JBL 4411

[Archangel55]

I got these speakers for free off a guy who was down sizing. One had a bad woofer and
I was able to procure an original woofer and now the pair sound wonderful.
The cabinets and grill cloths look like new.
This is the model they called the 4411 Control Monitor. I drive the pair with a
nice Nikko Alpha 220 amplifier and a Beta 20 preamp. Does anyone else
use these old monitors and what do you think? For their size they have a
really deep yet controlled bass. I compared my pair to a pair of Klipsch Heresy and
to be frank, I much preferred the 4411's. I have also heard other JBL speakers
that are similar in size to these 4411's but they lack the linearity and clarity
of these. Does anyone else have a pair of these old JBL's and what do you think of them.

 

[turnitdown]

I think you'd enjoy 4412s, too.

 

[Dswankey]

If you like your JBL's you should check out this sub forum

https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?forums/the-lansing-legacy.212/

 

[Chris Brown]

I got these speakers for free off a guy who was down sizing. One had a bad woofer and I was able to procure an original woofer and now the pair sound wonderful.

That's great that you were able to get a new woofer. What was wrong with the old one? Is the new woofer identical to the other woofer that is still working? The 128H woofer (which is what the 4411 uses) actually came in two different cone sizes, either 9 3/8" or 9 5/8".

For their size they have a really deep yet controlled bass. I compared my pair to a pair of Klipsch Heresy and to be frank, I much preferred the 4411's. I have also heard other JBL speakers that are similar in size to these 4411's but they lack the linearity and clarity of these. Does anyone else have a pair of these old JBL's and what do you think of them.

When the first compact JBL monitors such as the 4310 and 4311 were released, they were made to have a sound signature similar to the Altec 604e, which was the standard monitor at the time. The response was hardly flat, but most people liked the sound. This sound signature also spawned the popular L100, etc.

The 4400 series monitors were instead made to have a response that is as flat and accurate as possible. That is why they can sound different than other consumer JBLs or 4300 series monitors.

I have a pair of 4412 Studio Monitors. Same woofer, but newer mid and tweeter. I like them for what they are; flat and very accurate. But I find myself preferring my other JBLs more often than not. Flat and accurate is nice, but also kind of boring.

The 044 tweeter in the 4411 is very nice. You don't have to deal with any of the foam disintegration issues which are occurring in most 035ti / 035tiA tweeters (such as those in the 4412 / 4412A). The soft-dome tweeters like the 033 and 044 are not fatiguing at all and easy to listen to for hours.

 

[SaturationPt]

Klipsch Hereseys roll off (depending on which generation) around 50Hz, and weren't designed to run full-range music without a subwoofer. The 4311 does much better there, but as mentioned above was never designed to be flat.

If you like the sound signature of the 4311 and many people do, then stick with them. Always great to try other speakers when you can though.

The 4312A were much evolved, an extremely flat on-axis monitor, and will sound different. Each generation improved as JBL started to understand off-axis response and phase linearity up through the best / last of the series the 4412A (and my preference the 4410A) with much improved imaging due to these changes.

The 044ti tweeter does have foam BTW, IIRC it is a longer piece that goes further into the pole piece. Even the 052Ti has a foam damper. The 053 tweeter was the generation that disposed of the foam damper and instead used an aquaplas-type coating on the dome to damp ringing.

If you like the titanium-dome sound, some do not, they are all very good tweeters when in proper condition, but again it's a matter of preference and if you like the HF from your 4311s then it's pretty much apples-to-oranges recommending a later generation with a different response curve and different tweeter technology. Kind of like telling you that if you like driving a '67 427 Corvette you'll like a new C8 even more, ... which although more evolved is a completely different experience.

Congratulations on getting the 4411s and getting them working properly, post pictures when you can.

 

[Chris Brown]

The 4311 does much better there, but as mentioned above was never designed to be flat.

If you like the sound signature of the 4311 and many people do, then stick with them. Always great to try other speakers when you can though.

OP has a pair of 4411 monitors, a whole different animal than the 4311. I mentioned the 4311 in response to his comment about the 4411 sounding different than other similar JBLs that he had previously heard.

The 044ti tweeter does have foam BTW, IIRC it is a longer piece that goes further into the pole piece. Even the 052Ti has a foam damper.

Yes, all of the Titanium-Dome tweeters from that era use foam plugs.

But the 4411 doesn't use the 044ti, it uses the 044. The 044 is a soft-dome tweeter with a thin Aluminum coating applied via "vapor deposition". It's not even a true metal-dome tweeter, certainly not a titanium dome tweeter, and as such contains no foam plug because it doesn't need one.

 

[SaturationPt]

I sit corrected, was thinking 4311 as you noted. Yes, the 4411 is certainly an upgrade.

 

[Archangel55]

I did check that the woofers are the same and they are. The original owner had replaced the bad
woofer in the one cabinet with, of all things, an Electrovoice 12L 200 watt guitar amp speaker.
I actually love the EV12L and have six of them. Two in single 12" cabinets, a pair in my
1965 Fender Bandmaster and a pair in a 1969 Kustom 100 bottom. Great guitar amp speaker, but as a replacement for the
woofer in the 4411, the speaker was totally wrong. Anyway, I was lucky a guy in Jacksonville Florida had
three of the OEM JBL woofers for the 4411 so I was able to procure a proper replacement.
Actually, it is that tweeter that seems to set the 4411 apart. Also the midrange driver is
really tight and accurate. Along with this pair of 4411's, I have a pair of Yamaha NS10M's that
I also like. The NS10M's are driven by a refurbished HH Scott 222C while the
JBL's are used with a l Nikko Alpha 220 power amp. Both systems are
what I use as reference systems. That old Nikko amp really does sound nice.
Usually I am all about tube amps, but I really like the old Nikko. My amp and preamp
date back to 1980 but still perform like new.

 

[seamas]

I have a pair in my office,that I am going to refoam the woofers and give to my younger stepson.Gave my son it's brethren,a pair of l112s like I have in my own living room.