[PaulJay]

Hey Guys, My E-120 is working intermittently. It will sound fine than it will cut out and then come back. Connections look good, any clue? ,Paul

[mijknahs]

Are you sure the problem is with the speaker? Did you try a different speaker and see if you get the same problem?

How about the E120 in another cabinet and amp?

[PaulJay]

Yes I tried two amps and it does the same thing in both. Then I switched speakers and the other speaker works in either amp. Thanks

[mijknahs]

I've never heard of that problem before. I've only had them either work fine, work but sound bad (scratchy or distorted - voice coil rubbing), or not work at all (voice coil frozen).

How are you connecting them? Are they in a cabinet with a jack plate that you plug your speaker cable to? Or do you connect the speakers directly to the amp without a jack plate?

[PaulJay]

The speaker is in a 1x12 cab with a jack plate that has 2 inputs. The connections seem to be good.

[mijknahs]

I would try it with the speaker cable wires going directly to the clips on the speaker to rule out any intermittant problem with that speaker jack. Or try the speaker in another speaker cabinet.

[PaulJay]

The speaker jack works with the the 2nd speaker that is now in the cab. but I will check the speaker by wiring it direct. Probably somethinng silly. Thanks again ,Paul

[lunasparks]

I lost a K120 just like this, if I'm reading you right. Does it work when you first start playing for a bit, then after a bit it pretty much goes dead until you kind of let it chill out/cool down, then work again until....?

In my case, it was one of the voice coil lead wires (not sure that's the correct name, but it's the 2 wires covered in black goo on the front of the cone coming out of the dustcap and through the underside of the cone leading to the inputs. Over time and a lot of playing these can become brittle (generally on the front of the cone, under the goo) and ultimately kind of get a microfracture. If it's not too terrible you may be able to get it repaired, but almost everyone I encountered told me that a recone was really the only way to go. I tried to get it repaired as a last ditch and it worked for a few hours before crapping out again. I bought a new one on ebay rather than pay for a proper $250 recone job.

For those more technical than me, correct me if I described any of this wrong. I don't really know it, just trying to communicate my limited understanding. In any event, my guy was toast.

[PaulJay]

What happens is if I play for a minute it will cut out ,then when I strike a chord hard it comes back and so on. I am suspicious of those small wires on the front. I am not too familiar with how the voice coil works, but I think you might be right on target. Sorry to hear about your K-120 . Thanks, Paul

[mijknahs]

This sounds just like a problem that a friend of mine was having with his rig. I don't know what it was. I guess it could be the speaker.

[czyfingers]

I have an original cone K120 with this exact problem...cuts out completely at random and with a hard chord with increased volume, it will come back. If anyone has a solution,I would love to know what it is, rather than recone this otherwise perfect speaker. It sounds beautiful when it's working. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Vin-Tone]

The term you are looking for is (Tinsel Leads) they are a fabric wire that has been conductivity coated. They wear out. Will sound intermittent at first and stop working all together at some point. It is possible to repair/replace these. It is a very tedious affair and not recommended if you have not done it before. A good recone shop should be able to do this for you. Some will say they can't and that you will have to opt for a recone. This fix does not always work but a good reconer will usually give it a shot. If they are not willing to try this repair I would not trust them with a recone. We charge about $25 to do this.

[lunasparks]

Since this thread has been revived, I'll provide an update. Back in April (2012) I brought this speaker to the local JBL-authorized service center for a recone (decided I would pony up the cash). After numerous failed recone kits due to apparent JBL factory kit problems with the voice coil, the local guy gave up and shipped the speaker straight to JBL to get them to recone it for me.

Months later and what I've been told from the local guy is that JBL is sending the speaker back...but they are NOT reconing it. It seems JBL is saying that they're no longer supporting these speakers (K series and presumably E/D as well?). I was shocked and after further questioning what I can glean, accurate or not we shall see, is that after numerous manufacturing problems with the JBL recone kits they can't seem to get things straight and have made the decision to just abandon their production of the kits.

Now it could be that local guy doesn't have the story right or something was lost in translation. However it works out, though, I expect to get back only the frame/basket. If anyone hears confirmation of the above or can de-bunk it please post. But this is what I've heard...just a PSA for the brothers!

EDIT: just to be clear, I wasn't the original poster...my update is for the K120 that had what sounded like a similar issue.

[Smolder]

Thanks lunasparks... that's more detail than I've been hearing. Rumor was they moved production to mexico and that things weren't going well. The factory kit re-cone of my D took several months last spring (kits backordered). It sounded spectacular for about 30 days and then died. When I sent it back I (stupidly?) sent a K120 along with. Backorders were expected to be filled in September, but we're still waiting on kits. Very frustrating in spite of having other D's.

Not the re-coner's fault btw... it's likely a much bigger problem for him. I'm just one customer.