Has JBL given up on us?

Having once bought (new for £1000) and enjoyed a pair of JBL 4312's when they were 'reissued' in the late ninties, I really wish they were available again here instead of just Japan. The 4312 was a real bargain and proof of how good a sensitive (93dbls) 3-way speaker with their 12" aquaplus drivers could be if designed really well. I really regret selling them.

It's a shame that this type of large standmount speaker is out of fashion in this country because being front-ported can work better in a small/medium room than many of the smaller floorstanders and standmounts pushed to us in the UK. They (the JBL's) tend not to boom so easily in the bass. The Tannoy Prestige range is available if you can stand the styling but probably require a bit more room to breathe.

A quick check of Harman/JBL Japan reveals a whole array of monitors mostly unknown to us; there's the 4312 in various guises and a new, exciting looking monitor called the 4338. This has some of the technology from the K2, with a horn-loaded tweeter and s/tweeter for narrower dispersion (and less room interaction!!) and a similar bass driver save using a FE magnet instead of Alnico, but is less high and weighs 60kg's instead of the K2's 90kgs. Unfortunately, the cost of shipping from Japan is apparently way too high to be feasible to buy one direct from there (I think due to duty) and I don't believe they are available in the US (at least the 4338)

 

Baudrillard, many of these speakers seem available in the UK.

Like yourself though, if I was after some 4XXX JBL monitors, I'd get them imported from the states. The strong pound more than making up for shipping costs IMO.

If you're interested in speakers that marry large bass units with horns, try the emporium. That's where I got my Altecs from. www.emporiumhifi.co.uk

For JBL, I think really the audiophile admiring the brand either has to turn to their proffessional range of products, or to their vintage products.

They dont seem to make domestic versions of their proffessional products in the way that perhaps they used to.

This situation suits me however, as it keeps the prices reasonable!

 

Bottleneck

What JBL monitors have you seen around? Prob Centuries or similar?

I am currently doing some research into what is avaialble stateside. Am waiting to hear back from JBL.

 

hi

When I was doing my research into my own, it seemed that a lot of the americans buy the JBL's on e-bay, which didnt seem that cheap.

I had better luck by doing a massive google search on each and every model. When I went through them all one by one I found a few pro-audio dealers who didnt want that much (comparatively for them).

I didnt do very many models - but Id say there was a pattern there.

Yeah, I love what I have. No plans to change.

Well... they deserve a bigger room so I can wick them up and see what they can really do.

Which Italian pre is he going for? (just interested).

I do get a tiny bit of hiss, but Im sure I can get rid of it with clever tweaking.. eventually!

Which JBL's are you going to go for?
You'll have to keep us updated with your search!

NB

Don't know if you know of this website, but it's been a goldmine of info for me.
http://www.audioheritage.org/intro.htm

 

Hi,

Check German High End stores. Many of the better JBL Pro and ProSumer Speakers are readily available over there....

If you like brutal big black try Tannoys (Studio) Monitor Speakers, the DMT 215 with Dual 15" should be sufficiently eyesore.... Compared to the Prestige (I always call them "Heritage") Series theya re affordable too.

Ciao T

 

Hello there Bottleneck

Do you still remember which pro-JBL dealers you dealt with? I am currently interested in the large 4338 as discussed in my first post above, but no mention of it on US site, only shown on the Japanese one.- so may not be readily obtainable (just as well, as prob very expensive! Just under half the price of the K2 in Japan)

 

http://www.audio-markt-auktion.de/
sometimes has some of the bigger jbl's (not at the moment though afaict)
it's in german though.
cheers


julian

 

Dunker, Julian.

For anyone in ZeroGain Land interested, here is the link to all the models discussed above. Scroll down to Studio Monitors. Check out the groovy Japanese-English translation!

http://translate.google.com/transla...refox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official_s&sa=G

 

Hiya,

Yeah I use my Altecs with a Border Patrol amp.

Its plenty powerful enough for their 98db efficiency, but I have one albums with which I can make them clip at high volumes. Where you thinking of the 20w p/pull Border Patrol? I'm sure that'd be fine with anything 90+

Sorry, can't remember the exact shops I saw. A painstaking and laborious google search will get you there Im sure...

Might also be worth putting a ''wanted'' post in the Altec Lansing heritage site. That place is full of JBL users as much as Altec, Im sure there might be someone looking to sell, or know someone who is.

Its great to have people on the forum interested in this stuff

Chris

 

Chris


Yes, something like the Border Patrol P20 or even S20 (which I don't think was available back then) would have been very interesting with my 4312's. I was using them with a Bryston 4BSST, which while a great amp, was not the best match.

 

And possibly a bit of a GSH man then baud'?