New to me JBL 240Ti

[Sound Dragon]

This weekend was a real Dive back into the stereo Hobby for me after a longish Hiatus. For better or worse I picked up a pair of beaten on JBL 240Ti speakers that look like they have had a hard couple of years as frat house party speakers. I always promise myself no new projects only to find myself with another project, But these don't come along all that often within reasonable driving distance and I got the price down a bit so I figured I would pick them up. Also got me a minty Yamaha PC2002M but I had to drive out to Connecticut for that one, worth it though as I had been looking for another one for a long time.

So a couple of the dust caps are pushed in on the mids and tweets and a dust cap is missing from one of the woofers. They all do work though. The foam looks rough on one of the woofers and I suspect the cross overs are going to need a recap. I never was very handy with doing my own repairs and tended to do more harm than good. The tweets sound as if they have a slight buzz in them so I have to look into that as well. Oh and the grills are missing so I may have to hunt down a set of those....

All that being said, the seller had them hooked up and playing when I got there to pick them up. All the drivers do work for the most part except for the mentioned buzzing at high volume from one tweeter. I played them all day Sunday with the PC2002M and a PSAUDIO 4.5 Pre I had on hand and while I find the Tweets to be really bright, the bass and mid range is really something special. I find myself wondering If a tube pre would mellow out that tweet some.

Do you guys have any recommendations as far as bringing the drivers back from near death? Also wouldn't mind a referral for the Crossover work. Suggestions and recommendations are welcome. I will post some pics of them later.

 

[Zonker92]

Wow; great speakers but a tough road ahead perhaps. I hope you can pop out all those dome and dust caps.

The tweeters have a foam column under the domes that damps them a bit; it's probably sludge by now. You can google "044Ti foam" for pictures and information.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-044ti-tweeter-repair-well-almost.405512/

Let me know if you need help with the crossovers. Looks like they have two electrolytic caps (in blue) that could stand replacement. The yellow film caps should be fine.

 

[Sound Dragon]

Thanks so much! A couple of crappy iPhone pics.

 

[Sound Dragon]

Also, I connected my old trusty Tube pre Amp. A Chinese built clone of a famous tube amp or some such claim called a music Angle!!! I think it was supposed to spell Angel but hey.....Sounds surprisingly good though and more importantly improved some of the top end glare and shrill that I was hearing. I did not get to crank it as High as I wanted to replicate the buzz I was hearing yesterday. I think one of the new Schiit Tube pre amps is in my future for sure. Freya with balanced outs to two PC2002Ms in Mono feeding these might be the next rig!!!

 

[Sound Dragon]

I suspect that the Amp sat around unused for a while and as it began to warm up and after some continuous play the sound began to get a bit more cohesive. Still have a little bit of buzz on one of the tweeters. All that being said, the speakers sound way better than they look. Played some Jazz and some Diana Krall from Pandora and it sounded really good and Piano and Horns really surprised me. The sound was rich and lush and it really made me sad that they had spent the last few years being abused. On the bright side I am not sure if they need to be re coned anymore with them sounding as good as they do. So maybe I am lucky enough to just need new surrounds on the woofers and new Dust Caps?I am Not sure about those mids though, they still sound great but those domes look beyond saving. May have to have someone take a look at them and advise me what to do to get them back to their former glory. And last but not least the tweeters. I may bite the bullet and hunt down another pair to swap in before seeing about salvaging these, to me that just seems to be the Path of least resistance.

As for the Crossover. I was checking out an old thread by member Rex Everything who did a full recap and while it looks simple enough to do, If I had any faith in my soldering skills. so it will be a job I would outsource to someone who has done it before and who can help me source the caps and maybe offer a friendly word of advice for a nominal fee. I have long ago lost any desire to fix my own gear which is why I went modern for most of my gear a few years ago. As for the Cabs I think when I pull them apart I will give them a deep clean and see if I can get some luster back into them. Some custom speaker Grills may be the final item to check off this list. Should be a fun summer project.

 

[Jeffery]

Pretty sure you can get new dustcaps for the mids, too. Not from JBL, but I wouldn't let an aftermarket dustcap throw me too bad - compared to what you have now.

 

[JustinCase]

WOW. Congrats. I'd love to find a pair of those. I'd love to find that Yammy amp too! What a beast .

 

[daveg3588]

Nice score/ project!

 

[Sound Dragon]

Well.......I spent a good chunk of the day cleaning up the Stereo Area in anticipation for a treat! Running two PC2002M's as Monos to feed the 240TI's! But it was not meant to be. My older and previously working just fine Yammies decided to not work and really put a wet blanket on my plans! I figured while everything was reasonably neat and organized I would hook up another Amp that has sat unused and one which was slated to go in the out pile. A counterpoint SA-100.

I have never been a fan of this amp before. I could never enjoy the way it presented itself which is weird because I normally love Mosfet power amps. Well the Counterpoint has a synergy with these speakers that really surprised me. The amp really tamed the tweeters and its mellow presentation really works with the JBL sound. It also played louder than the Yamaha at a lower point on the pre amp dial. It did run out of steam at higher volumes though and the Yamaha has more head room by far. All in all not a bad time spent with these speakers and it pretty much made up my mind to proceed with a partial refurb.

I am going to be researching and contacting some folks to see if I can get the woofers and mids re-foamed and have the dust caps replaced. As for the tweets, I think a new (to me) pair is in order but they really are quite pricey! While the drivers are out a good scrub down and then some howards will go towards the cabs. With a little toddler running around there is just no point in a re-veneer at this time. As for grills I am just not sure what to do. Maybe a pair will show up on the auction site. Does anyone know if newer grills have been custom fabricated before and if so could you point me in the right direction?

I have not yet decided if I am going to do a recap of the cross over at this time. It sounds fine to my ears. Maybe just replace the two electrolytic caps Zonker mentioned up thread. If I do recap the cross over, I would change out the speaker binding posts as well to something a little more exotic.

 

[Sound Dragon]

Some craptastic iPhone shots for the pictures crowd

 

[tensleep]

Nice speakers! Good luck with the rehab. And yes, those tweeters are hard to source. I have a pair of 4410 monitors, and I am very protective of mine.

 

[Jeffery]

I am going to be researching and contacting some folks to see if I can get the woofers and mids re-foamed and have the dust caps replaced. As for the tweets, I think a new (to me) pair is in order but they really are quite pricey!

Do the mids even have foam surrounds to replace?

And keep this in mind:

There comes a time when the restoration and upkeep of JBL speakers runs into the "damn this got expensive quick" or "oh well, they aren't really JBL anymore" fork in the road.

 

[Sound Dragon]

Not sure as this is my first foray into a serious pair of JBL speakers. Between this and one of my PC2002M's requiring attention it is bound to be an expensive few months. kind of reminds me why I moved away from vintage gear to begin with. I suspect that the effort will be worth it in the long run though....I hope. I was hoping to pick up a Schiit Freya pre amp to run this set up before planning out a Audio PC build which will now have to be pushed back to a later date. Are these speakers really that delicate that they may break down again without much effort on my part? i really want to avoid the constantly under repair cycle.

 

[jblnut]

It looks like you bought a basket case. These being the "Ti" line and possessing some of the best drivers JBL made, you should expect the cost to replace any trashed drivers to be fairly high. However once you to get them fixed, you should also expect another 15-20 years of trouble-free listening enjoyment.

They are certainly not delicate and can handle anything that 2002 will dish out. This I know for a fact

jblnut

 

[tensleep]

The only reason my original 035Tia have issues is because my son pushed the domes in slightly, which is primarily a cosmetic issue - they still play great and if the dispersion pattern is affected, I cannot hear it . The used replacements I purchased failed because the copper tinsel leads from the voice coil to the connector tabs had oxidized all the way through. They must have been in a high humidity environment. While pursuing a failed repair solution, I did find that the dented dome on one of the replacements (dented during shipping) popped back into place easily with a puff of canned air.

One final note: there is some damping foam between the back of the titanium dome and the center pole piece of the magnet. It deteriorates over time. I replaced them on my original tweeters several years ago with some foam off of a dry cleaner's coat hanger. Since then, I have read that a thicker material may have been more appropriate; apparently the dome should contact and slightly compress the foam as it is placed over the magnet. At least, that is what I read on these forums.

 

[Sound Dragon]

So my Drivers are on the way to GordonW for a much needed pro assessment and repair. The Woofers where seriously heavy! Some fun was had when I discovered some trash inside the cabinets, a testament to their party speaker past. One item of archaeological interest was a Blockbuster Video receipt! Explaining the premise of the video store to my 10 year old was eye opening to say the least. The look of bewilderment and confusion that media at one time was rented from a store and not readily available at the push of a button was apparently lost on the poor boy!

I am now going to focus some attention on the poor cabinets. Besides a few beer bottle shaped rings on the tops and some water damage on one of the tops they look like they will clean up nice. I am thinking Murphy's oil soap to start and some gentle but firm scrubbing. I am trying to figure out which Howard's restore a finish product to use as I do not see teak as an option. These are teak right? If anyone can share a few pointers I would be most grateful. I know nothing about wood working besides what i learned in Shop class many years ago and this is not the same thing as building a bird house. I toyed with doing a full restoration on them including sending them to a cabinet place for a re veneer but decided against it. With the youngest only 3 years old I may have to delay that part until he is a little older and out of the crayola Picasso phase.

Which brings me to grills. HELP! Is there anyone on AK that can do these for me. With no wood working tools and my Helen Keller carpentry skills I am at a loss on where to even begin. I am even toying with the Idea of having Aluminum grills made for them. I found these guys online and may inquire if they can help me out. (https://www.speakerworks.com/Custom_Aluminum_Speaker_Grill_p/cg1.htm) I like the idea of protecting my investment in repaired Drivers but have no Idea how they would sound if I decided to play music with them on.

Last but not least is the Crossover. I know Zonker said up up thread that I may only need to replace the two caps. I have not yet pulled out the crossovers and am admittedly on the fence about removing them. I did want to change out the Original binding posts for something a little sturdier and more modern looking so that may make the Crossover removal decision for me. What is the general consensus from those that have these speakers? Should I replace those caps?

 

[trinhsman]

Simply speakers in Tampa can do a good job on the grilla.
Gordonw is a crossover guru.

 

[Sound Dragon]

So I would need the grills made from scratch. I don't even have a broken grill frame to go by. To be honest I don't even know what they look like aside from the brochure. They seem simple enough to do but I have no tools to do them with. I will reach out to Gordon about the Crossovers, It didn't even dawn on me to run it by him.

 

[L200B]

Great speakers. Probably the best sounding in the line.

 

[jblnut]

Great speakers. Probably the best sounding in the line.

I'm gonna say probably not The 108h adds a lot of speed and impact to drums that the LE14H-1 just can't quite match on it's own. Give the TOTL its due....

jblnut