E V Patricians-- JBL Hartsfields- Your choice

Buconero 117

The Everest was the statement JBL loudspeaker. The concept was fantastic but as happens to all loudspeakers that need the room size we had in the 50s and 60s, nobody bought them.

The K horn design hits a brick wall at 35 HZ. Back in the 60s the point was moot as program material went no lower via the playback devices of that era. Now we hear TTP issues recorded in the mid 50s with sound that makes demands on the best of the best.

I'm not looking at building a statement speaker by today's standards. I feel I have that system now.

I'd like to revisit the drivers of yesteryear for the fun of it. I'll set them up in a separate room, more than big enough for the experimental speakers, and see how they sound. If they sound like hell to me, off to the kids they go. The Ipod generation doesn't know what sounds good anyway!

Ken

Bob,
As you mentioned, the 375 mid driver was great up to 10K and then rolled off. JBL augmented the 375 driver with the 075 in later systems where it was easier to integrate than in the Hartsfield.

The patricians I built used the K horn up to 150 Hz and then I crossed over to the drivers used in the last Patrician 880. The sound was much better than the 800 that used the lethargic 30 inch foam cone woofer.

Ken

JW,

I was traveling for the last few days and had idle time which I put to good use researching on the Lansing Heritage website. I never knew that alnico magnets loose their strength over time, especially 40 or 50 years. They can, however, be re magnetized by a JBL repair facility for about 25 bucks each. That's not too much but the shipping will kill you unless you ship a number of them back via common carrier.

The aluminum diaphrams in the compression drivers also get tired and need to be replaced. New beryllium diaphrams are now available for most compression drivers such as the 375 at about $600 each, new aluminum jobs are about $200.

I learned that the new TAD drivers were designed by the same man that designed the 375. Having said that, the main difference in all of them is the diaphram. Using a different diaphram will enable one to end up with either a 375 which needs a tweeter, or a 376 which does not.

I'm not kidding myself about the sound I'll be hearing after I switch on the music, but who knows. I'm putting these JBL drivers together just for the fun of it and it'll be a lot cheaper than buying an old sports car.

Ken