JBL 033 vs 034

[Chris Brown]

What can you guys tell me about these two tweeters?

I have 033’s in my L150’s, but looking at the L150 tech sheet it says 034 as a replacement. My 033’s work fine and I like them but when I saw a pair of 034’s for cheap I figured I’d get them to experiment with or worst case as a spare.

I look forward to taking pictures and telling you guys what I think once they arrive. The only downside is that these 034’s are missing the wire grill, but from my quick research it seems it doesn’t make a huge difference. We’ll see.

What should I expect from the 034's?

 

[Chris Brown]

bump

 

[Pioneer727]

I would go here these are the JBL experts

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/

I would take the spec sheet with a grain of salt where it shows what the replacement is take the L46 it shows the 116H-3 as the replacement woofer for the 117H well if you do you need to do a mod to the crossover.

Ron

 

[Chris Brown]

Well this should be interesting for a while. The 033’s were a real bitch to get out, like they had a thin layer of glue holding them in or something. My initial reaction after listening to it after swapping them out is that it sounds about the same. I haven’t had it loud yet though, so maybe that is where the differences will show themselves. I like being able to play with new drivers without having to make any permanent modifications

 

[Pioneer727]

Funny to see the 034 without its metal grill. I have them in my L46's Oh on the sound Crystal clear Highs.

Ron

 

[spkrman57]

034 tweeters have plastic case and do better with small box behind the driver to protect from pressure from the woofer. Similiar to what you do with LE5 midrange drivers.

Ron

 

[Pioneer727]

034 tweeters have plastic case and do better with small box behind the driver to protect from pressure from the woofer. Similiar to what you do with LE5 midrange drivers.

Ron

So Ron if I cover the back of mine in my L46's will there be a sound improvement ? I may do that for I will be replacing the 117H's that blew see thread L46' at Lansing Heritage website.

Ron

 

[Chris Brown]

Yeah I’m kinda sad, I started to like the 034’s in there but once I turned it loud you could hear definite buzzing coming from the tweeter and could even feel it moving.

I noticed while comparing the 033 and the 034 that the 034 has a gap between the magnet and the plastic. Would it be sufficient to just fill that in using hot glue or something to seal off the inside?

 

[spkrman57]

I also found info on audioheritage forum....

I have been told by a resident JBL expert that any of the plastic frame tweeters that JBL made were as good as the metal ones, but could not take the pressure from the woofers.

I see improvement if you consider the tweeter leakage is not figured in the design of the woofer tuning in that system.

Sealing that leak is everything good for many reasons, especially the tweeters lifespan.

Ron

So Ron if I cover the back of mine in my L46's will there be a sound improvement ? I may do that for I will be replacing the 117H's that blew see thread L46' at Lansing Heritage website.

Ron

 

[Fred Sanford]

A couple more notes I've put together in researching the 033s (in my L110s) and 034s (in my L46s)- hope this helps clarify some things:

034:

crossed over at 3K in the L46s
89dB 1W/1M
Phenolic coated with aluminum (rumoured that the later ones may have been spray painted, one of my later-dated spares is noticeably duller in color)
"good to ~15kHz"

033:

crossed over at 4K in the L110s
90dB 1W/1M
Two layers of phenolic-impregnated linen, bonded with weave at 45 degree angles
Flat response to ~18kHz, with "accurate, powerful high frequency performance beyond 30kHz"

je