Originally Posted by
Tom Loizeaux
Jean,
Your work on your 4343s has been of some interest to me as I too have a vintage pair of these. Your zest for rebuilding these and efforts in trying to improve these is all a bit over my head. Your interest in re-designing these crossovers in more ambitious then anything I would attempt.
When I rebuilt mine, I tried to restore them to original specs. I had to repair the cabinets, do major clean up on everything, replace the fiberglass, repair the grille frames, find replacement nameplates (thanks Guido), and re-foam or re-cone drivers. I also tried to upgrade the caps in the original crossovers. I installed some quality caps and did some bypassing, especially on the HF and UHF circuits.
Over the past year I've carefully adjusted my active crossover, set levels and adjusted the balance with my power amps and L pads to get what I think is nearing the perfect balance.
I did buy a pair of JBL 2421 diaphragms, but haven't installed them yet because the original ones still sound really great.
I feel that one needs to make small changes, and make them one at a time, in order to know what difference they're actually hearing. Too much too fast only leads to uncertainty.
This fall or winter I plan to open my 4343s up again. Then I'll install the new diaphragms and I might put in a few more high end caps. I consider this part of my slow, fine-tuning process.
I will read about your efforts and percieved results, but I'll take your experiences and advice very cautiously.
Thanks again for your enthusiasm!
Tom
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