JBL E130-8 questions - advice desired.

[AtomicDog]

All,

What would you recommend I do with a pair of JBL E130-8's (15", instrument/voice, 150W RMS, 40Hz fs, .1" xmax)

I've been lugging these things around for almost 15 years and the time has come to keep, re-cone and keep, or sell.

What would you recommend in a re-cone variant for home theater subwoofer use. I've been toying with the idea of a horizontal el pipe-o pair...

Potential iterations might include:

2215
2220
2225
2231
2234
2235

Clearly, I neither know what is most or least compatible, nor whether I should keep them in any trim.

Guidance, if you please - and thank you in advance.

Chris

[Mikael Abdellah]

I've heard from a friend that the E-130 will make a mean subwoofer but it takes a HUGE box. Also it won't handle much power, but it's supposed to sound really good. And with that sensitivity you wont need many watts before things start to shake all over.

[xstephanx]

and with that much sensitivity it wont take much power to bottomit out! .1" of xmax is VERY small, i would much rather use that as a midbass.

[tomtt]

try here-
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin

[AtomicDog]

Mikael Abdellah & xstephanx,

True, the E130 would be a poor choice for a home theater subwoofer... This is why I was curious about re-coning variants.

tomtt,

The link was useful, but raised more questions than it answered. Since the motor has different specs than most of the iterations I'd considered, I'd imagine that the T/S parameters would NOT conform to the available info.

What then, is the best way to do this? Should I give up on the idea of using these myself? Are they worth anything? Are there good options for converting these drivers to something of use to me?

Thanks - sorry for the continued barrage of questions...

Chris

[GordonW]

Recone it as a 2234H or 2235H- it's an exact fit, in the E130 basket. That'll give you about 7mm or more of Xmax (just over 1/4"), and significant bottom end. Yes, the E130 motor is stronger... but that'll just raise the efficiency (and lower the Q) a bit compared to a "factory-spec" 2234 or 2235.

Either variation can be done with the same kit (JBL part # C8R2235)... the 2234 just doesn't use the supplied mass ring (lead ring which mounts to the top of the voice coil, where the cone mounts to the coil), which is standard in the 2235. The mass ring comes seperate... so you can build the speaker either way.

Or, you can use aftermarket cone kits... if you're just doing a DIY pipe sub, the aftermarket kits should be fine. If you find a pro reconing shop that sources parts from MWA Speaker Parts, I can say from experience that their 2235H recone kit is quite good. Should work fine...

Regards,
Gordon.

[Franz]

Hi,

there are so much possibilities out there to make a good subwoofer from even lower powered woofers.

IMHO the E 130 is a much too good speaker to be slaughtered for that.
If yours are still alive and don´t need to be reconed, then give them a try in a small closed box or OB setup and add a supertweeter above say 8 kHz. You will hardly find a better, faster and more efficient speaker in the world !!!!!

Their speed in the midbass just cannot be matched by any other similar 15 inch speaker. Add a midpriced 15 or 18 inch woofer as a sub below 80 Hz if needed and you´ll be in heaven.

Franz

[phn]

I know very little about speakers. But I would say that you should not underestimate those JBLs.

I had Mårten Design speakers until fairly recently. I liked them quite a bit. I also have Altec speakers with 416 elements. The 416 is noted for its mid-range. I haven't heard the E130. But it looks to be not all that different from the 416. And the 416 goes a lot deeper than my Mårten Designs. The Mårten Designs only win on paper.

The E130 is no subwoofer material. But it's a matter of what kind of bass you want.

The Mårten Designs are great with electronic music, like techno, which has that kind of fast bass no analogue instrument can produce and the 416 can't reproduce, at least not as well. Watching that ceramic cone pump was mesmerizing. But if you want natural, effortless bass there was no comparison. The Mårten Designs were completely humiliated. The 416 is so much faster and has so much more detail than those hyped ceramic cones.

Modern speakers are great for movies. I'm into movies. But the big revelation came when I watched a movie using the Altec speakers. There were so much sound I had never heard before!

As Franz said, don't recone them. If you don't want them, ditch them on eBay and buy something else.

[roddyama]

Yes, the E-130's are super efficient and you will loose much of that efficiency from the mass of the 2235 cone, the resulting 2235 clone will still be a bit more efficient than an original 2235 as Gordon points out. Over all I'd have to agree with Gordons approach. Put them in ported boxes and you'll end up with a solid pair of stereo subs.

I've attached copies of the JBL and TAD T/S parameters to make comparisions from.

[sound_prodigy]

I have one of these JBL's and turned it into a home theatre sub. I chose butyl-rubber surrounds for the damping and the life, and they perform quite well on the woofer. They do take some large dims. for good sound, which is a disadvantage, but if you have the space it is worth it. I built my own sub box and purchased a hi fi active sub amp to mount in the back. Just a suggestion.