JBL E110-8 Speakers...anybody every use them?

[Mandopicker]

Howdy all...I have a friend that has 4 to 6 brand new JBL E110-8's and I was thinking about making a Vibrolux-syle amp and using a set of them.

Anybody had experience with these speakers?

Anybody know what they cost new? I have seen prices from $100 to $200 each. (He wants me to make an offer.)

Thanks in advance for your time.

P.S.
Would they be too much for a Stock SF Princeton, too?

Just curious...

[GibsonLover]

I front loaded a D110F into my Princeton after I converted the chassis to a Vibrolux. The speaker can handle a lot of power as you know, and I've been told by others that it sounds pretty sweet. That's my opinion too, but most tube practicioners think their own stuff is the bomb...
As subjective as speaker and speaker/amp combinations are, I would hope your friend would be receptive to letting you hook up one or two for you to decide yourself. As far as overkill with a stock Princeton - it's not too crazy if you play with a lot of distortion. The speaker should be way over-rated if that's your bag.

[Mandopicker]

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it. In fact, I am suggesting that he send me a couple to test out. I also spoke to another friend who said that they be better suited for Audiophile use. Is that a good think for a guitar tube amp? The test will be to find out.

My friend was going to use them for a commercially available high wattage acoustic amp that never got off the ground. (Other successful products not related to amplification took precident.)

That said...I kind of feel like they should sound very good with a great sounding amp due to their efficincy. Probably hard to get them to break up, but my thoughts were more toward using the amp with few pedals and keeping the tone in the Fender Family.

Thanks again.

Thanks again.

[Earl Norton]

It is still a guitar speaker and therefore would not do deep bass very well used in Hi-fi. lower cut off is 60Hz. for your fenderish guitar amp I would highly recommend it.

[Mandopicker]

Just a quick follow-up about the E110-8.

My friend sent me two speakers to mess around with and after playing with my 73 Princeton (w/Deluxe OT) and one of the speakers installed...all I have to say is WOW! Also tried it with a 1970 DR that was BF'ced and it sounded great there too.

With the size of the magnet and frame, the speaker barelly fits cause of the OT. Quite a full range and the cabinet compliments it well. It really sounds way better than the stock speaker.

I'm definitely leaving it in. Now all I got to figure out is what to offer him for them. I think the 2 x 10" Vibrolux would be fantastic with the right cabinet size. Maybe about the same size as a DR.

Anyway, thanks again for the responses and advice.

[GibsonLover]

"With the size of the magnet and frame, the speaker barelly fits cause of the OT. ...
That's why I front loaded mine - you gain an extra 1/2" clearance from the thickness of the baffle. Looks Hi-Fi too...

[Mandopicker]

Does yours have the stock Princeton Trans? I was able to adjust things a bit better with the Deluxe Trans and I now have about an
1/8" of space. Pushed it really hard and experienced no vibrations.

(Good timing for the swap, because after removing the original speaker I noticed that is showing some wear in a small area near an edge closest to the frame. At the volumes I had been playing it at...I think it was destined to blow...at the wrong time of course.)

Thanks for the idea about being front loaded...and the confidence to give it a shot.

Best of luck to you!

[head_spaz]

I have four of them

I have two 2 x 10 cabs that I use with my Carvin Tube100 (2 x 50 watt tube poweramp). They are super efficient and can make your ears bleed.
They produce good bass punch, but they truly excel in CHIME because of their extended frequency response.

I bought four E110s brand new in 1980 and they cost over $1K back then.
I used to work at Altec Lansing in the seventies, (the "L" in JBL stands for Lansing) and we built the same speaker, but even with my employee discount they would have cost me $200 more for the set. So I opted to buy the JBLs out of principle.
I built my own cabs.

The E110s are quite impressive.
After 29 years of continuous abuse they look and sound like brand new. They are the MAYTAG of speakers... the closest thing to bullet proof!

They have MASSIVE motors... huge ceramic magnets, a four inch voice coil wound on aluminum formers, large spiders, folded edge surrounds, aluminum dust caps and HEAVY cast aluminum frames. The only way you're gonna hurt anything is if you drop them on your foot, or be silly enough to build a 4 x 10 cab that would quite literally break your back. These babies weigh a TON!

With all their great features however, I should point out that they are not a guitar speaker per se. They were designed as Pro PA Speakers, specifically intended for sound reinforcement purposes in the concert arena.
They DO NOT break up like your typical celestion/jensen guitar speaker, no matter how hard you drive them.
I could see where they could be quite suitable for twangy surf or country western style music though. But if you're looking for vintage rock n' roll, they are not very good at creating distortion. They can replicate/reproduce distortion quite well, but they are not good at creating distortion themselves.

I'm happy with mine. But I use vintage guitar speakers when I need that vintage tone.

Here's some speaker porn for those who might be unfamiliar with these little monsters...

[Mandopicker]

Thanks for all the great insight.

So far, I am very happy!

Makes me feel great knowing that $70 each was a good price for 4 pcs.

All the best!

[guitardude57]

I used a JBL E-120 in a Plexi JR build, that I've used in numerous cabs over the years. I got it at a garage sale for 20 bucks.....did a recone (1985) $65 and has work flawlessly.

I am an EVM12 L fan.....all my Marshall cabs have these.
So, if you want to find out what the true tone of any amp without speaker break up is JBL or EV is the way to go!

[Wizzard Audio]

JBL E110-8 For Guitar Amp Use

The JBL E110-8 was designed as a low to mid range driver in multi driver arrays for hi fidelity home speaker systems. The specs are 75 RMS watts at 8 Ohms. Frequency response is 60 Hz to 8,000 Hz, so it's way above what you would need for a guitar amp.

You could drive this with a pair of 6L6's and have plenty of punch, especially if you design your amp at close to the maximum plate voltage of 500 VDC. But as always, 450 is safer for the 6L6's. If you want to get really crazy you could design an amp running a pair of 6550's which are good for almost 100 watts if operated at 660 volts on the plates. Again 600 volts is safer and the tubes will last longer. With a 6L6 amp the speaker will probably not "break up" as the max would be 60 watts from the amp pushing a 75 watt speaker. However if you design an amp running a pair of 6550's at close to the design maximum, you would definitely get some speaker break up. But keep in mind, sustained long term "speaker breakup" is risking a voice coil burn out. Much better to design your amp so that the "breakup" comes from the various amp stages being over driven.

Adding just one section of a 12AX7 will give you plenty of overdrive. If you cascade both sections of a 12AX7 then you'll get some pretty insane "breakup." As a side note, I HATE the 12A family of tubes. They were designed for less current consumption on the filaments than the 8 pin version, so power transformers could be made smaller and cheaper. Also they take up less physical space than their 8 pin counterparts. One major downside is the fact ALL of the 12A family of tubes get "microphonic" really easily. This is partly due to the close spacing of the inner elements.

Personally I LOVE the 6SL7 for a pre-amp tube. It's a Hi-Mu Twin Triode like the 12AX7 but in an 8 pin octal bottle. The 6SN7 is a Medium Mu Twin Triode like a 12AU7 or 12BH7 but again in an 8 pin octal bottle. The 6SN7 makes a great final stage of preamplification and as a phase splitter. I see a E110-8 for sale on eBay that I'm thinking of buying for a home brew guitar amp. The single 10" combo cabinet I got from eBay, and it's really pretty and clean and will make a nice new home for a 90 watt tiny guitar amp. Have fun! Wizz

[Leo_Gnardo]

I have a couple customers who used to use the similar K-110 JBL, one had a couple Vibrolux Reverbs loaded with them, but in recent times swapped 'em out for Celestion Vintage 10 60W speakers. Funny, but he swears the Celestions sound louder! And without that annoying (to many) JBL 'ping' up at 5000-7000 Hz. Another had a Super Reverb, and for him they were just too bright and way too heavy. He went all the way to the other end for replacements - a quad of Jensen MOD 10-35's. Much easier on the ear, and he can pick up the cab and move it without wrecking his shoulders.

I've noticed prices have swung low on 110 series JBL's offered on Ebay. $75 more or less, depending on condition. As a guitar speaker, you'd better be certain you want that 'ping' in the top end before investing. Other than that they make terrific midrange speakers for PA, and that 'ping' can carry a lot of the top end, let you skip having to use large expensive squawky sounding horns.

[czech-one-2]

I have two 2 x 10 cabs that I use with my Carvin Tube100 (2 x 50 watt tube poweramp). They are super efficient and can make your ears bleed.
They produce good bass punch, but they truly excel in CHIME because of their extended frequency response.

I bought four E110s brand new in 1980 and they cost over $1K back then.
I used to work at Altec Lansing in the seventies, (the "L" in JBL stands for Lansing) and we built the same speaker, but even with my employee discount they would have cost me $200 more for the set. So I opted to buy the JBLs out of principle.
I built my own cabs.

The E110s are quite impressive.
After 29 years of continuous abuse they look and sound like brand new. They are the MAYTAG of speakers... the closest thing to bullet proof!

They have MASSIVE motors... huge ceramic magnets, a four inch voice coil wound on aluminum formers, large spiders, folded edge surrounds, aluminum dust caps and HEAVY cast aluminum frames. The only way you're gonna hurt anything is if you drop them on your foot, or be silly enough to build a 4 x 10 cab that would quite literally break your back. These babies weigh a TON!

With all their great features however, I should point out that they are not a guitar speaker per se. They were designed as Pro PA Speakers, specifically intended for sound reinforcement purposes in the concert arena.
They DO NOT break up like your typical celestion/jensen guitar speaker, no matter how hard you drive them.
I could see where they could be quite suitable for twangy surf or country western style music though. But if you're looking for vintage rock n' roll, they are not very good at creating distortion. They can replicate/reproduce distortion quite well, but they are not good at creating distortion themselves.

I'm happy with mine. But I use vintage guitar speakers when I need that vintage tone.

Here's some speaker porn for those who might be unfamiliar with these little monsters...

^Great post!
I just dropped an E110 in my single-ended 6L6 Fender Champ 12 and am absolutely blown away with the clean tone and efficiency of this speaker. This little 12w amp can easily hang with a loud drummer. I've tried MANY speakers with this amp, Jensen c12n,JBL D120f,alnico eminence 10 and 12. The E110 is the clean tone I've been searching for. And as a plus it reproduces pedal overdrive and distortion quite well. What goes in comes out....only LOUD! :-)