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Post subject: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:57 pm
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I’m kicking myself now because I didn’t take any pictures and this is a story worthy of pics.
Didn’t think of it at the time.
Sorry.
I’m an old dog ... as I think we all know by now.
You know what that means.
I have a home stereo.
Components from various manufacturers.
The receiver is HK.
I had a Marantz many years ago but I had to sell it.
Those were the days when we didn’t know what we had until it was too late.
I think the HK is an early 90s model.
The CD carousel is a Sony
The “metal” cassette deck is a TEAC.
The turntable is a Dual.
The reel to reel got stolen at some point way back a ways and I forget the story there to be honest.
The speakers are JBL.
They’re not big but they are very heavy and they can take a fair bit of power and sound great.

About 6 months ago I was using the stereo to watch a Blu-ray and noticed the left speaker was farting.

Oh no.
This can’t mean anything good.
I pulled the grille and the woofer was missing most of the surround.
I touched what was left of it and it crumbled to dust at the slightest touch.
I think I bought those speakers in 1984 but I’m not 100% on that.
They lasted a few years anyway.
I spent several weeks trying to source a pair of suitable drivers and was unsuccessful.

Some time goes past and I sort of put that project on the back burner and learned to live without my stereo.


My amp tech for the last couple of decades announced he was retiring so I dropped in to say hello.
I had no motive other than to wish him a happy retirement.
He's always been good to me.
Did flawless work, went above and beyond and didn't charge me an arm and a leg.
His departure will be felt by many.
During the course of our chat it came out that my home stereo speakers were in a state of disrepair and that I was trying to find some drivers.
He asked what was wrong.
When I told him it was the surround he strenuously cautioned me against replacing the speakers.
He said I would never find drivers that were the same quality and that I should repair them myself.
He wrote down a website and told me what to order.

Well last night I bit the bullet and attempted the job.
It was much simpler than I expected.
The kit came with very good instructions and it was actually a very simple operation.
I did both woofers even though the right one was still intact.
I’m glad I did because stripping the old surround was way too easy and it crumbled to dust just like the left one.

Earlier today I reinstalled the drivers into their boxes and plugged in a Tom Chochrane disk and cranked it up.

Good as new.

Me happy.

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 4:22 pm
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Well done BMW-KTM 8)

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 4:24 pm
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Thanks Rollie :D



In case there's any other old coots around here with 35 year old speakers .....

Simply Speakers knows their stuff.
I looked on the website and did not find my speakers so I called them on the phone, hoping and praying they could help.
The woman who answered gave me a part number even before I finished describing them.
She knows her speakers that gal.
The kit was a perfect fit.

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:23 pm
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I'm still enjoying my JBL L100A's, purchased in 1972 and now augmented by a powered Cerwin-Vega 15-inch sub-woofer. I had the tweeters and the mid-range drivers overhauled back in '88 and the entire system rivals that found in any movie theater. When a Huey flies overhead on-screen that whomp-whomp-whomp of the main rotor creates a palpable thump in my chest and when a SEAL smokes a tango with his suppressed MP5 the tinkle of spent brass hitting the floor is clearly audible.

(music sound pretty good too)

:mrgreen:
Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:05 pm
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I cant imagine not having a big multi component stereo system. Glad you saved yours and that your enjoying it!!
I have a faithful pair of Klipsch Forte from 89' that fills the air of my living room.


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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:47 pm
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sfceric64 wrote:
I cant imagine not having a big multi component stereo system.
Spoken like a true geezer.
Kids today think a home stereo is a bluetooth speaker sitting under a lamp on an end table in the living room.

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:28 am
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BMW-KTM wrote:
sfceric64 wrote:
I cant imagine not having a big multi component stereo system.
Spoken like a true geezer.
Kids today think a home stereo is a bluetooth speaker sitting under a lamp on an end table in the living room.



+1

Thank's to share the link.
For today's kids, music is like a fast food, it is like you call for a pizza delivery.

Home stereo is like you have a dinner in a good restaurant :)


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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:14 am
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Great job, Matt. I really mean it because I can totally relate. Especially with original Marantz which was sold to Japanese and returned to the family. HK wifi HD A/C speakers sit in my living room and they rock. Not like your L100As, Arjay or the L86s sitting on a shelf in our laundry room. One has a thrashed woofer. Appreciate the link too, Matt.

I went through the same thing that JBL is famous for with retirement of the surrounds. Had I known what I know today, I would never have sent my speakers across the country to a company known for repairing JBLs. The woofers were replaced, one failed, and I’ve never been able to get the beauty rings off the woofer. I did manage to have the faceplate holding the speakers break when the attempt was made even though I had followed the original construction details. :x it is my belief the outfit that repaired the speakers botched it and glued the rings. Can’t say for sure.

I did find how to do the surrounds sometime ago. I also found that the crossovers in those speakers can become faulty based on older components. YMMV I haven’t looked at the JBLs for some time, and I may attempt a resurrection for fun since the cabinets are fine and so are the other drivers. My other consideration is to build a center speaker or find some other project.

I remember the “WOW!” factor in the 70s as manufacturers were very in touch with the consumer and we got an education and demonstration of true Hi-Fi. Pretty much a catalogue, website, or store shelf now, unless you find that boutique or holdover from yesteryear. You had to be there. As a former Sony employee, there was and is still good stuff to be found, but you have to rummage through the blah and lesser gear showcasing features and hope you can get a proper demo and system that meets your expectations at a budget that is affordable for you. I for one would not omit some of the good old gear, because there are some gems available, but it’s a roll of the dice. Being older and remembering or knowing that ancient stuff is a definite advantage though. :wink:
The worse thing about old gear is it’s old. The best thing? It’s old. I have great Class A older Denon components, inherited a newer Yamaha A/V receiver, 3 head DBX Yammy cassette deck (it rocks with a real time counter), and a power amp with groovy LED meters

The good -
Denon: The stable amp except for exotic speaker exceptions, the Dynamic Equalizer with expander, the preamp’s Magnetic/Moving coil phono stage, and a thorough 4 page handwritten answer from a tech at Denon USA. Pre home computing.

The bad: The Denon preamp has been maintained but needs retirement. (switches are iffy and the volume control is $100+)

My Yamaha is one of today’s A/V answers; but, not quite. Features galore versus few on the Denon
preamp. Yammy gets marks with a remote, but hookup of gear is a hodgepodge with a mix of old school and/or new school that also has had upgraded requirements not met. Plugged in the amp and something caused it to fry. It was not hooked up when I got it and it looks like new. However, closer inspection has instructions that you can do this and not that specific to Yamaha whether it’s a lockout or protection mode. It worked for about a year. The protection shutdown of the amp is assumed to have not worked. Things have changed I’m assuming. The damage may not be that bad as I have yet to reveal the culprit under the hood.

My old Marantz receiver was sold because lights were always burning out. (Denon meter amp lights are also burnt, but could be fixed. I used to fix them, but no longer). Timing and knowledge of leds would have made all the difference. I miss it.

So rather than saying I feel your pain, I feel your gain. :wink:
Whatever the case enjoy your old gear, fellas. I envy you with those things that work.

FSB

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:26 am
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So it's the middle of the night and I can't sleep.
More geezer stuff going on there I think. LOL
I'm re-reading this thread and realize there was something to Roger's post I didn't catch first time around.

L100s were the speakers famously shown in the Maxell ad where the dude is sitting in a chair facing the speakers with his hair blowing back.
Just remembering that ad makes me smile.
In the later 70s for a short time I had the Akai version/copy of those L100s.
They had a different cut to the cubes on the grilles and there was a diffuser bolted on over the tweeter and I believe the dimensions of the cabinets were all ever so slightly different but still providing the same internal volume.
Efforts to fend off legal battles with JBL we assumed back then.
I powered them with a Sansui integrated amplifier.
I forget why I needed the money but I sold the entire system in about 1980 or 1981.

Memories

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:21 am
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BMW-KTM wrote:
L100s were the speakers famously shown in the Maxell ad where the dude is sitting in a chair facing the speakers with his hair blowing back.
Just remembering that ad makes me smile.


+1

That ad campaign was used in print media as well as on television (IIRC the soundtrack featured Wagner's "Flight Of The Valkyries"). The fellow's martini glass sliding towards the edge of the end table was classic. I loved it!

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:30 am
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Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:32 am
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Had the shirt, Arjay. Having just been married kept me from the legendary 100s; consequently the 86s pushed me with a light breeze, but comforting all the same. I remember oak speaker cabinets (like Infinity had) being the more expensive trend of the day; but, American black walnut has now sped past in cost.

Sansui integrated amp and Akai speakers? Yikes! You must have had the same salesman I had, BMW-KTM. :lol:
FSB

Factoid: It had been reported that some of the better Japanese speakers of the 70s had used Canadian (and likely other foreign) drivers . That could be because Canada’s National Research Council opened their doors to their facilities including the respected anechoic chamber and other research to develop and promote speakers for industry. That said, (although, PBS was an earlier user) Paradigm here presently owns the largest privately owned anechoic chamber in North America complete with a catwalk. So ya never know. That offshore speaker may not be. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:09 pm
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Fender Strat Brat wrote:
You must have had the same salesman I had, BMW-KTM.

Local store called Kelly's Stereo - Kamloops.
$2500 bought me an amp, a set of speakers and a turntable.
In the 70's that was a tidy little chunk of change.
Included in that amount was a $280 stylus that wanted to see 0.25 - 0.5 grams of tone-arm weight.
You read that right.
Not 1.25 - 1.5
0.25 - 0.5

Funny, the details I can remember about something from 40 years ago but I don't know what time I went to bed last night or what I had for supper.

I ended up selling that cartridge to a guy with a Bang & Olufsen with a worm drive.
I could not adjust the side tension on my tone-arm to a fine enough degree to work with such a low weight.
I couldn't keep it from skipping.
I would adjust it for the outside of the platter but towards the middle it be off or vise versa.
I ended up with a $100 Shure and it worked great at 1.75 g.

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:41 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Funny, the details I can remember about something from 40 years ago but I don't know what time I went to bed last night or what I had for supper.

Hand salute!

:mrgreen:
Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Old dog learns new trick
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 5:07 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Funny, the details I can remember about something from 40 years ago but I don't know what time I went to bed last night or what I had for supper.
I believe that’s common in Seniors’ homes. I wouldn’t worry about it though, they like guitar players. :lol:
FSB

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