JBL C53 Libra's

[dontmindme]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum, and have already gotten some good info! I'm also new to the vintage electronic scene, though I've collected a few peices......... My question is about a set of JBL C53 Libra's, I received them from the original owner who had a set of Lancer 77's and these Libra's. Somehow over the last 40 years, he mistakenly switched the grills. When I received the Libra's the Lancer's were long gone. I now have the Libra's with Lancer 77 grills and badges. The speakers and cabinets are near perfect and sound great. Should I look for the original grills, just rebadge the existing, or not worry about it and enjoy the speakers?

[dat521gatherer]

can you post a pic? i have both sets and didn't think the l77 grills would fit on the c53 libra's. i can tell you that the c53's share the same grill as the jbl lancer 99 speakers which there was a pair of on ebay recently that didnt sell. the lancer s99 had wood fret grills and i dont know if the dimensions are the same on those.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
let me know if you want to get rig of the l77 logos. mine are missing.

i just redid my libra grills and will post a thread about them.

[dontmindme]

Thanks for the reply, I took a couple of pictures with and without the grills on. The speakers are marked as C53 Libra, but have these L77 grills on them? Sounds like you know a lot about these, so any help is appreciated!

[barredowl]

Are you sure it's the whole grill that is wrong and not just the logo?

[dontmindme]

No, but the other L77's I've seen look like these grills also, and the backing on the grill has never been removed (old looking staples). The badges would reguire removing the material on the back side of the grill, which all looks original. The grills I've seen on Libra's have a different material, and don't have the aluminum verticle peices on each side of the grill. I'm guessing I could just make new grills, with appropriate material, then buy the correct badges to make them look complete?

[BMWCCA]

Dimensions look like they'd work. You've probably seen this already, but this is what the C53 looked like:



and here's the Libra, with some dimensions:



and the Lancer 77 and dimensions for comparison:

[dontmindme]

Thanks, I hadn't seen that piece. Like I say, I'm kind of new to the collecting thing. These Libra's were my first set of speakers, so I didn't know what direction to take as far as the grills. It does look as though the grills would interchange, so I guess I'll keep an eye out for the original ones and badges, or fabricate my own. It's been fun investigating the whole thing though. These speakers look and sound great, are they a good find? Are there many out there? I just got a pair of Sansui SP 2500's and SP-55A's, so I guess I've officially "caught the bug". Kind of getting my feet wet until I figure out what's good and what's not. Haven't invested much money so I guess I'll keep at it!

[joelongwood]

From the pics, it appears the surrounds on the LE14 woofers are made of Lansaloy, a proprietary material developed by JBL back in the 60s. The problem is that, over time, these surrounds, rather than crumbling and falling apart like regular foam, become quite stiff and hard. Of course, this affects the bass response. I discovered this when I picked up pair of JBL Apollos about four years ago. Despite having 15" LE15 woofers, the bass response was quite poor. After reading a lot over at the Lansing Heritage site, I decided to try what many over there recommended..........treating the surrounds with Dot 3 brake fluid! I do it every 6 months now and the surrounds are nice and supple. Oh, and the bass is now excellent.
I'm curious to find out if your surrounds are stiff or supple, and if they've ever been treated with anything.

[dontmindme]

I read that in another forum. No, I haven't tried it, just wasn't sure if it was sound advice or not. Any old Dot 3 brake fluid? There used to be a difference between the ford and chevy stuff. I also assume you have to be careful and not get it on the cone itself. One of my surrounds is a little stiffer than the other, but I'm sure both could use a little attention. Thanks, I think I'll give it a try.

[BMWCCA]

Replace the surrounds with modern poly-foam from a reputable source. Even with brake fluid they won't work like they're supposed to and brake fluid is one of the best paint removers known to man so be careful.

It's ATF that was different between Ford and the rest, not brake fluid. Dot 3 brake fluid is pretty universal. Crap though, but universal. Don't use it in a car, use DOT 4 or don't rely on your brakes very often.

[dontmindme]

That's what it was, Type F transmission fluid. I knew what I was thinking, just didn't think what it was! Thanks for the input, I'll investigate the surrounds a little further.