$0.02. Old Alnico JBLs are prime examples of very efficient drivers that will put out more sound for every watt put into one. Gotta 50 Watt head and a pair of these in a cabinet? Playing a gig is no problem. However, with the new high-wattage amps out, blowing them is easy now. Once blown, chances are you will not find an original D or K 140 cone to replace it with and end up with an E-Series cone or one for a PA that is left over in someone's shop. Also, few people ever bother to get their old JBL and Gauss speakers re-gaussed over time, so their magnets are actually weakening and falling way be low specs for their models. Always, have your speakers regaussed when getting them reconed. Alnico holds its gauss less heartily than common ferris, but it will hold 2.5 times as much. The new series of rare earth magnets being used these days are the same. They hold more per mass, but they will dispell it quicker over time with jarring and temperature changes. Old speakers or new Neodymium ones are sounding a bit weak? Hit a shop with a re-gausser.
The going rate for a single JBL for Fender cabinet replacement is $250 to $400 for D-140F gray basket (Especially if they have FENDER stamped on the basket/frame). However the price goes down for a reconned one, and keeps going down for other cosmetic issues. So blowing an old JBL can be 'double' costly, and they do cost a pretty penny to recone, even with after-market cones. Just another issue to contemplate. Are your JBL, Gauss, or Altec drivers worth more to you as collectors items, than gigging equipment? I have seen mintish orange basket D120F's sell for $500+ each. I have one pair of orange basket 12 JBLs left, and an ever rarer pair of orange basket Gauss 12's left, and they will be inheritance for someone, but never sold by me.
Personally, I have retired and sold off much of my old speaker collection, sound gear, and amps (They were retired, not me - Dang!). I now use four E-110s for above 800 Hz and 2 SD 21 P. Audio's for 30 to 800 Hz. I can abuse the hell out of these, and they just keep sounding better and better. IMO - P. Audio and Beyma are the new James B. Lansings of the current speaker world, and EV is a close third and a good, steady choice, also.
Bottom line on all gear issues is that the resolve to the quest for the right sound is in the ears of the searcher. So let's hear it for the retirement of the Altec Lansing era of drivers, and long live the new driver kings, who ever you deam them to be.
(Message edited by poor_nigel on October 22, 2008)
