It was a bit of work but well worth the effort for this beautiful pair of JBL L16 Decade speakers.
I first hooked them up to a solid state amplifier and thought they sound good but not great, then I connected them to the tube amp and Oh My Goodness..... completely different speaker. These little speakers were meant for tube gear, not as good with the imaging as the Tannoy Oxford Gold.
The 8" JBL 116A woofer is from the same pedigree as the L26 and L100's that use a cast basket and Alnico magnet.
I could not source the proper surrounds locally so I turned to my good friend Audio Dogs Vintage Stereo in Comox for my hard to get parts, Thank you guys for the prompt and expert service.
The woofers where re foamed using a 50 hertz sine wave from my iPhone.
This is a really simple way of re foaming your drivers without cutting to dust cap off and shimming the voice coil, so far I have had a 100% success rate with this method.
The cabinets which were in excellent condition just got a light 220 grit sanding and a coat of Circa 1850 wood oil to bring out the grain richness. the small dimples in the tweeter were pulled out with a pin and re sealed with a dab of glue.
I have been really enjoying this set of JBL L16's through the tube amp, the bass is nice and deep for an8" woofer, the mid range is spot on without the fatigue I got from the JBL L26's that I have had in the past. It is a shame as the the bigger brother L26 gets more press than these speakers do.
I really like these speakers and I have a feeling they will be in the rotation for quite some time, absolutely amazing through the tube amp.....
I first hooked them up to a solid state amplifier and thought they sound good but not great, then I connected them to the tube amp and Oh My Goodness..... completely different speaker. These little speakers were meant for tube gear, not as good with the imaging as the Tannoy Oxford Gold.
The 8" JBL 116A woofer is from the same pedigree as the L26 and L100's that use a cast basket and Alnico magnet.
I could not source the proper surrounds locally so I turned to my good friend Audio Dogs Vintage Stereo in Comox for my hard to get parts, Thank you guys for the prompt and expert service.
The woofers where re foamed using a 50 hertz sine wave from my iPhone.
This is a really simple way of re foaming your drivers without cutting to dust cap off and shimming the voice coil, so far I have had a 100% success rate with this method.
The cabinets which were in excellent condition just got a light 220 grit sanding and a coat of Circa 1850 wood oil to bring out the grain richness. the small dimples in the tweeter were pulled out with a pin and re sealed with a dab of glue.
I have been really enjoying this set of JBL L16's through the tube amp, the bass is nice and deep for an8" woofer, the mid range is spot on without the fatigue I got from the JBL L26's that I have had in the past. It is a shame as the the bigger brother L26 gets more press than these speakers do.
I really like these speakers and I have a feeling they will be in the rotation for quite some time, absolutely amazing through the tube amp.....
