JBL 4343 speakers

Mounted
View attachment 1038183
It does add a new level of fragility to the system

Looks like you did a nice job getting the lenses mounted well on the baffle. As one poster noted, you may consider pulling the #2 baffle off and change the tweeter position to inner left to mirror the speakers and reduce the tweeter reflections off the right side wall and your desk. .

I know space is tight in your room, but if you have about 12 more inches total width, I highly recommend the Home Depot Milwaukee brand furniture movers at $20 apiece. It will be the best $40 you spend on these speakers and will save your back. Just make sure you have some help moving them onto the movers. The cabinets will overlap with the carpeted step about 2" on each side. If you prefer to, you could find 18" deep melamine covered shelf stock, probably 1/2-5/8" thick and cut to fit inside the space to flat fill underneath the speakers. These particular movers will also get the speakers up just a little more.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1-000-lb-Capacity-Furniture-Dolly-33700/100057209
milwaukee-dollies-33700-64_1000.jpg
index.php
 
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Personally, I would recommend restoring the Studio Gray cabinet to the WX configuration and veneer of your choice. IMO, that is the most attractive option and maximizes the value of the speakers.

Have you tried listening to the speakers with and without the acoustic lenses? In your room with limited width and volume before pain capacity, there may not be a huge difference, the listening with lenses are usually better.

Also, let us know who did the nice work on the refoaming, good work always deserves some recognition.
 
I recommend getting them a bit higher off the ground than that dolly and on something more solid. You want the bottom of the lense at ear level. also an unrelated tip: make sure all the screws in the front baffle are present and screwed tight, you want a good seal for bass response.
 
Nice score on those. I would think they are vastly superior to your Altecs, E-Vs, and Universities.
 
Thanks for all the replies
I saved all your tips and suggestions in a "notes" file on the JBL 4343 speakers

This is just phase one, "Get em running". I got them unexpectedly and so far have $330 invested in the speakers (foam and lenses) and now $320 in the Pioneer, so uhhh six hundredd....and...uhhhh 50 dollars for free speakers

The person who did the surrounds is a local guy who, that is all he does is surrounds.

I expect to get both speaker cabinets re-veneered from a pro woodworker. This will require removal of the existing walnut trim to be duplicated so they match on final assembly. The studio texture model has to have about 3/4" removed from the face side of the cabinet in order to accurately put the trim piece on to match the WX model

I also will recap the crossovers and closely evaluate the pots

I will get them off the floor. There are $600 stands on the bay but that is pricey

I did make sure all the screws were tight when I re-installed the drivers

Yes, the JBL 4343 studio monitors are my biggest, best, baddest, bigly dollared speakers

but

The EV-Six speakers are awesome as well
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ev-six-restore.574779/

And talk about bringing back from near oblivion
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/university-classic-dual-12-speakers.716487/

The Altec Model 14's are gone

Lately I have been spending my discretionary audio dollars on a Morikawa 2A3 SET amp with Tango transformers
 
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Have you tried them in the GMC Canyonland yet?

Thanks for all the replies
I saved all your tips and suggestions in a "notes" file on the JBL 4343 speakers

This is just phase one, "Get em running". I got them unexpectedly and so far have $330 invested in the speakers (foam and lenses) and now $320 in the Pioneer, so uhhh six hundredd....and...uhhhh 50 dollars for free speakers

The person who did the surrounds is a local guy who, that is all he does is surrounds.

I expect to get both speaker cabinets re-veneered from a pro woodworker. This will require removal of the existing walnut trim to be duplicated so they match on final assembly. The studio texture model has to have about 3/4" removed from the face side of the cabinet in order to accurately put the trim piece on to match the WX model

I also will recap the crossovers and closely evaluate the pots

I will get them off the floor. There are $600 stands on the bay but that is pricey

I did make sure all the screws were tight when I re-installed the drivers

Yes, the JBL 4343 studio monitors are my biggest, best, baddest, bigly dollared speakers

but

The EV-Six speakers are awesome as well
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ev-six-restore.574779/

And talk about bringing back from near oblivion
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/university-classic-dual-12-speakers.716487/

The Altec Model 14's are gone

Lately I have been spending my discretionary audio dollars on a Morikawa 2A3 SET amp with Tango transformers
 
Sorry to say I haven't done anything else with the JBL's. They sound fantastic, work perfectly but they are presently stuffed into a corner unused

My obsessive compulsion with the GMC Canyonlands has left most of my vintage audio in the lurch
 
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Great score there. About $1000 better than my best ever , 4343 + 4315 + 4312 pairs In grey except the 4312's.
Anyway just a few pointers re re capping the x/o. You will have to remove the potting resin from the metal box to access the larger electrolytics and inductors. I did it in the 4315's bey putting them on top of my woodburning stove with the stove running 'slow'. the potting compound will melt from the outside in and you just have to watch it till it is all liquid. Have a tub to pour off into.
There is a mess of wiring to contend with , you should have a blown up circuit diagram to refer to. The easiest way to do that is by finding the 'JBL' part numbers ID'd on the diagram , and then find the component in real life.
Some of the cap values are tricky to find as a single cap so you may need to sum a pair to get the correct value and re installing them on the OEM structure may be difficult.
Thats the reason why most folks doing this rebuild the x/o on a more expansive board.
.
Hope that helps you a bit. M
 
How about, "Honey, you know that retirement fund you were worried about??? A small investment now will pay big dividends in the future."
Sorry to say I haven't done anything else with the JBL's. They sound fantastic, work perfectly but they are presently stuffed into a corner unused

My obsessive compulsion with the GMC Canyonlands has left most of my vintage audio in the lurch
 
I just finished reading the whole thread on the
4343’a for Alnico Speakers. The more desirable version
I also have a pair. I bought them from the Original owner 30 years ago $1300 and then
It was a great deal. I lucked out cause I also got the original Jbl 5234 electronic Crossover
With correct 550 cards for the 4343’s
Never saw a pair for sale that had the Xover
You can get a nice pro sound adjustable Rane,Ev,CrownAshly, Xover for less than $150
Highly recommended! Just so you can power up the Woofers with almost any big power amp and then use a sweet Tube Amp on the high end! Did you ever get the cabinets to match?
Any other Mods?
I have to fix one of mine. A 1/4 x4” piece of the
Walnut Veneer came off and it kills me to see it even though it’s on the back of the side
Let’s see how yours are!
Bobhorn
 
They are perfect height when I sit in my eames chair

I have to move a bunch of stuff to set them up better
View attachment 1038879
I haven't even reached the bottom of this thread yet, but I have to ask, is that a Mac 1500 sitting there?
What do you do with that?

And a Dyna PAS3-X?!!! I still have one of those stored from my teen years.
What's the status of those JBL's these days? I hope they're not retired.
 
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Thank you for your interest in this thread

MAC 1500
yesir that there is one of only 2200 units built

I got that bad boy along with a pair of EV 6 speakers
Simplicity MAC 1500 TD-124 EV-Six | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

Dyna PAS
Got two ST-70's and the PAS3
DynaKit ST-70 two of them | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

Those were the days my friend

These days the JBL's are driven by a Harmon Kardon Citation 12 with eleven pre-amp
DSC01960.JPG

you can see that presentation is BIG with me
 
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Thank you for your interest in this thread
MAC 1500
yesir that there is one of only 2200 units built
I got that bad boy along with a pair of EV 6 speakers
Simplicity MAC 1500 TD-124 EV-Six | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums
Dyna PAS
Got two ST-70's and the PAS3
DynaKit ST-70 two of them | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums
Those were the days my friend
These days the JBL's are driven by a Harmon Kardon Citation 12 with eleven pre-amp
View attachment 2575443
you can see that presentation is BIG with me
That's an impressive collection you've got going there. I was looking at the links provided, I too have a pair of Stereo 70's although they are of different vintages (like yours).
My PAS3-X and original Stereo 70 are Dynakit, and were hand constructed by the person I bought them from back in the 70's. At some point I ran across a second ST70 at an estate sale, that being the Dynaco, but never used them as mono blocks together.
That 1500 looks beautiful, I've always had a soft spot for them. I never realized the production numbers were so low, but I guess that explains why you never seem to see them turn up for sale.
 
Looks like you did a nice job getting the lenses mounted well on the baffle. As one poster noted, you may consider pulling the #2 baffle off and change the tweeter position to inner left to mirror the speakers and reduce the tweeter reflections off the right side wall and your desk. .

I know space is tight in your room, but if you have about 12 more inches total width, I highly recommend the Home Depot Milwaukee brand furniture movers at $20 apiece. It will be the best $40 you spend on these speakers and will save your back. Just make sure you have some help moving them onto the movers. The cabinets will overlap with the carpeted step about 2" on each side. If you prefer to, you could find 18" deep melamine covered shelf stock, probably 1/2-5/8" thick and cut to fit inside the space to flat fill underneath the speakers. These particular movers will also get the speakers up just a little more.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1-000-lb-Capacity-Furniture-Dolly-33700/100057209
milwaukee-dollies-33700-64_1000.jpg
index.php

If you have a pair of 4343s or 4344s- I would suggest one of the hardwood solid-top dollies from Harbor Freight:

https://www.harborfreight.com/24-in-x-16-in-1000-lb-capacity-solid-deck-hardwood-dolly-56782.html

The size is almost perfect- it's 24" x 16", which is one inch smaller than the 4343 or 4344, in both length and width. It won't stick out the sides. And they're built better than the open-frame ones.

I'd be inclined to put some thin rubber bumpers on the corners of the top, so that the speaker can't slide around, but they should look quite decent under the speakers...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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