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Thread: JBL 4343's - Woo Hoo!!!

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  1. #1
    Member VinylGroove's Avatar
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    JBL 4343's - Woo Hoo!!!

    I spent over a decade looking for a pair of 4343's since I don't live on a coast they are not common near me. Finally I found some in Northridge, CA from a seller willing to work with me on shipping arrangements. I posted details to Uship and got a bid from TravelUnderWater that was very reasonable for door to door delivery, blanket wrapped and hauled in a covered trailer.

    When they arrived they exceeded all expectations for condition and do not appear to have ever had the baffles or back removed. I had to open at least one to check the drivers and everything is in order. I actually didn't remove the 10" driver because it was stuck and I didn't want to chip the blue baffle, but validated all others.

    Serials 10076, 10092
    2231A - 15" Sub Woofer
    2121 - 10" Mid Woofer
    2420 - Compression Horn
    2405 - Horn Tweeter
    2308 - Acoustic Lenses
    Original grilles are flawless (not in photos)
    Pot codes on mid frequency pot - ALPS 7611 8ohm 50dB Q Japan

    I think the ALPS pot code 7611 means it was made in the 11th week of 1976, so the speakers are at least from that date. My serials seem to be earlier than most 4343s - maybe from the first 100?

    Can you date them by serial?

    The jury is still out on whether I prefer them over my 250TI's but I seriously love these speakers! I was surprised that I had to turn my bass up on my preamp which I don't have to do with my 250's, but it sounded much better that way. Listening fatigue from the 43's definitely set in but this is without tweaking the crossover and I was listening at fairly high volume.

    I may be looking into building or buying some new crossover networks, but may use them as they are for a while first.

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    I don't know why my photos are sideways, they aren't on my computer. Sorry.

  2. #2
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    very nice looking pair of 4343...congrats
    I also have 250ti's and 4343's as well as 4345....bass is great on all (can't beat the 18inchers)
    on the bass try getting them a bit off the ground
    if you have the room move them away from the wall, you need to experiment moving them around guaranteed the bass is there you just need to find the right spot..
    are you bi-amping?
    also the switch for bi-amp is known to be an issue wouldn't hurt to go in and de-oxit

  3. #3
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pioneer View Post
    very nice looking pair of 4343...congrats
    Heck yeah!

    Quote Originally Posted by pioneer View Post
    on the bass try getting them a bit off the ground
    if you have the room move them away from the wall, you need to experiment moving them around guaranteed the bass is there you just need to find the right spot..
    Good advice, but he is finding them bass shy... doing these things will typically provide more accurate bass, but less of it. Getting away from boundary reinforcement is often great for bass, but tweaking the curve with external EQ will likely be needed. My experience with the 4343 is that they are on the lean side.

    Listener fatigue... compared to the 250ti, yep. Set up right with the right source material the 4343 can be very enjoyable though.


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    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    When i bought my 250ti's , the seller (member here) also had 4343b's.

    He had run them both on the same gear , so I asked him how they compared.

    His answer was that he could live with either, but found the 250's more enjoyable in a home environment and had better bass.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  5. #5
    Member VinylGroove's Avatar
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    How did you flip those images to proper orientation? Thank you for doing that.

    Does anyone know if it's possible to date these speakers based on the serial numbers? Have you seen any with serials this early?

    I'll definitely hit the pots and that crossover switch with some deoxit. I'm watching the surrounds to see if they show signs of needing replacement as I use them.


    As for stands, I'd actually like to move them up quite a bit - I've even considered up 1-2 feet off ground if I felt they were secure and couldn't be pulled over onto someone like a kid horsing around.
    They're in an atypical setup which is at the end of a game room by a pool table. (Audiophile Sacrilege, I know) I can sit on a tall bar chair to listen symmetrically if I want but mostly they are there to fill the room.

    I am a bit nervous they'll get the same treatment as my blinds have when kids friends are over.

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Flipping images on a Mac is pretty easy. As for protecting the speakers... Rotate the HF baffle and hang them from the ceiling horizontally? Lock the door? Put them in storage until the kids grow up?

    These beauties WILL get damaged if the little beasties are allowed near them without supervision.


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    Member VinylGroove's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    Rotate the HF baffle and hang them from the ceiling horizontally? Lock the door? Put them in storage until the kids grow up? These beauties WILL get damaged if the little beasties are allowed near them without supervision. Widget
    My kids are a bit older now, so fingers crossed they and their friends are more careful in the future. Middle school was very different.

    I actually need to decide between the 250's and the 43's for this room because both don't fit in the corner very well without interfering with pool cue clearance.

    Years ago, the fragile titanium tweeters in my KEF reference system were an irresistible attraction to our neighborhood kids. I'm convinced KEF's innovation of adding the tangerine waveguide over their tweeter domes was more about protecting them from kids fingers than any audible improvement.

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    Senior Member HCSGuy's Avatar
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    Look great - glad everything worked out with the shipper! FWIW, my current media room is pretty bass heavy. I am going back and forth between rear ported Array1400’s, and front ported S3100’s. The Arrays sound really good if I can get them way off the wall - about 3 feet. If I want to move them closer, I either have to plug the rear port, or cross them over at a higher frequency. The S3100’s sound great much closer to the wall - 1ft max, which works out much better for the room. If you can, move your 250’s out of the way and slam the 4343’s up against the back wall and to the corners, and see if that helps the bass. That said, my memory of listening to my 4343’s was leaner bass, especially compared to 250Ti’s, but more slam. Have fun - let us know which music you like better on which speaker.
    Last edited by HCSGuy; 04-27-2021 at 02:59 PM. Reason: typo
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    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    of course, you can swap sides with the 250's , they'd look weird,
    but fit into the corners better
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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    Member VinylGroove's Avatar
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    Great feedback on the positioning. I'm considering some pretty tall stands so I might build some so the top of the 43's are about the same height as the 250's. I'm probably just going to fab something up with 2x4's and top grade birch plywood. I did this for my home theater speakers that sit behind a screen and they are surprisingly solid. Though I would paint or cover them in some fashion, in this case.

    (Speakers are 85lb JBL Pro Cinema 3677's)
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    Senior Member DogBox's Avatar
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    New Family Members...!

    Hey Vinyl Groove,

    You are one fortunate guy! Those '43's are Gorgeous! Nicest 'original' pair i've seen in a long time..

    Please don't let a Cue ruin proceedings to those beautiful cones... in fact, move that table somewhere else and put some comfy chairs or, just one..

    in the sweet spot! I wouldn't have thought there would be that much in it but maybe 2235's at a later time might give a little more low if you could

    just 'swap' them over for a trial run and see.. Be interested to find out what you think?

    Enjoy! I know you will...

    Kind Regards,
    DogBox [Steve]

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    I tried stuffing the 43's into the corner and it did wonders! I definitely prefer them there and against the wall. Thank you for the great suggestion!
    The 250's on the other hand do not like being against the wall with that rear bass port, but that is to be expected. At least I have them out of the way enough to play pool.

    I setup an A/B box to compare and ended up just leaving the 43's connected and going through track after track. They sound great with everything.
    Portishead, The Doors, Tron Legacy Soundtrack, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Metallica, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, 38 Special... on and on.
    Piano, voices sound particularly good. I heard some details in many songs that I'm very familiar with that shocked me. Their high sensitivity brought out some things that I really was blown away by, and I've had some great headphone setups (many IEMs and Planar Magnetic over ear) that I thought had already shown me every detail on these tracks but I was wrong.

    I loaded up a tone generator app on my iphone and was surprised I could hear and feel 5hz, though with a large db drop (obviously). It doesn't come on strong until over 20Hz and by 30Hz it's really moving the house. These are here to stay.

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    Senior Member DerekTheGreat's Avatar
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    Yeah.. The 250Ti's look tacky next to the 4343's, too busy. I think it's time to pass them on to me. This way I can cross them off my dream list and compare against my XPL200's.

  14. #14
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    I'd love to hear XPL200's and came close to buying a set locally but at the time I was in gear purge mode so I passed them up.

    These speakers do look kind of dumb side by side in the corner and the 250's definitely don't belong against a wall like that, choked on the low end big time. I'll likely end up with the 43's alone in the corner, angled slightly inward and up on 8-12" stands.

    The only other large speakers I think I'd consider at this point if they were available for the right price are 4350's, 4345's, Klipschorns or maybe the right set of big vintage Tannoys. I considered some Tektons but can't get past their aesthetics and I can't see myself crossing over into Everest territory due to cost.

    I owned KEF Reference, B&W Nautilus and others in the past and though I liked their detail (especially KEFs), they always had something missing that I experienced in a pair of L100T3's I regrettably sold. Both the 250TI's and the 4343's sufficiently do what I loved in both the KEFs and the L100T3's.

    Next step is figuring out what to do with the attenuators on the front of these things which are all at noon and they're still too bright for extended listening.

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    Quote Originally Posted by VinylGroove View Post

    Next step is figuring out what to do with the attenuators on the front of these things which are all at noon and they're still too bright for extended listening.
    Do you have the lens diffusers on the horns?

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