Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??

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eclein

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Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??
« on: 27 Jul 2010, 09:37 pm »
How hard is it to upgrade a crossover network?? I have some JBL 4312A's and have been considering opening these babies up and seeing what makes them tick. Beside having to have a bit of solder savy and picking the correct parts is this a mine field?? Or is it relatively easy
to unsolder caps and replace them with newer versions?? Do I experiment elsewhere on other speakers first or go for it??
 Thanks
 Ed L. :thumb: :thumb:

Wayner

Re: Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??
« Reply #1 on: 27 Jul 2010, 09:53 pm »
Ed,

My old JBL-L100's had a very simple cross-over. The woofer rolled off naturally and the midrange and tweeter shared a "dual" capacitor. There were no inductors or resistors at all in the circuit. Perhaps your newer version is a bit more complicated, but I wonder that it might be that simple. I think you have to dive in there buddy.

Wayner  :eyebrows:

drphoto

Re: Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??
« Reply #2 on: 27 Jul 2010, 09:59 pm »
Ed,

While the lab boys with way more experience than me will hopefully chime in.....here's my thought.  Yes it will probably sound better w/ modern poly caps (probably some old electrolytics in there) but I wouldn't go in and start disassembly of the existing network. What I would do, is build a new one. Replace the entire intact factory version. Heck, you might want to keep your new one outside the speaker cab. In this case, I suppose you just leave the factory unit in place, except not connected.

This way you always have a fall back to what you know and love, and you won't be butchering a classic. Plus, you could even switch back and forth (with a little effort) and see if it really matters.

cheers mate.

joe

etcarroll

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Re: Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??
« Reply #3 on: 27 Jul 2010, 10:15 pm »
Pull one out, take a pic and post it.  :wink:

Wayne1

Re: Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??
« Reply #4 on: 27 Jul 2010, 10:24 pm »
The JBL 4312A uses a rather simple crossover. As Wayner mentions, the woofer is run full range. There is a cap on the midrange as a 6db high pass filter. The tweeter has a 12 db network with a cap and a coil. Two 10 watt L-pads complete it.

JBL 4312B service manual

eclein

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Re: Crossover upgrade (old JBL's) How difficult??
« Reply #5 on: 28 Jul 2010, 12:58 am »
Great ideas all...thank you very much. The biggest thing I get is "go for it" and as folks have said I can always keep a fall back option, post pics if stuck and basically jump right in. OK..I'll keep you posted, Cheers!!! :thumb: :thumb:
Oh and Wayner-Your table project looks awesome!!!!