New goodies!

[turtletrax]

Well, OK, so they are not new, but damn if they don't sound FANTASTIC!!!








They are JBL L300 Summits and are circa 1976. They are the consumer branch of one of the more popular pro studio monitors used 'till the mid 80's.

I have an Anthem MRX 500 and ran ARC room correction then my Monster Sig Series amps take over with 300 WPC and they sound stunning. I amazed that the woofers and crossover networks are in such great shape.

I may go over the networks and replace the caps with updated components and get the subs refoamed, but other than that they crush my Paradigm Monitor 11's and it is nice to have full effect in the fronts. Movies now pound seriously hard with the extra 30" of subs

[trancewhiiz]

Wow!! Those must have cost you an arm and a leg. L300's are highly sought after vintage speakers. I bet they weigh a ton

[Keywork]

Where did you find them out of curiosity? They look great. The wood finish looks mint! I'm assuming you have the covers for them?

[turtletrax]

Originally Posted by trancewhiiz

Wow!! Those must have cost you an arm and a leg. L300's are highly sought after vintage speakers. I bet they weigh a ton

Originally Posted by Keywork

Where did you find them out of curiosity? They look great. The wood finish looks mint! I'm assuming you have the covers for them?

Hey Guys :)

It is a bitter sweet story actually. They were my Dad's and he passed away a few years ago, they were caught up in his complicated estate. I walked away with them for $600 No-one involved would appreciate them, or the money the would have fetched, so I just kept quiet and put in a bid that would work.

The finish is perfect, it just needs some TLC and I am in the hunt for someone close to recondition the subs. I actually just noticed last night how bad the one foam surround is on one speaker is and the other has a dent in the dust cap.

I do have the original grills but they have been recovered with non-original cloth. I will source out some replacements (have already on the lansing heritage site just need to order) and bring them back to stock.

I am considering changing the crossovers to "charge coupled" design, but will also rework the originals and store them.

My Dad bought the L300's, Pioneer Spec-1 and Spec-2 tuner and turntable (all of which I scooped) in '76 and they were all babied other than a few huge parties that were heard for miles :) Eventually I plan to build a retro rack filled with vintage gear for a showpiece system. Should look pretty good!

And to answer your question trancewhiiz, they do weigh a ton LOL. I just about blew an o-ring just moving them :)

[turtletrax]

After a few weeks of use I pulled off the grills and noticed the foam surround had completely dry rotted and self destructed. Glad I noticed when I did because could have ruined the voice coils and JBL does not make the 136a transducer recone kits anymore. I would have been stuck with a kit that is compatible but not original.

I sourced out a guy that makes replacement foam surrounds and in-depth instructions to DIY. I spent about 4 hours removing the original surround as it turns to a gooey, tar like gel that gets everywhere. I have to treat the baskets with methyl ethyl ketone to remove the adhesive so I get a good install on the surrounds, then should be good for another 35 years :)

Some more pics.

Here is the sub with the dent in the cone. Going to try to remove it before attempting replacing.



Here is the rear of the cone (the hardest to clean off for new surround)



Here is the pair on the workstation :)



This is the rear of the alnico magnet structure with the serial number badge




Hope all goes well on the surround install

[turtletrax]

Had another stroke of amazing luck and scooped 3 Klipsch KL-650-THX from their THX Ultra 2 line of cinema speakers for $1500

KL - 650 - THX Bookshelf Speaker | Klipsch

Going to try running 2 of them as centers and see if I can get better contrast, if not I will stick with one and use the remaining two for monitors in my home DJ studio :)

Will be picking them up in the next week or so and will post pick of them too My HT system is shaping up nicely. Just need a couple 18" subs in custom boxes and run 220V to my rack!