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Thread: A General Question about Speakers like the JBL 4430

  1. #1
    Senior Member markd51's Avatar
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    A General Question about Speakers like the JBL 4430

    Hello folks,
    I own a pair of beautiful 4430 Monitors, which I in fact bought right here from a seller about a good 4-5 years ago.
    Some of you may remember? (HJames?) Person was Tom Tatman from Catamount Studios, but these speakers were supposedly never used in the Studio, but spent their prior lives in a Company's Conference Room.

    The 2235H Drivers were re-foamed by Orange County Speaker just prior to my acquisition. Anyway, Ill get on with the pertinent question I have:

    I know from time to time it is wise common sense to check the Drivers that they are not loose, I of course did that when I got the speakers, and from time to time check the Bass Drivers.

    Last week I checked the Bass Drivers, all clamps were fairly snug, may have taken an 1/8th turn on the screws if that.

    Just this morning I checked the Horns and they seemed fairly loose according to the Allen Screwdriver, some screws taking 5-6 turns. Others just maybe a turn or two.

    I of course know well you don't tighten such with gorilla-like force for fear of cracking the horns at the screw holes. I just snugged them well without the risk of over-tightening.

    Now here's my question? I've never been inside these speakers to inspect-peek at anything.

    Not sure of some things, but my question is, can the Compression Drivers as well also start to become loose from the rear of the Horn, and as well the Bracing Board for the Driver inside the Enclosure? Is such commonplace?

    Should one check such periodically on such speakers as these, and others which use Compression Drivers? What have been your findings?

    I'll assume the Bass Drivers will need to be removed, and gathering that the Compression Driver can be accessed through the Baffle Board after the 2235H is removed?

    Anything else should be checked while I'm in there?

    Understand it might also be a good idea to rotate both Bass Drivers 90 degrees, an old tip I think I once read here, easy I also assume when they are then removed.

    Thank you folks,
    Mark

  2. #2
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markd51 View Post
    Understand it might also be a good idea to rotate both Bass Drivers 90 degrees, an old tip I think I once read here, easy I also assume when they are then removed.

    Thank you folks,
    Mark
    personally , I'd rotate them 180
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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    Senior Member markd51's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    personally , I'd rotate them 180
    Sorry, but you're right Seawolf, that's what I actually meant! LOL 90 degrees would only be a 1/4 turn, 180 would be a 1/2 turn.

    That will be an automatic thing I'll do should I yank these drivers, which I think I will do very soon.

    These also don't have the correct grillcloth, but do have 2 full yards of Cloth from our gone but not forgotten member Zilch.

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    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
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    If you want to inspect the compression driver, just remove the horn (the driver will follow closely behind)

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    Senior Member markd51's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grumpy View Post
    If you want to inspect the compression driver, just remove the horn (the driver will follow closely behind)
    Thanks Grumpy for telling me this.

    None the less, since I'm still thinking of doing the Woofer rotation like talked about earlier, can I still kill 2 birds with one stone, and still see and access the compression driver and its attachment screws-etc to the Horn with the Woofer removed? Then I won't have to monkey with the Horn at all.

    Is the Compression Driver also in some way supported inside the Cabinet, or no, that the Horn itself supports the Compression driver's entire weight?

    Thanks, mark

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    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
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    Well, you can have a look when the woofer is out and see if you agree...
    the driver has wood around it, though on mine I don't really think the wood
    holds up the driver once the Allen head bolts are tightened on the horn.
    ...might help prevent catastrophic damage during shipping.

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    Senior Member honkytonkwillie's Avatar
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    Might be obvious, but if you lay the 4430 down on it's back, you won't have the woofer dropping as you remove the clamps. And the horn lifts out nicely too.
    I control the treble.
    I control the bass.

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    Senior Member markd51's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by honkytonkwillie View Post
    Might be obvious, but if you lay the 4430 down on it's back, you won't have the woofer dropping as you remove the clamps. And the horn lifts out nicely too.
    Thank you! Yep, thought of that too, and having experience with other Speakers like my L-65 Jubals, this is the wisest method of driver removal. Those 2235H drivers are of course even heavier than 126A's and certainly don't need those 15's flying out of the cabinets onto the floor, or into my hands, where I can easily damage a cone.

    Haven't done the surgery yet, but when I do, I'll try to accompany a follow up with a couple pics to share of what I see inside!
    Mark

  9. #9
    Dang. Amateur speakerdave's Avatar
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    Also, when lifting a woofer out of a cabinet have a plan where you going to rest it on the baffle board while disconnecting the leads. Some cloth or cardboard will prevent any slight marring that might occur without it.
    "Audio is filled with dangerous amateurs." --- Tim de Paravicini

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    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markd51 View Post
    Sorry, but you're right Seawolf, that's what I actually meant! LOL 90 degrees would only be a 1/4 turn, 180 would be a 1/2 turn.
    when you rotate it 180, don't repeat my mistake
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    Senior Member markd51's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by speakerdave View Post
    Also, when lifting a woofer out of a cabinet have a plan where you going to rest it on the baffle board while disconnecting the leads. Some cloth or cardboard will prevent any slight marring that might occur without it.
    You're absolutely right, and thank you for this reminder! These are just to nice to bugger. As you can see, need to get that Zilch Cloth on too! Getting tired of the grey.
    Mark

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    Senior Member markd51's Avatar
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    BTW, maybe some have noticed some "new amplification" in my Rack?

    Yep, those are a brand new pair of Bryston 7bsst2 Monoblocks. They're exactly one week old at this point in time.

    About 80 hours on them now, were seeming a bit "lean and shrill" and fairly "bass light" for a few days, getting a little fuller sounding, and better balanced now. Hope they'll warm a little further yet.

    Factory Test Specs on the bench state 676 watts into an 8 Ohm load before clipping. Yep, they're quite mean powerhouses! Fuzz, Hum, etc, I hear zero at 1/2 output with no music playing, dead quiet.

    Not as syrupy and as warm as my 40 year old Mac 2105's, I didn't expect them to be, nor wanted them to be. The 2105's always seemed to run out of power and seemed distorted, at the verge of clipping when playing a bit loud. The 4430's needed a bit more headroom from Amplification.

    Played them beyond insane loud the other night, they were really putting out the music, not a lick of distortion, the 4430's sounded "happy"!

    Build construction is very nice on these, as they should be for their asking price. Cannot beat a 20 year warrantee either.

  13. #13
    Dang. Amateur speakerdave's Avatar
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    Nice amps. Really nice amps. Your initial response to Bryston seems to happen often. I have an older Bryston I use for some things, replacing a second generation McIntosh solid state, an MC2200, a very nice sounding amp in the midrange and treble, and the Bryston (5st) is absolutely non-fatiguing, and I also found it a better match for modern heavy-coned woofers.

    Looking at your photo I wonder if you have tried interchanging your left and right speakers to get the horn a little farther away from the wall on the left (can't see the right). Just a thought. You would still get an early reflection, and it might actually sound worse. That might be a spot where some reflection dampening would add to your enjoyment of your system.
    "Audio is filled with dangerous amateurs." --- Tim de Paravicini

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    Senior Member ivica's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markd51 View Post
    BTW, maybe some have noticed some "new amplification" in my Rack?

    Yep, those are a brand new pair of Bryston 7bsst2 Monoblocks. They're exactly one week old at this point in time.
    ........ Fuzz, Hum, etc, I hear zero at 1/2 output with no music playing, dead quiet.

    Not as syrupy and as warm as my 40 year old Mac 2105's, I didn't expect them to be, nor wanted them to be. .........The 4430's needed a bit more headroom from Amplification.

    Played them beyond insane loud the other night, they were really putting out the music, not a lick of distortion, the 4430's sounded "happy"!

    Build construction is very nice on these, as they should be for their asking price. Cannot beat a 20 year warrantee either.
    Hi markd51,

    What does that mean: "..I hear zero at 1/2 output with no music playing..". If I have understood correctly, while the input pot is about 1/2, but
    if total span is about 60dB, than that means you have -30dB down. I think that You have to test them at 1/1, with no music playing.
    regards
    ivica

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    Senior Member honkytonkwillie's Avatar
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    He's talking about background system noise being inaudible when the volume is turned up halfway, but music isn't playing. Like between tracks or when changing a CD.
    I control the treble.
    I control the bass.

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