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  JBL L26 Decade

Here is my documented journey to resurrect some neglected JBL L26 Decade speakers.

Here is what I had to work with; both woofer surrounds were shot, tweeter foam rings were
disintegrate or missing, one tweeter had some kind of "goo" or glue all over it and the
worst part was someone having sealed the woofers with some kind of caulk that effectively
glued the drivers in place. So, when I removed them it pulled up part of the cabinet.

I cleaned up the woofers and sprayed the cones with a very light dusting of Krylon Semi-Flat
black to add some color back into them. I then went to the trouble of sanding the basket lip
starting with some 320 grit paper and then all the way to 1000 before polishing. I think it adds
a nice touch. I then refoamed them with surrounds I got from Rick Cobb on Ebay (looneytune2001).
I believe he is one of the best guys for this kind of stuff, as he has gone to the trouble to do his
homework and supply technically correct parts. Then the tweeters cleaned and tested.

I cut some new foam rings out of some scrap foam I had laying around. I have ordered the
thin black rings from JBL. The correct part numbers are: LE25 #50402 (grey) / LE25-2 #53363
(black) / LE25-4 #54279 (black smaller diameter) Once the black rings arrive I will put them on.
First thing for the cabinets was to apply some wood filler to the voids left when removing
the woofers. Then sand it down to get a nice mounting surface. TIP: put the mounting
screws in from the back flush to keep any filler out of the threads. Next was to mask off the
baffle pieces and sand the surface before painting. Again, with Krylon Semi-flat black.

Here the backs are sanded and then painted. Then onto sanding the cabinets. The side by side
picture gives you a before and after comparison. I started with a belt sander and some 320 grit
to remove some of the original surface sealer. If you are not skilled with a belt sander, don't use it.
The veneer is not very thick, so you can sand through it, if you're not being VERY careful.
I then switched to hand sanding using a rubber block and paper. More 320 and then 400, 600 and 1000.

Here is a cabinet after final sanding, then taped off for spraying and last a cabinet with one coat of DEFT.
I applied several coat, lightly sanding in-between coast with some 1000. The final coat is not sanded.

Which brings us to the final product. They turned out rather nice.

JBL@wardsweb.org

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