JBL 4312a for living room??

[tropicalian]

Having owned all of the equipment you listed, minus the turntable, sonic beauty is in the ear of the listener. Meaning - you'll find everyone disagrees on the internet and will tell you one way or another, but ONLY YOU can tell you if it sounds good to you. I just sold my only pair of 4312A. They sounded better than my JBL L100s, and better than my 4312, and better than my 4311. But the guy was excited and loved them, so I made him a deal that we were both happy with.

Does it sound good to you? Is it not fatiguing to listen to? Does it put a smile on your face? The only criticism that should hold water is whatever your ears tell you. I've had fun with $10 garage sale systems, and multi-thousand dollar investments I pined after for years and then got bored of and went back to the cheap stuff that made me happy. Don't let anyone yuck your yum, bud. This is audio and it should be fun.

 

[ggcrawley]

Nice to see folks fresh to this hobby. At least you won't complain when I give the same critique I always do of the 431x 3-way monitors and the original L100 Century JBLs.

Most people assume "monitor" means a flat response curve but the 4310/4311 were not meant to be "flat" but instead were intentionally voiced to match the response of the ubiquitous Altec studio monitors at the time but to do that job at a lower price and with a smaller footprint. It's not flat, but instead purposely articulated to be what engineers were used to hearing. Today we call those Control Monitors where we assume a Studio Monitor does give a rather flat response. Either can be dealt with using EQ or tone controls, but to say the 4312 is a "rock" speaker or will give the same response the engineer intended while mastering Little Feat does not tell the entire story today. The reality of it is that your room acoustics may be just as important to what you "hear" as the speakers you're listening to.

You will enjoy them. Your ears will get used to them—as they will and do adjust to any component change in anyone's system—and after that anything else may sound "off" to you. You may even prefer that "colored" response. As Zilch (RIP) used to call them: "Fake but Fun!" Can you do better for $800 even within the JBL line? Yes. (My suggestion would be to compare the 4312 with the 4412.) Will they be as iconic? No, but do you or your friends care about that? Today I own the first pair of L100 I ever heard back in 1970. I keep them for their iconic status, not their sound. Last night I was breaking down my workshop system to install some Crown amps in original Crown walnut cabinets. When I hooked it all back up I was surprised by the first sounds that came out of them until I realized I had the L100 playing and not the 250ti and L150A that I'd been listening to for an hour or more just before the disassembly. They sounded awful! I really can't sugar-coat it. But so much of what you "hear" is your frame of reference that your brain and ears may just love it.

Either way, enjoy the music and enjoy the hobby. I'm pretty sure this won't be your last pair of speakers.


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Great advice. I'm beginning to understand why people get hooked on this hobby. Entering in, I imagined "I'll do the research, find the speakers that suite me, and have them and love them for the rest of my life." Considering what you said about our adaptive taste, and what others have emphasized about the particularity of whatever room the system is in and it's placement, I can see now that I should resist thinking of this purchase as the end-all-be-all. It's in my nature to research heavily on the outset in order to spend my money on things that are timeless—certain products, you just want something solid that may be expensive, but will last—but part of the enjoyment of this hobby, it seems, is the experimentation, and enjoyment in not just the having and using, but the art (if I can call it that) itself, and the particularity of one's taste.

Beautiful JBL's, by the way! I think you're right...even if I go through with this purchase, it's not likely to be my last. Cheers, mate!

 

[ggcrawley]

Having owned all of the equipment you listed, minus the turntable, sonic beauty is in the ear of the listener. Meaning - you'll find everyone disagrees on the internet and will tell you one way or another, but ONLY YOU can tell you if it sounds good to you. I just sold my only pair of 4312A. They sounded better than my JBL L100s, and better than my 4312, and better than my 4311. But the guy was excited and loved them, so I made him a deal that we were both happy with.

Does it sound good to you? Is it not fatiguing to listen to? Does it put a smile on your face? The only criticism that should hold water is whatever your ears tell you. I've had fun with $10 garage sale systems, and multi-thousand dollar investments I pined after for years and then got bored of and went back to the cheap stuff that made me happy. Don't let anyone yuck your yum, bud. This is audio and it should be fun.

Haha! "Yuck your yum", love it. Thanks for the advice!

 

[markd51]

I'll agree, I wouldn't call any of it junk. And "hey man, whaddaya want, good grammar, or good taste?!" LOL

In the interest of help to the original poster, It appears there'ssome serious consideration of putting together a system with some or all of these components. Cool.

I might be of the impression that the seller is willing so split-divide and sell whatever from this handful of components they have? Buy whatever you like, and pass on the rest? That's a consideration. Maybe don't get too overwhelmed with total prices of such.

Me, I'd likely foremost be looking at the JBL Speakers, their condition overall. If these appear in phenomenal condition functionally and cosmetically, they'd likely be coming home with me considering the asking price of course.

Receivers, Amps-Pre-Amps, and Turntables, there's countless ways one can go.

Many of us will have biases-tastes, speakers, receivers-etc.

Have a plan.

 

[markd51]

Often JBLs, and the L-100 in particular was at the top of the heap, as what was referred to as "Whizz-Boom" speakers. Or, the "West Coast Sound".

It was nice IMO, that many had L-Pads. Was a nice feature to allow some acoustical compensation, whatever naysayers may say about the use of them in a X-Over.

An ultra cool feature on speakers like the 4425/4430/4435, that has both mid and high freq L-Pads with a 2-way speaker.

 

[swechsler]

This is a 4312, though, with a titanium tweeter. Would that get rid of the major objection to the L100/4311, its harsh highs? I know that that's what I didn't like about the L100s I've owned (and sold).

 

[OldJBL]

Great advice. I'm beginning to understand why people get hooked on this hobby. Entering in, I imagined "I'll do the research, find the speakers that suite me, and have them and love them for the rest of my life." Considering what you said about our adaptive taste, and what others have emphasized about the particularity of whatever room the system is in and it's placement, I can see now that I should resist thinking of this purchase as the end-all-be-all. It's in my nature to research heavily on the outset in order to spend my money on things that are timeless—certain products, you just want something solid that may be expensive, but will last—but part of the enjoyment of this hobby, it seems, is the experimentation, and enjoyment in not just the having and using, but the art (if I can call it that) itself, and the particularity of one's taste.

Beautiful JBL's, by the way! I think you're right...even if I go through with this purchase, it's not likely to be my last. Cheers, mate!

I have been a fan of JBL speakers since the late 1980s when I was just getting into hi-fi audio. Luckily, there was a Circuit City near by and they had a really good selection of speakers to audition with a great return policy. I returned a couple of pairs of speakers because they didn't sound as good at home as they did in CC's audition room. The third set was a pair of JBL L100t3s that I found was a keeper and they sounded better at home than in the store. The LxxxT and Lxxxt3 speakers were intended to duplicate, as close as possible, the sound of the Monitor Series speakers in a home environment. I have not heard a pair of Monitor Series speakers that the L100t3s were patterned after but I really like the sound the t3s produce. I like them so much that I still have them and listen to them daily. I have had other speakers come and go but the JBL L100t3s and a pair of JBL L5s are ones that I will keep forever. If I were in your position, I would find a pair of JBL L5s or L7s because these speakers sound incredibly good and are an incredible value at their price point.

 

[BmWr75]

Ignore the naysayers. None of them know what kind of sound you like or how the JBLs will sound in your space. They also don't know the price of vintage gear and what it sells for where you live. Everybody has to start somewhere. Get the gear and you can upgrade any part you are not happy with 100% at some later date.

 

[tropicalian]

Ignore the naysayers. None of them know what kind of sound you like or how the JBLs will sound in your space. They also don't know the price of vintage gear and what it sells for where you live. Everybody has to start somewhere. Get the gear and you can upgrade any part you are not happy with 100% at some later date.

BLASPHEMY! He isn't a true audiophile unless he pays lots of money and then comes back and we tell him how wrong he is.

@BmWr75 is 100% right here.

 

[wiredbecker]

Additionally, I'm with BMWCCA on the JBL 4412.

Our buddy Zilch had this to say about them, "True Studio Monitors, it doesn't come any nicer than those in bookshelf three-ways. They're the culmination of years of development and evolution at JBL."

Personally, from a performance perspective, I consider the pecking order of this series to be L100, then 4312a, then 4412. The only downside is that the 4412 model is vinyl-wrapped as opposed to the 4312a's walnut veneer which may look nicer in a living room setup.

It's always nice to have an upgrade path in this hobby. If you get in really deep, you can acquire the 4412s later and learn to install the veneer of your choosing.

Be careful though, upgrade-itis is a common ailment. if you go down this path, you could catch a veneer-ial disease.

​

 

[triple20]

The nice thing about your interest in JBL speakers is the fact that if your buying at the right price it will be very easy to sell them without loosing any money.
According to a fast google search and look at asking prices online,the price you mention is well below what I see online.
In my opinion,buy them,if you don't like them,will be an easy sell and you might even make money. This will be much better then always wondering to yourself,should I have bought the JBL's?
I own 5 pair of JBL's of different price ranges and I'm very happy with all but 1 pair.

 

[Mr Boochie]

Ignore the naysayers. None of them know what kind of sound you like or how the JBLs will sound in your space. They also don't know the price of vintage gear and what it sells for where you live. Everybody has to start somewhere. Get the gear and you can upgrade any part you are not happy with 100% at some later date.

You know how it goes. Sometimes, being "knee-jerk" negative on the Net is easier.

 

[ivandezande]

As mentioned before, junk would also not be my word of choice, but you can do SO much better for your budget.
I'd visit some more places where you can audition equipment using your songs of choice. E.g. listen to the same sounds on different systems in order to compare more equally. Even though the space where you listen will make a difference, you'll start recognizing different classes of equipment/levels of sound reproduction pretty quickly.

The desired JBL's might be tagged as 'monitors', but their peaky response means that they definitely are not. If you'd already have the means to heavily compensate for their peaky mid/upper response they might be an interesting retro choice, but as they are I'd also recommend against them.

The amp I don't know.

The turntable might be worth it if it has a nice cartridge on it, current prices for items like this just make me weep. You should be able to find a nicer one for similar money.

Just meant for the TT, and you’re right, junk was too strong of a word. My bad.

 

[BMWCCA]

I consider the pecking order of this series to be L100, then 4312a, then 4412. The only downside is that the 4412 model is vinyl-wrapped as opposed to the 4312a's walnut veneer which may look nicer in a living room setup.

No offense meant but you have that wrong (and I'm not even referring to your ordering of pecking!). Of those, only the 4412A is vinyl wrapped. The original 4412 is wood veneer, just like the 4312/A and L100. 4412A also have an updated tweeter over the 4412, and they have no L-pads to go bad!

 

[BMWCCA]

The third set was a pair of JBL L100t3s that I found was a keeper and they sounded better at home than in the store. The LxxxT and Lxxxt3 speakers were intended to duplicate, as close as possible, the sound of the Monitor Series speakers in a home environment. I have not heard a pair of Monitor Series speakers that the L100t3s were patterned after but I really like the sound the t3s produce. I like them so much that I still have them and listen to them daily. I have had other speakers come and go but the JBL L100t3s and a pair of JBL L5s are ones that I will keep forever. If I were in your position, I would find a pair of JBL L5s or L7s because these speakers sound incredibly good and are an incredible value at their price point.

I agree with everything you said except about the L100T3 being designed to duplicate "Monitor Series" speakers. The L100T3 is a fine speaker and the fact that it is NOT copying any studio monitor is to its credit. Give them enough amp and just enjoy them.

But then many have a narrow perspective and experience when it comes to Studio Monitors. This is the "studio monitor" I use in my living room and they are 4-way with 18-inch woofers:


I would also echo everything you said about the L5 and L7. I have two pair of each and they constantly amaze those who have never had the chance to experience them.

 

[OldJBL]

I agree with everything you said except about the L100T3 being designed to duplicate "Monitor Series" speakers. The L100T3 is a fine speaker and the fact that it is NOT copying any studio monitor is to its credit. Give them enough amp and just enjoy them.

JBL put out at least one product brochure for the L100T,L80T, L60T and L20T series of speakers that states they have "a direct twin in the JBL studio monitor line." Also, JBL made the same claim for the t3 versions of these speakers. Below are excerpts from the brochures where this is mentioned. The second image is from the t3 brochure. JBL made a similar, but less strong, claim about the Lx series. Anyone, who would like a full PDF of the marketing brochures, send me a PM and I will email them to you.

 

[BMWCCA]

Granted there are direct descendants, such as the 4333 and the L300. But none of these were ever "control" monitors like the public's favorite in lambasting JBL for that "west coast" sound of the L100 and 4312. And what you won't find is the "L" series using the same cabinet or even crossover as the "real" studio monitors. It's really advertising hyperbole. In the case of the L100 Century it was actually true, but the "studio" version they copied didn't meet the description of JBL's strict standards for being called a "studio monitor" in your ad. Which is why they call them "control monitors". And we both know there really is no "monitor" equivalent to the L100T. By then the majority of the monitors were using "butt cheek" tweeters in a two-way configuration. Any three-way using a 12-inch woofer I don't think had a woofer as good as what's in the L100T. Closest might be the 4412 but the cabinet is much smaller. Anyone feel free to point out the pro equivalent to the L100T, if you know of one.

 

[OldJBL]

It looks to me that JBL was hanging a lot of their claim on shared drivers between the two lines. Especially in the T series. In the ads for the T and t3 speakers they do say the cabinets were modified to be more able to blend into home decor. The images came from eight page brochures with the first dated 1985 and the second 1988. They were less direct in comparing the Lx line to monitors in their 1992 brochure but they did mention a similarity. I agree that they were likely pushing this connection as a marketing strategy. I haven't listened to any studio monitors to have an opinion on whether the T/t3 speakers reproduce sound close to the monitor speakers.

 

[BMWCCA]

They were less direct in comparing the Lx line to monitors in their 1992 brochure but they did mention a similarity. I agree that they were likely pushing this connection as a marketing strategy.

An LX shares absolutely nothing other than maybe the speaker terminals with any other JBL. It's all marketing hype, and I am a JBL apologist of the highest order!
I don't see anyone taking me up on the offer to provide the pro-model equivalent to the L100T.

 

[OldJBL]

An LX shares absolutely nothing other than maybe the speaker terminals with any other JBL. It's all marketing hype, and I am a JBL apologist of the highest order!
I don't see anyone taking me up on the offer to provide the pro-model equivalent to the L100T.

I think that any comparison would need to be based on the use of common drivers between T/t3 and monitor models. The enclosures are wildly different and probably the crossovers too. JBL seemed to be pushing that the sound reproduction between T/t3 and monitor series speakers are very similar. I think the only way to test this would be a direct A/B comparison.


Edit:
The Lx brochure didn't push the monitor similarities nearly as hard as the T/t3 brochures.