JBL L-100 Century Foam Grille Replacements

pbda

Super Member
Does anyone know where to find authentic-looking replacement foam grilles for the JBL Centuries? It's relatively easy to find "flat" foam grilles that will fit, but finding the "checkerboard" or "eggcrate" pattern in any color but black (I'm looking for blue or orange) is very difficult. I saw a pair in blue offered on eBay for $150/pr. recently (give me a break!).
 
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Yeah, pretty amazing.

JBL refers you to Hal Cox at Custom Music House in Mill Valley, CA. Hal is an extremely personable fellow, and will sell a pair replacement foam grilles in the "Quadrex" pattern, post paid, for $80. Any color you want, as long as it's black.

I have not seen photos of these grilles.
 
I keep meaning to do something about the grills on my L-100s. I'm using them without grills, but it would be nice to fix up the grills. I have to say that I don't really like the look of foam grills. They remind me of an 80's Symphonic, or Yorx system. They just look cheap to me for some reason.
 
Did anyone figure out a solution to this problem? The foam is entirely gone from my JBLs and they look terrible! I just laid some fabric on top but it dampens the sound too much. I guess it's too thick. These foam replacements go for 150 and up on ebay, which is too much for me. Anybody have any suggestions?
 
You can cut out a sheet of thin material, plywood or masonite or something, so that it fits in the recess where the foam was. Paint the material black and then cover it with grill cloth of your choice. Use glue or velcro to attatch it to the front of the grille frames.
 
I did something similar; only I use 1x1 lumber, cut into a space frame that fits just inside the wood edging on the JBL grille frame. Then, I paint the 1x1 frame black, cover the frame in cloth (wrap-around) and usually, I just countersink 4 screws into the grill from behind, into the 1x1 frame to hold the insert frame into the original grille frame.

I will do this again, for anyone who has a pair of L100s, for $30 each. The nice thing, is that JBL made a fabric-covered version of the L100 grille, that basically looks JUST LIKE what I build...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Is there a special kind of fabric to use that doesn't hinder the sound? Or will anything basically do? I still have the old frame so I'm lucky. I just need to make it look a little nicer because the foam came off and it looks terrible. Thanks!
 
L100 "Quadrex" replacement grilles

Considerable progress is being made in making original Quadrex design grilles available soon - may be only a few weeks away.

Plain beveled design grilles are currently available @ $100/pair in black, blue, brown, maroon color. These are cut perfectly to fit into L100 frames. Or stay tuned for update on Quadrex grilles.

Custom replacement grilles for other speaker models are available also.

sonofagun@netonecom.net
 

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Don C said:
You can cut out a sheet of thin material, plywood or masonite or something, so that it fits in the recess where the foam was. Paint the material black and then cover it with grill cloth of your choice. Use glue or velcro to attatch it to the front of the grille frames.

I used 1/2 inch MDF to cut out the same shape as the original grille holes, painted it, and used grille cloth from Hancock Fabrics. May not be the best cloth, but it looks just fine. WAF is pretty high. Attached the insert to the original frame with velcro at the corners, and all is well. Just wish I had the original logos, or at least some replacements.
 
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