JBL C43 homebrews

[Sam Cogley]

Just picked these up tonight. Bad veneer, and the bent ply at the horn mouth is delaminating a bit (easily fixable with some glue and clamps). They seem to be very well built, almost everything is 3/4" or 5/8" ply. I need to figure out if I can even use them in my house, both of my Marantz Imperial 8s (which are not small) would fit inside one cabinet.

What I'm thinking of doing is using D130s in the cabinets with a pair of Altec 811B horns. So far, I'm trying to figure out how to set this up. Option #1 would be to run them upside down (D130 near the floor) and mount the 811B inside the horn mouth (currently, there is a bracket for an 075 tweeter in there, mounted near the LF driver opening). Option #2 would be to run them right side up and build an enclosure or bracket on the top for the 811B setup.

Thoughts? Other ideas? Pros and cons?

These monsters also came with a lovely homebrew C35. Unfortunately, it's a single.

[Sam Cogley]

Now with pics!

The C35 grille cloth has a bit of staining around the baffle openings, but, the camera flash really brought it out.

The 35 is gorgeous...the 43s need some help.

If anyone is wondering, the speakers on top of the C35 are Stromberg-Carlson 12" Slimlines.

[Sam Cogley]

Any thoughts/info on the C43 design? Information is fairly sparse, I found a few catalog references in the library and that's about it.

[Sam Cogley]

Some good news - depending on the size of the drivers I end up using, I can mount the 811Bs at about the same level as the 075 bracket - which means I can turn these right-side-up. Now I either need to veneer everything so that they're pretty and don't need grille cloth, or make removable grille frames using the existing fabric.

[Sam Cogley]

Continuing the muttering to myself...

I hauled one of the C43s inside tonight, loaded with the one D130 I have (for pictures of it, look up my D130 repair thread). Ugly cabinet, ugly driver...great sound. I'm going to have to pretty these up.

[spkrman57]

I think with attention to detail and a little bit more bracing strategically placed, those speakers will look and sound very nice!

Cheers,
Ron

[jcrobso]

I think with attention to detail and a little bit more bracing strategically placed, those speakers will look and sound very nice!

Cheers,
Ron

They do look like they are well made!

[Sam Cogley]

As far as I can tell, the 43s actually have a bit more bracing that the factory design. They're quite stout and inflexible. The top boards need to be replaced, the cabinets need to be re-veneered, and I need to build a "hat" structure to hold my Altec horns. Should keep me busy into the summer.