JBL 4367 Review (was M2 'review')

[dallasjustice]

That 32Hz hole needs to be fixed. ...How?

It's a ported speaker. Btw, I crossover at 90hz with a 2nd order NT crossover. So that's not a problem with subs. I just wanted to show what these speakers are capable of all alone.

 

[amirm]

Looking good Michael.

 

[NorthSky]

I see. Below 40Hz their in-room response drops quite precipitately. ...Surprising for such a large woofer driver in such a large enclosure.

 

[Thomas savage]

Cool, looking forward to hearing these up at Keith's at some point.

Great work setting up your bass response, I need to be ' more like Mike'

 

[AJ Soundfield]

The above is 1/12 per octave smoothed logsweep with Acourate filters to just JBL 4367 speakers; no subs here.

That looks excellent. Amazing that you have no nulls in the bass-midbass region in your room, you are a lucky man.

 

[Purité Audio]

All my rooms resemble the Hindu kush.
Keith.

 

[dallasjustice]

If I posted the phase or group delay plots, it would be easy to see why the SPL falls off so fast below 40hz. Almost all ported speakers behave this way. OTOH, sealed speakers more slowly roll bass off at the lowest end. But sealed speakers usually have zero bass to begin with, unless they are gigantic. Another nice thing about ported speakers is that they can usually do higher LF SPLs much better than sealed speakers. Many times you will hear a sealed speaker "bottom out." Ported speakers usually don't behave this way. The 4367 can do very dynamic bass without crapping out at high SPL.

I see. Below 40Hz their in-room response drops quite precipitately. ...Surprising for such a large woofer driver in such a large enclosure.

 

[Purité Audio]

I agree although when the speakers are designed from the outset to incorporate subs,such as the Grimm and those Grimani ( are they sealed) sealed boxes can work well.
Keith

 

[Thomas savage]

It surprised me how many hi end speakers crapped out when I cranked up the volume a bit... For a guy like me trying to understand paying 10...15..25 thousand pounds on a speaker that stresses out so easily is very hard. I don't really understand why companies make those products to be honest..

 

[Purité Audio]

Now I understand why that response is so flat is it those crappy caps JBL use!
You really should change them!
BW Keith.

 

[dallasjustice]

Yes it must be. There's an AXPONA hotel room reviewer on the other JBL thread I started talking about how he could hear the deficient caps compared to his other hotel room listening sessions; More self-indulgent idiocy. And of course, there's zero moderation. That thread is now just another opportunity for all the bored subjectivists to jerk off about caps.

Now I understand why that response is so flat is it those crappy caps JBL use!
You really should change them!
BW Keith.

 

[Purité Audio]

It is like a village idiots' convention, not that I have been to a village idiots' convention, in case you were wondering!
BW Keith.

 

[NorthSky]

They look @ home best in a movie theater room, behind the screen...three of them...and supplemented by three subs that can go down to 10Hz (-2dB).
I looked @ the specs but they are incomplete (no -/+ dB point) perhaps because they are to be used with an EQ system...JBL Synthesis.

Yeah, a state-of-the-art home theater room...their perfect place.

For plain view in the living room with nice furniture and plants, vases, glasses, wine, chocolats, cake, mints, ...Revel Salon are much more attractive.

This is just a quick opinion on looks alone. I have no idea how they compare to other speakers in the $5,000-20,000 range, none whatsoever. ...For home theater.

EDIT: I am just reading now the posts above mine, and was wondering if there are pictures of their crossovers? ...And the full speaker's internals, cut-away view...with the braces and port and compartments and all...a la Magico?

 

[AJ Soundfield]

But sealed speakers usually have zero bass to begin with, unless they are gigantic.

No, the exact opposite, ported enclosures are larger. Your "zero bass" experiences must be with some type of audiophile speaker.
Here is the same woofer in sealed vs vented optimally aligned cabinets.

The vented box is "flat" to 20hz, the sealed about -6 @ 30hz. Both free space. However, place them in a room and that "flat" response will peak from the room gain, 6db at 30hz would not be unusual, so the sealed would actually be closer to "flat" in bounded space. The ported box would have more of that beloved boom. The sealed box is less than half the size. For the same size as the ported you could add a second driver to the sealed...
Note the outputs are identical at 80Hz. With your 80Hz high pass, you could block t he ports of your 4367 and probably notice no difference whatsoever.

Another nice thing about ported speakers is that they can usually do higher LF SPLs much better than sealed speakers. Many times you will hear a sealed speaker "bottom out." Ported speakers usually don't behave this way. The 4367 can do very dynamic bass without crapping out at high SPL.

Again no. The ported box will indeed have more low LF output (<50hz above), but below the tuning frequency, displacement and distortion go off the chart, along with the skyrocketing group delay.
Here is an example of the same woofer in a sealed/vented box: http://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/more-info/290-590-eminence-kappalite-3012lf-more-info.pdf
You scroll to the excursion charts.
Again, with your 80Hz hi pass, there is zero benefit to the port, other than making the enclosure larger, more manly.
If you ran them full ranged, obviously the porting would give more extended bass.
Try plugging the ports sometime.

cheers,

AJ

 

[AJ Soundfield]

All my rooms resemble the Hindu kush.
Keith.

This is far more common

 

[Purité Audio]

That is like Salt Lake compared to here!
Really interesting re the sealed versus ported ,I take it you are a fan of sealed box designs?
Why then are so many designs bass reflex, to win the 'specs'war?
Keith

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Yes it must be. There's an AXPONA hotel room reviewer on the other JBL thread I started talking about how he could hear the deficient caps compared to his other hotel room listening sessions; More self-indulgent idiocy. And of course, there's zero moderation. That thread is now just another opportunity for all the bored subjectivists to jerk off about caps.

This?
That's very funny. I find audiophile disorder very very amusing and entertaining, not maddening. Can't make that stuff up.
I hope the cables were lifted clear of the giant dielectric carpet! But off course, those stricken can parse and "gate" out each and all the "effects" (or is that "artifacts"?), to hone in on the one "real" culprit.
Well, absolute confirmation will come for me only when Frank "hears" it via YouTube. Then I'll be convinced.

cheers,

AJ

 

[Thomas savage]

I have my fridge on carbon footers... I believe it makes my beer colder... The fridge also runs more efficiently so saves on the electric bill.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Really interesting re the sealed versus ported ,I take it you are a fan of sealed box designs?

I eschew ported if that's what you mean. All my towers get below 20hz, usually via servo feedback amplification . Even my (sealed of course) little monitors will get below 30...in real rooms: https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2012/03/13/axpona-2012-soundfield-audio-and-power-modules/

Why then are so many designs bass reflex, to win the 'specs'war?

A cardboard tube is a lot less expensive than an extra driver.
I've over a dozen shows, had easily >1000 people through the various rooms. Per that experience, generously, less than 10% of "audiophiles" listen to classical and other forms of acoustic (bass) music. The other 90% wanted to hear electronic music, often 70s rock! Nothing wrong with that. I also attended Pearl Jam last Monday night. The ported bass there sounded great.
To each their own.

cheers

AJ

 

[Purité Audio]

I always imagined there would be some grand design behind the chosen implementation, but saving money makes perfect sense.
Servo feedback amplification?
Keith