$10 JBL's

[brutal]

I have yet to hear from someone who didn't benefit from cap upgrades, assuming speakers were more than 10 years old, and of course weren't abused with constant over driving.

I haven't done 4410's, but you should find a post. If not, many of the posts for other models and brands can work. Mostly it's getting to the crossovers. Once removed you need to desolder the old caps and replace with new ones. Most people will likely suggest sticking with the original values (especially on higher end products like JBL). There are varying opinions on brands of caps and even models within brands as they have an impact on the sound of the speaker. For that you'll want to do some reading up.

Doing the actual work isn't too bad, it's reading through all the opinions on what products to use.

Just because a vintage speaker sounds good, doesn't mean it's sounding it's best or the way it was intended to. Fixing/upgrading the crossovers really brings life back to older/vintage speakers. Oh, I know from experience, as do many others.

JBL's of the caliber we're discussing carry much better quality caps than most and have well designed crossover networks. I'd be surprised if any of the four lytics in the 4410/4412 XO go out of spec considering the oldest they're likely to be is 14 years as I believe 1996 was the first product on the A series. These aren't Panasonic Thrusters or some cheaply made Kabuki.

Out of curiosity, how many quality JBL crossover networks have you upgraded? Did you measure the before and after results via instrumentation and/or DBT?

Cheers!

 

[4343]

Usually...

I would have to listen to Zilch on this one :yes:

But this time I didn't, in advance even, and I'm still happy with my 4412A's after replacing all the caps. There are some big value electrolytics in both 4410A and 4412A XO's, so they can stand to be replaced by now.

I think the upgrade was worth it too.:yes:

Here's how it went: I had a pair of L-110's and decided to put 4410A XO's and mid/tweets in them. After obtaining the XO's, I decided to swap the caps. I did this one at a time so I could compare to stock, the new caps took about 3 hours to break in and start sounding as good as stock, then they just kept getting better...:thmbsp:

After that I decided my 4412A's were next, but wanted to go a little farther, so...

Charge Coupled was the result. I mounted all the caps on a new board and wired them over to the stock XO. Battery is in a flange mounted box on the rear. They sound sweet! It took me a while to finish the second one, so by the time I was ready to swap out the second XO, I had had several days to listen to the mis-matched pair, and the difference was amazing.:tears:

 

[MarSanZ]

4312's
4412's
4425's

Love them all!

 

[buckeye1160]

Yard saleing has been "berry-berry" good to me this year.
1st - Purchased a pair of JBL 4410A Studio Monitors in good condition. Guy wanted $20 and got him to sell me a used vacuum cleaner with them for $20. I sold my prized Vandersteens last year and am not sure the JBL 4410A is a big step down. The 4410A's are amazingly accurate; my Vandy's I think still sounded better.

2nd - Purchased a pair of JBL L19 for $5.

Can anyone elaborate on upgrading the JBL 4410A caps and wiring? I am new to vintage audio. Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks to everyone that posted a reply. I ltruly love the sound of the 4410A's and am going to leave them alone. My L19's i have one of the woofers is not working so i might try the upgrade on those. What is the best way to diagnose what is wrong with the woofer. Another question: how do i know if my amp can run on 4 ohms and what is the proper way to wire the speakers? again thanks in advance. My amp is a Luxman T-235.

 

[filecat13]

Hoard JBLs?

Are you kidding? I'm whored to JBLs.

 

[npg3]

I hoard a little a little bit:
-JBL 250Ti
-JBL B380
-JBL 4301
-JBL L166
-JBL 4406
-JBL L56

 

[superdog]

This is what I paid for my JBLs
$10 L20T
$35 L100 Century
$125 or $150 L112
Free L26 Decade refoamed

 

[Mammoth]

Current JBL's

4411's <- Free
4412's <- Free

 

[JesusChrysler]

Good job. I found my L150a's at GoodWill for $10.


Aah Karma.


Matt

 

[eclein]

Oh man...L150A's for $10 wow...
Here is my collection:
4312A's- $50
4311B's- FREE
L20T's- FREE
If I had more cash, I'd have more JBL's....LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tensleep]

I only have the one pair of 4410 Studio Monitors. I paid $475 each, back in the early '90s. But, I got to open the boxes!

 

[buckeye1160]

I was lucky and scored 9 out of 10 grade JBL 4410A for $10 at a yard sale. Also L19 for $5; been a good yard sale year.

 

[hdted]

L65's bought new in 1978
4410A's 2 pairs


Nice score. Enjoy!!

 

[DanBa]

:wave:

Nice grab, they look to be in really nice condition.

je

I'm not seeing a pic of these???

 

[theebadone]

JBLs

JBLs
4410
4412
L-112
L-100
L-60

 

[Copa1934]

I hope you are joking. I haven't done any, if it really matters, since I've read here and on other websites of JBL owners having to service caps. That's like saying people who cap their 9090DB or SX-1980 are stupid and don't know what they're doing.

There is little question in my mind that JBL uses high quality components, but we're not talking about quality, but rather the basic design behind electrolytics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolytic_capacitor

Not every Mercedes will go over a million miles without some care and maintenance, don't be fooled into thinking because you own JBL that your electrolytics will last a lifetime. If it's any comfort I own L3's and I think they're awesome.

Sorry for the delayed response, haven't read this thread in some time.

 

[michaelhigh]

JBL's? 4 E-140's. Price? Hanging out in a vintage guitar store waiting on custys and pushin' broom for roughly 2 weeks p/t...

 

[Fred Sanford]

I'm not seeing a pic of these???

Pics of mine, or the original poster's? I think the original post had a link to a pic from the original ad, but it's gone now.

je