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JBL XPL200A The Unicorn speaker?

I found a pair of JBL XPL200A which I immediately snatched up! Anyone that had the pleasure of listening to the XPL200 would agree they are worth the $ to repair. The woofers needed re-foaming which was a given considering the vintage. One of the tweeters (046-Ti1) needs a new diaphrgm, unfortunately JBL stopped producing them but offer the newer version (046-Ti1S) which is supposed to sound identical. However, the replacement diaphragm is 10db lower. We swapped the new diaphragm on the working tweeter and it played 10db lower also. The XPL200 is 6ohm but I haven't seen a 6 ohm diaphragm. Does anyone know a direct replacement or have experience replacing Ti speakers? TIA!

joyofsound
ditusa's avatar
ditusa
2,446 posts
 

@joyofsound Wrote:

Could I essentially use these settings for the dbx and fine tune from there?

I think 300/275 Hz would be a good starting point! JBL states in the XPL200 manual when actively biamping the XPL200A the woofer crossover point should be set @ 250Hz electrical. Hope that helps

I have no experience with a digital crossover only analog. I use a JBL 5235 active analog crossover with special plug in crossover cards # 52-5130 designed for the JBL 4430, 4435 monitors. Crossover point is 1000 Hz electrical the speakers are two way. 😎

Mike

joyofsound OP
43 posts
 
@fiesta75

Many thanks for sharing your experience. Would you say the XPL is a clinical speaker or very musically faithful?

@ditusa

That's a tremendous help and thanks for the x-over references . I saved the pages!

fiesta75
1,535 posts
 

I would like to have an update on the JBL 046ti tweeters you bought. Any good? To me, the XPL200's were accurate and sounded like the instruments and vocals as recorded. Not clinical at all, lovely speakers.

joyofsound OP
43 posts
 

I just received them and will be fitted asap. I'll have an update shortly. 

I will try to bi amp using a dbx DriveRack PA+   

joyofsound OP
43 posts
 

The 2 replacement JBL 046-TiS1 were installed and sound exactly as designed. I'm also happy they are the updated drivers which the XPL200A should have. Oddly, mine were the original 046-Ti. In any case, they sound incredible when using the internal x-over. Music sounds fluid, vocals are airy, and the mid range is tight and yet agile, effortlessly taking up the upper and lower mid ranges.

Hard to imagine bi aping will elevate it even more. I'm having a heck of a time with bi amping, adjusting the crossover and Parametric EQ for the highs/lows. There's not much info online for the dbx PA+. 

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