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Post new topic D110F, 120F 130F---Paper versus Aluminum dust cap
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Author Topic:  D110F, 120F 130F---Paper versus Aluminum dust cap
Gibson Hartwell


From:
Missoula, Montana, USA
Post  Posted 26 Jan 2016 8:03 am    
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All of these that I've used have the Aluminum dust cap. Do paper caps in these speakers kill the magic sparkle, or does it have any impact in taming some of the potential icey, death ray, brightness?
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Tim Marcus


From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 26 Jan 2016 10:35 am    
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it kills the magic - but so does a recone with anything but the original parts

Austen Hooks (amp guy for Blake Mills and others) and I had a long talk about this a few months ago. He likes the paper cap - but for 6 string. He also puts them into a double baffled cab that he designed. Its a different sound than I am used to with the floating baffle/open back/alum cap.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 26 Jan 2016 4:17 pm    
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I really don't care for the aluminum caps, too much "brights", especially close to the amp. Whoa!
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Gibson Hartwell


From:
Missoula, Montana, USA
Post  Posted 27 Jan 2016 8:55 am    
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Thanks Tim, I was hoping you'd respond! Hope you are well.

Donny, have you used any of those speakers with paper dust caps?
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Tim Whitlock


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 27 Jan 2016 9:50 am    
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I agree with Tim M that the aluminum caps are an essential part of the JBL/Altec magic. You do have to carefully tailor your amp EQ and your technique to successfully pull out said magic. Many players have done so over the years, proving that it is not impossible.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 27 Jan 2016 10:56 am    
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I'm a big fan of JBL's. D120's with the aluminum cap are plain old perfect to my ear. I haven't heard or played through anything I like as well. Any time you use a truly responsive amp/speaker set up you get what you put into it. If your picking technique is clumsy you will get a spiky clumsy sound. If your picking is right you will get a sparkle and shimmer with clear full mids.


I have original cone , NOS recones and aftermarket recone JBL's and all of them sound amazing and way better then anything else I have tried. There are a couple great recone guys right here in Austin that do flawless work.

The only time I played through paper cap JBL's I couldn't hear that shimmer in the overtones that I love.
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George Redmon


From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2016 8:12 am    
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For sure, a stock JBL has that magic that so many other speaker companies try to copy. It "Sounds like a JBL". I have 9 Original JBL's under lock & key. Now days if a speakers doesn't break up, the young guitarist don't want them. Spend thousands of dollars on guitars, and custom boutique amps, just to have it all distort. ok.

When Ted Weber was alive, we had several conversations about these great speakers. Ted loved the JBL's as well.
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Geoff Noble


From:
Scotland
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2016 9:19 am    
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Not JBL's but I have just had a similar choice with some vintage McKenzie speakers, (late 70's) that I'm currently reclaiming.

I have 2 of these that I found in an old Fender Twin I picked up about 20 years ago. One of them was duff at the time, so I replaced them both with Eminence speakers.

Long story short, tried the good one a few months ago - wow - so found a guy who could recone the duffer with original parts.

Both these have aluminium caps, when the guy was doing the recone he asked me if I wanted the original aluminium cap or a cloth cap. He recommended the cloth cap as he didn't like the type of highs from the aluminium type.

The good speaker was aluminium cap so I reckoned best keep both the same. In the meantime I picked up a bargain on a more modern version of the McKenzie, (they were bought up by Wharfdale), which had a cloth cap.

Using one with aluminium and one with cloth gave a very nice balanced high end. I got the recone back and replaced the cloth capped with the recone.

Clearer up the top end, great for ringing type sounds, but as hinted in a previous post can get a bit spiky, but with careful eqing, sounds great up the top end and the mids are nicely balanced.

May not be great for guitar but for steel they seem to work very well.
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Geoff Noble


From:
Scotland
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2016 9:19 am    
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Double post.
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Last edited by Geoff Noble on 1 Feb 2016 7:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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David Higginbotham

 

From:
Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA
Post  Posted 30 Jan 2016 8:22 pm    
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I will say that I currently use a JBL K-130 and K-120 original cones but with the dust caps changed to paper from the original aluminum and I find them better. Not that the aluminum wasn't good but the harshness on the highs was a bit over the top for my preference. I'm getting great tone with the warmest mids of any speaker I've used over the years and crisp but very smooth highs.
Dave
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