JBL 4430 newbie

[Zonker92]

Radian 8-ohm diaphragms are a decent upgrade, although the original ones are probably fine. (Being aluminum instead of titanium, the Radians sound a bit smoother to me.)

You can't buy OEM JBL surrounds; JBL provides only recone kits with the surrounds already glued to the cones.

 

[AVSpecialist]

Make sure it is for both surrounds, sometimes priced for 1 and check for actual JBL surrounds, bit more money, but worth it in the end..
Those deserve to be brought back to original, you wont regret it.. very desireable expensive speakers!

Thanks for the advice.

 

[AVSpecialist]

Def, not enough gain in the path!
- you need a preamp to kick the iPhone up to Amp input levels.
What a tough break (grin) ...

My other little amp has RCA inputs and I have now found the vocals. Of course the speaker that is marked BAD on the bottom is perfectly functional. Gotta love it when people blame the wrong part of the signal chain and replace working gear.

 

[hjames]

Yep it disintegrated pretty quickly with a tiny pinch. So how difficult is a refoam?

JBL has never sold surrounds - only recone kits, which are pricey and another matter

But - I'd recommend a surround/refoam kit from Rick Cobb rcobb@tampabay.rr.com -
I've done a number of surround replacements on JBL gear (including 2235 speakers like your 15 inchers), using his kits and I've always had good success ...

One of the guys on the Lansing forum has a "sticky" on how-to redo surrounds ...
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?469-Resurround-Step-by-step

Its actually easier doing a refoam on the 15s than on the 12 or 10 inch woofers.
Do a good cleanup of all the old foam first, and always glue the 15 surround to the BACK of your (2235) woofer cone.

 

[donprice]

I would not advise learning how to do a refoam on those valuable woofers. I suggest hunting down your local authorized JBL (or other highly qualified) repair shop and having them done by a pro. It isn't rocket science but you really don't want to screw it up since they look so nice to begin with. Or find another pair of rotted foams to practice on first.

Good luck with the restoration. That is quite the find.

 

[zebra03]

Major score here !

 

[AVSpecialist]

JBL has never sold surrounds - only recone kits, which are pricey and another matter

But - I'd recommend a surround/refoam kit from Rick Cobb rcobb@tampabay.rr.com -
I've done a number of surround replacements on JBL gear (including 2235 speakers like your 15 inchers), using his kits and I've always had good success ...

One of the guys on the Lansing forum has a "sticky" on how-to redo surrounds ...
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?469-Resurround-Step-by-step

Its actually easier doing a refoam on the 15s than on the 12 or 10 inch woofers.
Do a good cleanup of all the old foam first, and always glue the 15 surround to the BACK of your (2235) woofer cone.

thanks for the info. How much were his kits? I found a guy about an hour away that will do it for $30/speaker. I think he works for a JBL authorized repair shop.

 

[hjames]

thanks for the info. How much were his kits? I found a guy about an hour away that will do it for $30/speaker. I think he works for a JBL authorized repair shop.

The rcobb kits are around $30/pair. But its probably better if you hire a pro to do it if you aren't comfy doing so.
We have no idea where you are - your location is not displayed so its hard to know who to recommend

 

[AVSpecialist]

The rcobb kits are around $30/pair. But its probably better if you hire a pro to do it if you aren't comfy doing so.
We have no idea where you are - your location is not displayed so its hard to know who to recommend

I'm in central VA. I was looking at Richmondprosound. Gave them a call and they said that there was a guy on the third floor of the building they are in that would do it for $30/speaker.

I'm not afraid to give it a go. It doesn't seem all that difficult. I'm guessing the most important part is centering the cone and getting solid glue contact all the way around.

 

[Zonker92]

In my experience, the trickiest parts are getting the old stuff off cleanly, and getting the glue to lay down cleanly and evenly under the overlapping areas, without looking messy. With the surround going under the cone, that can be a little tricky sometimes. But it is certainly doable.

 

[Hanleyster]

The tweeters are called Buttcheeks.

 

[Zonker92]

Ha! Not to be confused (as they so often are) with the smaller "baby buttcheek" 2404H.

 

[AVSpecialist]

Anybody have an suggestions for preamp/receiver

Ha! Not to be confused (as they so often are) with the smaller "baby buttcheek" 2404H.

This certainly adds to the uniqueness. What is the market on these speakers? I'm definitely not going to sell them, but just curious.

 

[Zonker92]

Nowadays I see them on eBay ranging from $1,800 to $2,500 a pair. Not sure what they actually sell for. I think I sold mine for around $1,800 on CL.

 

[daveg3588]

Great score, I recently acquired The L200t3 which is the home version of the 4425, 12" version of what you have. Become a subscriber, barter town has some very good preamps from our exalted members, more trustworthy very other sources.

 

[Fitero]

Awesome Score!!!

 

[Bahamayellow]

Wow nice find.

 

[mad shadows]

Congratualtions

And get them the ... out of there before somebody else grabbs them or your boss changes his/her mind.
You got a pair of very good speakers on your hands. To get something that´s significantly better you will have spend silly money.

 

[HTWillie]

Anybody have an suggestions for preamp/receiver...

Nothing special required. The speakers are fairly sensitive, rated at 93dB/1W/1m. I currently drive mine with 6W per channel. That's not enough to wake the neighbors, but it'll wake the kids. They're totally comfortable with 300W as well.

As for their "revealing" quality, I credit these speakers for revealing to me just how poor my Sony HT receiver sounds.

 

[twiiii]

4430 is a great 2 way medium sized JBL monitor speaker. The QSC is a nice low priced amp with plenty of selectable options to help protect the speakers. Any quality SS pre-amp will work with the amp. You may find the QSC a little dry. The power available of 200 watts matches the JBL woofer pretty well. Select the power limiter to help protect the HF horn. The speakers has great highs to 16 kHz where they start to roll off. Google a spec sheet to learn all about your speakers. I would employ the 30 hz filter on the amp as that matches the LF capability of the woofer. No use over heating the voice coil with frequencies the woofer won't produce. Using a 9 volt battery pulse the cone forward for only a brief few seconds. If you don't see any cracks in the foam surround or any separations, you are good to go. And don't try refoaming your woofers with generic replacements. You are not dealing with cheap hifi woofers. This system only deserves the best.

It takes Magico and B&W multiple woofers and 2 to 4 times the power to match the capability of your single 15 inch woofer. Got $58,000 for a pair of S7's?

That why if I were looking for a new speakers the 4430 would be on my short list for my center speaker and the 4435's would be the front L&R.