JBL 4312M II 3-way Studio Monitor Review

[Steve Dallas]

Samsung also kept putting curved screens on their flagship phones for 7 straight years even though almost everyone said they don't want this stupid gimmick.

I have a curved screen on my current Samsung phone. 0 stars. Do not want.

I really wish LG had not exited the game. They made excellent Android phones.

 

[jimroge]

Wow, has anything here measured worse? Terrible just terrible.

 

[Billy Budapest]

I wonder how this one measures:

https://www.jbl.com/classic-series/L100+CLASSIC.html

 

[Rewind]

Found a youtube video that demos them. They look like what they sound like - a toy.

 

[thewas]

I wonder how this one measures:

https://www.jbl.com/classic-series/L100+CLASSIC.html

See a couple of pages before https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...udio-monitor-review.51226/page-8#post-1845434

 

[Sound_freq]

I wonder how this one measures:

https://www.jbl.com/classic-series/L100+CLASSIC.html

I owned a pair for a year or so, I'm certain the measurements aren't great, but they made for a fun enjoyable listen. They've just released the L100 Classic Mk2's - https://mm.jbl.com/classic-series/L100-MK2.html

 

[AuricGoldfinger]

They were discount brands for a reason!

I don’t recall JBL being considered a discount brand. While they had plenty of lower-priced models in the lineup, they also produced some very high priced monitors and home speakers.

Said distributor doesn't seem to carry Harman now

I was told Harman did similar things to Greg Timbers and his colleagues with the Madrigal organisation (Levinson, Proceed and Revel), moving production, closing the factory at seemingly very short notice and the staff/engineers basically losing their jobs apparently.

Same in Canada. I can’t even name a dealer with one pair of JBL’s higher bracket speakers in floor rotation. The distributors are also horrible to meet in person, particularly one that handles europroducts.

 

[holdingpants01]

Definitely not as they were long released before the take over and are now discontinued (information that would be also helpful in the review article).


By far not as bad, although I had the feeling the MKI was tuned a bit more neutrally (both have been measured by some German magazines but as those articles are not for free download I cannot upload them here.

This MK1 measurement is freely available though:

Source: https://www.hifitest.de/test/lautsprecher-stereo/jbl-l100-classic-17278

It looks funky as the X axis goes to 40kHz for some reason, when limited to 20kHz it's really not that bad, the biggest dip is around 15kHz which many people can't even hear

 

[Sokel]

It looks funky as the X axis goes to 40kHz for some reason, when limited to 20kHz it's really not that bad, the biggest dip is around 15kHz which many people can't even hear

The 4-7Khz on this chart should be illegal

Seriously now,this gives me a round headache just by looking at the chart.

 

[holdingpants01]

The 4-7Khz on this chart should be illegal

Seriously now,this gives me a round headache just by looking at the chart.

that's a mere 2.5dB boost, maybe you shouldn't look at your in room measurements as they would probably give you heart attack or worse Look at the highly regarded Revel M106 or M16 response for example, it's pretty normal in passive speakers

 

[Sokel]

that's a mere 2.5dB boost, maybe you shouldn't look at your in room measurements as they would probably give you heart attack or worse

Coincident is a bitch,here's a yesterday's one regarding the height (I have tons of them in here) :

Lack of high-end speaker reviews

1st order crossovers create off axis ripples in response. Which often fall on the range of frequency you are noting. So positioned so the off axis ripples don't cause troublesome reflections they might enhance a spacious quality in stereo. They usually do, some more and some less. Look at the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[holdingpants01]

Coincident is a bitch,here's a yesterday's one regarding the height (I have tons of them in here) :

Lack of high-end speaker reviews

1st order crossovers create off axis ripples in response. Which often fall on the range of frequency you are noting. So positioned so the off axis ripples don't cause troublesome reflections they might enhance a spacious quality in stereo. They usually do, some more and some less. Look at the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

cool, but that 400-500Hz dip gives me headache...

 

[Sokel]

cool, but that 400-500Hz dip gives me headache...

1m measuerement,and it's a big 3-way,do your calcs to see why you see that at 1m.

(here's at 3m,the first I found,there's lots more)

 

[oscar_dziki]

Yes, I know. A lot of reviews in the new year with bad outcomes.... I am as depressed about them as you are....

In case anyone is interested here are the Specifications:

I love bad outcomes in the reviews It got boring to read another review of stellar performing topping DAC

 

[Robbo99999]

IIRC most of their gems are actually just passion projects of senior harman engineers (CBT line, M2, Revel Salon, etc…) that are pleaded to be funded for sale.

Oh and all of these were grandfathered in pre-Samsung purchase. I think the only reason the LSR MK2 line wasn’t ruined by ultra corporate cost cutting is that the development was done pre-merger.

I have hope though, at least for the pro line. The new VTX-A line array series is finally a somewhat competitive box whereas the old VTX was horrifically awful. Not accepted on any artist rider because of how horrible it was.

Is the LSR Mk2 line (eg 305/306/308p mkii) the latest that has come out of JBL re monitor speakers do you know?

 

[restorer-john]

I love bad outcomes in the reviews

There's no doubt it results in boisterous and often heated engagement in the review thread.

Maybe that's why @amirm throws in the odd GR Research, PS Audio, Synergistic Research or USB cable 'review' every now and then?

 

[pierre]

Is the LSR Mk2 line (eg 305/306/308p mkii) the latest that has come out of JBL re monitor speakers do you know?

No.

The current line is excellent https://jblpro.com/en/product_families/7-series-products.They have been reviewed by Amir. They do have a big brother called JBL M2 (reviewed by Erin). They have others like 5305P which are good enough to be monitors.

See https://www.spinorama.org/?sort=score&reverse=false&search=jbl&quality=high&power=active for a list of spinorama.

 

[Robbo99999]

No.

The current line is excellent https://jblpro.com/en/product_families/7-series-products.They have been reviewed by Amir. They do have a big brother called JBL M2 (reviewed by Erin). They have others like 5305P which are good enough to be monitors.

See https://www.spinorama.org/?sort=score&reverse=false&search=jbl&quality=high&power=active for a list of spinorama.

Yep, I'm aware of the 705/708p models, seen them reviewed here on ASR. Did they come out after the 305/306/308p mkii line then?

 

[Filio45]

Isn't it a 'baby' version of the original 4311mk2 which got a pretty fair review by Martin Colloms back in the 90's? It apparently needed a Krell integrated to really come alive though (don't you love these gurus?)....

You are perhaps referring to the 4312mk2, which was re-released in the uk around '97 or '98, JBL was then distributed by Gamepath (or similar name). I drove from Brighton to Radlett (Audio) in order to pick up a pair, having read a positive review by Jason Kennedy in Hifi Choice. The price was fair, a grand or less IIRC. They had a seriously impressive sense of dynamics, particularly with percussive music, such as house, disco and of course rock. On the other hand, there was a slight boxy/nasal colouration in the mids, to my ears at least. 43xx variants were used often by dance music producers, as can by seen on this CD cover from '96. A far from perfect but exciting and revealing speaker for sure.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Yep, I'm aware of the 705/708p models, seen them reviewed here on ASR. Did they come out after the 305/306/308p mkii line then?

No, the Mark II of the 3 series is the most recent studio monitor update/release by JBL.
The 7xx series has been out longer.
I suspect the 700's are due for some sort of update, updates are usually slower on pro audio products as the market is totally different.