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JBL C34 SPEAKERS - Need advice

C

Carlos S

New Member
Hello there, newbie here, my first post. Im a new proud owner of a pair of JBL C34 speakers. Ever since I listened to the JBL Paragon at a antique store in Palm Springs and recently to the JBL Harlan (C39), I've been obsessed with the JBL Vintage Line Up. Recently, I found a pair of C34 at a thrift store for $100.00 each. I bought them blindly because I didnt know if woofer was damaged and all pieces were there since you cant remove the grill unless it's unscrewed from the bottom. When I got home, I took it apart for cleaning and to my surprise woofer is in perfect condition to its age.
Horns are also in pretty good shape.
Configuration is N1200 crossover, 130A woofer and 175 horns.
iT sounded amazing after a few tweaks in the receiver, but I thing it could sound better. Im debating to implement JBL 075 tweeters with N2600 Crossover, will that make a noticeable difference?
JBL 075 tweeters are rather expensive and somewhat hard to get, is there a comparable unit I can use with the N2600 Crossover?
Also, thinking about replacing the A130 with the D130, is it worth it?
Guess, Im just trying to make it sound just as good as the Paragon, but overall Im pretty happy with it.
Thank you in advance.jbl c34 - A.jpgJBL C34 (B).jpgJBL C34 (C).jpg130a.jpgjbl c34 - D.jpg175 HORN.jpg
 
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Congrats! What an amazing find. You lucky dog.

I am in the opposite position - I have the 030 load (D130, 075, N2600 in C40 cabs) and I've always wondered how the 001 load sounds.

What about it leaves you underwhelmed? What are you using for amplification? What kind of music do you listen to?
 
Johnny_Law said:
Congrats! What an amazing find. You lucky dog.

I am in the opposite position - I have the 030 load (D130, 075, N2600 in C40 cabs) and I've always wondered how the 001 load sounds.

What about it leaves you underwhelmed? What are you using for amplification? What kind of music do you listen to?
Click to expand...
Thank you Johnny! Im using an Onkyo TX RZ 820 for amplification, I feel like it's missing some depth. My previous speakers, which I still have are vintage EPI (Epicure) M602 and they sound amazing. Mostly, I listen to jazz. Did you connect your D130 to N2600 also or you have separate crossovers?
 
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Carlos S said:
iT sounded amazing after a few tweaks in the receiver, but I thing it could sound better.View attachment 2954813
Click to expand...

An easy way to make them sound better is to connect an L-pad across the horn output on the crossover and connect the horn driver to that. Then you can play with the three factory settings and have the volume infinitely variable from the L-pad. Otherwise, when I had this configuration, I found the settings too coarse and could never get them dialed in. What ever impedience the horn driver is marked, use that impedience (probably 16 ohm) L-pad and use a pad rated for at least 25 watts. The 50 watt pads that are screwed together are nice and quieter in operation than the 100 watt crimp fits.
 
Carlos S said:
Thank you Johnny! Im using an Onkyo TX RZ 820 for amplification, I feel like it's missing some depth. My previous speakers, which I still have are vintage EPI (Epicure) M602 and they sound amazing. Mostly, I listen to jazz. Did you connect your D130 to N2600 also or you have separate crossovers?
Click to expand...

My D130 & 075 are connected to the N2600, I was amazed at how good they sound without messing with them. I normally drive mine with my garage Onkyo TX-82 (which I've recapped) and find the sound quite good unless I want to listen to metal or something crazier than jazz, indie rock, acoustic stuff.

By depth do you mean low bass, or do you mean more like midrange depth?
 
with the components in these Beauties, you stole:banana:
a step back to the D-130's would severely hurt the lower bass response these cabinets
can produce. still limited to around 40 hz,on a good day.
I would agree with malden, a good healthy tube amp, 20-40 watts will
really make them sing.
The 175 dlh horns play easily up to and beyond 10K.
No need to get 075's . there are cheaper less directional horn tweeters
like the L-Mahl tweets that the klipsch crowd Love
 
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There is another way around the "tweeter/high frequency" issue that you may want to try first. Simply put a 1 or 1.5 mfd capacitor between the + input to the crossover, and the + input to the horn (#4 terminal IIRC). This will let the highest frequencies by-pass the crossover and go right to the horn. If it becomes too bright, you can place a low value resistor in series with the circuit. JBL does something similar on the 4430s and 4435s that use the 15" and horn.
 
If you want to keep it "all JBL"- look for a pair of 2405 or 2405H slot tweeters, and N7000 or N8000 crossovers.

Probably cheaper than 075s, and are "true" supertweeters (flat to nearly 20KHz, where the 075 rolls off starting at about 14KHz). The 175 horn is perfectly capable of going up to 8KHz- the 2405 will do more good than the 075.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
toddalin said:
There is another way around the "tweeter/high frequency" issue that you may want to try first. Simply put a 1 or 1.5 mfd capacitor between the + input to the crossover, and the + input to the horn (#4 terminal IIRC). This will let the highest frequencies by-pass the crossover and go right to the horn. If it becomes too bright, you can place a low value resistor in series with the circuit. JBL does something similar on the 4430s and 4435s that use the 15" and horn.
Click to expand...

This can work. I've done similar to EV TRX and TRXB coaxials, with good results.

If it seems bright- it's also possible to just use a smaller capacitor. That will raise the frequency that the "shelf up" starts, which can act to reduce the effect somewhat.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Johnny_Law said:
My D130 & 075 are connected to the N2600, I was amazed at how good they sound without messing with them. I normally drive mine with my garage Onkyo TX-82 (which I've recapped) and find the sound quite good unless I want to listen to metal or something crazier than jazz, indie rock, acoustic stuff.

By depth do you mean low bass, or do you mean more like midrange depth?
Click to expand...
Hi Johnny, I mispoke whe I said depth, what I meant was, more definition and clarity, sometimes it sounds "boxy", I guess mid range depth is a good to describe.
 
toddalin said:
There is another way around the "tweeter/high frequency" issue that you may want to try first. Simply put a 1 or 1.5 mfd capacitor between the + input to the crossover, and the + input to the horn (#4 terminal IIRC). This will let the highest frequencies by-pass the crossover and go right to the horn. If it becomes too bright, you can place a low value resistor in series with the circuit. JBL does something similar on the 4430s and 4435s that use the 15" and horn.
Click to expand...
Thank you Todd!
 
GordonW said:
If you want to keep it "all JBL"- look for a pair of 2405 or 2405H slot tweeters, and N7000 or N8000 crossovers.

Probably cheaper than 075s, and are "true" supertweeters (flat to nearly 20KHz, where the 075 rolls off starting at about 14KHz). The 175 horn is perfectly capable of going up to 8KHz- the 2405 will do more good than the 075.

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
Great! Thank you Gordon!. I'll look into the 2405 tweeters, As far as corssover, this may be a stupid question, but will the 130A work well with either N7000 or N8000 crossover?
 
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