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JBL 4435 vs JBL 4343B

lakegville

lakegville

Active Member
I have been considering a pair of 4435's in the local area when i ran across a pair of 4343's local as well. The price is about the same for both. Both have their issues but overall are in fair to good shape. Would anyone be willing to give me their opinion on which of the two would be the more desirable from a sonic and collectable standpoint.
Thanks in advance!!
 
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Wow, to have an opportunity to have to choose - amazing!

Id' go for the 4435's in a minute. You've got a generation or two of newer technology (CD horn, 2 way crossover, etc). WAF is likely better, though, with the 4343's.

What's the application?

Cheers,

David
 
4343B

May not image as well, but better mids and highs without the titanium harshness. Can't speak to the bass.
 
I have AL Radian diaphragms in my horns, so no Ti harshness.

Tough call. My 4435s are probably the best speakers I've ever had, or heard, and I believe the 4435 will test as a bit more accurate / flat / lower distortion than the 4343B, and the bass will dig a little deeper. Maybe more sensitive and handle more power (too lazy to look it up).

But the 4343B is worth more and its lower midrange driver will have more impact in that range. Unlike 4435s, they will also play higher than 16K, although that's academic to my ears. The 4435 will have more even dispersion, but it's so wide that it will have more room reflections. They may sound more "fun."

In general, to my mind, the 4343B are just plain sexier, with their blue faces, slot tweeters and old-school horns. Plus they're worth more. So I'd probably get the 4343Bs. But then again, the grass on the other side of the fence is always greener to me.
 
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Its easy to choose the 4435. Much lower harmonic distortion from the woofers. More dynamic range capability. Any speaker that is 4 way vs 2 way may win in extended response, but crossover issues multiplied 2 times are real losers. Ring radiators are distortion creators. The acoustic lenses is a big compromise. Do you see any of JBL's current DD series or production room monitors using ring radiators or Acoustic lens? Thats very old compromised technology. Sure the 4435 rolls of some where around 18,000 hz, but there isn't much up there anyway but dog whistles. Go to JBL's website and bring up the tech papers on the two speakers, that should convince which is better alone. You can also read the history of development of the 4435 with the why's and why nots. Its a great read. Both speakers are designed as studio monitors, So think about that as it relates to your listening space. Ive heard both the 4435 and 30 in smaller rooms at about 12 ft listening distances and the sound was all you could ask for. My ears Hi end response fails about the same point as the 4435 and 30 so extending that would serve me no purpose. The bass is strong and clean but you will need strong amps to insure your listening pleasure. No esoteric amps here. I would love to hear a pair driven by Mac 2301 tube amps for grins. I bet it would be a great combination. You could always stand the 4435 up on one end rotate the horn 90 degrees for a smaller floor foot print.
 
Agreed on the bling-factor of the 4343's but I'm in the 4435 camp for quality playback - especially at high volume. It will take a lot for them to begin compressing.

Cheers,

David
 
A fellow on audioheritage had both and ended up going with the 4343's. Id probably go the same route. Less floor space to boot.
 
I saw that thread just the other day, although as I recall, at the end of it he figured out that he had blown diaphragms (fatigued AL 2421 surrounds) on the 4435s. He favored the lower-midrange punch of the 4343s, as I recall.
 
Zonker92 said:
...He favored the lower-midrange punch of the 4343s, as I recall.
Click to expand...

That and the dispersion and high frequency energy the 077/2405 add to the mix. I know people say they don't hear any higher than the 4345's roll off, but they should be able to hear (I hope!) the improved dispersion from 8k up. I actually prefer the Array 1400 to the Everest, and one of the reasons is the lower crossover to the tweeter (8k vs 20k) which gives them better dispersion.
 
Did you mean the 4345, or the 4343, or the 4435? As to the latter, anyway, I have always understood that the 4430/35 is very wide and uniform in its horizontal dispersion, including high-frequency signals; see page 4 here:

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/443035.pdf

And see http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/4430-35.htm:

The biradial horns were the answer and they were extremely good. One of the first units he developed was a 100 by 100 degree horn. The larger 90 by 40 and 90 by 60 horns were more for theater applications but this smaller, wider angle horn was a natural for a studio monitor. If you look at the polar patterns that are in the AES paper we wrote you can see that the polars are incredibly uniform from 1000Hz to 16,000 Hz
Click to expand...

Hence the term, "constant-directivity." I have not checked out the dispersion on the 4343 or 4345, but I would guess the treble horn is a bit narrower as it gets higher, but I think the 2405 is quite nice.
 
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OK, I was just comparing the specs per these publications:

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/4343b.pdf

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/443035.pdf

If I'm reading them correctly:

The 4343B is rated at 75 watts (75 x 2 for biamp) (can that be right?), goes from 35 Hz to 20 KHz (+/- 3dB), is 94 dB efficient and maxes out at 105 dB (my calculation based on half-power spec) in a 2,000 cubic (not square) foot space. Distortion is 1% below 800 Hz, 2% above.

The 4435 is rated at 375 watts (450 + 150 for biamp), goes from 30 Hz to 16 KHz (+/- 3dB), is 96 dB efficient and maxes out at 122 dB in a 3,000 cubic (not square) foot space (can I get an OMG?). Distortion is 0.5% below 100 Hz, 0.25% between 100 and 1,000 Hz, and 2% above 1,000 Hz.

At 16KHz, they both seem to be down about 3 dB on the edges of a 60-degree horizontal spread.

So on paper (and ignoring the undeniable sexiness factor), the 4435 pwns in everything except high frequency extension. The bass extension, sensitivity, distortion, power handling and max output are substantially better. But no badass blue baffles or slotted lenses. So the question is whether you value sonics over sex appeal.
 
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Probably none of us so far has made it any easier for you to choose.

For practical matter, the 4435 will be a lot easer to work on for repairs and upgrades. And you'll never have to color-match the JBL blue paint.
 
Zonker92 said:
OK, I was just comparing the specs per these publications:

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/4343b.pdf

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/443035.pdf

If I'm reading them correctly:

The 4343B is rated at 75 watts (75 x 2 for biamp) (can that be right?), goes from 35 Hz to 20 KHz (+/- 3dB), is 94 dB efficient and maxes out at 102 dB (can that be right?) in a 2,000 cubic (not square) foot space. Distortion is 1% below 800 Hz, 2% above.

The 4435 is rated at 375 watts (450 + 150 for biamp), goes from 30 Hz to 16 KHz (+/- 3dB), is 96 dB efficient and maxes out at 122 dB in a 3,000 cubic (not square) foot space (can I get an OMG?). Distortion is 0.5% below 100 Hz, 0.25% between 100 and 1,000 Hz, and 2% above 1,000 Hz.

At 16KHz, they both seem to be down about 3 dB on the edges of a 60-degree horizontal spread.

So on paper (and ignoring the undeniable sexiness factor), the 4435 pwns in everything except high frequency extension. The bass extension, sensitivity, distortion, power handling and max output are substantially better. But no badass blue baffles or slotted lenses. So the question is whether you value sonics over sex appeal.
Click to expand...

It says 102db at 10ft at half power. I would go with the 4343b for sure.
 
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