Assistance with L Pad Replacement on a pair of 4343's

[Richiecee]

I am new to this site as I recently inherited a pair of 4343's and trying to figure out the best course of action. I am sure I am not alone but on one speaker the L Pads are missing and the other the L Pads on the second speaker were burned out at some point. They do play as both are being bypassed. My dilemma focuses on originality in the event I want to sell them. What would be the best course of action to minimize loss in salability?

As I see it, I can take two courses of action. First, leave the override of the L Pads in place and play as is or maybe purchase an external crossover. The second alternative is replacing the L Pads with parts obtained from the Parts Express website. The closest I could find is part # 260-254 which is a 50 watt, 16 Ohm with a 3/8 shaft. The original is 40 watt same Ohms with a 1 inch shaft. Obviously this would require some alterations to the box to accommodate the difference in shaft length. Does anyone have experience with this? I guess it would also make sense that if you go this route, you may as well replace all of the L Pads. As I see it, there are three in each, 2 16 Ohms and 1 8 Ohms. Is this correct?

In summary, my thought is that all of the current owners who wish to keep their 4343’s will experience issues similar to myself or as I have seen in other posts. So, at some point many of these speakers will not have the original parts. Maybe someone comes along and sees a market and starts to reproduce them as they do in the vintage car market but who knows. But I come back to my original question which is what devalues the speakers more, replacing original parts with after-market or leaving them as is with non-working L Pads?Appreciate any assistance.BestRich

[martin2395]

I'd just replace them with new L-pads, they are around 9 dollars each at Parts Express.
You can always put a spacer or something under the knob to compensate the length difference.
You are also correct about the impedance of the L-pads, 16Ohm for the 2121, 16Ohm for the 2421 and 8Ohm for the 2405.

If you want to get the best out of the 4343 - just disconnect the old networks and build new ones with quality MKP's.
They rotary switch (which is almost always heavily oxidized) at the back also decreases the sound quality significantly.

When I started modifying my 4343A's I did everything to make them look as close to original but now the only stock thing are the cabinets
Yet with the exception of the 2123H they still look like 4343A.

[Richiecee]

I'd just replace them with new L-pads, they are around 9 dollars each at Parts Express.
You can always put a spacer or something under the knob to compensate the length difference.
You are also correct about the impedance of the L-pads, 16Ohm for the 2121, 16Ohm for the 2421 and 8Ohm for the 2405.

If you want to get the best out of the 4343 - just disconnect the old networks and build new ones with quality MKP's.
They rotary switch (which is almost always heavily oxidized) at the back also decreases the sound quality significantly.

When I started modifying my 4343A's I did everything to make them look as close to original but now the only stock thing are the cabinets
Yet with the exception of the 2123H they still look like 4343A.

Thanks! The shaft length is 1 inch on the stock L Pads and 3/8 on the Parts Express version. Your point is well taken regarding originality. Eventually all you will have is the cabinet. I have seen many posts where people wind up making them the way they want anyway so I guess I am may be thinking about this too much.

[JeffW]

Parts Express has the 8 ohm version with 1" shaft

http://www.parts-express.com/parts-e...8-ohm--260-255

I bet someone can advise how to make an 8 ohm L-Pad behave as a 16 ohm.

[ivica]

I am new to this site as I recently inherited a pair of 4343's and trying to figure out the best course of action. I am sure I am not alone but on one speaker the L Pads are missing and the other the L Pads on the second speaker were burned out at some point. They do play as both are being bypassed.

As I see it, I can take two courses of action. First, leave the override of the L Pads in place and play as is or maybe purchase an external crossover. The second alternative is replacing the L Pads with parts obtained from the Parts Express website. The closest I could find is part # 260-254 which is a 50 watt, 16 Ohm with a 3/8 shaft. The original is 40 watt same Ohms with a 1 inch shaft. Obviously this would require some alterations to the box to accommodate the difference in shaft length. Does anyone have experience with this? I guess it would also make sense that if you go this route, you may as well replace all of the L Pads. As I see it, there are three in each, 2 16 Ohms and 1 8 Ohms. Is this correct?

.BestRich

Hi Richiecee,

May be help:
Stereo 8 R can be converted to 16 R mono
http://www.parts-express.com/speaker...8-ohm--260-260
# 260-260

Mono 8 R
http://www.parts-express.com/parts-e...8-ohm--260-255
# 260-255

[Richiecee]

Hi Richiecee,

May be help:
Stereo 8 R can be converted to 16 R mono
http://www.parts-express.com/speaker...8-ohm--260-260
# 260-260

Mono 8 R
http://www.parts-express.com/parts-e...8-ohm--260-255
# 260-255

Fantastic! Great Stuff!