4311, L100A, L100, or 4310 cabinet?

[servojohn]

I recently bought a used pair of 4310 in walnut, alnico drivers, and the cabinets are pretty beat up. This is not a problem, cabinetmaking is one hobby and profession of mine. Thinking about all the versions made, and their popularity still, I got to wondering if there would be any desire for replacement cabinets? A friend has a very modern CNC based woodworking business with finishing line, and has been branching out into loudspeaker cabinets for a few customers over the past two years with my input.

So, my question today for the forum:

Which version would be most popular in a cabinet? Personally, my version would be a hybrid, combining the full lip around the front of the 43xx series, but no aluminum logo shield, instead a full grill frame with cloth, but the same size as the L100 foam grill, so that any one wanting the L100 look could still get 95% there. Obviously, the external dimensions would be the very, very close to the originals too.

Cabinets would be miter/folded of walnut veneered MDF, with dados machined for the front and rear baffles, pretty much like the originals, but the density of the modern MDF is higher, I'm pretty sure.

I suspect they could ship unfinished, and the buyer could oil them, but there would also be available some very nice stained and laquered options.

Pricing is going to be partially determined by the size of the run, hence my post today-trying to see if there is the possibility of getting a limited run made.

Thanks,

John Halliburton

[Titanium Dome]

Intriguing, John.

I guess driver alignment would be a question that needs to be answered. Some alignment choices are subtle, some not. For example, I like the original inline design of the L100 Century.

If you're thinking of having the buyer cut out the baffle openings, then that takes care of itself, but I would not want to have a new, $$$ cabinet that I messed up when I mis-cut a hole.

[servojohn]

No, I was figuring on a fully machined baffle, and even though the 4311 cluster baffle appeals to me, the vertical inline style has always been my preference in other projects.

Best regards,

John

[CountD]

John,

Making the new cabs seems like a great project. I have been fortunate to own a couple pairs of 4310s (early and late), 4311, 4312 (mirrored), L100 and L110. It's funny, when Harmon took over JBL and made the 4311 they said that the raised front of the 4310 made no difference in sound, but I always end up going back to my 4310's (late model with a 2212h). I cannot tell you why, but I really like the sound of a 4310.

Are the cabs really that beat? It might be worth restoring them back to a studio gray and just doing the resto on the cabs. 4310s are not that common as people may say or think - I have seen only 5 pair or so for sale in the last year!

I don't know about the demand for pre-made cabs, as a lot of people dump their 4311, L100 cabs when they cannibalize them. If you don't want to go the 4310 resto route, you can always find nice 4311 cabs somewhere probably cheap.

[Titanium Dome]

No, I was figuring on a fully machined baffle, and even though the 4311 cluster baffle appeals to me, the vertical inline style has always been my preference in other projects.

Best regards,

John

Good (on both counts). If this moves forward, I'd be interested to know more.

[servojohn]

John,

Making the new cabs seems like a great project. I have been fortunate to own a couple pairs of 4310s (early and late), 4311, 4312 (mirrored), L100 and L110. It's funny, when Harmon took over JBL and made the 4311 they said that the raised front of the 4310 made no difference in sound, but I always end up going back to my 4310's (late model with a 2212h). I cannot tell you why, but I really like the sound of a 4310.

Are the cabs really that beat? It might be worth restoring them back to a studio gray and just doing the resto on the cabs. 4310s are not that common as people may say or think - I have seen only 5 pair or so for sale in the last year!

I don't know about the demand for pre-made cabs, as a lot of people dump their 4311, L100 cabs when they cannibalize them. If you don't want to go the 4310 resto route, you can always find nice 4311 cabs somewhere probably cheap.

Yes, they are too beat up for WAF. They were mounted on a wall or from a ceiling, holes drilled from the hardware, plus the usual dinged corners and scratches.

Also, I had a brain fart-the ones I bought are 4311's, all flat baffle, walnut veneer. Sorry about that.

I'm still leaning towards the vertical alignment, but have already drawn up a CAD file for the stock 4311 baffle layout. On the possibility of the 4310 sounding better, I suspect the extra build out for the mid and tweeter introduced more variables in the surface, and tied in with the asymmetric placement of the drivers on the baffle, broke up a more distinct "Baffle Step Response" phenomena of the system. Given the simplicity of the crossover vs. the L100, this makes sense. Experimenting with this on an L100 design and producing a new crossover may be in the works down the line.

For now, I'm feeling out the possibility of a run of cabinets.

Best regards,

John

[grumpy]

...producing a new crossover may be in the works down the line.


Might want to give this a read-through first :):

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=13105

Good luck with the semi-repro cab endeavor.

[servojohn]

I've read that thread.

The crossover project is not a high priority, and I also have some friends who are very good at crossover design I can work with as well.

For now, I'm going to see how the cabinet "project" develops, and get to a point where they are rebuilt as stock, enjoy them for a while, and then see about tweaking. If I can get enough folks committed to some cabinets, that's a bonus.

Best regards,

John

[grumpy]

cool. Seemed worth bringing up again for anyone else following this thread.

I'm sure folks here would be interested in seeing how your project progresses and in what form.

Cheers, :cheers:

[dprice]

I would think that allowing the customer to choose from the 2-3 "standard" baffle layouts would be simple enough since the rest of the box is standard. Whatever you pick someone is going to want the other. With CNC technology, cutting a custom baffle may only require a reasonable up-charge. Because you know someone wants an L100 size box with a horn stuck in there. ;)

[servojohn]

Set up charges vary considerably.

Also, this is more of a program writing situation-to do the two or three different baffles the 4311/L100 series had would mean more programming, with the ability to call up each version of the baffle for a given run. That's more engineering/development cost that has to be amortized over the run of the product.

Just sayin'...

I've started making a pair of cabinets by hand for now. I've got another project coming to a point this week that needs attention. This will give me a chance to at least see how a reproduction cabinet will look coming off the finishing line.

Best regards,

John

[sonofagun]

In my experience, good luck! :banghead:

Not to rain on anyones parade, but seems dubious there would be enuff demand to justify any reasonable production runs.

Better (IMO) to just produce a modern speaker using new drivers but then you're in direct competition with hundreds of other speaker builders.

Marketing is the key which I've learned the hard way over 35 years! I've had (and have) excellent business/product ideas but lack the marketing & financial help needed.

Probably should partner with some one else in the entrepreneurial speaker business or at least find a backer.

Anyone?

[servojohn]

In my experience, good luck! :banghead:

Not to rain on anyones parade, but seems dubious there would be enuff demand to justify any reasonable production runs.

Better (IMO) to just produce a modern speaker using new drivers but then you're in direct competition with hundreds of other speaker builders.

Marketing is the key which I've learned the hard way over 35 years! I've had (and have) excellent business/product ideas but lack the marketing & financial help needed.

Probably should partner with some one else in the entrepreneurial speaker business or at least find a backer.

Anyone?

Demand is one reason I started this thread, I was trying to get a feel for it.

The goal is to possibly provide a fairly close reproduction of the classic cabinets for fans of the product. As to whether modern drivers are better, possibly, but many are not. I know which ones are. ;>)

I have the business side backing me, as well as the modern woodworking facility.

For now, nothing has been decided. We'll see how the hand built versions go, and I'll show them to my friend with the woodworking company, and we'll get an idea on costs, then decide what to do.

Stay tuned.

Best regards,

John