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4311s: 'wave 'em or sell 'em?

grandpaslab

grandpaslab

Active Member
I have a pair of JBL 4311 monitors. The drivers are all in good shape and the crossover has been rebuilt, basically stock but with better components. Cosmetically they a a little rough--not terrible, but some dings and scratches. I've never liked the way they sound--the treble is harsh/glaring to my ears. So I'm debating:

a) do the econowave treatment to the 4311s
or
b) sell them and put the funds toward a new econowave-ish build

What's your $0.02? I'm especially curious if anyone has 'waved any of the 12" JBLs, and how that worked out--which HF horn/driver, how low did you cross, etc.
 
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Sell them. They're too valuable to Econowave as even nasty ones bring $300+ easy.

I'd flip them and if you want to go Ewave, you could get some woofers and build a proper sized box for them. I think others may have already done this and you can profit from their experience.

FWIW, I recently built a set ot Econowaved Advents in Utility cabinets, and while they aren't knocking the A7s off the heap, they are firmly in 2nd or third place and solid keepers! They're playing right now.

As someone who's built 4 E-waves, that 3 way cab with 2 cutouts will complicate things. The best plan is to build a rough prototype cab out of cheap MDF; you can get a sheet for $30 or less, and see if you like the sound. If you do, upgrade the cab for a nice finish, or just go ahead build two new pretty ones as keepers. I'd rather spend the time on a test cab than to go whole hog into a set only to find out they aren't what I expected.

Or you could build Advent Ewaves like I did as they are much less valuable and plentiful.

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Part them out to get maximum $ but keep the woofers. Build ~3 ft^3 cabinets for them and go with the "standard" ewave CD/waveguide/crossover combo. Certainly not the easy path but it will do the job and and keep the budget reasonable.

Otherwise, sell them as-is and go the Advent route as mentioned above. I've built several pairs including ones based on the JBL 125A (10"), JBL 2206 (12"), JBL 2226 (15"), AE TD15M w/QSC waveguide/B&C DE250, JBL 2206 w/SEOS waveguide/Denovo DNA-360, Delite 10 (Eminence deltalite 2510 & cloned 18 Sound XT1086 waveguide/DNA-360, and ewave mini (8" Eminence Beta 8 & 18 Sound XT120 CD/waveguide). I never got around to using the JBL 123A (or 4311 equivalent) but it should work like a champ. No, I do not have speaker building problem ;)
 
Zonker92 said:
Do. Not. Part. Out. That's just not right. They're classics. Let someone else enjoy then.
Click to expand...

Heh. OK, you guys have talked me off the ledge. 4311s will go to craigslist, I'll see what I can get for 'em. Leaning towards building ewave minis, or maybe the Fusion 8. Budget wise, that looks about right.
 
Maybe try a baffle step filter with them - no modifications needed (line level), very cheap and easy, you might be surprised.
 
J1mbo said:
Maybe try a baffle step filter with them - no modifications needed (line level), very cheap and easy, you might be surprised.
Click to expand...

The 4311s have adjustable L-pads on the mids and tweets...if I dial the tweets all the way down and the mids to about 9 o'clock AND my receiver's treble control to 9 o'clock, I get something close to acceptable. But I'm over these speakers...and I want to try something with a waveguide.
 
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