VinylChef Posted January 14, 2022 Posted January 14, 2022 Lovingly restored, near-perfect condition, classic JBL L16 Decade speakers. These poor speakers were in woeful condition when I took them into my care; damaged veneer with a pot-plant the likely culprit, one tweeter non-original, one grill missing, woofers in need of serious love, crossovers missing binding post springs and with a faded plaque. These speakers sound quite delicious, with warmth and real punch. They look excellent, with only a few marks in the veneer on one side, which I think adds to their story and beauty. What I did: - Sourced a perfect original LE25-2 tweeter to replace the horrible Realistic one - Sourced perfect original crossovers to replace the faded ones - Robert Grunberg, Sydney-based JBL specialist, refoamed the woofers from behind the cone, as originally manufactured by JBL, and applied new internal and external gaskets - Sanded back the rim of the woofer basket - Sanded back, primed then matt black-coated rear and front baffles - Filled all original screw holes, put in glued T-nuts and secured drivers with washers and socket head screws - Checked the capacitors for capacitance and ESR, both perfect, put back in circuit - Deoxit and lubed all connections and lubed potentiometer - Replaced the top sheet of veneer with a sheet of premium 4mm American oak raw veneer - Finished veneer in 4 coats of premium Livos hard oil (hardens over a month and complies with water resistance standards) - Built a new grill frame to replace the one that had crumbled - Re-covered both grills in premium brown fabric from Sound Labs Group - Sanded back original JBL badges to bring back their sparkle Pick up and audition possible in Edgecliff, NSW. 10 3
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