Mike F
01-10-2012, 09:01 PM
After several decades of lusting over all vintage JBL`s, I finally came across a deal I simply could not turn away from.
Please refer to the following links, they will give you some insight as to where I was coming from.
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30385-Who-uses-their-vintage-speakers-as-quot-daily-drivers-quot
and
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30373-43xx-44xx-parts&highlight=
It`s been nearly a year since those posts were made but I`ve been busy scanning various classified ads looking for the perfect pair of L-100`s, 4311 or similar.
To be quite honest, I nearly gave up hope on finding anything worthwhile as most of the offerings were in far less than presentable condition and most had at least one tweeter dust cap poked in (what compels people to do that?)
Now I wasnt kidding myself, these speakers are more that 30 years old so naturally there would be some cosmetic issues to contend with but some were in down right awful condition.
Also, the prices that some of these units were commanding were just outrageous.
But this morning, all of that changed... I came across an ad for what appeared to be a very nice pair
of 4425`s! The pictures that were posted were those of the actual units.
I contacted the seller and was on my way to a small town 100 kms away in Ontario. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.
If I didnt know better, I`d swear these speaker were manufactured yesterday. Not a scratch, dent, rub, smudge, fingerprint, piece of lint or spec of dust to be see anywhere, including the bottoms!
I was shocked. The seller then tells me "I have some bad news" Uh-oh, here we go, too good to be true, that brought me back down to earth.
You see, in his haste to post the ad, the speakers were not tested and he discovered one of the horns to be non functional. Well thats not so bad, I was pretty sure diaphragms can still be had so he cut me a break on his price to compensate, got them for $500. BTW, they were freshly re-foamed.
So what do you think of that? I never considered owning a pair of those due to several reasons but I just couldnt pass on this deal.
Now I just need to get the horn working and figure out a way to get the speakers off the floor a foot or so. I know aftermarket diaphragms exist but is it possible to source an original?
I cant wait to fire these babies up!
Sorry for the long post but I`m really excited about this aquisition and I`m hoping these speakers will serve me well for a long time to come.
Please refer to the following links, they will give you some insight as to where I was coming from.
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30385-Who-uses-their-vintage-speakers-as-quot-daily-drivers-quot
and
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30373-43xx-44xx-parts&highlight=
It`s been nearly a year since those posts were made but I`ve been busy scanning various classified ads looking for the perfect pair of L-100`s, 4311 or similar.
To be quite honest, I nearly gave up hope on finding anything worthwhile as most of the offerings were in far less than presentable condition and most had at least one tweeter dust cap poked in (what compels people to do that?)
Now I wasnt kidding myself, these speakers are more that 30 years old so naturally there would be some cosmetic issues to contend with but some were in down right awful condition.
Also, the prices that some of these units were commanding were just outrageous.
But this morning, all of that changed... I came across an ad for what appeared to be a very nice pair
of 4425`s! The pictures that were posted were those of the actual units.
I contacted the seller and was on my way to a small town 100 kms away in Ontario. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.
If I didnt know better, I`d swear these speaker were manufactured yesterday. Not a scratch, dent, rub, smudge, fingerprint, piece of lint or spec of dust to be see anywhere, including the bottoms!
I was shocked. The seller then tells me "I have some bad news" Uh-oh, here we go, too good to be true, that brought me back down to earth.
You see, in his haste to post the ad, the speakers were not tested and he discovered one of the horns to be non functional. Well thats not so bad, I was pretty sure diaphragms can still be had so he cut me a break on his price to compensate, got them for $500. BTW, they were freshly re-foamed.
So what do you think of that? I never considered owning a pair of those due to several reasons but I just couldnt pass on this deal.
Now I just need to get the horn working and figure out a way to get the speakers off the floor a foot or so. I know aftermarket diaphragms exist but is it possible to source an original?
I cant wait to fire these babies up!
Sorry for the long post but I`m really excited about this aquisition and I`m hoping these speakers will serve me well for a long time to come.