DIY project detours ....

[barkingdog]

Greetings Gerble-ists,

My two year long quest to build a large pair of monitors has taken yet another detour. My original plan was to build a pair of 4343's. But during the component acquisition/planning phase I've been keeping an eye out for cabinets on eBay just in case something cropped up that would save me the trouble of constructing the cabinets myself (my carpentry skills are not the worst but certainly not the best).

A pair of 4341 cabinets appeared on eBay recently but I'm not sure if the components I have gathered will fit. I think I'm ok for the woofers (I have a pair of 2235H's) and the tweeters (I have a pair of 2405's) but I'm not sure that the 2312 horns I have (I have 91L lenses) will fit the cabinet (I beleive the 4341 uses the 2307 horn which is shorter?) with a 2425J driver on the back. It looks like one 2307 is still in the cabinet (left cabinet in pics) but the other is absent. (purists skip this sentence) I wouldn't be opposed to building a small dog box on the back of the cabinet to accomodate the longer horn if needed. Nor am I sure that the footprint of the 2123H I have is identical to the 2121 low mid that was in the original. That wouldn't be the end of the world as it looks like the 2121's in the cabinets just need to be reconed (refoamed? opinions welcome).

The crossovers don't really matter to me because I was intending to quad-amp the cabinet with an external active crossover and 4 Bryston amps. You also can't see the rest of the cabinet in the photos but sanding/re-verneering etc doesn't bother me as long as there aren't large chunks of the cabinet missing or rotted out.

I'm looking for opinions on whether the detour is worth examining or whether I should just stick my original plan. There also remains the question of the value of the cabinets on eBay. I'm sure they won't go cheap and the shipping will be considerable given the size and weight of the cabinets.

Ebay link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pair-Classic-JBL...QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers,
James.

[Chas]

Hi James and welcome to another Canadian JBL enthusiast. Let me first say that I think your efforts will be rewarded. My JBL experiences in the past four years have been very satisfying.

I would definitely not use the 2312. In fact, I am fairly certain it won't physically fit. Also, the voice coil offset between the 24XX driver and the MF and the UHF is already bad enough with the 2307, you're only making matters worse, here.

It's likely that you will be able to fit any of the 10" MF's BUT others wiill have to chime in, as I have no experience other than 2123/2122 installation.

Good luck with your project. I can't view the auction from work as ebay is not accessible.

[Robh3606]

Hello James

The 2121,2122,2123 all are the same frames so they will all fit in the box. Don't use the 2312 you don't need 800Hz horns you definately want to use the 1.2K 2307's.

As far as the cabinets??? Hard to say I know if I could get a pair at a good price I might do it but it depends on the shipping. You would probably have to have them palleted and shipped freight. Could get expensive. If you don't want the crossovers and the other components that's going to drive the price up. Your call.

Rob

[hjames]

The 4340/41 and the 4343 use basically the same components in a (4343) slightly larger box. (see the chart at http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...highlight=434x)

If you have the 2235s and the 2405 slots you just need the midBass 10 inch driver and the short horns to make this work. You can search the site here for more info on the JBL 10" drivers that have been used in the big 4ways.

Its hard to tell much about the cabinets, but I'd consider it a reasonable approach to building your own set of 4 ways!
Plus, with empty cabinets, as long as they are solid, you don't have to feel guilty if you customize them to any degree.

Greetings Gerble-ists,

My two year long quest to build a large pair of monitors has taken yet another detour. My original plan was to build a pair of 4343's. But during the component acquisition/planning phase I've been keeping an eye out for cabinets on eBay just in case something cropped up that would save me the trouble of constructing the cabinets myself (my carpentry skills are not the worst but certainly not the best).

A pair of 4341 cabinets appeared on eBay recently but I'm not sure if the components I have gathered will fit.


Cheers,
James.

[pos]

I think the dog box in the 4340/4341 was 0.3 cu ft compared to the more common 0.5 cu ft of the 4343.
Maybe this reduced volume will boost the 2123h's low end enough so that a stock 4343/4344 crossover could be used with this driver without modification?

[hjames]

I think the dog box in the 4340/4341 was 0.3 cu ft compared to the more common 0.5 cu ft of the 4343.
Maybe this reduced volume will boost the 2123h's low end enough so that a stock 4343/4344 crossover could be used with this driver without modification?

Maybe so, but he said he's going to quad amp it - so the stock crossover won't be needed, and he can dial in most anything he needs.

If he had a pair of perfectly working 2123s, I'd sure assemble it with them first just to sample the sound.

[SMKSoundPro]

Seems like a good deal, if you have the inclination to put them back together.

I found this post and am offering it for reference:

["Studio Monitor 4341 s/n 10009
2420 (16 ohm) s/n 8342
2405 (16 ohm) s/n 15299
2123 (8 ohm) s/n 08386 (reconed to 2122 specs)
2234 (not sure)]

2420, 2421, 2425 or even a 2410 motors are not hard to find. I have a couple of each right here. Use a D16R2425 dia. Call it good.

2307 horns. I have one odd ball looking for a home. 2308 lenses are tough to find. (Steal them off of the L200b's at work. Replace with 2380/2445 combo. No one will know!)

2405's. Yea, have a pair of them, too. Or use a bullet motor and call Mike Caldwell for a pair of slot horns and plugs. Have a brand new pair of D16R2405 dias, here.

2234 driver. No sweat! Take that pair of 2235 that I coned up into old D140-f baskets, and rip out the mass loading ring. Glue on new domes.

They are two 2122's there. If the vc's are good, Woo Hoo! Refoam and go! If not, have the baskets reconed as 2123's.

VOILA!

Use the internal crossovers, if you choose to, OR triamp with a dbx 234 & 3106 tweeter network.

All in all, this sounds reasonable to me. Besides, I read on someone's signature line "that this stuff is all about compromises!"

If they were close to me, I could use up some of the parts I have to make a whole, as compared to the other alternative.

$50 opening bid. Pickup is possible. (Honey, want to go for a romantic weekend trip to ______?, (and pickup some great JBL cabinets!) Just you and I!("lets take the minivan without the seats... our 7 passenger chariot of love!)

GIVE IT A WHIRL! There is a great support network, here!

Good luck!

Scotty.

[barkingdog]

Thanks for the responses. It's probably going to come down to economics. If I can get the cabinets at a "reasonable" price, then I'll go that route. I like the idea of having "the genuine article" but not at any cost. We'll see how the auction goes.

Any thoughts on what these cabinets would be worth? I know, I know, what the market will bear .... but "ballpark" would be nice to know.

[hjames]

Thanks for the responses. It's probably going to come down to economics. If I can get the cabinets at a "reasonable" price, then I'll go that route. I like the idea of having "the genuine article" but not at any cost. We'll see how the auction goes.

Any thoughts on what these cabinets would be worth? I know, I know, what the market will bear .... but "ballpark" would be nice to know.

If they are clean, and were closer so I could drive for them I'd probably be willing to pay ... I dunno, maybe $250-400 for them? I mean, they aren't 4343 or 4345 cabinets, so they aren't as in demand as those models are.
It really depends on how bad you want them and what condition they are in ...
Also, they apparently don't have the grills - so thats another thing you need to acquire ...

One advantage of the 4341 cabs is they have a removable rear panel so you can get to the horns and slots - thats kinda nice.