My 4341 journey

[S.O.Stefansson]

Just thought I'd chime in after a long quiet period to report briefly that I now have a pair of 4341 at home. They showed up here in Norway recently, and I went across the mountain on ice and snow on a 15 hr. drive (return trip) to pick them up. Was it worth it? You bet. They are by far the best speakers I've had, and are likely my last pair of speakers. Needless to say, I've searched the forum for information on the 4340/41, and I already have some plans for upgrades... My pair is in good shape, all original drivers, the enclosures look good, and after some negotiations they have been accepted into the house (they outperformed my previous Century Gold so much that even my wife thought we should keep them)

I attach some pictures,

Thanks and best wishes,

Sigurd

[Krunchy]

Congratulations Sigurd, they look great :applaud:. How long have you had them now & how much listening have you been able to do.
What equipment are you currently using to drive these bad boys? HOw big is the room, theys seem a little close to each other, may just be the photo :dont-know: or the angle.
What are some of the upgrades that you have in mind for these beauties.

Enjoy & keep us posted. :)

[S.O.Stefansson]

Thanks, Krunchy,

I've only had them for a couple days (picked them up on Saturday), so not much listening yet, but the first impression is so positive that I sincerely believe they will stay for a very long time. I'm driving them using a pair of Manley Labs Neo-Classic 250 tube monoblocks (10 EL-34 pr block), pre-amp is Aesthetix Calypso Signature, CD player is Muse Errato II and turntable is Kuzma with a vdHul Colibri cartridge. So far this appears to be a good match.

The room isn't very big, and may be limiting, but that's what I have, and yes, they are a little close to each other, so I'll work on placement over the next days and weeks. There's probably a lot to gain.

And the upgrades I had in mind... maybe a pair of 2421B (that I have) to replace the 2420 (with original diaphragms), maybe reconing the woofers with the 2235 kit, even replacing the internal cabling with better wire, and there may be tweaks in the x-over that I have yet to discover, these are just some ideas,

I'll post updates as I get around to trying out some of these ideas,

One question: Does anyone have a couple spare bolts for the 2420 drivers? The previous owner had damaged the heads of two of the four bolts that hold the driver together. Or can one get them from JBL?

Cheers, Sigurd

Congratulations Sigurd, they look great :applaud:. How long have you had them now & how much listening have you been able to do.
What equipment are you currently using to drive these bad boys? HOw big is the room, theys seem a little close to each other, may just be the photo :dont-know: or the angle.
What are some of the upgrades that you have in mind for these beauties.

Enjoy & keep us posted. :)

[BMWCCA]

I've searched the forum for information on the 4340/41, and I already have some plans for upgrades...:applaud:Congratulations! Once you go 434x 4-way it's hard to go back. Are bi-amping them? I suppose any information here on the 4343 would also be appropriate since the minor differences would appear to be only crossover and mirror-image baffles. They look great in your room. Will you now get to find out whether the Golds still have the cachet to bring the big bucks they have in the past, or not? Most likely they should cover the cost of the 4341s. Collectibility versus sound quality!

Does this thread help? http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?587-2420-Screws

[4313B]

:applaud:Congratulations! Once you go 434x 4-way it's hard to go back. Are bi-amping them? I suppose any information here on the 4343 would also be appropriate since the minor differences would appear to be only crossover and mirror-image baffles.

They look great in your room.+1 :yes:

[DavidF]

Just thought I'd chime in after a long quiet period to report briefly that I now have a pair of 4341 at home. They showed up here in Norway recently, and I went across the mountain on ice and snow on a 15 hr. drive (return trip) to pick them up. Was it worth it? You bet. They are by far the best speakers I've had, and are likely my last pair of speakers. Needless to say, I've searched the forum for information on the 4340/41, and I already have some plans for upgrades... My pair is in good shape, all original drivers, the enclosures look good, and after some negotiations they have been accepted into the house (they outperformed my previous Century Gold so much that even my wife thought we should keep them)

I attach some pictures,

Thanks and best wishes,

Sigurd

For certain, nice room, nice dog, nice speakers, and so on. I could be very comfortable in that space. Well done.

[Mr. Widget]

Congratulations Sigurd, they look great :applaud:.Ditto!

Well done!


Widget

[martin_wu99]

Very good system,how about your set up?why?

[BMWCCA]

why?

Because.

[ratitifb]

Because.But?

[S.O.Stefansson]

Thought I'd keep this thread going, just swapped the original 2420s with 2421Bs, I'll report impressions soon,

In any case the 4341s are an impressive pair of speakers, detailed, yet not aggressive, with a solid foundation and a sparkling top end, and a very smooth midrange, they are addicitive, and I enjoy listening to them, I find I discover new things in records I've been listening to for years

[mech986]

A very nice looking pair, are the cabinets in good condition and the JBL blue as well? A very nice acquisition.

[S.O.Stefansson]

Yes, the cabinets are nice, the veneer is nice except for a small (1") section which has been sanded thin on one of the top corners. Structurally they are absolutely mint.

The blue paint on the baffel is nice (could use a touch-up around some of the screw-heads) and the cloth and integrity of the grills are first class. I'm very happy with them and plan to keep them for a long time,

Thanks and best wishes,

Sigurd


A very nice looking pair, are the cabinets in good condition and the JBL blue as well? A very nice acquisition.

[jbl_daddy]

You will love them. Every time I listen to mine I am amazed and I have owned them for 20 years. I did find the need to add a pair of b380 subs to them and that helped a lot.

[NickH]

Those are some nice speakers. Some nice toys driving them too. THose are the big manley's arent they?


Nick

[S.O.Stefansson]

Nick,

thanks, yes those are the Manley Neo-Classic 250, 10 EL-34 tubes pr block, there's also the Neo-Classic 500, with 10 KT-88 I think, but I'm fine with the 250s, and I like the EL-34 (currently Svetlana winged-C)

Best wishes,

Sigurd


Those are some nice speakers. Some nice toys driving them too. THose are the big manley's arent they?


Nick

[NickH]

Oh man those thing look like a pain in the back to move. I bet there not a pain in the ears though.



Nick,

thanks, yes those are the Manley Neo-Classic 250, 10 EL-34 tubes pr block, there's also the Neo-Classic 500, with 10 KT-88 I think, but I'm fine with the 250s, and I like the EL-34 (currently Svetlana winged-C)

Best wishes,

Sigurd

[S.O.Stefansson]

So, it has taken me forever to finalise this project, and getting around to publishing some pictures and thoughts, but now finally
From where I left off a number of changes have been made, here's a brief overview (in no particular order)
1. Stripped the enclosures of old oil and added Danish oil, two coats, wet-in-wet. An exciting part of the work. The old oil came off quite easily with some wood-cleaner/stripper mixed with water, then lots of clean water to remove any residues
2. New Danish oil added, wet-in-wet, two coats, used the same approach we used when we were restoring wooden boats, stopping at two coats made a Nice, structured surface with the grain easily visible/Nice to the touch/not too shiny
3. Drivers: As mentioned above, I replaced the 2420s With 2421Bs, and in doing so I opened the back of the 2421s, and of course the old foam lining had transformed into some messy glue-like, black substance. So, I stripped the inside of old goo and made a couple of felt-liners for the covers, thickness about the same as the old foams. Came out quite nicely I think. In the process I also managed to ding one of the diaphragms when putting it back after cleaning the frame of old goo, :(, so I replaced them both with NOS JBL diaphragms
The rest of the drivers where in excellent shape, so no changes
4. X-over/system: Major Upgrade :bouncy:. I asked Guido to build a pair of CC 4343 x-overs, which now sit in the bottom of the enclosures. The system is now bi-amped, using a Rane AC22 (for now) @ 300 Hz 24 dB/octave, the woofers fed from a BGW 250E (for now) and a the mid/highs are driven by a Border Patrol P20 (you can see it in the Pictures). I will keep this overall set-up, but active x-over may be upgraded to a Pass, and I have a Plinius amp which will replace the BGW (which is actually a very nice amp as many have posted here)
5. Braking in: OK, this may be controversial, but I am now safely in the herd of the believers :). When I put everything together, it sounded congested, dull, unresolved, boring, no air, I was well and truly disappointed. A lot of New Components to be sure, diaphragms, x-overs, cables (speaker cables are now Oyaide, one of my suspects). So, in desperation I put on a burn-in CD I had lying around (Purist Audio, Rev. B), and let it rund for 5-6 cycles. Didn't really expect much, then put on a CD by Gene Clark (yes I remember this in detail), and started to prepare dinner. The change was no less than a total transformation, punch, air, resolution, ...

OK, that's about it, thought it was about time I contributed some back to this exciting forum,

Sigurd

[S.O.Stefansson]

must have hit the wrong key :)

[S.O.Stefansson]

a couple more pictures

[yggdrasil]

Vemodig vakkert!

[Odd]

Very nice job.

[S.O.Stefansson]

Very nice job.
Thanks, realtively minor Project compared to some other Projects here on the forum, but challenging, and rewarding indeed. By the way, here's a Picture of the sart of the Application of Danish oil to bare wood

[mech986]

Very nice. Normally wouldn't recommend using plastic / nylon standoffs and wire ties to secure the high power resistors, never can tell how hot they might get.

[Mr. Widget]

Beautiful!
Congratulations... and thank you for the wonderful report.


Widget

[DavidF]

Beautiful results. Likely worth all of your time and effort to keep these bits of JBL heritage in use for a good many more years.

[Steven76]

must have hit the wrong key :)

Hello Sigurd

linving in Switzerland and have to projets for same pcb.. board on your pic on 4341, have the same

can tel me more and possible to have a schema and number detail cap and resistor for this beautiful restoration

verry regards

Steeve