I have a chance tomorrow to pick up 2 JBL 2426H drivers for 70 bucks. They both need new diaphragms, coils are bad. Looking on Ebay I see JBL brand for 130 bucks, or after market ones for 20 or 30 bucks. Are the after market ones terrible, not bad or a total waste of money.
I am looking to pick these up to play and learn about horns. If I can use the after market diaphragms than I will only have about 120 bucks tied up into them. They come with short round wave guides, like a tweeter would use. Next I would have to buy larger wave guides to use these as a mid range horn.
Like I said, I'm just looking to play with these and maybe make a 2 way speaker system from them but I don't want to start spending a lot when I don't even have a game plan yet.
Thanks
BillWojo
I am looking to pick these up to play and learn about horns. If I can use the after market diaphragms than I will only have about 120 bucks tied up into them. They come with short round wave guides, like a tweeter would use. Next I would have to buy larger wave guides to use these as a mid range horn.
Like I said, I'm just looking to play with these and maybe make a 2 way speaker system from them but I don't want to start spending a lot when I don't even have a game plan yet.
Thanks
BillWojo
I had aftermarket titanium diaphragms in 2420 and they were a bit hard to live with. My current 2440s have OEM JBL AL diaphragms which are vastly better sounding than any of the titanium OEM or aftermarket 'phragms I have tried in these drivers..
If you can stretch to the OEMs you will probably be happier in the long term.
As an alternative Radian has an aluminum diaphragm for this driver which is likely far better than the inexpensive $30 variety you mentioned.
Here: Radian 1225-8 Diaphragm Fits Most JBL 1" 8 Ohm about $80 each.
Cheap titanium diaphragms often sound harsh, and unpleasant in hifi applications.. I understand this is due to break up in the diaphragm.
If you can stretch to the OEMs you will probably be happier in the long term.
As an alternative Radian has an aluminum diaphragm for this driver which is likely far better than the inexpensive $30 variety you mentioned.
Here: Radian 1225-8 Diaphragm Fits Most JBL 1" 8 Ohm about $80 each.
Cheap titanium diaphragms often sound harsh, and unpleasant in hifi applications.. I understand this is due to break up in the diaphragm.
Not fair, you beat me to it, kevinkr! The Radians use an aluminum alloy diaphragm, which sounds far less harsh to my ear than titanium. The larger format drivers also include a mylar surround.
Thanks guys, just what I figured. So the Radian aluminum diaphragm sounds even better than the factory Ti diaphragms do?
Harsh is not what I'm looking for. I'm new to horn drivers, picked up a set of Klipsch Heresy's a month ago to use with my tube amp and love the sound. I'm thinking it would be neat to do a 2 way with a large horn on top of a single 15" woofer in a cabinet. I love the looks of a horn not to mention the sound. Very dynamic.
BillWojo
Harsh is not what I'm looking for. I'm new to horn drivers, picked up a set of Klipsch Heresy's a month ago to use with my tube amp and love the sound. I'm thinking it would be neat to do a 2 way with a large horn on top of a single 15" woofer in a cabinet. I love the looks of a horn not to mention the sound. Very dynamic.
BillWojo
Well I picked up the JBL's today. The 2426H CD were screwed into a JBL 126-00013-00 horn. It's a small radiused cone, about 6" across. They came out of a church, someone hooked them up wrong and sent the full power to the coil's. Poof.
I have several questions. Is the only difference between the 2426H and the 2426J the diaphragm? Can you change from one to the other?
The other question that I have concerns the replacement diaphragms. The intended amps that I'm going to use is a set of Mac MC40 tube monoblocks. I will probably never play these at concert levels. Several of you folks said that the cheaper replacement diaphragms sound harsh. Does the harshness come in when they are pushed or is it always there.
Since I'm on a horn kick, I came across a set of JBL 2446J CD's with 2385a horns and the adjustable mounting stand's for 340 bucks plus shipping. These are in very good shape. Am I nuts to pursue this?
The frequency range of these drivers go up to 20Khz, the drivers in my Klipsch Heresy's die at 17Khz. What I want to try is to disconnect the mid and tweet on the Heresy's and see if I can get the JBL's to perform better. Still trying to learn more about Xovers as I know I'll be messing with them next.
Thanks and yes, I'm in over my head. LOL
BillWojo
I have several questions. Is the only difference between the 2426H and the 2426J the diaphragm? Can you change from one to the other?
The other question that I have concerns the replacement diaphragms. The intended amps that I'm going to use is a set of Mac MC40 tube monoblocks. I will probably never play these at concert levels. Several of you folks said that the cheaper replacement diaphragms sound harsh. Does the harshness come in when they are pushed or is it always there.
Since I'm on a horn kick, I came across a set of JBL 2446J CD's with 2385a horns and the adjustable mounting stand's for 340 bucks plus shipping. These are in very good shape. Am I nuts to pursue this?
The frequency range of these drivers go up to 20Khz, the drivers in my Klipsch Heresy's die at 17Khz. What I want to try is to disconnect the mid and tweet on the Heresy's and see if I can get the JBL's to perform better. Still trying to learn more about Xovers as I know I'll be messing with them next.
Thanks and yes, I'm in over my head. LOL
BillWojo
The harshness is always there in my experience. The H and J differ in that one is ferrite and one is alnico. If you buy the recommended 'phragm for your driver you should not have an issue.
Clean gaps before installing new 'phragms and do NOT force!
Clean gaps before installing new 'phragms and do NOT force!
Probably the best diaphragm in those drivers for home hifi would be the JBL 2421/LE85 aluminum D16R2421
Thanks POOH, I'll check those diaphragms out.
Do you know if a H model can be changed to a J model by swapping diaphragms?
BillWojo
Do you know if a H model can be changed to a J model by swapping diaphragms?
BillWojo
Bill,
There are literally dozens of different types of diaphragms that will fit in the 2446 drivers.
Just make sure to carefully clean the gap and properly align the replacement diaphragm regardless of your choice.
Having all the aluminum 2421 diaphragms fail due to cracking(in a maximum of 3 years), and never having a 2425 titanium diaphragm fail due to cracking in the ensuing 10 years, my choice would be different than Poohs, but my experience is primarily at higher volume PA use. That said, if you want to cross low (<1000 Hz) even in home use aluminum surrounds may be stressed to failure over relatively short time periods.
Of course, after 45 years of experience with compression drivers, my "relative" terms are longer term than many 😉 .
Art
The JBL Aluminums are very pricey- I keep shying away from the Radians because I've heard, right or wrong, some bad stories of QC. What method do you use for alignment art?
I use the radian diaphragms with the mylar surrounds. They are by far smoother than all the rest.... To my ear of course.
For the 1" throat JBL drivers, with the exception of the Radian's, the performance of every aftermarket diaphragm that has been sent to me to test via Plane Wave Tube meaurement has been dismal at best. I wouldn't use them if they paid me to.
The aluminum JBL's sound the best to me but they come at the highest cost.
Barry.
The aluminum JBL's sound the best to me but they come at the highest cost.
Barry.
"Probably the best diaphragm in those drivers for home hifi would be the JBL 2421/LE85 aluminum D16R2421"
You may die of shock at the price though.
You may die of shock at the price though.
Oh I see - pretty crazy. For around half that you can get this
Celestion Compression Driver 1" 60W RMS | CDX1-1747 (CDX11747) | Celestion
Probably a good thing TruExtent never produced diaphragms for the 1" drivers, folks would then be discussing how reasonable those D16R2421 are 😀
With 1" driver, which one is the best Radian diaphragm for high frequency response above 10Khz? the 1225 or 1228 is suit for HF ?
Only some Radian diapkragms with spec. to be done in public. Some diaphragms spec. are not.
Thanks
Only some Radian diapkragms with spec. to be done in public. Some diaphragms spec. are not.
Thanks
Both the 1225 ( for JBL ) and the 1228 ( meant for Altec ) are noticeably "softer" above 10K ( even when EQed ).
I attribute this to these Radian diaphragms having less UHF breakup due to the mylar surround.
Anecdotally;
Many users would be surprised that they might find each of these diaphragms less satisfying to listen to ( than the originals, if a tweeter isn't used ).
OTOH, it will usually take most people ( particularly on the forums ) some effort to admit that they might actually enjoy a bit of sonic tickle ( from spurious breakup, when "breakup" has become such a finger-wagging "no-no" ).
🙂
I attribute this to these Radian diaphragms having less UHF breakup due to the mylar surround.
Anecdotally;
Many users would be surprised that they might find each of these diaphragms less satisfying to listen to ( than the originals, if a tweeter isn't used ).
OTOH, it will usually take most people ( particularly on the forums ) some effort to admit that they might actually enjoy a bit of sonic tickle ( from spurious breakup, when "breakup" has become such a finger-wagging "no-no" ).
🙂
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