JBL 4301B Studio Monitor Pro Series - thoughts?

[Njord Noatun]

First time poster. I have been dabbling in vintage stereo for a while, but have not owned any JBL's: Today, however, I received, for free, a pair of 2-way JBL 4301B Studio Monitor Pro Series. Cabinets are a little scuffed, but nothing that some elbow grease can't fix. Drivers and grilles look fine.

I have not been able to find much information about this speaker anywhere on the WWW, and was wondering if there are anyone here familiar with this model that might chime in. I have found from searching that the 4301B pro series has a consumer-market counterpart - L19. I am particularly interested in what wattage amp I need to use with these JBL's, what opinions you might have about their audio quality, and any MSRP and production year details. I am not looking to sell these so valuation would only be of secondary interest, if at all.

Also, any thougts on how to best clean those _blue_ grilles?

Thanks!

[boputnam]

I received, for free, a pair of 2-way JBL 4301B Studio Monitor Pro Series. Dood!! I wanna have your children... :o:

Use the SEARCH function - you'll find much and then even more about them here. btw, they are of the splendiferous and muchly sought-after "Backwards League" ;) - but your queries will reveal that, too.

They are wonderful - I have two pair and they continue to amaze.

Search...

[majick47]

Congratulations and your going to love these jr JBLs. I also have a pair of 4301b that needed minor refurbishing. All it took was a very light sanding of the veneer with a very fine grade sandpaper and applying the JBL oil finish. I cleaned the grills first vacuming and then used mild liquid soap applied to a damp towel which cleaned off years of dust, dirt and stains. As for powering the 4301b I use a Yamaha MX2000 amp (130 watts x 2) but you could probably use a smaller quality amp, my guess 50 to 150 watt amp will do them justice.

[majick47]

As to valuation I would think that $200 would be reasonable for a pair in very good physical/mechanical condition.

[MrChiSox]

OK, First post. I recently inherited a pair of vintage 4301B for the always excellent price of FREE. They definitely need to be worked on as the surrounds have rotted away to nothing. I have contacted Orange County Speaker Repair about that. The cabinets appear to be in good enough condition to be an easy repair, but I'd really like to do this the right way. I'm not worried about the cabinet work except for repainting the fronts and backs so that they remain true to their JBL heritage. I need to know what the Blue color is called or where I can get it. My wife works for Ace Hardware and they can match paint but the fronts of my cabinets no doubt are not true to their original color. Also, I do have the grilles and they are in great shape but missing the front logo that was originally affixed to the front and I have had ZERO luck finding those. Anybody have an idea on these? Oh, and I'd really like to replace the rear speaker panel so that I can use banana plugs. Any recommendations?

[grumpy]

The front's don't appear that bad (paint). A mild cleanup is not sufficient?
There have been several "JBL Blue" paint formulae posted.

example:
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23885&highlight=jbl+blue+paint

There is also a person (advertises on Ebay as well) that has run repro
monitor labels (r j timmerman)

Nice set of speakers; worth repairing and enjoying :)

[MrChiSox]

The fronts really aren't that bad except that there is a bit of stain that ran over the edges of the veneer and onto the blue colored paint. I was really kind of thinking that a fresh coat of paint would really bring out a brighter or fresher looking front. I'll work on it. Ad for the side that someone chewed into and that was patched, I am ordering some new veneer and will simply re-skin the side. Easy fix there.

[mech986]

So MrChiSox,

If you're still around, saw you went round with possibly selling then ultimately keeping your 4301's. How did the resurround and refurbishment go, and if so, how do they sound?

Hope you had some good JBL fun!