Driver choice for 4641 cabinet - 2241H or 2242H or 2245H, what are the pros/cons?

Hello everyone, I'm new here and I was told you guys are the best people to ask for advice. I've been given a JBL 4641 cabinet (8 cubic ft, single port tuned to 25hz I think) with no driver and am looking for advice on which woofer to choose. The stock driver is a 2241H however I was hoping to get some insight on some other possible choices before I make the purchase or if the original is the best option. I've searched through this forum and tried to read as many threads as possible but a lot of the information is in response to different cabinet sizes and some of it is beyond my technical understanding as i'm just a home audio enthusiast so I was hoping for some pretty basic advice.

Main usage will be for music with occasional home theatre use. I would prefer it to perform at it's best for music with less focus on it being able to reach as low as possible for movies however if there is one which strikes a good balance between the two that would also be worth consideration. I also wouldn't mind knowing for reference which one you would recommend for home theatre use just in-case I decide to go down that path however at this stage the plan is for it to go into my 2 channel music set up. I plan on powering it with a Behringer NU1000DSP which will hopefully handle the eq competently enough. Crossover will be handled by a minidsp to split it up from my preamp between my two power amps. The cabinet is also missing the binding posts so i'm going to install a neutrik speakon input to make connecting to the amp easier. After reading as many posts as I could I think i've narrowed down the best options to the 2241, the 2242 and the 2245. Which of these would you go for and are there any choices which I haven't come across yet worth considering?

One other thing I wanted to ask was about the dampening material used inside. The cabinet I have has had all of the felt/foam removed from the internal walls so I need to replace that too, what material is a good choice as i'm not sure what was originally in there.

Thanks very much for any help!

If it were me, I'd use the 2242H (turns it into a 4645C). If you look up the cutsheets on both the 4641 and the 4645C you'll see the response differences. The 2242 handles more power than the 2241 too but that might be secondary for you in your application.

As for fiberglass. You don't need to go overboard with it. I honestly forget what surfaces of that box are covered (if any). If covered, it will be with 1". The box tuning frequency is 22Hz, as I recall.

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Originally Posted by sguttag

If it were me, I'd use the 2242H...

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Since primary use is for music, I would use the 2245, unless very high playback levels are desired, the 2245 works well for HT use as well and just sounds better.


Widget

2245 would be good, or take your time and find a 2243, which is a 2242 built for home use (goes lower, but doesn't play as loud and is 1db less efficient). There's a seller on Ebay with two 2243HPL's available, but he's in Cypress:( Good luck getting your money back when they arrive with cracked frames. The shipping also seems too cheap.

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Originally Posted by HCSGuy

2245 would be good, or take your time and find a 2243, which is a 2242 built for home use (goes lower, but doesn't play as loud and is 1db less efficient). There's a seller on Ebay with two 2243HPL's available, but he's in Cypress:( Good luck getting your money back when they arrive with cracked frames. The shipping also seems too cheap.

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Would a 2269 work?

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Originally Posted by HCSGuy

2245 would be good, or take your time and find a 2243

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There's a guy in Germany selling 2 for 400 euro, I wonder if he would sell one individually I might shoot him a message. Yeah i forgot to mention that high output levels are not really required, I live close to neighbours at the moment and rarely exceed 90db during my listening sessions, usually closer to 80. The consensus so far seems to be that the 2245 is a good choice for my needs, would the 2243 match it on musicality grounds but be also able to dip a bit lower at the expense of some efficiency?

I have a B460 which uses the 2245 (part of my L250/B460 system)...it is a good driver but know that its foam surround WILL fail and there isn't a JBL recone kit for it anymore. You can refoam it.

I don't know if the port on the current box is right for the 2245 or not and have never put one in it nor measured it to comment.

The 2242 I've heard in it a LOT and it always performs. Have anyone of you that are recommending the 2245 used it in the 4641 box?

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Originally Posted by sguttag

The 2242 I've heard in it a LOT and it always performs. Have anyone of you that are recommending the 2245 used it in the 4641 box?

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I have not heard it in a 4641 box, but the cabinet is 8 cu ft... you can easily retune it if needed.

I personally wouldn't use 2242s unless maximum SPL was a requirement. The 2269 is another fine alternative.


Widget

As far as I can tell, the 4641 box is the functional equivalent of the B460 - 8 cubic ft tuned to 25hz (I think the B460 is tuned to 26hz) so a 2245 should be great, providing you have the ability to do some boost at the tuning frequency and cut subsonically. OP should read Greg Timber’s 1983 article on homebuilt subs using the 2235 and 2245, as this is pretty much what he is doing:
http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/.../1983-subs.htm

If you decide to do 2245 and can’t find one, let me know - I have a few I am not using, though I imagine postage will be a fortune.

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Originally Posted by HCSGuy

If you decide to do 2245 and can’t find one, let me know - I have a few I am not using, though I imagine postage will be a fortune.

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Thanks for the advice, i'm hoping one comes up locally, it definitely would seem like it's the best option. The 2243 also sounds good but might be even harder to find. Also i'm in Sydney, Australia which makes things even more difficult but regardless as soon as my budget allows for it i'm going to track one of them down. There is this 2245 which has been reconed "using aftermarket parts" a short drive from my house for $700AUD($500USD). It's being sold by the most respected speaker repair place in NSW though (The Speaker Hospital in Sydney is pretty much the go to place for all speaker repairs in this area and has nothing but very positive reviews. They've helped me in the past as well with some parts for some vintage EV speakers) so I would imagine the quality couldn't be too bad. Do you think it's worth taking a chance or are aftermarket recone kits a crapshoot in terms of quality? If you were to ship one over to Sydney any idea of a ballpark figure of total driver cost+freight?

I know prices vary from country to country, but holy crap that is expensive! If it’s not original JBL cone, it’s pretty much worthless, as you do not know what the woofer was built with. I think I paid $250 for the cheapest of my 2245’s, so it would be that plus postage, which may be $150 U.S. I’d have to box it up to get a weight. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll dig it up and check the foam - I had it reformed about 10yrs ago and it’s been in storage since.

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Originally Posted by HCSGuy

If you’re interested let me know and I’ll dig it up and check the foam - I had it reformed about 10yrs ago and it’s been in storage since.

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Yeah everything here in Australia (Sydney especially) is ridiculously overpriced, I don't smoke but a pack of cigarettes is around $40 if that gives you some idea of the cost of living here. Buying internationally from eBay used to be a good way to save some cash when the dollar was close to parity with the US a few years ago but not only has it weakened significantly but in order to make local brick and mortar stores remain competitive (because they refuse to price things reasonably) they changed the law which used to make international purchases less than $1000 exempt from import taxes but now they apply to everything; a purchase of around $250AUD will cost you roughly an extra $50 in levies on top of that, it's just insane at this point.

Anyway thanks very much for the offer, I might just take you up on it! I'm just about to have a couple weeks off work for Easter and i'm going to see some family interstate so i'll be away from home for a little while but when I get back i'll see what my bank account looks like and probably hit you up after i've got another week or two of work under my belt, so maybe in a months time. Very excited to get this sub up and running after just about breaking my back getting the cabinet down two flights of stairs. I also sent The Speaker Hospital selling that reconed 2245 a message and asked them if they had any detailed information on what kind of recone kit they used or if they had any measurement data which might back up the high price they're asking. I doubt they'll get back to me with anything too useful but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, if they get back to me with anything interesting i'll post it on here to see what people think.

Here's your solution to a JBL 2245H recone kit. Drops in to any frame for 2245H/2240/E155. The frame MUST be prepped and cleaned thoroughly. From my Facebook page. I had been on sabbatical for most of 2018, but have a new shop. I even had a very nice visit from Ian Mackenzie.

https://www.facebook.com/UplandLouds...9019645002085/

A completed reconed 2245H:

https://www.facebook.com/UplandLouds...2519538201535/

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Originally Posted by edgewound

Here's your solution to a JBL 2245H recone kit. Drops in to any frame for 2245H/2240/E155. The frame MUST be prepped and cleaned thoroughly. From my Facebook page. I had been on sabbatical for most of 2018, but have a new shop. I even had a very nice visit from Ian Mackenzie.

https://www.facebook.com/UplandLouds...9019645002085/

A completed reconed 2245H:

https://www.facebook.com/UplandLouds...2519538201535/

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You did not mention the vc/construction, or the source of the cone.

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Originally Posted by HCSGuy

2245 would be good, or take your time and find a 2243, which is a 2242 built for home use (goes lower, but doesn't play as loud and is 1db less efficient). There's a seller on Ebay with two 2243HPL's available, but he's in Cypress:( Good luck getting your money back when they arrive with cracked frames. The shipping also seems too cheap.

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I cant really see how a 2243H can be more suitable for home use, it has far less X max and very low QTS which even with a 30hz FS makes it very inefficient in the 20-80hz area in a regular ported box.

To me it seems more like a horn driver or a maximum output mid woofer than a home subwoofer (basically a larger version of the 2227H)

For a 8cuft box tuned to 25-26hz I would chose a 2245H, and that's what I did. (got myself a pair of baskets and a couple of oem recone kits before they vent vapor ware)


Ps the specs on the 2243H are aviable on this site in the driver section.