speakers

Kevin Quick · Post by **Kevin Quick** » 7 Jan 2015 12:28 pm

been outta the loop for quite some time now. apparently JBL does not make the k-130 15" anymore. along with a lot of other speakers they used to make. doing some research online tells me that the eminence eps 15c would be an equal replacement? just fishin for some opinions here. thanks

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 7 Jan 2015 12:41 pm

There are all sorts of great speakers out there. In my experience nothing sounds like an old JBL except an old JBL though. I am back to using only old JBL speakers after wandering around in the desert of "sounds like..." clones for many years.

Chuck Blake · Post by **Chuck Blake** » 7 Jan 2015 1:24 pm

Maybe this question has been asked. So if the older JBL's have the sound, I'm wondering why JBL or some other manufacture has not been able to mimic that sound.

Could it be the the materials used or the specs? Or the fact that all of those speakers has seen several years of service and are "well broken in".

Inquiring minds would like to know.

Thanks for any insight on the subject.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 7 Jan 2015 1:27 pm

You just need to keep your eyes on e-bay or Craig's list and they come up for sale quite often.
I just put one in my Webb.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 7 Jan 2015 1:49 pm

The Eminence EPS-15C neodymium comes close. I did field testing of this speaker and the first time I tried it I immediately thought "this sounds just like the JBL K-130 I had in a Fender Twin Reverb".

This also follows the Peavey 1501-4. The Eminence EPS-15C was made to be a light weight direct replacement for the Peavey 1501-4. According to what Mike Brown posted, the 1501-4 was designed to be a higher power replacement for the JBL that Peavey had originally used in the Session 400's.

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 7 Jan 2015 2:58 pm

You should check out the Telonics 15" Neo - an outstanding speaker in it's own right ... I have never used a K130 so couldn't offer a comparison, but I believe they are better than the BW1501-4 which is saying a fair bit.

Cartwright Thompson · Post by **Cartwright Thompson** » 7 Jan 2015 3:24 pm

I'm with Bob, there is nothing like a D or K series JBL. I have a Telonics 15 that I like. You can hit it with a whole lot more power than a JBL but it doesn't sound at all like a 130. I like the Telonics twelves too, but they are even less like a JBL. There's something about the mids.....

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 7 Jan 2015 3:42 pm

Paddy,
Make sure you never try a real JBL ! The neo speakers are great but do not sound the same. Once you get that sound in your ear it is very hard to go back. The difference is not subtle. I used Telonics speakers in my Milkman amps for as long as I could stand it. They are not even close to old alnico JBLs when it comes to detail, response and focus.

I have had quite a bit of luck with JBL recones. There are a couple guys in Austin that do great work. Ken at Mustang speakers and Austin Speaker Works.

There are people working on making real JBL type speakers at the moment. They are not cheap but I have heard some very encouraging things.

John Dowden · Post by **John Dowden** » 7 Jan 2015 11:36 pm

Real JBL type speakers you say????....please tell me more.

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 8 Jan 2015 8:14 am

I have talked with Chris at Jupiter speakers about re-creating JBL speakers back and forth for years, and here is the main hang up why there are no new JBL speakers:

the company that made the cones for jbl went out of business a long time ago, and the paper recipe for the cones never made it out of there. The cone materal has a lot to do with the magic sound

you can re-create the basket and the magnet but without the exact recipe for the cones you will never make it.

On top of that are the aluminum dust caps. These are outrageously expensive to manufacture in small quantities. If you have an original JBL speaker you will notice that the dust caps curve down to the cone at about a 90º angle whereas on most recones and copies the dust cap is more of a lens shape that meets the cone at a more obtuse angle. There is some sort of magic there too.

Lastly, the price of alnico is through the roof and ceramic/neo magnets sound different.

Three giant hurdles... but I can say that there are some good people out there tasked with making something similar to a JBL speaker. Chris at Jupiter has a few ideas that might get us closer to the JBL sound at a less outrageous price point - who knows, we might even stubmle onto something better!

Chuck Blake · Post by **Chuck Blake** » 8 Jan 2015 8:33 am

Thanks Tim Marcus for the posting. That was the type answer I was looking for, and your explanation is spot on for a less than knowledgeable inquiring mind

Chuck

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 16 Jan 2015 9:53 am

The 4" edgewound voice coil and the massive magnet structure of the older JBL speakers are essential elements of the design, the latter now being too expensive to reproduce, one of the reasons JBL went to ceramic magnets with their "E" series.

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 17 Jan 2015 8:24 am

...and of course there's the aging of the alnico. New alnico in speaker (and pickup) magnets doesn't sound like the old stuff.
I guess it's because it looses some of the magnetism over time...or something like that.

Kerry Johnson · Post by **Kerry Johnson** » 19 Jan 2015 8:57 pm

Here is the spec sheet from JBL on the K Series,

www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/k_series.pdf

the K-120 speakers have a very unique tonality.

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 30 Jan 2015 6:39 am

Does anyone use WEBER speakers?

Roger

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 30 Jan 2015 10:13 am

I'm using a Weber ( California ) 15" in my Nashville 400 now. The JBL E-130, after 23 yrs crapped out and I exchanged them until I decide what I want to do. The Weber sounds good, but, isn't broken in yet. It's rated at 80 watts and is lighter than the JBL. The 400 is my at home amp, so, it doesn't get the work out it would normally get. I'll get back to you in a year or so after it breaks in a bit. My main rig is a Stereo Steel with 2, 15" JBL's. I'm not sure what models they are, but, they sure sound good.

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