BCHR

Legend. Only met him once, he came into the record store I was working in seeking HiDef CDs. We ended up talking music recordings for an hour. Lovely guy. *Smash* JB You've done it again...

To clarify, speakers are now fixed (since tweeter connecting wire was re-soldered). I understand the risks of buying vintage gear and buying from interstate. The seller, who I won't mention unless he wants to chime in, went above and beyond to support me post-sale. I could tell I was dealing with someone of integrity purely from how lovingly the speakers were packed when they arrived to me. As mentioned previously, when I contacted the seller to ask about the issue, he immediately offered to take the speakers back, at his expense. He also spent more than two hours on the phone with me trying to help me identify the issue, recommending using frequency test sounds, isolating L/R channels on amp etc. I have nothing but praise for the seller's support and response. Which is a testament to the community of this forum and the people behind it. I know the LE5-12 can have these issues, I'm somewhat of an expert on them now after all the reading and research I did at the time. I'm not claiming that Gary was lying that the mids were brittle or needed to be re-coned. Although, to me, the mids sound the same today as the day I received the speakers. Maybe they needed repair, maybe they didn't. But this is like taking your car to a mechanic for a smashed windscreen and they tell you the wind blowing in your face is cause the tires are bald. Then (wrongly) use the term 'Occam's razor' to justify their diagnosis saying bald tires is the most logical cause/simplest explanation, essentially calling me an idiot for questioning the diagnosis. Then blaming the person who sold me the car for ripping me off. It's no hard feelings honestly, it's old gear, I get that, could be many things wrong with 40 year old speakers. But in the end, the tweeter solder was broken, the tweeter wasn't working, it should be as obvious to an experienced repairer as a smashed windscreen. The speakers were very clearly missing treble, I just wasn't certain of the cause. But was right to intuit it wasn't cause BOTH mids needed re-coning, that's just silly.

Purchased some JBL L112s from here in 2023, had them shipped from Syd>Mel and when they arrived I was getting no highs out of one of the speakers. It was hard to tell the exact problem at home, I did frequency tests but couldn't isolate if it was the tweeter, mid, or crossover (Novice at the time, could probably test with better methodology today) After reading this forum, I took my speakers to Gary Cawsey, and explained the above. I want to share my experience with Gary, I get the impression he has a lot of respect on this forum from reading this thread, but here's what happened to me. I explained the above - new speakers, high notes missing from one of them (took in both to compare) and left them with him to assess. He did not test them while I was there, based on this forum I believed I was being looked after by an expert who would love my speakers as much as I did. Diagnosis came back a week later - Essentially, "Your mids are damaged on BOTH speakers. One has two domes glued on-top of each other, the other is brittle and they both need replacing." Me: "But how would that cause the high notes to be missing from 1 of the speakers?" Gary: "The brittleness could be stopping the driver from performing properly, I could explain to you but you wouldn't understand" Me: "But the seller in Syd assured me the speakers were fine, when the left Syd. (I 100% trusted him and always did, he was very helpful, offered to take them back free of charge). The issue should be damage from transport of some sort, not age related, and not on BOTH speakers?" Gary: "Occam's Razor, what's more likely? The guy in Syd ripped you off, I am an expert, this is what's causing the issue." Me: "Did you test both speakers? One clearly is not producing high notes" Gary: "Yes this is the only possible cause" ~$600 later~ Go to pick up speaker from Gary's workshop (Lovely big old warehouse in Brunswick, gear everywhere, actually a really cool place, I can see why everyone loves this guy, he is no doubt a lifelong tinkerer). Audition speakers, Gary puts on a LIVE JAZZ RECORDING with a very wide sound stage and sparse ethereal almost orchestral music and I'm sitting there, questioning my own sanity, wondering, "is the right speaker still a bit weak on the highs"? "No, I must be me, it must be the recording, where all the strings were left of stage. Gary is expert." Haha Get them home, put on some rock. Radiohead I think. High hats are completely missing from one channel. So, I take them back... Make Gary audition again with something with drums. I A-B test the speakers for him to demonstrate the missing highs. Gary: "Oh it wasn't doing that before, it must be intermittent" He asks for an hour to test more, I go for coffee. Get a call 30 mins later. The solder on the tweeter for one of the speakers was broken. He fixes the the next day, asks for AN EXTRA $150 for the extra work. At this point my patience is all gone, I refuse the extra $150, explain he did not correctly diagnose the initial problem, accused me and the seller in Syd of not knowing what we were talking about, and charged me $600 already. We agree on an extra $50, he did spend extra time and eventually fix the speaker after all. I'm too kind I think, I should have pushed back more. But I do like these old tinkerer types - its his living so paid him the $50. My Occam’s Razor assessment is, Gary can’t hear treble any longer. He seems a genuine, passionate, and skilled repairer, albeit very stubborn and unable to admit fault. I know his area of expertise is speaker cables and amps so it was foolish of me not to go to a loudspeaker/JBL expert. Wouldn't recommend for speaker repairs. Cool workshop though. - bchr

I don't have any of that stuff, I don't know a watt from an amp. Need someone who knows what they're doing.

Hello fellow people of taste, Recently purchased my first proper JBls (L112) but alas, having issues. Can't quite tell what the issue is, if it's the circuitry or if the tweeter is blown, my testing is inconclusive. Does anyone have any recommendations for a suitable repairer in Melbourne I can take them to be checked? Any advice appreciated

Item: JBL L150a, L112, L96 or similar Item Condition: Well looked after, ready for a new home. Interested in matching stands if bookshelf size. Extra Info: These or models of a similar ilk.

Wonderful, thank you I will check it out. Anyone else feel free to drop some platforms worth considering.

Seeking advice on a digital media device for browsing your music library via album cover. iTunes used to have a great feature where you could click left<>right to browse through your entire library by the album art which animated as if you were flicking through a record shelf. Do any digital media players do this? Most of the ones I have seen have tiny screens, or is it all via app these days? If app, which apps are best for browsing via album art? I've only used spotify which although amazing for discovering music, its not built for browsing like a library. Curios to hear what people use? Thanks in advance.

These are great little portable bluetooth speakers, best you're gonna get for beach/picnics without going over the top.

This has been a very positive internet experience. Thank you so much for the advice.

You have actually blown my mind with this suggestion. This site is all above board, you've used them? Its the one with mainly car imports on the website yes?

It's sounding like the drivers really do make all the difference with the sound from this and other answers. Do they still sell original drivers? LIke old car parts.

Whoa, ok this is a huge tip, thank you!

Thank you for an answer that provides a great amount in information. You've thrown me a bit with 4311s not being an excellent sounding speaker comment. I understood them to be universally respected, so this is food for thought. Which are the superior similarly size vintage jbl models you're referring to? "However if the drivers aren't original they aren't really a 4311 and would sound nothing like them." This sounds like the box design only plays a minor role to the character and quality of a speaker, and the driver delivers the most important part of what we enjoy about the sound of a particular speaker, is that what you're saying? If so, how do I find a driver that will most closely replicate the spirit of the original? Could I find/use new jbl drivers? I've been to hifi stores and listened to top shelf modern speakers that just don't to have the warmth or create the wall of immersed bliss that I've enjoy from big ol vintage speakers. Even though I assume most people rate the newer ones as better. Thanks again

Can someone tell me if I was to buy a classic speaker (JBL4311 for example), and reverse engineer the boxes with new drivers from online, how close could I get in terms of sound quality? What is most fundamental about speaker design? How big an impact would non original drivers make? - What’s most important about drivers? Thoughts appreciated.

1.5 years. holding charge perfect. Only selling to upgrade.

Further Information: Anyone looking for cheap and cheerful full wireless headphones, these are it. Earphones are in perfect working condition, battery etc. no issues at all. Only selling because I got the next gen version. Not as exotic as typical stereonet gear, thought someone here might want need some. Got them on FB too. Detailed them with isopropyl today, nice and clean. Case has expected scratching, they've been in a case cover since about 3 months in. Comes with original box and silicon ear pieces. At work all day so can only answer in the evenings. Cheers

PM sent

I have TLX 4s, love em! If JBL TLX speakers sound this good, the L100, L65s etc must be insanely good. (can't wait to upgrade one day) Would take these in a second if I was in WA. Bargain for excellent big warm sounding speakers, GLWTS

Item: JBL LXX vintage hifi speakers. Price Range: $600-$1500 Item Condition: New or Used Extra Info: Seeking those classic JBL 1970's-1980's L series speakers. Hi there! Seeking any pair of JBL L series speakers from this golden era. Preferably L65's as they're what got me interested in the first place, but open to suggestion. Any info/opinions you have on these speakers also welcome. Regards, Dan

Hi All, I see there is a notifications feature on the forums but I can't find anywhere I can setup an automatic notification for if a topic is posted with key words/phrases in the heading. Is this possible? Devastated I missed out on some speakers today Thanks, Dan

Dm'd.

Thanks for the feedback on value guys. Maybe I'll get someone to look at it first. I actually need an amp - I only have a AV Receiver which is rubbish for stereo. Can anyone recommend someone in Melbourne who can take a look at it for me? Thanks a million!

In working order it's only worth $100?

Found this old amp in a recent clean up - It was my dad's. From memory he had to get it repaired several times after blowing some component - a capacitor from memory?? And one of the knobs is a bit broken, it doesn't line up with the inputs on the front. Question: What should I do with it? Is it worth taking to a repair shop? If it used to regularly blow capacitors in the 90's will it continue to do so or will new parts fix this issue?