JBL 4312 Control Monitors!!!!

Mr. Sharpe

So i got a pair of speakers from my uncle, I guess he decided "heck this guy likes speakers so I'll just give them to him". He said he paid something like $750 for these speakers, "here just take these and hang onto them" is what he said lol. Lemme tell ya something about these speakers, they are heavy, looks like the cabs are made of MDF instead of particle board, they are much heavier than the polk monitor 10's. The sound makes me understand why these speakers are so collectible (JBL vintage in general), they sound incredible, although it's not the same deep smooth bass as the polks they sound amazing! the vocals I think sound a good bit better than the polks, of course I haven't had the polks hooked up for probably 4 months.

the mid and high controls are not quite working properly but I have them set on about 6 if you try to adjust the tweeter and mids will actually cut out but where they are now they're both working. probably just some oxidation maybe? I have no clue as to how you'd go about replacing these, if you can at all, looks like you can take out the mids and tweeters but there are no screws to remove the controls that I can see.

anyways, I made room for these. my cv's are up for grabs locally and hopefully I'm getting those packed for shipping. I'll also be getting rid of the drivers in my DIY speakers so my wife won't be as irate about all the speakers, there isn't as much room in an apartment. These are definitely worth keeping over my DIY'S and CV's. don't get me wrong I like the CV's, but the JBL's just whipped their butts! Awesome gift or inheritance or whatever you wanna call it.... sounds to me like getting rid of junk but you know what they, another mans junk is another mans treasure!

George Grand

I thought it would've been a tougher choice between the C-V and JBL.

Have fun.

westmassguy

The tweeter and midrange adjustments are either multi position switches, or L-Pads.
Get a can of DeoxIT D5 Spray. You'll need access to the back side of the controls. The point, is to get the DeoxIT inside the L-Pad or switch if they're sealed. Trial and error my be required to fully lubricate them.

mhardy6647

George Grand wrote: »

I thought it would've been a tougher choice between the C-V and JBL.

Have fun.

More similar than different relative to my sense of decorous audio...

cnh

Are those the monitors with the 035ti titanium tweeters? Because if so, I do think that most Polkies do NOT have experience with those. They are among the "best" monitors JBLs ever produced! And are NOT as efficient as CVs. Nor do they sound like CVs. They have significantly better detail, imaging and tighter but still strong pounding bass.

I realize they might not be Polk taste. But they are good at what they do. Very good!

Clean mids (with one of JBLs best midrange drivers (according to Gordon from AK). The cutting edge, for the time, 035ti tweeter is actually not that harsh for a pure titanium 1" 25 mm (thick) dome. And the bass driver has something like a 10 or 12 lb magnet assembly (built like a SUB).

My JBL L80ts share the tweeter and midrange, but have a 10 not 12" bass driver and they can hang with most Vintage Polks and do have more bass ooomph. Put some tubes on them and you'll be "surprised"! I do believe these were $1200 MSRP a pair in the mid 80s-the 4312s that is?

Enjoy!

cnh

George Grand

cnh wrote: »

I realize they might not be Polk taste. But they are good at what they do. Very good!

cnh

So what is it they are good at? Hard rock, or heavy metal?

tonyb

I believe the 4312a had the titanium tweeter.

Msabot1

There is a reason why JBL monitors are used in over 90% of the sound recording studios worldwide.....

cnh

Tower Records in NYC used a semblance of the JBLs above in their Annex in the '80s to pump out, of all things, classical music to reasonable volumes and musicality. These are not ONE trick ponies. Enough said, because JBl has made its fair share of "stinkers"! So, I don't fully disagree with Mark and George's assessments of most JBls above.

cnh

tonyb

Msabot1 wrote: »

There is a reason why JBL monitors are used in over 90% of the sound recording studios worldwide.....

Did you snag that from JBL's marketing page ? Highly suspect.....

mhardy6647

Yes, because Altec shot itself in the foot in the early 1960s when they tried to push the less sensitive 605 Duplex on their customers who were accustomed to, and whose studios were dialed in to, the 604 family. From the 1940s until well into the 1970s Altec owned the studio and broadcast market. They lost it of their own doing and it eventually killed the company. Dopes :- (

from ca. 1973 (as the tide was, inexorably, turning):



source: http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/specs/home-speakers/891a-897a.htm

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/altec/duplex.htm
http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/l100.htm
http://www.ominous-valve.com/altec.html

Lots of folks love both the classic JBL and Altec monitors -- I'm not one of them, though.

cnh

I'm still waiting on an Altec listening session, but I have NO doubt that they're that GOOD! Lots of great reviews and testimonials on the web.

cnh

mhardy6647

Like Motel Six, we'll leave the light on!

Let me know when you fancy a trip west; my schedule's generally pretty porous ;- )

The classic JBL monitors exhibit a harshness and thin-ness in the lower treble that I just cannot enjoy. I've heard a couple (well, one) DIY effort using JBL drivers and horns (and Onken bass cabinets) that sound excellent -- but they're a hugely custom effort, by an EE (Kevin Kennedy) who's done this stuff for a living, and driven by his own electronics -- so they're a little off the main JBL axis.

sucks2beme

The JBL l100's are great rock speakers. And that sums it up.
Many more fall into that same slot. I've heard a few that are pretty good
overall speakers. But for the $$$$$$ price people are asking for any vintage JBL,
I can get a great modern speaker for a lot less(and smaller footprint).
And just about any Japanese speaker I can think of sounds worse than a JBL.

mhardy6647

And that's because a whole generation of Japanese speakers (at least the ones that made it to the US) were designed to mimic the JBL L-100 as much as -- ahem -- legally possible.

As a hardly random example... the hardly randomly named Pioneer HPM-100, designed by the hardly-randomly-chosen Bart Locanthi :- )





I'd opine that as soon as a speaker is qualified as a great [insert a specific type of music here] speaker, it's probably rather profoundly "colored" (as the snooty audiophiles used to put it) in some way.

Yeah, I really am this curmudgeonly in real life -- at least on certain subjects. Ask me about risk-benefit assessment sometime...

sucks2beme

And the HPM series was far better than most of the "barracks blasters"
GI's used to buy. After my bout with Snells, I could never go back to the
JBL sound.

sucks2beme

But back on subject, enjoy your JBL's and don't let us ruin it.
It's a journey, and this is a stop along the way.
Did I mention I bought JBL L100's twice??

George Grand

Msabot1 wrote: »

There is a reason why JBL monitors are used in over 90% of the sound recording studios worldwide.....

There's also a reason why Bose is in about 85% of American households.

sucks2beme

The Snell sound was a laid back one. I had type E's.
IF you ever heard the Audio Note AN-E at the LSAF a few years ago,
That's the sound. It's based on the Snell E. Just tweaked with a lot of expensive
materials and made far more efficient for low power use.
The Audio notes never jumped out at you. You'd be sitting there and
20 minutes later you realized it sounded very good.
They're are the polar opposite of JBL's.

mhardy6647

George Grand wrote: »

Msabot1 wrote: »

There is a reason why JBL monitors are used in over 90% of the sound recording studios worldwide.....

There's also a reason why Bose is in about 85% of American households.

hmm -- are these, perhaps, manifestations of the Lemming Effect?

If your friend jumps off of the bridge, are you gonna jump off, too?

Msabot1

George Grand wrote: »

Msabot1 wrote: »

There is a reason why JBL monitors are used in over 90% of the sound recording studios worldwide.....

There's also a reason why Bose is in about 85% of American households.

Yours included??

mhardy6647

sucks2beme wrote: »

But back on subject, enjoy your JBL's and don't let us ruin it.
It's a journey, and this is a stop along the way.
Did I mention I bought JBL L100's twice??

1) good point! My... ahem... opinions on the classic JBL monitors are (perhaps) relevant to a "I'm thinking about buying a pair of L-100s" thread... but probably just grumpy thread-crapping for a "hey, I've just gotten a pair of L-100s" thread. Sorry about that.

2) Well... Liz Taylor married Richard Burton twice... draw your own conclusions ;- )

cnh

Just to be clear: the L100s do not hold a candle to the later titanium dome Monitors which have superior highs, better crossovers and mids. Ex. the L100ts! A very different speaker that still has the big bass. I believe the 4312s are the Monitor version of the Home version L100t? Actually, the 4412s were the template for the L100ts. But the 4312s do seem to have a similar dome tweeter and are earlier. The Bass driver in the 4412 seems different, and the mid-driver, I'm not sure about. But I do believe the "crossovers" may have changed from the 4312 to the 4412 (L100t)?

The only Snells I've heard are the early '80s bookies. And, to tell you the truth, I was impressed with the space filling sound. They did classical very well! But I also hear, that Snell went downhill later?

Sooner or later we're going to meet up, neighbor! Thanks for the continuing invite, Mark.

cnh

soundfreak1

I have sold and owned many JBL's in the 70's L100 and 4311's , never cared for the mids or highs but the base was and is great ( with the right power) . See sig. Loved the 60's and 50's versions with the horns. Currently use the L123a drivers from the L100's (biamped) For My Base (hard to beat) Use Polks For Mids and highs. Great combination.

Mr. Sharpe

cnh wrote: »

Are those the monitors with the 035ti titanium tweeters? Because if so, I do think that most Polkies do NOT have experience with those. They are among the "best" monitors JBLs ever produced! And are NOT as efficient as CVs. Nor do they sound like CVs. They have significantly better detail, imaging and tighter but still strong pounding bass.

I realize they might not be Polk taste. But they are good at what they do. Very good!

Clean mids (with one of JBLs best midrange drivers (according to Gordon from AK). The cutting edge, for the time, 035ti tweeter is actually not that harsh for a pure titanium 1" 25 mm (thick) dome. And the bass driver has something like a 10 or 12 lb magnet assembly (built like a SUB).

My JBL L80ts share the tweeter and midrange, but have a 10 not 12" bass driver and they can hang with most Vintage Polks and do have more bass ooomph. Put some tubes on them and you'll be "surprised"! I do believe these were $1200 MSRP a pair in the mid 80s-the 4312s that is?

Enjoy!

cnh

Hey, these have some sort of cone tweeters.

Mr. Sharpe

I'm just now seeing all this, yes I love the speakers. yes I am going between the polks and the jbl's. I hooked my polks back up yesterday and I believe the low end caps have gone bad in one, the tweeter works but woofers don't.

anyway, I did listen to Dark side of the Moon on these (yes i'm a 70's rock guy, all Pink Floyd) anyways, they sounded very nice but seemed less transparent as the polks. the bass guitar did sound a little more authentic I thought and vocals were extremely nice. But its' like a said, Polks more transparent, I didn't know what that actually sounded like until I heard it either lol pretty cool when it's that obvious. But JBL's play louder easier and it's like the sound is louder period. weird. they're nice, I may do some side-by-side comparisons some time to decide if I want to get some more speakers moved out, I'm pretty sure I"ll be keeping both though, I like the polks because I grew up listening to Polk RTA-12c's of my dad's and plus I just like the idea of a passive radiator for that deep low bass extension and a dome tweeter, nice and crisp. thanks for all the comments. I will try the Deoxit, I've read somewhere about someone using that but I haven't a clue about how to start getting to the backs of the controls, will update if I ever get around to it, they sound very nice where they're set right now.

erniejade

The 4312 M2 or 4312 MII are the smaller ones and have the better tweeter in them and I agree they are not a one trick pony.

I used to have a set of L100 ( like most of us here) when I was in my teens- early 20's. Then went to a set of L150 ( talk about bass!!) The 100T is a much better sounding speaker vs the 100L

I would love to hear a set of the JBL Everest D66000, or DD55000 or some of the Synthesis stuff like the 1400 but, never seen them in my area.

erniejade

Found a review from 2010 on the 1400 http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/jbl_synthesis_1400_array_bg_loudspeaker/

George Grand

Msabot1 wrote: »

George Grand wrote: »

Msabot1 wrote: »

There is a reason why JBL monitors are used in over 90% of the sound recording studios worldwide.....

There's also a reason why Bose is in about 85% of American households.

Yours included??

No. Silly girl.

sucks2beme

George, here's a new Avatar for ya.

Mr. Sharpe

The Everest speakers are something to behold in size and price. I'd love to hear some too, of course there some jbl monitor speakers like the huge giants they made I'd like hearing too.