[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by Giovanni68

Ciao Pete,

reading your post was quite entertaining and pouring passion off of every line... yes, what a pity pics being gone but, in a way, doesn't make me feel too bad for not being able (yet) to restore my L220 up to yours

Today heavy rain and an on and off thunderstorm made me remove the other passive radiatore and clean it up off the old foam and ready to be done once I get the new surrounds which, by the way, are coming off the US and even tho less than 100$ you never know how Italian customs behave and even worse how Italian Post service does, till leaving the US tracking was available, for what it matters they could be anywhere now and I'll never get to know not to mention that with xmas next door I might see them in 2020, ahhh l'Italia...

As I mentioned before the ex owner had the brilliant idea to paint them, it bothers me biiiiiig time and sure I will try and revert them back to original, not now, now I just want to make them work, next crossovers and next the cabinet.

Once I decide to move on I will come back to ask advise about the caps, which kind to use on either low, mid and high, hopefully the pads won't need anything else than some spray and usage.

Before removing the passive radiators I plugged them to an old integrated amp I bought along with my 4311B (which are now playing Dire Straits) and, wow, they are on another league, not quality wise but quantity wise, can tell the state is so much bigger compared to the monitors and the air they move, even tho 1db less, is a lot more, just can't wait to do the PR15 and set them back to work.

As far as system mine is old even tho I upgraded recently but still with vintage stuff, preamp is an AR SP9, CD player a Sony X505ES, power amp a heavy Chinese Aeron AP890 with twin KT88, in the storage a small but powerful Adcom GFA 535 which I might revive by, again, changing the caps, cables are very old Monster Cable but I would give a try at some DIY ones, then there is a DAC, a little British Beresford Caiman SEG with its own power bric, definitely too many switches to move to listen to some music, luckily no wife to mess up with it and, oh, the nicest and less used piece, a Michell Gyrodec MKI and the Kiseki step-up which I will try and sell once I decide where to invest it onto, I think I will need a proper power amp but long way before I can afford one (or two...)

Oh, by your hint I checked the woofers and they are the LE14A so mine should be the first release, I dunno why the owner filled the bottom of the cabinet with some heavy foam, maybe to absorb some of the stationary waves?

On both of the passive radiators one of the things holding the screws in place on the cabinet is missing, no big deal since there are 8 each but I wonder if I can retrieve a pair just to have it all in place.

Well, enough for today, thank you for replying the old thread and for the inspiration and help you'll provide

Giovanni

p.s in my next life, once I get a little wider space, Klipschorn will find a spot along with an Oracle Delphi

Giovanni....I'm always happy to share my thoughts with a fellow JBL fan, even more so if that fan is working to restore a pair of L220's. I'm convinced that if you take your L220's far enough, you won't worry about Klipschorns any more . ( I've always dreamed of an Oracle Turntable though!) A little trivia...you probably know that JBL had names for many of their models (L100 Century, L300 Summit, etc). Did you know that the L220 was named Oracle?

I still have all my pictures from this old thread, one day soon I might replace the pictures that photobucket ruined so you can see them...

Just take your time my friend, your efforts will be worth it. Do the work by priority, as you say.

That foam in the bottom of the cabinet you mentioned was put there by the factory. Mine deteriorated with age; some years ago I replaced it. You'll also find some foam blocks inside on either side of the midrange chamber that will probably need replacement.

Stay the course and take your time, you won't be sorry. I'll keep checking back on this thread.....