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Thread: My JBL 4355 Homecinema Soundbar build

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  1. #1
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    My JBL 4355 Homecinema Soundbar build

    Hello all!

    Although I read in this forum for some time now, this is my first post. By way of introduction, I am Stefan, I live in a small city very close to Frankfurt/Germany. So, apologies for the one or the other typo or grammar mistake. I turned 50 this year and my interest in HiFi and DIY started in the eighties with a pair of Infinity Kappa 8. Lately I tried electrostats and open baffle subwoofers.

    However, I have always been interested in a very lively sound experience. I have to thank Holger Barske ("hb") for the inspiration. His 4355 build is documented elsewhere in this forum. His build encouraged me to try it by myself.

    On one hand, my room was not wide enough for a proper placement of a pair of 4355. On the other hand, my interest is not only music but also homecinema. Why not combining the two?

    • The woofers of the 4355 are actively crossed over anyhow.
    • The mid-high section may be better arranged in a vertical row.
    • The four 2235 can better be replaced by two 2245
    • All Drivers could be arranged in one cabinet (inspired by the Paragon)


    I started with a brief coloured image to get an idea how things could tie together:

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    I learned and profited a lot from this forum and without the documents and hints and tips herein, this would not have been possible. Therefore, the intention of this thread is, to share some of my experiences and pictures with you to say "thank you guys". From my own experience, I always enjoyed a lot to view storys and pictures of someones built.

    So, I hope you enjoy it.
    Stefan

  2. #2
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    Get all the chassis

    It is hard to get all the chassis here in Europe in good condition at a reasonable price. Finally, it took about a year to collect everything. The receipt of every part was celebrated like eastern and x-mas on one day......

    I expected the project to fail, if I can not get the 2441/2440 and the 2245 drivers in advance. I found 2440 with Radian dia's at an acceptable price in Germany. They were the first to come:

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    Next thing was to get the 2245. I found them also in Germany, nearly mint and freshly refoamed. The seller did not want to send them. I planned to go to a bike rallye nearby so I decided to go there by car and pick them up (that cost a number of beers at the rallye, not to show up on my bike...):

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    The 2202 where not easy to find and they were all in bad conditions. I got them from Germany and the UK:

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    They have all been reconed by a small local company (at a reasonable price) who claim, that JBL Germany sends the one or the other vintage chassis to them for repair.

    The 2405 were not hard to find:

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    It turned out, that the h93/2311 are really hard to find. I got them from the US as well as the clamps. But it is impossible to find the lenses. So I ordered them at Kendrick and I think the price is also about fair. The email contact, delivery and everything was excellent:

    Name:  10_Ankunft Kenrick 2311-2.jpg
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  3. #3
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    Build the (test) enclosure

    As my room is exactly twice as long as wide, I have some problems with room modes. So, I did not know, whether this will work in my room. And this is my first experience with JBL. As prices for good wood have gone up over the past years, I decided to start with an easy test enclosure made of particle board.

    The volume was calculated based on the documentation of the subwoofer for the 2245 (2 times the 20Hz Version with 12 sqrft). The size is 2m x 0.5m x 1.1m.

    First thing was to cut the holes into the baffle wall:

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    To keep the test enclosure simple, I decided to use the mid woofer housing also as bracing for the enclosure:

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    First look at the raw enclosure:

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    This cannot be overseen in the living room. I decided to add some paint to see if I like a "blue wall" of 2 x 1 m in my living room:

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    The damping was done with hemp mats:

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  4. #4
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    Build the crossovers

    I decided to try the charge coupled crossovers. As a tribute to originality I buildt the original version with a lot of inductors.... Actually I am in some doubt whether that was a wise decision. However, as I would always doubt, whether the 9V battery is still in good condition I decided to go for the diode method. Again, I can not thank enough the members of this forum with their documentation and insights. There is so much to learn and to gain here. Good work!

    A lot of parts had to be ordered for three crossovers:

    Name:  01_Weichen Ankunft Bauteile.jpg
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    The inductor values are not common in Germany. So I had to unwind them individually:

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    Then everything was placed properly for another test-"enclosure":

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    And this is a completed crossover:

    Name:  02_Weichen Final CC Dioden Methode.jpg
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    Finally, I "produced" the gaskets by myself out of foam rubber plates:

    Name:  11_Dichtungen 2405 2440 2311.jpg
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  5. #5
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    Thanks for your concerns and recommendations.

    toddalin
    My concern would be that the L/R are pretty close leading to a loss of separation. Also, the cabinet looks a bit small for all that's going on in there.
    My previous speakers were at the same position. About 2m apart from each other and my listening position is about 3m away. You may be right but there is no more space anyhow. For music it is fine.For homecinema I would like to have the speakers closer to the side walls. However, I tried two 2445 with other horns in separate cabinets at about the same position but toed in and I think that was good idea (and for a number of other reasons they sounded so much better than the combination 2440/Radian/2311). I consider to give the final enclosure a "curved" baffle wall. But this will not be an easy woodwork...

    The internal net volume (without the midwoofer cabinets and the volume displaced by the drivers) is about 24 cu ft (two times 12 cu ft like proposed in the subwoofer paper for the 2245 documented in the forum-library). I have done impendance measurements: The 2245 are tuned to about 22-24 Hz.

    Flodstroem
    But Im not so impressed about your bracings in such a huge cabinet. Many large areas that can vibrate
    But as you said, it was a test cabinet and then it can go for that....
    The midwoofer cabinets work quite good as bracings for the front, back and side wall. But there were clearly resonances at the top. That is why I included the lathes later. But you are absolutely right: The final enclosure will definitely have a "matrix bracing".

  6. #6
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    Here we are: Final pictures in test enclosure

    Everything was put together and there was a long way to go with measurements etc.

    However, while I write theses posts I listen to Gregory Porter (on Vinyl) and it all paid off. I love the sound, although I have a number of questions and ideas for improvements ;-)

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    Name:  04_Testgegäuse Final 4.jpg
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    Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed it...

    Stefan

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by music2u View Post
    Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed it...
    When I was building my DIY 4350's I considered pair of 18's instead of 15's but the 8 cu ft. enclosure for each 18 gave me a pause.
    Is this just one speaker or a stereo pair?

    Vahe

  8. #8
    Senior Member srm51555's Avatar
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    Awesome!!! Welcome to the forum.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Woody Banks's Avatar
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    Vundabar!

  10. #10
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    I want to say that is "out of the box" thinking, but that is one hell of a box!

    It it looks wonderfully crafted with great care and passion. Congratulations!


    Widget

  11. #11
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    Looks awesome, nice work. Are you going to build another for stereo ? I can only imagine how sweet it must sound.

  12. #12
    Senior Member berga12's Avatar
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    Thanks to you too!!!

    I turned completely analog, so removed AVR DSP, you can also put a swich and use the AVR pre-out for Audio-video purpose, and Keep 100% analog for 2ch and Vinyl listening.

    with this system, a Fanless PC with "KODI", I'm very happy, with those huge system you can enjoy the Movie dynamics and effects in any case, also on DTS movie, this is my personal experience.

    For the horn IMHO you have to make some distinguish, if you want to follow the monitor project you have to keep 2311 and filter between 1,2 and 10Khz....but if you run bigger horn like JBL 2350,Yuichi, IWATA, then you have to cut down to 400-500hz, changing completely the crossover point and speaker response.

    I've no experience with Berylium diaphagram on 2441 or 2440 and no experience with 2445. Just consider some fact:
    - 2440-2441 are Alnico
    - 2445 are Ferrite
    - Berylium is tipically used on TAD drivers (both alnico and ferrite) and does it sound much brilliant than Aluminum diaphagram (for my listening experience).


    Have you Re-magnetized 2440-2441? In the past those drivers where used under the sun light, with large amount of power,many of them have lost much of the Magnetization, resulting with not original sound....

    check this first.

    Ofcourse you are free to put a bigger horn on the top of your cabinet to lower the driver crossover point.

    ciao
    Luca

  13. #13
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    Very cool

    Nice work- good effort on the "test" enclosure, while the material/thickness/bracing are lacking for a final build, your build skill sure isn't! I do think a wider enclosure for a little more separation might be worthwhile if you can make it work, and perhaps a little shorter so it's not quite so close to the display.

  14. #14
    Junior Member music2u's Avatar
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    If it is called 4355 it is always big in a certain way... ;-)

    @berga12: Thanks for the compliment which I am pleased to return. I saw your built in the other thread. Great craftsmanship! And you nailed it: I plan to run L+R as "large" and have an "analog" active x-over and class a or tube amps. But then I would also like to have the DSP (in the AVR) completely out of the phono signal chain. I have to figure out a good and comfortable way to switch the sources and the bass management. BTW: I use also Hypex UCD 400 for the bass. But this is second priority.

    First priority is to finish the speaker. Actually, the 2445 with a diffraction type horn (I don't know what it is) sound much better than the 2440/Radian/2311 combo. I have not yet figured out, whether the driver, the diaphragma or the horn is primarily responsible for the clearly audible difference.

    So, what is the best mid-horn combo for 4355 (if we stay with vintage gear)? From reading differents posts, maybe 2446 + Beryllium + Yuichi horn?

  15. #15
    Senior Member Flodstroem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by music2u View Post
    Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed it... Stefan
    Wow! What a huge project..... If we enjoyed it, your kidding
    I liked your 2 x 2245ś, that is a huge difference compared to the "small" 2235ś
    But Im not so impressed about your bracings in such a huge cabinet. Many large areas that can vibrate
    But as you said, it was a test cabinet and then it can go for that......
    Flodstroem

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