JBL L300 Summit Restoration.

[Gibsonian]

One of the best looking speakers in the history of speakers imo.

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks, you guys; I appreciate it! Alobar, I really like the Radians, which I have also in my 4435s. Very smooth and detailed, to my ears.

Glenn, I kind of lose track of time, but I've been messing around with this project since sometime last spring and summer, when we were working on the cabinet drawings, then during last fall I worked on the grill rebuild, and then maybe Thanksgiving through the present I was working on the cabinets and drivers, in parallel with the crossover project. For the past year I've been collecting drivers, diaphragms and spare parts; I went through a bunch of parts before settling on ones I kept.

 

[mech986]

Fabulous work Zonk! If you have them, show them a before pic of the cabinets and, ahem, the broken grille frames as you received them from me.

These cabinets, along with another pair, were sourced during the recessions / depressions of 2003 and 2006-2008 when literally any and everyone was finding whole JBL vintage speakers and parting them out to make money. IMO, to this day, that has been the MO for a lot of flippers and JBL speakers. Both pairs of cabinets had been left over as they are a bear to ship obviously. For some, an albatross, for others like me, an opportunity.

One pair was found in Orange, California, from a family in a trailer park now long gone, but the guy had a lot of JBL drivers and parts too. They were outside under some tarps in fair condition. The other pair was from a fellow in Buena Park near the 5 freeway, he had gutted the speakers and sold the parts on Ebay. That cabinet pair was in a laundry room for almost 5 months in his apartment complex before I rescued them. Sadly, I did not get the drivers or components on either of those runs, but, like Zonker, I have over the years been fortunate to obtain enough parts to rebuild a number of L300's and the Pro version 4333's.

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks, Bart! I hadn't heard those origin stories; interesting!

Unfortunately, I didn't take too many "before" shots, but here are a few. And now it's driving me crazy, but I cannot find a shot I had of a broken grill; it was like a blue bag full of sticks.

Bart, I definitely owe you one. Looking forward to restoring your 4331/33s one of these days ... And right now, I'm turning to another Thorens plinth ...

 

[faber12]

You put a lot of careful work into these Eric, and it shows.

Bart, thank you for sharing the stories. I am glad for Eric's and my sake you have acquired all those parts.

 

[twiiii]

I have never been a fan of the acoustic lens concept. But with that said, I totally admire your works and wish you many happy hours of enjoyable listening. You should be very proud of your artistry and technical expertise. Thanks for sharing, your work is very inspiring.

 

[mech986]

I have never been a fan of the acoustic lens concept. But with that said, I totally admire your works and wish you many happy hours of enjoyable listening. You should be very proud of your artistry and technical expertise. Thanks for sharing, your work is very inspiring.

Its an interesting scientific concept and implementation. If one was considering a Franken JBL update, any number of other horns, including the 4430/4435 Dolly Parton or newer constant directivity or other designs could be adapted to the baffle of the L300 or 4333 or other 434x depending on space considerations.

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks, twiiii! Very nice words, and I do hope to share the love. I know the lenses are yestertech, but I like them because they are such an odd, mechanical-looking device; counterintuitive and weird and intriguing; almost sci-fi or steampunk. Whoever would think of stacking a bunch of plates in front of a horn? Everyone asks about them, and I kind of like trying to explain them. But the tweeters are equally mesmerizing.

And, maybe forty years late, I just noticed on the lenses that the attachment lugs that lock the plates to each other appear on top of the topmost plate; it would have been cleaner to have a different, smooth-topped plate on the tippy-top.

Anyhoo, just a random thought. I would not cut them off mine, because I like the originality.

 

[mech986]

All the plates in the later plastic version are made to be stacked vertically and interlock on tops and bottoms and back, hence the same type plate for each - no smooth top plate was ever made although one could be made by sanding a loose plate down.

The original more handmade plates used in the C50 Olympus are flat plates aligned by two wooden supports with angled slots and glue in, then the assembly is screwed into the baffle with screws top and bottom on the supports. Cleaner looking, but more work intensive to make and align I guess.

The typical number of plates for the H91/H92 and short horn is 11 plates.

 

[Zonker92]

Fascinating; thanks!

 

[Zonker92]

Oh, and these speakers really do sound great; open, articulate and clear. I don't have them up against my 4435s, but I can say that the bass is much stronger than I expected, and they throw up a very coherent image. The attack on certain songs is striking. I'm just delighted with the sound.

 

[faber12]

Did you try them with and without the lenses? The lenses make a big difference, as you might expect. The horns really do 'shout' at you without them. They (the speakers) image very well.

The bass, oh the Bass!

 

[toddalin]

They probably don't image as well as the 4435s..., but they may be more pleasant to listen to.

 

[GD70]

Thanks, you guys; I appreciate it! Alobar, I really like the Radians, which I have also in my 4435s. Very smooth and detailed, to my ears.

Glenn, I kind of lose track of time, but I've been messing around with this project since sometime last spring and summer, when we were working on the cabinet drawings, then during last fall I worked on the grill rebuild, and then maybe Thanksgiving through the present I was working on the cabinets and drivers, in parallel with the crossover project. For the past year I've been collecting drivers, diaphragms and spare parts; I went through a bunch of parts before settling on ones I kept.

Labor of love!

 

[damacman]

What I like best is the care you've taken to restore two magical pairs of loudspeakers to better than original. That adds to the value proposition when you're enjoying them - how could it not?

 

[Zonker92]

Definitely; thanks!

I also have some L100s and some L25 Primas on the back burner, but they don't need anything like the amount of work I did on the Summits. Just a refinishing, recap and general clean-up. During this whole L300 process I've also been stockpiling a few needed parts for those projects.

 

[daveg3588]

I spent 4 years working for the JBL dealer in Buffalo, 1974 -1978, 3 years we had the L300's to listen and demo. They were always my dream speaker. We had both the Marantz 510M, 3800, 150 and the H/K Citation 16,17, 18 to drive them. There was nothing we didn't play, we had the Thorens, Dual and H/K st-7 and other sources. We also had all the Sheffield albums, JBL albums to work with, the sound was spectacular! Along with the rest of the JBL line at the time. I was spoiled then and I am spoiled now. I appreciate what Zonker has done to creat and preserve them.

 

[Jailtime]

Amazing attention to detail. You've done some truly outstanding work.

 

[Marine0811]

B E A utiful! Nice work

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks, you guys; I really appreciate the kind words.