Finally my new babes have arrived (4435)

[baldrick]

Aprox 2 weeks after I paid for my 4435, I finally got them this afternoon

My first impression: they were BIG!



My second impression: they were heavy to carry



My third impression: WOW



My fourth and present impression: hmmm






To fill the impressions abit more I have to say that they first sounded absolutely great! Totally different than my 120TI but in a good way. But it didn't take very much listeining to question the bassresponse. I really thougt bassapperance would be greater than this... At present, my other/older speaker, 120TI with aditional 1200GTI woofer really outpreforms the 4435 when it comes to bassperforms. Hopefully this will change when I move the speakers to other part of the room, or maybe to another room.

We've just moved in to our new house so nearly nothing is in place at the moment so I hope things changes. Unfortunately the room doesn't seem to be very good when it comes to sound So maybe I have to change room for my stereo/home theater system.

The condition of the speakers are fairly good, some scratches in the cabinet but no big things. The drivers seems to be perfect BUT the foam on the woofers is not the way they originally were if I don't remember totally wrong. I know the foam have been changed some years ago.. could this have anything to do with the performens? It's professionaly refoamed with org JBL kits, but could they have used a wrong kit and what will this mean for the sound?

[SUPERBEE]

(In my best OKIE drawl)

Them are sure some purty musicy boxes

[Earl K]

Hi,

I really thougt bassapperance would be greater than this... At present, my other/older speaker, 120TI with aditional 1200GTI woofer really outpreforms the 4435 when it comes to bassperforms. Hopefully this will change when I move the speakers to other part of the room, or maybe to another room.

- You should remove at least one of those woofers.

- Take some closeup pics . of a removed woofer ( show the front & the back ) . Then post the pics here .

- It's very hard to tell , but those look like the wrong woofers ( or at least the wrong surrounds ) .

The drivers seems to be perfect BUT the foam on the woofers is not the way they originally were if I don't remember totally wrong. I know the foam have been changed some years ago.. could this have anything to do with the performens? It's professionaly refoamed with org JBL kits, but could they have used a wrong kit and what will this mean for the sound?

- Are you sure that's a foam surround ? It looks like linen .


- Earl K

[johnaec]

It's professionaly refoamed with org JBL kits, but could they have used a wrong kit and what will this mean for the sound?

First of all, JBL does not sell refoam kits, only complete recone kits. That said, the foam does not look like any I've ever seen before - it appears a really odd color. And it's hard to tell, but it looks like it was (incorrectly) glued to the front of the cones, not the back. It's quite possible that your lack of bass response could be caused by these refoam jobs. Unfortunately, it's likely the only real solution is to get the speakers reconed.

John

[baldrick]

Hi,
- Are you sure that's a foam surround ? It looks like linen .

It could be that I use only the wrong term.... maybe what I mean by "foam" is in fact surround or a recone?

Here's a close up of my woofer and a close up of the original from the brochure, it's definetly NOT the same. I know the org woofer in 4435 is the 2234H, and is the woofer in the right the only way a 2234H could look or could it also look like mine?



ANyway, to find this out, I'll be right back with pictures of the woofer from the backside

[jbl4ever]

The speakers look like aftermarket 2225 accordion edge

[johnaec]

The speakers look like aftermarket 2225 accordion edge

I agree - an earlier owner must not have wanted to deal with foam-rot, so when needed, put corrugated surrounds in instead. A good refoam was probably all they needed, but now, a total recone looks to be the only way to salvage these.

As I recall, this set was very inexpensive? Now we know why... And yes - those surrounds are virtually certain to be the cause of the lack of bass - they totally stiffen the suspension up and really raise the free-air resonant frequency.

John

[jbl4ever]

You maybe have 2205 or 2225 substituted instead of the 2234/35's
Still would ask for some money back
With the right woofers in there you will have more bass than the other ones by far

[Zilch]

Current price C8R2235 is $156. "Do not use mass ring."

I'd be looking for "compensation."

[Earl K]

It could be that I use only the wrong term.... maybe what I mean by "foam" is in fact surround or a recone?

Here's a close up of my woofer and a close up of the original from the brochure, it's definetly NOT the same. I know the org woofer in 4435 is the 2234H, and is the woofer in the right the only way a 2234H could look or could it also look like mine?

- I think you are right . You've used the wrong term .

(i) Foam = Sponge Rubber ( a specific type of surround )
Surround = a generic term to describe many types of materials holding a cone to the frame

(ii) Pull all the woofers to see if they say 2234H on the back .
- If they say 2225H , then you likely have the wrong coils installed , as well as the wrong surrounds .
- If they say 2234H, you may be lucky and have the correct ( longer voice coils ) with a pleated aftermarket linen surround installed instead of the foam rubber type .

- Assuming all these woofers have the wrong surrounds installed ( or worse ) the wrong voice coils / you'll need to contact the seller and demand some compensation . It's going to cost you , to put these things back into working order .

[baldrick]

According to the backside of the woofer, it is an 2235H. But if I understand you right, you mean that the original woofer has been reconed to 2225?



Have the 4435 been delivered with both 2234 and 2235 or only 2234?`

Off course I don't like what you're saying that this is probably the reason for the "bad" performance. I paid $1000 for the speakers and that is chep, but of course if I have to pay the same amount to get them to be what they should, then it's not very cheap anymore....

[Earl K]

According to the backside of the woofer, it is an 2235H. But if I understand you right, you mean that the original woofer has been reconed to 2225?

- You understand everyone correct / it appears that the woofer has been reconed into a 2225H . Pull the rest , to see what they say .

- I'll get back to you with some specs . / do you have an accurate multimeter ?



- Here's a pic that shows a 2235H with it's foam edge .
- The second pic. shows a 2225h recone ( it's over 20 years old / note the old style latex/cork gasket ).

[baldrick]

- I'll get back to you with some specs . / do you have an accurate multimeter ?

I have a Fluke I think it's pretty accurate, tell me what to do and I'll see what I can find

[jbl4ever]

One woofer looks like the cloth is glued to the front of the speaker also. They sure are aftermarket
Do any of them have foam surrounds.

[johnaec]

I'm willing to bet that the cones may be 2235, but when the foam went, they put the accordian surrounds on. That's too bad.

What might get you by for a while, (and would surely sound better than the way they are now), would be to replace the accordian surrounds with new foam surrounds, but you'd probably have to incorrectly glue them to the front, since I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty getting the accordian surrounds off. That would still probably be better than the way they are now.

John