but these cones look good with the exception of the shoddy refoam.
Bass reproduction was poor, when I got the speakers. Recone job seems to works just fine.
edgewound
JBL Pro Authorized...
Bass reproduction was poor, when I got the speakers. Recone job seems to works just fine.
View attachment 2162779 View attachment 2162780
They look fine, too.
I was curious if he went over all the details before settling on this recone kit.
James F.
Member
@tarior I think I found a pic of your crossover. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-l36-crossover.811801/page-2#post-11485579
I'm late here but $700 seems pretty spot on price wise for a good pair. I sold a pair a few months ago in very nice shape for just a bit more than that. I decided sound wise, they weren't for me but that's personal.
The one thing I noticed with them was I got a lot of woofer excursion unless I used the low filter on my receiver. Maybe it's the ported design but I don't have this problem on my other speakers.
The one thing I noticed with them was I got a lot of woofer excursion unless I used the low filter on my receiver. Maybe it's the ported design but I don't have this problem on my other speakers.
That's it all right. I did end up removing the inductor.
Nice find.
James F.
Member
I got the crossover schematics in pdf. I'm looking for the measurements of the board itself without the electronics. I can take the measurements myself and create a template for it. I'm just kinda hoping someone already had it done. I would like to keep the original crossover completely intact.