MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
I am currently downsizing my living space, and unfortunately, that includes my stereo systems. I'll eventually whittle it down to two systems, one in the living room/dining room area and one in the master bedroom.
I plan to keep the JBL L36 Decades I restored last April in my main system and tonight I picked up a pair of JBL 4301B Control Monitors for the future bedroom system.
I've been watching for a pair of these smaller JBLs to show up locally. These first popped up about a month and a half ago on my local craigslist. The asking price wasn't outrageous, but given the fact that these needed refoamed and some other minor work, I waited patiently as the listing expired. When they were relisted, I contacted the seller and made him what I considered a fair offer. He immediately made a counter offer, but knowing how much I spent, in terms of both time and materials, to restore my L36 Decades, I didn't budge. He told me if they didn't sell within the next week, he'd accept my offer. Well, tonight, he did.
The foam surrounds on the woofers are obviously shot. So, I just set them up tonight for some quick pics, but won't even attempt to run a signal through them until the woofers have been properly refoamed.
Other than some uneven UV fading, one small ding and a general drying out of the veneer, the cabinets are quite nice. I'll probably give them a light hand sanding and then apply the standard JBL recipe finish.
UV Fading:
The paint on the front baffles still looks pretty nice, but it's a darker, less radiant shade of blue than the beautiful Kenrick Sound 4301B Control Monitors I have been lusting after for the past month and a half on YouTube. Obviously, those Kenrick 4301Bs aren't stock. They have beryllium tweeters and crossovers full of Jantzen Z-Cap Silver capacitors, custom wiring, etc. But, boy they sure do look purty. I've spent so much time watching those videos, I was expecting the stock 4301Bs to have a similar bright blue front baffle to the Kenrick version. I repainted the front baffles on my L36 Decades, and they turned out very nice. So, I would consider repainting the front baffles in the 4301Bs, too. However, I think I'll give the darker, stock blue color a chance to grow on me. They are in good enough shape that they don't need repainting, it would only be done to match the look of the Kenrick Sound versions. Any opinions? Leave the baffles their stock color, or repaint them to a brighter shade of blue like the Kenricks?
Here's a couple photos for comparison:
My stock blue baffles:
Kenrick Sound custom blue baffles:
The grills are decent, but not perfect. They both have a few minor snags and one has a hole roughly 1/4" in diameter:
The foilcal on the other has some waviness to it:
I'll probably replace the grill fabric once I've refinished the cabinets. Can that foilcal be salvaged. If I re-glue it onto the replacement fabric, will the waviness go away, or do I need to hunt for a replacement? Also, while I'm at it, does anyone know of a current source for genuine, or very close reproduction, JBL blue grill cloth?
Since I'm moving, these will be on the back burner for a while, but while I'm getting settled, I'd like to order the necessary parts and supplies. So, that when I'm ready to start, I'll have everything on hand to finish the job.
I plan to give the crossovers the same treatment I gave my L36 decades. Of course, I will start by disassembling and cleaning the L-pads (only one per speaker this time) and I'll use a 7uf Sonicap Gen I in the tweeter circuit, bypassed with a 0.01 uF Vishay-Roderstein MKP1837. For the woofer shunt cap. I'll use two 8.2uF ClarityCap PX capacitors in parallel bypassed with a 0.1uF Vishay-Roderstein MKP1837 to get the correct 16.5uF value.
Any other suggestions or advice from the JBL fans and experts out there? This will be my second pair of JBLs. Like my L36 Decades, I plan to do the best job I can on these, and hopefully I'll enjoy the finished result as much as I've enjoyed the L36 Decades over the past 16 months.
I plan to keep the JBL L36 Decades I restored last April in my main system and tonight I picked up a pair of JBL 4301B Control Monitors for the future bedroom system.
I've been watching for a pair of these smaller JBLs to show up locally. These first popped up about a month and a half ago on my local craigslist. The asking price wasn't outrageous, but given the fact that these needed refoamed and some other minor work, I waited patiently as the listing expired. When they were relisted, I contacted the seller and made him what I considered a fair offer. He immediately made a counter offer, but knowing how much I spent, in terms of both time and materials, to restore my L36 Decades, I didn't budge. He told me if they didn't sell within the next week, he'd accept my offer. Well, tonight, he did.
The foam surrounds on the woofers are obviously shot. So, I just set them up tonight for some quick pics, but won't even attempt to run a signal through them until the woofers have been properly refoamed.
Other than some uneven UV fading, one small ding and a general drying out of the veneer, the cabinets are quite nice. I'll probably give them a light hand sanding and then apply the standard JBL recipe finish.
UV Fading:
The paint on the front baffles still looks pretty nice, but it's a darker, less radiant shade of blue than the beautiful Kenrick Sound 4301B Control Monitors I have been lusting after for the past month and a half on YouTube. Obviously, those Kenrick 4301Bs aren't stock. They have beryllium tweeters and crossovers full of Jantzen Z-Cap Silver capacitors, custom wiring, etc. But, boy they sure do look purty. I've spent so much time watching those videos, I was expecting the stock 4301Bs to have a similar bright blue front baffle to the Kenrick version. I repainted the front baffles on my L36 Decades, and they turned out very nice. So, I would consider repainting the front baffles in the 4301Bs, too. However, I think I'll give the darker, stock blue color a chance to grow on me. They are in good enough shape that they don't need repainting, it would only be done to match the look of the Kenrick Sound versions. Any opinions? Leave the baffles their stock color, or repaint them to a brighter shade of blue like the Kenricks?
Here's a couple photos for comparison:
My stock blue baffles:
Kenrick Sound custom blue baffles:
The grills are decent, but not perfect. They both have a few minor snags and one has a hole roughly 1/4" in diameter:
The foilcal on the other has some waviness to it:
I'll probably replace the grill fabric once I've refinished the cabinets. Can that foilcal be salvaged. If I re-glue it onto the replacement fabric, will the waviness go away, or do I need to hunt for a replacement? Also, while I'm at it, does anyone know of a current source for genuine, or very close reproduction, JBL blue grill cloth?
Since I'm moving, these will be on the back burner for a while, but while I'm getting settled, I'd like to order the necessary parts and supplies. So, that when I'm ready to start, I'll have everything on hand to finish the job.
I plan to give the crossovers the same treatment I gave my L36 decades. Of course, I will start by disassembling and cleaning the L-pads (only one per speaker this time) and I'll use a 7uf Sonicap Gen I in the tweeter circuit, bypassed with a 0.01 uF Vishay-Roderstein MKP1837. For the woofer shunt cap. I'll use two 8.2uF ClarityCap PX capacitors in parallel bypassed with a 0.1uF Vishay-Roderstein MKP1837 to get the correct 16.5uF value.
Any other suggestions or advice from the JBL fans and experts out there? This will be my second pair of JBLs. Like my L36 Decades, I plan to do the best job I can on these, and hopefully I'll enjoy the finished result as much as I've enjoyed the L36 Decades over the past 16 months.
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