From k2mojo@groovedaddies.com Sat Oct 25 10:22:08 2003
Subject:JBL EON alert (was: decision time....)

Heads up for all you JBL EON15-G2 owners and owners-to-be. Our band uses 6
EONs for monitors and within the last 3 months we started to encounter
problems with 5 out of the 6. They've now since been to the shop and back
and are working just fine, but I want to relate what I found out about them.
It turns out that there is a known problem (known by JBL) that the amplifier
circuit board is faulty and when it gives out causes the amp to go "DC". To
those of you who don't know, when an amp goes DC it feeds a continuous DC
current to the drivers and promptly melts the voice coil, which is what
happened to two of our EONs. Three more were cutting in & out
intermittently and were most likely on their way to doing the same thing.
JBL knew there was a potential problem and issued a service alert to it's
authorized service centers, but they aren't recalling them, you just have to
wait until it screws up and then take it in. Also, this doesn't apply to
all EONs, just a particular series and JBL has since corrected the problem
on all the newer EONs coming out now. My helpful JBL service center buddy
clued me in on all this and since our EONs were still under warrantee I
insisted that JBL pay to replace the circuit board (and the blown drivers)
in all 6 units since the flaw was now revealed to me, and wisely JBL took
care of it. I have always had good experience with JBL and this is one more
example of a reputable company 'doing the right thing'; since they treated
me well, I'll continue to be a happy customer.
Here are the specs from the bulletin JBL released: Effective 6/14/02 all
new units will contain the "improved" amplifier assembly. Units with serial
number EON15G2-27225 and above will have the new design (so consequently if
your EON serial # is lower I would suggest you get the amp board replaced
while it's still under warrantee). If you encounter any flak from your JBL
service center, have them refer to JBL Technical Information Bulletin TB-029
"EON15-G2 Changes to Amplifier Assembly".
I think JBL is a first rate company, I REALLY like the EON15-G2 and I will
continue to buy JBL products. Still, flaws can manifest themselves in just
about any design after the initial release, but if you know what they are
before you buy the product it makes it a lot easier to deal with down the
road.

Ed Fliege
k2mojo@groovedaddies.com



> My Eon G2 starting emitting a loud buzz on the show tonight
> (even with
> nothing plugged into it) so I'm mad at it. I also have to
> figure out how to fix it
> before tonight so I'm cranky at it. But I think it is the
> best performance in
> its weight class.