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Author Topic: JBL 2242’s and equivalent  (Read 11599 times)

David Junius

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JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« on: March 23, 2019, 04:30:00 PM »

Ok, so I’ve got a pair of subs with the 2242 driver in them. I’m considering building another pair since they aren’t available but I see I may have trouble finding those drivers. I thought about buying the matching subs to my tops but those aren’t available anymore either. So is JBL making a driver comparable or is there another driver out there that would be close enough for me to build a semi matching pair to what I have? The alternative is buying something currently on the market.

Thanks
DJ
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Mike Caldwell

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2019, 12:19:32 AM »

While the 2242 is a good sounding 18, by todays standards it's a dated design.

What type design sub cabinets are they in?
What are you going to use the subs for?

David Junius

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2019, 06:47:17 AM »

While the 2242 is a good sounding 18, by todays standards it's a dated design.

What type design sub cabinets are they in?
What are you going to use the subs for?

The 2242’s are in my “w” bin cabinets. Yes I do get the occasional comment about still carrying around those subs! But I’ve had them for close to 20 years now and they’ve been fine for me. I use 1 per side under one or two yorkville U15’s. As I’m growing a little I wanted a little more sub and figured I’d get another pair as that’s probably the cheapest route only to find I can’t find them. So then I decided that maybe I should just upgrade and get 4 subs that actually match my tops only to find they aren’t available either. So my next option is to find a driver that’s close enough in sound and build 2 copies of my w’s or just upgrade all my subs to something that’s newer and available. So that’s when I decided to post in here and see which option makes the most sense. I know eventually I might be able to find this stuff used, but then I’m at the mercy of playing the waiting game to find the stuff, not that I’m ready to buy a large batch of subs right now since this started as a how much are my current subs to add a pair!

Dave
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John Halliburton

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2019, 08:12:08 AM »

The 2242’s are in my “w” bin cabinets. Yes I do get the occasional comment about still carrying around those subs! But I’ve had them for close to 20 years now and they’ve been fine for me. I use 1 per side under one or two yorkville U15’s. As I’m growing a little I wanted a little more sub and figured I’d get another pair as that’s probably the cheapest route only to find I can’t find them. So then I decided that maybe I should just upgrade and get 4 subs that actually match my tops only to find they aren’t available either. So my next option is to find a driver that’s close enough in sound and build 2 copies of my w’s or just upgrade all my subs to something that’s newer and available. So that’s when I decided to post in here and see which option makes the most sense. I know eventually I might be able to find this stuff used, but then I’m at the mercy of playing the waiting game to find the stuff, not that I’m ready to buy a large batch of subs right now since this started as a how much are my current subs to add a pair!

Dave

Both the U15 and the LS1208 subs are still being made.  There is also the ES21 subs which I think would be a decent match to the U15.

Best regards,

John
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Chris Grimshaw

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2019, 09:27:44 AM »

Just a quick FWIW, if older JBLs in W-bins are your reference, I suspect you'll be impressed at what a modern high-power 18" in a sensible ported box will do.

Chris
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David Junius

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2019, 12:35:15 PM »

Both the U15 and the LS1208 subs are still being made.  There is also the ES21 subs which I think would be a decent match to the U15.

Best regards,

John

I saw that the U15 is still in production on their site. I didn’t see the LS1208 but I wasn’t looking for that sub either. I was in reference to the UCS-1 not in production. I’ll look into those ES21’s. Are the LS1208’s carpeted? I’d like to get away from carpeted boxes.
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David Junius

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2019, 12:44:54 PM »

Just a quick FWIW, if older JBLs in W-bins are your reference, I suspect you'll be impressed at what a modern high-power 18" in a sensible ported box will do.

Chris

Maybe. I don’t have much opportunity to demo speakers. I’m sure there’s people around me with stuff I could listen to, but I don’t have those contacts yet. I know Danley is up the street from me but I doubt I’ll have a budget for anything up there. I’ve done some freelancing in the past with a larger company but I’m not in the market for a kf850 rig either. I started with those w’s under some Yamaha club speakers back in the day and just never upgraded, but I see that maybe now is that time! I guess I should do some research and see what’s out there.
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2019, 01:52:46 PM »

Maybe. I don’t have much opportunity to demo speakers. I’m sure there’s people around me with stuff I could listen to, but I don’t have those contacts yet. I know Danley is up the street from me but I doubt I’ll have a budget for anything up there. I’ve done some freelancing in the past with a larger company but I’m not in the market for a kf850 rig either. I started with those w’s under some Yamaha club speakers back in the day and just never upgraded, but I see that maybe now is that time! I guess I should do some research and see what’s out there.

The 2240 and 2242 were awesome woofers for their day but their day was 20 - 30 years ago.  A whole lot has happened since then with transducer materials and physical design and construction to achieve longer xMAX and dissipate more heat and survive the mechanical stresses.

It's not easy to audition new gear, you're right.  A lot of my early listening is arranged by calling the regional rep firm for the manufacturer(s) I'm interested in and asking what retailers or pro end users have ordered inventory of the thing I'm interested in.  After that it's a few phone calls to see when they might be used or available to audition.

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David Junius

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2019, 07:21:31 PM »

The 2240 and 2242 were awesome woofers for their day but their day was 20 - 30 years ago.  A whole lot has happened since then with transducer materials and physical design and construction to achieve longer xMAX and dissipate more heat and survive the mechanical stresses.

It's not easy to audition new gear, you're right.  A lot of my early listening is arranged by calling the regional rep firm for the manufacturer(s) I'm interested in and asking what retailers or pro end users have ordered inventory of the thing I'm interested in.  After that it's a few phone calls to see when they might be used or available to audition.

I get it, technology has made drastic improvements in the audio world in the last 20 years. Just look at how much has gone digital. I will say this, people have been impressed how my w bins sounded once they heard them. The comment was always, those aren’t stock drivers are they?

John, when I search for ES21 subwoofer I get results showing me a small home theatre subwoofer. Could you give me more info on that sub!

Also, has anyone done a subwoofer comparison lately. I originally thought I was going to be adding a pair of w bins and now I’m looking into buying a whole new set of subs and I really have no idea where to begin. I guess I’ll need to decide if I want to go with active or passive boxes first. I almost feel like these comments are saying that anything I buy today will at least keep up with my w’s if not out-perform then so it almost doesn’t matter what I buy!
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Mike Caldwell

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Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2019, 08:38:16 PM »

The last new price for a 2242 was something around $700...way over priced even then in comparison to what else was available let alone to what is available now.

What size are your W bins. They have some output but may not be going as low as you think.

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: JBL 2242’s and equivalent
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2019, 08:38:16 PM »


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