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Modern tweeters for JBL L100s...

Jon.

Jon.

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I recently came upon a pair of L100s with one of the LE25 tweeters blown.

Considering the price a used/NOS LE25 fetches on The Auction Site (and considering that I find the LE25 rather unremarkable anyway), I thought I'd swap out the LE25s for something a bit more modern.

I know I'll probably have to mod the cabs, or at least have to fab a mounting plate in order to install something new, and, considering these L100s are no museum piece, I have no problem with that. I have a couple of soft dome models in mind, but if any of you can relate similar experiences, or can recommend a replacement tweeter, please do.
 
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I know just the tweeter. A Vifa 1" dome on Parts Express' web site. It is efficient and a bit forward, which should match the voicing of your speakers. $12 each. I installed a pair years ago as replacements on some Sony SA-20FB powered speakers, which are doing duty as my computer speakers. Still going strong.
 
Jon. said:
I recently came upon a pair of L100s with one of the LE25 tweeters blown.

Considering the price a used/NOS LE25 fetches on The Auction Site (and considering that I find the LE25 rather unremarkable anyway), I thought I'd swap out the LE25s for something a bit more modern.

I know I'll probably have to mod the cabs, or at least have to fab a mounting plate in order to install something new, and, considering these L100s are no museum piece, I have no problem with that. I have a couple of soft dome models in mind, but if any of you can relate similar experiences, or can recommend a replacement tweeter, please do.
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Get yourself a pair of LE26s. Much cheaper than LE25s, and they are supposed to sound better as well. I bought a pair of Advents that had been "retro-fitted" with LE26s, sold them for $50 for the pair on eBay (the tweeters not the Advents).

Lee.
 
leesonic said:
Get yourself a pair of LE26s. Much cheaper than LE25s, and they are supposed to sound better as well. I bought a pair of Advents that had been "retro-fitted" with LE26s, sold them for $50 for the pair on eBay (the tweeters not the Advents).

Lee.
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I did like the LE26s in my L50s better than the LE25s in my L100s. Not sure if they're an exact fit physically, though.

je
 
I had considered the LE26s, and if I were going for an era-correct restore, they would be my first choice. As far as I know, yes, they would be quite literally a drop-in replacement (identical shape). But from the research I've done (cursory research, admittedly) I think I can find a better price-to-performance option, especially if I'm willing to sacrifice the original L100 look.

...and I have a soft spot for soft dome tweeters anyway. :music:

I'm debating swapping in the Polk SL2000s from my Monitor 10Bs. (Which of course is a good excuse to upgrade the 10Bs to a Peerless or an Audax, yes?).

(For those of you who aren't in the know, the SL2000 has a spike around 13khz, and the resulting sizzle is sometimes unwelcome--but perhaps would be just desserts for the L100s?:scratch2:).
 
Jon. said:
I had considered the LE26s, and if I were going for an era-correct restore, they would be my first choice. As far as I know, yes, they would be quite literally a drop-in replacement (identical shape). But from the research I've done (cursory research, admittedly) I think I can find a better price-to-performance option, especially if I'm willing to sacrifice the original L100 look.
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I might not be remembering correctly, but I think the LE25s were on a square-cornered plate & the LE26s had slightly rounded corners. Not a big deal if they're surface-mounted, but I seem to remember that they weren't swappable if the plates were recessed.

But, yeah...if I had bothered to mod my L100s to make me happy, they would have gotten 035Ti tweets and all-new crossovers.

je
 
I'll just toss a few more thoughts into the mix:
  • The LE26 is basically just an LE25 with a plastic waveguide glued onto its metal face. You can remove that plastic cover to make it into an "LE25". I'm not sure how it would look at that point, but with replacement foam rings (sold on eBay) I think it would be darn close. You can also get nice replica LE25s on eBay for about $80 each.

  • The LE26 / 25 is a lot better tweeter than most people seem to think. I would point you to these three pages for more on that point:

    -- http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL-L26.htm

    -- http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL-L26-3way.htm

    -- http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL_L100.htm

    Some people would throw the LE25 tweeter out immediately but don't. It may not do much above 15 kHz but what it does below sounds fine - when properly filtered and equalised. Due to the relative high sensitivity this speaker does things most modern speakers don't. They have an incredible attack, and you haven't heard one of the old "book-shelf" JBLs before you have heard it with a proper crossover.
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  • A lot more significant improvement to the L100 would come from upgrading the crossovers and maybe plugging the ports. See here:

    -- http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=439854
In sum, if the L100s are already thrashed, I say sure, go ahead and do what you will with them. But if they're otherwise clean, if I were in your place, I'd stick with the original tweeters and if you're restless, upgrade the crossovers.
 
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Rocko81 said:
Just the title of this thread sounds like sacrilege to me :nono:

-Rocko
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Sacrilege? Perhaps you should have a word with the fine specimen from whom I rescued the poor L100s. I'd post a picture of the condition the woofers were in, but I'll refrain as a courtesy to the faint of heart. Let's just say I'm glad the assailant had poor aim.
 
Jon. said:
Sacrilege? Perhaps you should have a word with the fine specimen from whom I rescued the poor L100s. I'd post a picture of the condition the woofers were in, but I'll refrain as a courtesy to the faint of heart. Let's just say I'm glad the assailant had poor aim.
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Sounding a lot like my Celestion DL10's. Our son managed to get hold of a knife and attacked the speakers, stabbing them all over the place. Only manage to hit the woofer once (which is all it took) and ding the tweeter (which was correctable and still working). I swapped out both woofers for JBL 127a till I found a replacement woofer (8 years later). The JBL woofers did a fine job in spite of cabinet size and foreign crossover (pun intended). Cabinets are otherwise nice (barely visible stab wounds in baffle) and they once belonged to my uncle. Just waiting to find a replacement tweeter as one later burned up.

My point (to the OP), do what works for you. You can always stick something in for now and later switch back to "original" should you find the parts later on.
 
Copa1934 said:
(...) You can always stick something in for now and later switch back to "original" should you find the parts later on.
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My plan precisely.

Zonker92 said:
You can also get nice replica LE25s on eBay for about $80 each.
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I haven't been able to find a favourable review of the "replica" LE25s, but if a fellow AKer would like to volunteer an opinion, I'm all ears. $160 is quite a gamble for such a dubious project.

Zonker92 said:
A lot more significant improvement to the L100 would come from upgrading the crossovers and maybe plugging the ports. See here:

-- http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=439854

In sum, if the L100s are already thrashed, I say sure, go ahead and do what you will with them. But if they're otherwise clean, if I were in your place, I'd stick with the original tweeters and if you're restless, upgrade the crossovers.
Click to expand...

A recap (and possibly a crossover mod) is certainly in order, but I'd like to decide on a tweeter first. And, since these L100s have very little collector value (due to the unpleasantness referenced in my previous post), I'm taking on this project as more of a "rehabilitation" than a restoration.
 
I hear you; whatever works for you; I'm not second-guessing so much as trying to offer more options and shed some light on the nuances.

The replicas are an expensive gamble, I admit. I have them in my 4311s and they seem fine to me, and the curves on the listing look good, but I can't A-B them without some originals. :dunno: I can tell you that they sure look the same to me, except for the cone surround color.
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence in the LE25 replicas. Now that I know they're not complete shite, they'll probably be less of a crapshoot than NOS or used.

But for now, I'll swap in something from the parts drawer and see how I like the character of the L100 bass and mids, and, if the spirit moves me, I'll cop a pair of those replicas. Thanks.
 
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