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Jbl 4331b

M

mike1955

Member
So I am deciding on picking up a pair of 4331B's from a local studio owner as the price seems to be right (800.00 Can). I was looking for 4333's but can't find any in the price range that suits me. I currently have a pair of L-65 Jubals which are quite nice. The components on the 4331B's are as follows;
2420 Compression Drivers
2312 Horns (no lenses)
3131A Crossover
2231A 15' Woofers
The cabinets are walnut and in not bad condition (will need some TLC for sure). Just wondering if this is a good deal for me as I wouldn't mind upgrading these to 4333's at a later date if I can find the crossovers at a decent price (way too much money on Fleabay). Anyway I just wanted any feedback from the JBL folks on whether I should jump on these speakers before they are gone.I also wonder how these speakers (4331B) fare up against a pair of 4425 or 4430's which are roughly in the same price range if I upgrade to 4333 status. Thanks
 
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Going to try and pick them up this weekend and will post pictures as soon as possible. Just need to sneak them past the wife and get them downstairs,then it's too late.
 
Well I actually went out and bought the 4331BWX's today, heavy buggers that's for sure. I'll post some pics tomorrow after I get some help moving them into my basement. They are going to need some TLC on the cabinets as they have the ceiling/wall mount brackets still on them. As I have never done a veneer job before I'll be sending them out to a carpenter friend to get them freshened up over the next few weeks hopefully. They sounded great in the sound studio I got them from and the woofers had just been re-foamed a couple of years ago by a local speaker company whom I have dealt with before and they have a good reputation. I will be looking for grilles and lenses as they have gone missing over time and hopefully I can get them at a decent price. It will be interesting to see how they sound side by side compared to my L-65 Jubals. As far as I can tell the crossovers are original and not sure if they have ever been freshened up before as the guy I bought them from has owned them for 10 years and he hasn't done anything to them besides the re-foaming the woofers. I'll get them hooked up tomorrow to my Bryston 4B-ST and have a listen and take some pictures. The former owner had been driving them with a QSC Pro amplifier so they should sound quite a bit more detailed and punchy with my amp. If all works out and my wife doesn't protest the increase in cabinet size I guess I'll be putting the Jubals up for sale sometime in the near future.
 
Zonker92 said:
Outstanding! I bet you'll be thrilled with them.
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Yes I'm pretty happy with them, just wrestled them into the basement and at 139 lbs each it was no mean feat. I'm going to hook them up later tonight and give them a wail and see what got here. I will take some pictures tonight and get them posted here as soon as possible. I'm just trying to track down my cabinetmaker buddy and get the veneer ordered so they can once again return to their original glory. I'm also trying to decide on whether or not I should try to match up the original walnut finish or go with a more exotic veneer. Decisions...decisions...Hmmmm.
 
Yes I think you guys are right, I'll just stick to the original walnut as they are supposed to be. Going to try and find some walnut lenses to match as well. I'm sending along a quick phone picture of them as they sit right now,hopefully it comes through Ok.
 

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Zonker92 said:
Me, I'd go walnut, but wrap the grain around. Walnut is a very nice veneer IMHO.
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By wrapping the grain all the way around do you mean to do the backs of the speakers as well where they are normally painted black?I will probably freshen up the blue paint on the front baffles as well although they don't look too bad now. My wife thinks I'm just cleaning up the pair and flipping them in the spring so I have to make them as pretty as possible so they can find a permanent home here.
 
No, just the top, bottom and sides: If your carpenter friend is working from one or two big sheets of veneer, he can cut it so the grain pattern is continuous from one side, over the top and down the other side; it can even carry on underneath.
 
Zonker92 said:
No, just the top, bottom and sides: If your carpenter friend is working from one or two big sheets of veneer, he can cut it so the grain pattern is continuous from one side, over the top and down the other side; it can even carry on underneath.
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Ok I understand now, I'll make sure he makes that happen.
 
Cool. The original JBL veneer patterns were all over the map; you'd see a complex pattern butting up against a very simple pattern all the time; and no pair of speakers seemed to match each other. When I did my 4435s I used one big 4 x 10 sheet of flat-cut walnut from Veneer Supplies, wrapped the pattern around, and pretty much mirror-imaged them. (That funkiness at the bottom is just a shadow or something.)

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Zonker's pic is a fine example of what to show your buddy you are wanting to do. And some Kenrick photos are nice to show what can be done...cost no object?

I've never shopped for the the lenses but that may be something you have to build...doesn't look that complicated, just lots of detail work to make it look right.

Good luck! Happy flipping! Yeah, right. They will be keepers.
 
donprice said:
Zonker's pic is a fine example of what to show your buddy you are wanting to do. And some Kenrick photos are nice to show what can be done...cost no object?

I've never shopped for the the lenses but that may be something you have to build...doesn't look that complicated, just lots of detail work to make it look right.

Good luck! Happy flipping! Yeah, right. They will be keepers.
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I wouldn't bother with building the lenses unless you want to do the wood work, they have a specific angle and spacing and cutout to do the right job at the right frequencies. There are already good reproductions at Kenrick and the price isn't terrible considering the time and effort to reproduce them on your own.

As for veneer, SAEMAN or the Rick in Kenrick veneered many large format JBL Monitors in Rosewood which were just spectacular.

you can easily upgrade the 4331a to a 4333 by adding a separate crossover for an 077 or less expensive 2405 tweeter, the crossover to use is the N7000, or you can add something similar (just the circuitry) into the existing crossover and be sure to add the crossover L-Pad for adjustment of output. you may then have to get a new foilcal as the existing foilcal would cover where the new L-pad normally would go. Or you could just position the new L-pad past where the current foilcal edge ends.
 
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