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JBL Model 250 Ti Restore

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Fafaafooie

Active Member
Just picked up a nice pair of Model 250 Ti. All in all in pretty good cosmetic shape with a couple of minor scratches and nicks, one of the bases got wet and has a small area of bloated wood with the veneer lifted. Also the woofers and mids need re-foaming which is no biggie. Someone pushed in dust covers on the smaller mids as well. The screens are surprisingly perfection.
Once repaired I'd give them a conservative 7.5-8.5 out of 10.

Any one know the market? Ebay had no completed sales pop up.

I'm a Polk guy but I saw these and had to buy them. Wasn't sure what they were but knew they were interesting for a JBL speakers.

Thanks for any info. Trying to figure out if I should fix the speakers myself or have the shop so probably a little neater than me. The woofer is a monster. Feels like 30lbs or so. The speakers themselves are a two man job.

Definitely pretty cool looking. I'm hoping they sound as good as they look once repaired.

Can anyone recommend a wood product to rub into these to get the cabinets back looking like they should. Kind of dull now.

Thanks for any insights! PXL_20201130_191631860.jpg
 
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Second on sending to pro. Don't let him talk you into replacing the drivers with Pyle or some other crap. A speaker service shop near me has a rep for doing this.
 
Thanks. I am pulling all of the drivers now. I have a shop close by that just fixes speakers luckily.

I would never replace the original parts with new but thanks. I'm just not familiar with JBL but $2500-$3k?? Sweet. I scored pretty well then.
 
Fafaafooie said:
We'll see about that. My modified SDA 2.3's are pretty awesome but they aren't 2-3k either.

I look forward to the shoot out.
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Congrats! FWIW my non-Ti L250s lost in a fight with my SDA 3.1TLs, but it was really a win-win shootout, just different. Wish I'd had the Ti's. Enjoy the comparison!
 
Fafaafooie said:
Thanks. I am pulling all of the drivers now. I have a shop close by that just fixes speakers luckily.<<snip>>
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Did you ever see the movie Doc Hollywood? "I always wanted an excuse to buy metric tools"

A shop that "just fixes speakers" scares me, just fixing speakers and understanding what can make these into a pile of scrap parts vs properly rebuild/restore/refoam/etc. a pair of very hard to find 14" woofers and unobtainable other parts is what sets a GOOD JBL shop apart from a shop that "just fixes speakers".

I'm not looking forward to reading about the carnage that turns these into a $500 pair of cabinets.
 
SaturationPt said:
Did you ever see the movie Doc Hollywood? "I always wanted an excuse to buy metric tools"

A shop that "just fixes speakers" scares me, just fixing speakers and understanding what can make these into a pile of scrap parts vs properly rebuild/restore/refoam/etc. a pair of very hard to find 14" woofers and unobtainable other parts is what sets a GOOD JBL shop apart from a shop that "just fixes speakers".

I'm not looking forward to reading about the carnage that turns these into a $500 pair of cabinets.
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I trust these guys. I buy and sell vintage speakers, amps etc and they've worked on a bunch of stuff for me over the years. They do excellent re-foaming. It just costs money. But being they are already $500 cabinets (what I paid) I should be ok with the added cost, but I understand your point. They work on other vintage gear as well but speakers are there bread and butter. Not many trustworthy places in Southeast Florida that repairs old gear but this is one of them.
 
Johnny_Law said:
Congrats! FWIW my non-Ti L250s lost in a fight with my SDA 3.1TLs, but it was really a win-win shootout, just different. Wish I'd had the Ti's. Enjoy the comparison!
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Mine are SDA 2.3 but have basically been modded to 2.3tl with Crossover mods and all new tweeters.
I recently sold a set of Kappa 8's that gave my Polks a run for their money but were just a bit too boomy in the bass for my tastes.

I've had a couple of short romances but the 2.3's always find their way back to #1 status.
 
Definitely give them a try after repaired.

OH..and the mids dont have foam surrounds...so if they are damaged it could be problematic..especially the low-mid 108H driver.
 
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LHorn said:
Definitely give them a try after repaired.

OH..and the mids dont have foam surrounds...so if they are damaged it could be problematic..especially the low-mid 108H driver.
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The surrounds on smaller mids and bigger mids are fine but some asshat poked the dust caps in. Have to fix it or it will drive me nuts. I could pull them out but they will have wrinkles which will drive me nuts...

There is a slight Nick on one of the bigger mids. It doesn't appear to be a hole. Should I mess with that?
 
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I doubt that little mark has any effect on function. Just to you looking at it.
 
I agree with Nyjblbob..I would leave it alone. That driver doesnt move a lot compared to the woofer. The dust caps can be found to replace. Be sure to check the crossovers also..if they are original there are 3 capacitors that should be changed.
 
LHorn said:
I agree with Nyjblbob..I would leave it alone. That driver doesnt move a lot compared to the woofer. The dust caps can be found to replace. Be sure to check the crossovers also..if they are original there are 3 capacitors that should be changed.
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Which ones? Is there a thread somewhere that says what brand and part numbers to buy? I want to do it right.
 

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Fafaafooie said:
Which ones? Is there a thread somewhere that says what brand and part numbers to buy? I want to do it right.
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The blue ones...two 24uF and one 6uF each. I used Solens on mine but there's others out there. At this point it's not critical so I would fix everything else first to see if you will keep them...then do the caps.

If you havent already the Lansing Heritage forum has a lot of info on these.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/forum.php
 
Anyone know where to get the 1" metal dust caps for the smaller mids? My tech says he cannot find them anymore and I want to keep as original as possible. He said he could prob find a shiny black plastic one but if I can find a metal one to get them or find out where he can buy them.
 
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