I have been given the pictured JBL Studio Monitors from an uncle downsizing from the family home to a senior's living apartment. 40 years ago as a teen I admired these and he remembered thus gave them to me. He had a Macintosh amp on them (which at the time I had never even heard of the brand! ). They spent their life in the living room, literally as furniture that could play background classical music so they are cosmetically in very nice shape.
My uncle says he purchased the entire system new, and he doesn't know if they were modified by the shop he bought the package from way back when. He had the main driver's surrounds replaced a dozen or so years ago.
I appreciate good sound but am totally non-technical so any advice is appreciated. The front cover and inside front panel say 4331, but from online reading on this site I see they have the 2405?? ultra high frequency driver which points to model 4333? So maybe the stereo shop upgraded them? Also the 2 separate rear connection panels don't match anything I've found online.
Regarding hookup, as seen it has the two hookup areas on the back. Is the upper panel with the additional contacts ONLY to be used if they are bi-amped? I have a 6-7 yr old consumer level Yamaha receiver ( HTR-6295, 130W /ch ) so I cannot bi-amp these. Thus I assume I hook up to the bottom panel with just the 2 inputs. Assuming that's correct, does the adjustment knob on the upper panel still adjust something? Or is that adjustment for level balance only if they are bi-amped?
I have hooked my stereo to the lower 2-contact panel and I must say the sound is not overly impressive compared to some not too expensive mid-range Polk Audios that I've had for 30 years, mostly high end is missing. Could it be that the Yamaha I have simply is not good enough to run speakers like this properly? Is there something I'm missing? How can I get the most out of these speakers with the Yamaha that I have?
Lastly and least important, are these speakers anything special and/or valuable? I know they were a gift but someday I'll sell them in a home downsize as well, are they worth $500? $1,000?