JBL 4430'S RESTORATION??

[audioisi]

Hi, I just bought a nice pair of Huge 127lb JBL 4430 Studio Monitors at a local Church. They have been sitting for years and I just happend to get a good deal on them. They have a few marks on them that I colored in and I also refinished them in a deep Cherry color. I took the drivers out and inspected them. the Butcheek Horns look excellent and are very heavy. The Woofers though have suffered from Foam Rot. I took them to a local Electronics repair shop and had the voice coils tested. He told me with his testing and experience that they are fine. But the foam needs to be Replaced. I bought a Foam repair kit from Simply Speakers for $40 and I am thinking of doing it myself. I am very nervous about doing it, as I have never done this before. I don't even know what these speakers will sound like or if I will like them at all. The local electronics shop will refoam each speaker for $93, but I thought I would give it a try myself. Is there anyone out there that can give me some tips or advice on doing the foam my self?? I guess these Monitors are highly desirable and went for 3K new. So I figured it would be worth restoring them. Any help would be very apreciated. I would also pay someone locally near madison wi to come and help me out if possible. Thankyou....Joe.

[oldsoundz]

I am of the opinion, that if you have never done speaker repair in the past, that you should fork over what it will cost to have them professionally done. I have done foams on lesser speaker with success as a novice, but JBL has a much tighter voice coil tolerance than most and less margin for error. If you do them yourself and make a mistake, you may cause damage to the voice coil.

Just my opinion. :)

Chris

[speakerdave]

Study this thread; then decide: Resurround step-by-step:
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=469&highlight=step-by-step

The 4430's are really nice speakers; I'll hazard a guess you will in fact like them. Many readers of the forum have found that taking woofers to "pros" for refoaming is not risk-free because the hierarchy of time and care is different. If you are handy with tools you could probably do the refoaming yourself. If you never diy anything and seem to have extra thumbs at key moments, it might be better to find a careful pro and pay what it costs to do a good job, preferably using the methods set forward in the thread cited.

Having the woofers reconed is not all that bad an idea. If they have been sitting for a long time with the foam surround gone and the cones sagging the spider is likely tweeked out of shape. Since you are into the speakers for low money, you have "room" to spend a little getting them technically up to spec. If you do that, be sure you are taking them to an authorized JBL repair guy who is using genuine factory kits and NOT aftermarket cheapies.

Specifically, I would suggest you refoam yourself (since you already have the new foams), or have them reconed professionally by a JBL tech. Perhaps a forum member near you can recommend a shop.

David

[clmrt]

I wonder if Madisound can help...?

*Probably not. No repair blurb on their intrawebsite.

[audioisi]

Yep, I called Madisound already and they will not help. I also tried Fonbone, but he is on vacation. I think I will try to refoam myself and see what happens. I only spent $40 on the foam. If it fails, I think I was quoted $150 per speaker to Recone by an authorized JBL Dealer. Or I could wait for Fonbone Electronics to do the job, but that will run me almost $200.

[soundboy]

Way more than $150 for a JBL factory cone job. The kit, not including labor is over $200 last I knew...
If you do the foam, get ahold of Rick Cobb on this forum. Do a search. He includes a 30hz tone CD that lines up the voicecoil before final edge gluing....no removing the dustcap. I have done 2 pair of JBL's with his kits, and they worked flawlessly. Punch in a search for some re surround threads as well....good luck, they are great speakers.

[JSF13]

I just had mine done here in Canada and the price was $190.00 for the kit and $75.00 labour per,CDN.

[Zilch]

A good price is complete for the list price of the kit, i.e., $162. :yes:

[audioisi]

Can anyone tell me or help me compare the Sound of the JBL 4430's? I have had over 100 pairs of various speakers throughout the years, but have only had one pair of JBL L-5's, L-1's.

[speakerdave]

Can anyone tell me or help me compare the Sound of the JBL 4430's? I have had over 100 pairs of various speakers throughout the years, but have only had one pair of JBL L-5's, L-1's.

Well,it seems to me you have the means at hand to find out for yourself, but if you want to know what someone else thinks about your speakers why don't you use the search engine to look for past reader's comments on this speaker? There's also a technical paper or two regarding it; you may come across those too. I don't have them indexed.

David