Rosewood 4414's.

[jackgiff]

When I discovered how good the LE14 was, I bought a pair of Lancer 55's on E-Bay. I told the seller to toss the cabinets and tweeters, and just ship me the LE14A's. He already had them packaged, so I said I would take them all. What a stroke of luck for me.

After listening to the LE14A's in these cabinets, I immediately thought "4414's!" It was relatively easy to acquire the remaining parts needed on E-Bay, although it may have cost a little more than "market." I sold my rosewood 4412's to Sourceoneaudio to cover the cost of the parts required. It didn't cover the cost of the veneers, but seemed like worth doing since everything else was covered by Jeff's payment.

The 104H would fit into the port hole of one speaker, but the crossover cutouts and tweeter cutouts had to be filled on both cabinets, and the port cutout on one of them. Pieces were cut to fit, and epoxied in place. Then the new holes were cut for the ports, midranges and tweeters.

One foot had been damaged and broken, so needed some patching. A little glue and three screws made it firm again. Since the back of the cabinet was not veneered, and had a large groove all the way around, it needed filling. I used ZAR wood filler.

The rosewood veneer was cut to size for all the pieces that would be veneered.

[jackgiff]

When both cabinets had been veneered, and I looked at the tops of them, it became apparent that having a black or gray pad underneath the glass top, with the edges painted flat black was not to my liking. I decided to cut some additional veneer and do the tops of the cabinets as well. I cut out a space for the logos to eliminate having to hike the glass up another .03 inches or so.

After finishing the veneering, they looked OK, but it wasn't until applying the first coat of Watco natural danish oil, that the true beauty came out. Guess which cabinet is oiled and which one not.

On seeing both veneered and oiled cabinets, it was obvious to me that rosewood was an excellent choice. But the faces still seemed a bit rough. Another filling of ZAR leveled things out.

Both cabinets got another dose of Watco danish oil. I let it soak in the oil till it was almost hard to spread the residue anymore. Then it dried overnight. The next day, the small amount of varnish in the Watco left a somewhat shiny finish, but was subdued with an application of elbow grease using 0000 steel wool.

Glass was ordered to fit, and I chose 1/4 inch gray glass. The 4412 grille allowed a semi look at the speakers under it, and I wanted to sort of duplicate that look with the logo and wood grain under the glass. Mission accomplished, as far as I am concerned.

I was concerned if the glass company could cut the glass accurate enough, but I gues it isn't rocket science. Prescott Glass did a remarkable job for me, and even gave me the clear spacers to hold the glass above the logos. COOL!

[jackgiff]

The 4412 crossovers I bought for these speakers had long enough shafts on the LPads that they reached through the front baffle. The knobs are a little tall, but the grille holds the cloth out far enough to clear. I recalculated the tuning using a three inch port since there was not enough room for a four inch. Haven't heard any chuffing, so guess it is OK.

The grille frames were both broken in one spot each, but a simple metal strap repair was affected, and they are as good as new (almost) after being sprayed with flat black paint to hide the fixes. They were recovered with JBL blue cloth. This stuff is now stocked by Zilch, but the cloth I used was bought from Steve Gonzales a long time ago. Thanks to both Steve and Zilch for their efforts on behalf of all JBL lovers.

The gray glass allows a look through so the logos and wood grain can be seen. It will be difficult to see them in my lab, but they will probably not always be there.

Finally, a look at both the pair I made for myself in Lancer 55 cabinets, and the pair made for my friend John, in S99 cabinets. They are shown with and without grilles. This has been an extremely exciting time for me to have three projects at the same time. The Santana two ways are due to be veneered next, also in rosewood. And then, it is back to being a gardener. Hate when that happens!

[macaroonie]

tasty:applaud:

[vettedrummer]

Hey, that is so pretty! It doesn't get any better than that!

[Titanium Dome]

Well done, well done. :applaud:

I can't compliment you enough on your vision and execution. Now, one critical question: how do they sound?

[rs237]

fantastische work.:applaud:
I ask myself like you it create the veneer sheet so well to glue on. I it correctly which you it cut before exactly?
regards
juergen

[00Robin]

That Watco really did it. Classy and I always do the cut glass,with everything,table,dressers. I choose the slight bottle green colour though and with beveled edges,but yours are recessed so the bevel would be lost. Gotta have them spacers too! They are really easy to loose in a big move with alot of them. I always collect them personally and put them in a secret place until the movers unpack all the furniture.

Beautiful work. I love seeing what you guys do here.

[Robh3606]

They look nice!

Rob:applaud:

[jackgiff]

Well done, well done. :applaud:

I can't compliment you enough on your vision and execution. Now, one critical question: how do they sound?

They sound just like they were meant to. Like 4412's with more bass.

The 4412's I had were very satisfying, but when I heard the LE14A, well the rest is history.


juergen, the veneer was cut in approximate sizes only. I left between 1/16 inch to 1/4 inch larger to be sure I didn't end up not covering a spot. The excess was trimmed with a router and flush cutting blades, or by simply sanding away the extra after the pieces were glued in place. I use original solvent based contact cement, so there is no reworking parts if they are put down in the wrong place.

[Storm]

Jack,

Will these be for sale anytime soon?

Thanks.

-Storm.

[jackgiff]

Jack,

Will these be for sale anytime soon?

Thanks.

-Storm.

Boy, I sure hope not. They were built for my workshop bench, and they fit quite nicely, while providing some great tunes. If I run into a larger JBL woofer and box combo, who knows?

I didn't think I would ever sell the 4412's, but they went bye-bye. Maybe these two will also sell someday. Should I keep you in mind if I decide to move up?

[Storm]

Please do.

Thank you.

-Storm.

;)


Boy, I sure hope not. They were built for my workshop bench, and they fit quite nicely, while providing some great tunes. If I run into a larger JBL woofer and box combo, who knows?

I didn't think I would ever sell the 4412's, but they went bye-bye. Maybe these two will also sell someday. Should I keep you in mind if I decide to move up?

[briang]

Beautiful work.:applaud:

[rs237]

juergen, the veneer was cut in approximate sizes only. I left between 1/16 inch to 1/4 inch larger to be sure I didn't end up not covering a spot. The excess was trimmed with a router and flush cutting blades, or by simply sanding away the extra after the pieces were glued in place. I use original solvent based contact cement, so there is no reworking parts if they are put down in the wrong place.


jack,

thanks for the replay, now I must find such a beautiful veneer here in Germany.

regards
juergen

[edgewound]

Component wise...very similar to the 240Ti.

Nice transformation, Jack. Beautiful wood.

[JBLRaiser]

Beautiful work Jack. Before and after really shows the contrasting changes. Thanks for the show.:applaud: