JBL 4343 speakers

Amazing find. I have a pair and have been enjoying them for years. There are many things you can fix on an old pair of 4343s to get more and more out of them. Enjoy the journey.
 
I finally got time to pull the drivers

There are some great write up about the 4343 by HJAMES on the Lansing Heritage site

Serial numbers:

Woofer 2231A - 36784
Mid 2121 - 25349

Speaker #1
Just lay the 79kg speaker down on its back. I used a rolled up towel to keep the edge off the floor so I could get purchase when lifting
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Pull the four clamps and ease the woofer up onto the baffle
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I'll get to the electronics soon
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Four screws for the mid and I used a very thin putty knife to get under the mid frame to loosen it
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Questions:

Should I use rubber or foam for the surrounds replacement? I'm thinking foam as original
Is the inverted dustcap a problem for re-foaming the surrounds on the mid?

A video from Japan on 4343 repair showed the guy jumpering the speaker terminals together. Is that something valid to do?
In order to prevent the voice coil in the vibration hurts, leave connection each terminals. Unit caused the repulsive force of the electromagnetic induction in doing so will stabilize


I do not want to ship these anywhere to be worked on. (If I needed a recone I might send them off)
 
Congrats big time. I painted a set,living in the far east now.:bowdown:
 

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I ordered the 2308 Kenrick lenses
I opened a conversation with the refoamer guy
I expect to use foam not rubber
 
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Sorry, I just made it up on the fly in my mixing room. You would have to find a painter using PPG global for the formula to work anyway. Automotive paint shops can mix you some and put it into a spray can if you have a chip.
 
I agree, foam surrounds. Not too hard to do, just time consuming. And no, the inverted dust cap won't affect the re foaming process. I use the hand centering process as to make sure they are VC centered.
 
Look at it this way...,

If you do rubber surrounds, they will probably mount to the outside of the cones. This would leave visible glue on the cones it anyone wanted to redo them properly in the future. If you are looking at these as an investment, you need to consider the future and what a potential buyer would be interested in..., which is typically strict adherence to originality.

If you've never done foams, these are not the speakers to learn on and at ~$100 per side for a professional installation (~$50 per cone), this is not the place to skimp.
 
Thanks for the responses

I have done foam surrounds before but I took these drivers to a professional for a professional job

no rubber, just foam

Parts on order
Drivers are in capable hands


Now we wait...
 
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Having been through this, I predict that on LH you will find various color codes for the baffles, some of which will be obsolete. I used one such recommendation (Sherwin-Williams) for my 4301Bs and it came up as a very bright blue; dramatically brighter than the original photos of my model, although I liked it.

You will also see, using Google images, that over the years JBL used various shades of blue for its pro baffles; the differences are pretty stark in some cases.

Your best bet might be to take your blue baffle (pop out the removable section) to an auto body shop (call ahead first) and see if they can match and mix it up for you into a few spray cans.
 
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I am ready to proceed

Let the spending begin...

I was poking around the Hi-Fi Do web site recently when I ran a search in their junk site, which is not really junk per se, but rather items that aren't worth their effort in service compared to their value. Lots of interesting stuff there.

I noticed a number of JBL lens listed at very reasonable prices. I didn't look too closely, but they seemed to be in reasonable shape.

http://www.hifido.co.jp/KWjbl/G1/P0/A10/e/40-10/S6/C09-42375-41379-00/

http://www.hifido.co.jp/KWjbl/G1/P0/A10/e/50-10/S6/C15-01074-27904-00/

No idea if that is the model you need (nor shipping costs), but there are more. The ones I saw were all listed at $41/$42 as I recall. Might be worth a look.

Those are the only two pair I see listed now. Thought there were more.

Good luck!

(EDIT) I see more listed now. I tried a specific search that didn't list everything it should have.
 
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I have the Kenricks, and except for the foilcals, they look exactly like the originals, but they're brand new and in perfect shape (good luck finding old ones in such perfect condition). The Kenricks even have lovely metal Kenrick foilcals!
 
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