Grumpyuncleglenn Posted April 9, 2021 Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 I've owned my Jii's for three years now having bought them on ebay. The mid range is sounding a bit muddy so I thought I'd open them up and possibly replace the caps on the crossover. When I took the woofer out I found, to my surprise, the barest minimum of a crossover. The woofers are directly wired to the input terminals and there is just one capacitor on the tweeter circuit. No other components at all. I also discovered there was no wadding at all, just the inside of a bare box. I would like, if possible, to re-instate the crossover to as near the original as possible. Does anyone have a schematic I could follow please? Thank you in advance Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted April 9, 2021 Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 Welcome Glenn First a disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about Snells. But I was intrigued by your question and wanted to try to help out. This thread has a picture of a J II crossover that’s far more complex than yours https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=lddc55gu4l11o86rpqode9t4t2&topic=31803.15 Snell is no longer in business but according to the now defunct Snell website, this outfit is selling parts https://www.atomichifiandtv.com/snell-acoustics.html I don't see a lot of Snell enthusiasts here but maybe you'll get lucky. Also try AudioKarma. Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daque13 Posted May 10, 2021 Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 On the Peter Snell speakers, the only ones I know anything about, the caps are usually cascaded on the xover. I don't have a schematic but I do have a pair of JII's that I could crack open and photograph. What you're describing is pretty weird, however. I'm not sure what you mean about the woofers being 'directly wired' to the input--you mean it's not attached to the xover at all? The photo that JKent linked to is a typical early Snell xover--cascaded caps, chokes, variable resistors. The chokes would be custom wound and the adjustable resistor (I'm spacing on the name of this type of resister--wirewound?) at the top is set (note how it's glued in place) to match this particular pair of JII's to the 'master pair' at Snell. Some say the caps are cascaded for sonic reasons, but a Snell tech told me that they were just combining whatever caps were on hand to get the right value. It's also very weird that there's little or no stuffing. Most original Snells have a fair amount of stuffing, and that's definitely going to impact the mids and lower frequencies. There's nothing wrong with taking some stuffing out to tune it more to one's taste, but little or no stuffing is odd. Peter at Audio Note, which as you might know sells boutique versions of original Snells (he is pretty up-front about it), is a big proponent of minimal stuffing, but then the Audio Note J's are made of birch ply and may be better suited for tuning. Anyway, the long and the short of it is the former owner may have played around with your speakers a bit. Feel free to post a photo of the xovers and insides if you want more advice. I'm in the process of moving and prefer not to open mine up but if you feel strongly about it I'd be willing to do it, if it's helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lt_texan Posted May 14, 2021 Report Share Posted May 14, 2021 I had some JII's apart years ago but didn't document the crossover. Does your tweeter look like an original? They have been known to lose their coating and sound dull and lifeless. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VSAT88 Posted November 5, 2021 Report Share Posted November 5, 2021 Where is the OP ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpyuncleglenn Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 Still here (just). Thank you your comments. I took the speakers to Haycross Audio in the depths of the Devon countryside in the UK. He worked his magic and produced two videos for Youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Glenn, Sorry I didn't follow this. I originally responded almost 3 years ago and knew nothing about Snells. Coincidentally, this past summer a neighbor gave me a pair of J IIs! You can read my saga here: Looks like the previous owner of your pair really did "muck around" with them, to say the least! But it appears you got a very committed technician who put a lot of work into reviving yours. Hope they serve you well. Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpyuncleglenn Posted February 12 Author Report Share Posted February 12 Kent Thank you for your link, which I read through with interest. Yes, I can thoroughly recommend Haycross Audio in the UK. Cost was very reasonable too. Seeing photos of the original crossovers out of the factory they look a bit of a mess as far as their physical layout goes, but did the job well, presumably. I doubt I'll ever part with my Jii's although I have a pair of standmount Proac Db1's in the system at the moment. I change speakers according to what amplifier I'm using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 4 minutes ago, Grumpyuncleglenn said: Seeing photos of the original crossovers out of the factory they look a bit of a mess as far as their physical layout goes, but did the job well, presumably. 😄 Yeah. Snell was somewhat fanatical about crossovers. Every xo was matched to the drivers, so you couldn't buy a new woofer from them without also buying a new crossover. Personally, I think that's nonsense but one would think such fanaticism would warrant meticulously neat assembly. Apparently not. The J IIs are really nice but I have too many speakers and too little room. Trying to find a home for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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