JBL e140 cone question....

[Lizard King]

I found a pair of 15" e140's pretty cheap at a local shop.  They both seemed to play OK.  As I was checking them out I pressed down on one of the cones to see if I can hear any rub and it didn't move at all.  The other cone moves freely as one would expect.

The weird thing is the "frozen" speaker still plays....I didn't play it for hours to see excatly how it responde.  I bought the good one and they basically threw in the "frozen" one for $20.

Question:  should I take it to be reconed or just load it up and play it until it really does blow?

[FYL]

Playing guitar thru a large speaker implies very little cone movement, so a fried VC isn't a problem at bedroom levels. Stage levels or bass playing are different stories. Snap,crackle, pop and pffffffffft.

The E140 uses the same basket and motor as the guitar-oriented E130, itself compatible with the legendary D130. I'd recone both with quality D130 third-party kits, available for 100 bux or so ea.

[Lizard King]

Never tried reckoning....is that a DIY project?

[PRR]

> is that a DIY project?

Not on a D/E130. It is an enormous pole with minimal clearance.

$3 radio speakers, we'd re-set cones in the shop, cuz part of the low price was huge clearance for hasty/sloppy assembly. Many hi-fi woofers run substantial clearance and may reasonably be re-coned by amateurs. James Lansing was a highly skilled speaker hack, knew how to optimize to a gnat's-hair, and that's about all the tolerance you get in the higher-efficiency 4"VC models.

[HotBluePlates]

> is that a DIY project?

Not on a D/E130. It is an enormous pole with minimal clearance. ... James Lansing was a highly skilled speaker hack, knew how to optimize to a gnat's-hair, and that's about all the tolerance you get in the higher-efficiency 4"VC models.

That's also why, in what little I've read, it seems to be advised to not manually move the cone as you did to test these speakers. JBL's have very small gaps for the voice coil to move in, as compared to other speakers. The logic behind the advice to avoid manually pumping the speaker is that uneven pressure from your hand may cause a voice coil rub in such a tight tolerance system.

You want a good reconer to tackle this, if for no other reason than the JBL doesn't use components similar to other guitar speakers.

[Lizard King]

Heck -I barely pushed the cone at all...as soon as I felt no give I stopped....it sounds fine, maybe it was just unlike any cone I've ever felt...it's just extra tight.....if so I got a VERY sweet deal.

[HotBluePlates]

Well, test that frozen one up to stage volume, and see how it performs. If it's fine, then you REALLY got a good deal!

[FYL]

Never tried reckoning....is that a DIY project?

Yes if you're really careful and get a pre-assembled cone assy. You just have to place centering shims, glue the spider and the surround, remove the shims, glue the cap and gasket, done.

No if you get a standard kit.

[FYL]

Not on a D/E130. It is an enormous pole with minimal clearance.

Let me kindly disagree. I've reconed a lot of vintage JBLs (heck, I love them) using either JBL-sourced or third-party kits w/o any problems.

Here's a step by step tutorial by SSR : http://www.soundspeakerrepair.com/speaker-parts-cp/Inst-1/INST/Installation+Instructions/

[6G6]

FYL, do you have a line on Altec kits?

[FYL]

Great Plains Audio. The company was founded by former Altec employees, has got all the original tooling, equipment & docs and turns out some pretty nice recone kits at decent prices.

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/

[Lizard King]

FYI...the 140e was toast....took it to get reconed and the guy pointed out where it had been dropped and the magnet knocked off center...the good news:he had a pair of k140's which I like even better....