Quote:
Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice  It wouldn't be, as the D series was alnico, the E series ceramic, and the two were separated by the also alnico K series. The D140 is a bit of a mystery driver, as there are no records of it in the JBL archives. It's specs are unknown. |
Didn't know the E was ceramic, I've got a D140F which is why I looked all this up years ago. Here's the quote from Harvey Gerst, which is in reply to somebody's questions about the D130/140 series:
">Harvey, you seem like the guy to ask about this. I'm curious for a
>description of what *all* the JBL speaker numbers mean. For example,
>what is the prefix letter? I've personally seen D, E, and K, and I'm
>sure there are more; what does this represent? I've seen numbers like
>120, 130, and 140; these must not be size-dependent, as both a K140 and
>D130 are 15" speakers. Finally, what is the suffix letter? I've seen D,
>E, and F.
Well Hal, let me take you back to the late 50s, early 60s. JBL was a small
company with their main offices above a candy store, and the manufacturing
scattered in a number of buildings up and down the street, near Glendale, on
Fletcher Drive.
They made the following speakers;
the D130 a full range 15",
the D131 a full range 12",
the 130A a 15" woofer,
the 130B (same as the 130A, but 16 ohms),
and the 150 - a 15" woofer with a heavier cone.
The D stood for a metal dome and the A and B were for woofers of different
impedances. I don't remember if we made a 131A. We also made a D123 (full range
pancake 12" speaker) and the D208 and D216 (both 8" speakers but with 8 and 16
ohm voice coils).
Fender was buying D130s for use in their Dual Showman systems, but they were
experiencing problems in surrounds drying out from outdoor use, and burnouts
>from improper mounting techniques. I wrote a memo to the president of JBL,
outlining a plan to let me design a series of speakers made specifically for
musical use and he agreed. My plan called for modifications to the D130 and
D131, plus an all new bass 15" speaker, and a new 10" speaker.
Since Fender was our largest purchaser, I did not want the headache of trying to
re-introduce a whole new series so I kept the D130 name for the 15" and simply
added an F (yes, the "F" is for Fender - don't know why to this day I did that,
but I did). Since I was making up new model numbers, I decided where possible to
keep it simple, so the 12" (originally the D131) became the D120F, and the new
10" became the D110F.
That left the new bass speaker. I didn't want to leave it in the 13x range
because it was different and the 150 was already being used by our theater
woofer. The 140 was not being used, so I named the new bass speaker the D140F.
After I left JBL, I understand they came out with the black crinkle finish and
renamed them E series. The first major modifications were made in the K series,
as I understand it.
>And one other question. Can a similarly-sized frame/magnet assembly be
>reconed with a different kit? Can I take a K140D frame and have it
>reconed with a D130 kit?
I really don't know what changes were made in the K series, so I can't answer
that, but I'll bet the owner of Orange County Speaker Repair can.
>If you could answer these questions, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's
>interested. Even if you can't, any information would be interesting.
Well, Hal, I hope it was interesting.
Harvey Gerst"
new eminence eps-15c steel speaker for bass? 
just saw eminence 15" lightweight steel guitar speaker. Looks like its specs show some bass frequencies plenty of power. Looks like d130 or d140 clone with alum cap. Specs show xmax of 3.3 m m. Is that enough for wide tonal range JBL sound for vintage 60's. Can it handle round smooth low e from my 51' p bass?
"the object is to get there firstest with the mostest" Napoleon 
l
peavey tnt needs speaker upgrade 
he said it can easily handle 300 Watts.
