JBL 4311 and electronic music

[madgladsuper]

Hey. I've desired a pair of JBL 4311 for some time - I love their look and I've heard much praise, and now I'm sighed for a pair on sale in great condition. Only thing is I haven't heard how vintage JBLs sound like. I listen mostly to techno (i.e. Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, planetary assault systems, etc.), but also a bit of rock and jazz.

So my main concern is, after reading that they are harsh and not great with low low bass, will they sound good with electronic music?

 

[Chris Brown]

I think that you could do a lot better. I'm probably in the minority here in my music preferences. I like bass and I listen to quite a bit of electronic music including drum & bass, dubstep, and hard rock that integrates those elements. Instead of a 4311, go for something like a L100T IMO. The woofers in the 4311 just don't have the same low-end potential as woofers that came out even a few years later. You could find a model that uses a 128H or 128H-1 woofer, which is one of my personal favorites. Speakers that used this woofer include the 4411, 4412, 4412A, L112, L150, L150A, 120ti. This woofer worked so well that despite being introduced in the late 70's it was still sold well into the 21st century until the 4412A was finally phased out ~10-15 years ago. Here is a basic example of what the 128H can do in the L150:

I would not try that with a 4311. The woofer in the 4311 has much lower power handling, and the Alnico versions can even become demagnetized if you run too much power through them. The lackluster paper-cone tweeters in the 4311 wouldn't be doing you any favors either. The best thing the 4311 has going for it is nostalgic-inflated prices - meaning if you have a pair already, your best bet is to sell them so you can buy something better.

 

[SaturationPt]

The 4311s were not designed to hit those low notes. Personally I think they're great nostalgic speakers, but not great speakers.

However, not many 12" ported speakers are going to be able to hit those sub-30Hz notes that your music has, your best bet is to buy a good subwoofer, you will be much happier with how the bass sounds and feels.

I like a lot of music genres, including lots of electronic bass, and I much prefer a 15" woofer for that duty or a subwoofer. I've had most of the speakers mentioned above and wouldn't recommend any of them for electronic music, the closest I'd consider is a 240Ti or some of the 2-way "butt-cheek" monitors with larger woofers and much larger cabinets.

 

[Reidy12]

I haven't heard 4311 but I can attest to Chris's point on the 4412 Studio Monitor [128H-1]. I was hesitant on an ex studio 4412 pair, especially the physical condition but I requested an electronic selection by artist SOMA that I was familiar with....blew me away, parted with the $$'s and still enjoy them...Electronic, Jazz Fusion and a lot else are fantastic on these monitors. These are 'near field' monitors and set up correctly will perform very well.

Driven by 65W Sansui AU-517 and also at times a 100W MosFet power amp. My 4412 had been recently re-conned and one tweeter replaced, cabinets scratched and grills damaged.......studio life!

 

[madgladsuper]

I think that you could do a lot better. I'm probably in the minority here in my music preferences. I like bass and I listen to quite a bit of electronic music including drum & bass, dubstep, and hard rock that integrates those elements. Instead of a 4311, go for something like a L100T IMO. The woofers in the 4311 just don't have the same low-end potential as woofers that came out even a few years later. You could find a model that uses a 128H or 128H-1 woofer, which is one of my personal favorites. Speakers that used this woofer include the 4411, 4412, 4412A, L112, L150, L150A, 120ti. This woofer worked so well that despite being introduced in the late 70's it was still sold well into the 21st century until the 4412A was finally phased out ~10-15 years ago. Here is a basic example of what the 128H can do in the L150:

I would not try that with a 4311. The woofer in the 4311 has much lower power handling, and the Alnico versions can even become demagnetized if you run too much power through them. The lackluster paper-cone tweeters in the 4311 wouldn't be doing you any favors either. The best thing the 4311 has going for it is nostalgic-inflated prices - meaning if you have a pair already, your best bet is to sell them so you can buy something better.

I'm intrigued by the 4411 and L112 as they look most similar to the 4311 - thanks pointing me in their direction as it sound like they handle my taste better. I would definitely regret buying a pair of 4311 knowing the bass is missing some low end.

The 4311s were not designed to hit those low notes. Personally I think they're great nostalgic speakers, but not great speakers.

However, not many 12" ported speakers are going to be able to hit those sub-30Hz notes that your music has, your best bet is to buy a good subwoofer, you will be much happier with how the bass sounds and feels.

I like a lot of music genres, including lots of electronic bass, and I much prefer a 15" woofer for that duty or a subwoofer. I've had most of the speakers mentioned above and wouldn't recommend any of them for electronic music, the closest I'd consider is a 240Ti or some of the 2-way "butt-cheek" monitors with larger woofers and much larger cabinets.

A sub could be a possibility, but adding one more equipment or having larger speakers is not preferable in the room I'm going to install them.

I haven't heard 4311 but I can attest to Chris's point on the 4412 Studio Monitor [128H-1]. I was hesitant on an ex studio 4412 pair, especially the physical condition but I requested an electronic selection by artist SOMA that I was familiar with....blew me away, parted with the $$'s and still enjoy them...Electronic, Jazz Fusion and a lot else are fantastic on these monitors. These are 'near field' monitors and set up correctly will perform very well.

Driven by 65W Sansui AU-517 and also at times a 100W MosFet power amp. My 4412 had been recently re-conned and one tweeter replaced, cabinets scratched and grills damaged.......studio life!

Thanks for the advice. Could they be setup in a hifi setting where they aren't used near field?

 

[Riley Casey]

All three of the speakers you’ve mentioned are designed for near field listening. How large a space are you listening in and how loud do you listen. Those should be your first questions to answer followed closely by the realization that almost no speakers are designed to reproduce substantial energy below that normally produced by acoustic instruments. As soon as you need to reproduce artificially created extreme low sounds at any significant level you need to use a subwoofer or two.

​

I'm intrigued by the 4411 and L112 as they look most similar to the 4311 - thanks pointing me in their direction as it sound like they handle my taste better. I would definitely regret buying a pair of 4311 knowing the bass is missing some low end.

​

A sub could be a possibility, but adding one more equipment or having larger speakers is not preferable in the room I'm going to install them.

​

Thanks for the advice. Could they be setup in a hifi setting where they aren't used near field?

 

[billyz]

The 4411 has a much better crossover than the 4311 or the 4412. The 4412 has the titanium tweeter. The 4411’s sound really good. Very smooth top to bottom. Full sounding , bass is not as articulate as my altec 19’s , but enjoyable non the less. I am driving them with a Sansui 771, 32 watts per channel. They get very loud with the volume control around 10 oclock , I do most of my listening at 9 oclock.
All in all a very non fatiguing sound, which is very important to me. I hear lots of detail and even hear things I don’t hear from the Altecs . The Altecs have more depth , dynamics, sense of space , but not many speakers can compare to them. The JBL 4411’s are keepers .

 

[billyz]

I listen to my 4411’s stacked horizontally on the Altec m19’s . Not near field at all. They per
form well as regular hifi speakers. I have them tilted inward a bit , 8 ft across and maybe 10 ft from my listening chair. Tweeters are just above my ears when seated. No subs needed , but I don’t listen to cathedral organ music or use them for sound shaking movie playback . Great for blues, rock and jazz music.