Downtownfish Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I just scored the deal of a lifetime. Well I think so. Anyway I just bought a pair of scoop speakers with all old jbl parts. D130's, 1217-190 horns, LE 175 drivers, and N1200 crossovers. I think I am going to sell them to fund a new amp. Anyway I have a pretty good Idea of what the components are worth alone but not for the whole set of speakers in the cabinets. The cabinets were built as a kit as I also have the paper work or everything and a warranty card. I think the components are worth around 1500+. Anyway any help would be great. Before you jump on me for selling them these things are huge and I can't fit them in my place. My KG4's will have to do. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrfish Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Part them out and sell me the cabinets for the over/under??? Downtownfish...Bigrfish.....keep it in the family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplatel5000 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I can understand selling them due to their immense size. I have a pair of 2 ways with the LE14A and the LE175 in "apollo" cabinets. they are a wonderful sounding pair of speakers, Very different, and not quite as "all-purpose" as my Cornwalls. However, I have found they absolutely excel on jazz, vocal, and acoustic recordings. In regards to parting the speakers out: I know this is the klipsch forum and not the Lansing heritage forum. Because of that fact the speakers may not be what you personally want. I think it would be a sin to part out a beautiful pair of speakers like that. They deserve to go to a JBL nut. Mine are worth as "parts" in the ballpark of what yours may be worth, and unfortunately the sum of the parts is worth more than the whole. That being said, I still I don't think I could butcher a pair of speakers more than twice my age in the name of a couple extra bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I just scored the deal of a lifetime. Well I think so. Anyway I just bought a pair of scoop speakers with all old jbl parts. D130's, 1217-190 horns, LE 175 drivers, and N1200 crossovers. That seems to be the C-34 system with the standard 001 speaker complement. They were rear-loaded horns (not "scoop" speakers), like Klipsch Shorthorns. JBL was always a little dry for me, but the definition was truly excellent IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downtownfish Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks for the info guys. I thought they were scoops I guess I was wrong. I found out they are c40 cabinets built from plans bought from JBL. Anyway I really don't want to part them out and I have a guy locally offering me 900 for them. I want to get more, but the more I think about it, it is a good deal. My other option is seperating them and throwing them on ebay, but after fees and the hassle I think 900 is worth it. I really don't want to seperate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Have you tried setting them on the floor with the "scoop" down? That's how they're supposed to be -- having the mouth of the scoop-like horn sit directly on the floor effectively extends the length and size of the bass horn. Sitting on a table sideways is likely to knock out the extension and fullness of the bass, kinda like putting a K-horn or LaScala on a table. If you try it, please let us know how it comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downtownfish Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I can try it, but I think they are designed as low boys to mount horizontally. They would sit as shown with either a riser or legs, but on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 The C34 and C40 design is almost the same, with the C40 Harness design meant to be placed horizontal. Depending on space, you can turn them up vertically (with the woofer and tweeter on the top). The C34 has the back corners angled in, so it could be placed in a corner. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 The C34 and C40 design is almost the same, with the C40 Harness design meant to be placed horizontal. Depending on space, you can turn them up vertically (with the woofer and tweeter on the top). The C34 has the back corners angled in, so it could be placed in a corner. Bruce I see no reason why the C40s couldn't be pushed into a corner, where the bass would likely be better than as a lowboy.. As Bruce said, the two designs are highly similar. I used to own C34s with D130 extended range being used as woofers. They had very clean bass, but it was attenuated below about 70 or 80 Hz. It did take EQ well, though, and turning up the bass trim controls on the McIntosh C28 pre-am (up to + 6 dB for the lowest frequencies) and also turning up the regular bass controls when needed gave me awesome bass. A sound montage I was working on then, involving an imaginary tour of the sun, used the roar of an atom bomb blast, and over the C34s with EQ was compared favorably to the sound in the movie Earthquake by those who heard it. The most obvious difference between my current Klipschorns and the C34 -- in the bass -- is that the Klipschorns go more than an octave lower. As to midrange and treble, the Khorns do everything better. Downtownfish, do your horn lenses have a bunch of holes in the lens, like the 175 DLH had (looking like an old fashioned shower head)? If so, JBL used a horn lens design that was sort of a miniaturized version of the custom mid/high frequency JBL units commissioned by Ampex to use in the 70 mm Todd-AO theaters, which had some of the best sound ever. I think the larger, double woofer JBLs, like the C55 rear loaded horn, were the ones nicknamed "scoops," but your C40 certainly looks scoop-like. Strangely, the C55s didn't have a lot of deep bass either, but also took EQ well. The Todd-AO enclosures were at least twice the size of the C55, and had a huge, solid front surface that loaded the bass. I prefered them to the Altec rivals, but of course, never compared them side by side.If you would like to see something that really won't fit in your living room, I believe, but am not positive, that the front loaded horn Ampex/Todd-AO/JBL speaker shown below is one channel of the 5 channels behind the screen used by Todd-AO: "Jim Lansing Theatre Sound System" of 1954(Also Manufactured as Westrex T550 and Ampex 6000C)© Harman International, Courtesy Mark Gander and John Eargle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I can try it, but I think they are designed as low boys to mount horizontally. They would sit as shown with either a riser or legs, but on the floor. Perhaps your cabinets are designed that way, but most C-34-like pics show them vertical and not on legs. That has the advantage of putting the bass horn mouth fully on the floor (see comment below) and the treble units at ear level. A friend of mine placed his two C-34's vertically. See the upper left corner picture of the page http://www.hifilit.com/hifilit/JBL/1955-3.jpg.Again, cabinets with bass horn mouths normally sit with the mouth placed directly on the floor, in order to maximize the length and mouth size of the bass horn and thus the extension and virtual size of the bass rendition. Horizontal placement would probably reduce the deepest bass slightly. Putting it on legs would probably reduce the deepest bass still more. All Klipsches with bass horns (K-horn, La Scala, Belle, and Shorthorn) were designed to have the full width of those horn bottoms fully planted on the floor. Please let us know what you think if you give vertical floor placement a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Those are very cool. We used to use 15" and 18" JBL scoops in a PA back in te 80's. Nice low end. Love those stained cabinets. I agree it would be a sin to part them out given their vintage and condition. If you can't use them as is (or vertical), please pass them along to someone else who can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Perhaps your cabinets are designed that way, but most C-34-like pics show them vertical and not on legs. Here's some pics of Sheltie Dave's C40... http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/84439.aspx Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Here's some pics of Sheltie Dave's C40...http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/84439.aspx That speaker is very attractive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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