JBL 4435 Restoration

[Zonker92]

As I've mentioned in other threads here and there, thanks to awesome AK member mech986 (known to many as Bart) and several months of very enjoyable tinkering, I now have some nifty 4435s gracing my living room.

Bart found these in an Orange County (?) recording studio, and had them stored as empty cabinets, with only the grills, crossovers and pots/L-pads installed. We loaded them into my brother's Subie WRX wagon and mine one at a time, for two separate journeys from LA to the Central Valley.

Trip two, with woofers:

And home:

He hooked me up with two horns, two 2425 horn drivers and four 2234H woofers. He even drove the woofers down to have them refoamed at Orange County Speaker Repair. They came out like new.

One of the cabinets was missing the "saddle" that held up the horn from behind, so I built a new set (two sets, actually, but it turned out I needed only one):

 

[Zonker92]

I re-did the crossovers to charge-couple them, per this thread:

 

[Zonker92]

The cabinets had a bunch of holes in them from soffit-mounting them with drywall screws; I decided to re-veneer them:

 

[Zonker92]

For the bases I put casters on, with wood "skirts" to hide them, that slide on with hidden slots over plastic tabs; this really helped me work on them:

Veneer supplies came from, wait for it, veneersupplies.com. One 4 x 10 sheet of flat-cut walnut veneer did the job nicely and allowed me to match the cabinets and wrap the veneer around.

 

[Zonker92]

I put in new fiberglass -- "1" yellow bulk insulation" Cat#16550

https://wrap-on.com/products/pi.html Email them and they'll refer you to a seller. (Ace Hardware carries it too, I think.)

And I stained them using the following products (wet on wet):

Step 1: Old Masters Wiping Stain (Maple 11604)
Step 2: Old Masters Penetrating Stain (Maple 40604)
Step 3: 50% Minwax Wood Finish (Provincial 211) / 50% Old Masters Penetrating Stain (Maple 40604)

For the finish I used Watco Teak Oil and then some wax. (OK, I haven't remembered to wax them yet, but I will.)

 

[rogerfederer]

 

[Zonker92]

And I painted the horns and baffles using Duplicolor Auto Trim paint (don't ask me why; it just looks great I think):

I also used new Radian diaphragms in the horns.

 

[Zonker92]

Here is what I said in another thread, after my first real listening session. I still feel this way:

And OK, after several evenings of listening, I can say without hesitation that the 4435s are head and shoulders the best speakers I have ever heard, even at lower levels, where their bass, imaging, smoothness, delicacy and detail are (to my ears at least) impeccable: they have a level of poise and assurance (my silly made-up terms) that is unequaled in my experience.

But with the volume really cranked up, they are flat-out staggering. I just played The Package by A Perfect Circle (Tool spinoff) on the 4435s about as loud as I can stand (yet still not putting a glow to the Adcom's (GFA-5800 / 250 WPC) clipping indicators, and the bass guitar was making the sofa feel like it was moving out from under me, but tight as a drum. Building atop the bass were effortless dynamics, with guitar crescendos and vocals completely uncompressed and undistorted. Tom-toms hit with a physical impact even as the overall soundstage maintained its full size and integrity. I finished the song only to open my eyes and find a picture had fallen to the floor and broken, right next to me but completely inaudibly. These f*ckers definitely put the "large" in large format. They are monsters. Best bass I have ever heard from a full-range loudspeaker, by far.

 

[BHamm]

Congratulations those look spectacular.

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks! They really look good. Oh, and I'm have grills redone by Huntley Audio, with new fabric.

 

[Fitero]

Frickin Awesome!!!!
I'm happy for you and the help that you received! That's the way to do it!

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks! Bart is Da Man!

 

[bobabode]

Beauteous work, Zonk! :thmbsp:

 

[Donkey Karma]

Respect my friend. Impeccable build. Inspiring.

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks!! My back still hurts from heaving them around; I must have rotated them a dozen times!

 

[mvandyke]

Wow, they look great and your restoration should provide many more years of listening pleasure. Enjoy

 

[mvandyke]

Looks like 2 project at one time 4435's and 4425's . WOW!

 

[Zonker92]

Thanks! Yes, I'd been procrastinating about doing the final photography and writing up these jobs, so I did both at once. Chronologically, I did the 4435 restoration first (December - March), then the 4425s (a few weeks in late March / early April), and now I'm about to embark on some 4301Bs, also from Bart.

 

[Jerryfan]

Man! I want to listen to some grateful dead on those!

 

[CH46E]

Wow, nice job. The veneer looks great. I have yet to get to listen to a set 44xx's. Some day maybe!