JBL 4312M II 3-way Studio Monitor Review

[fpitas]

Or a DIY bi-amp project.

And they made it 3-way for some mysterious reason, considering the tiny woofer. That will keep someone completely frustrated sorting it all out!

 

[beagleman]

If they were somewhat cheaper, these might be good to practice crossover design. You can't do much worse.

Seems the woofer and mid overlap a LOT. Tweeter also overlaps mid. Woofer runs free and into huge breakup.

Almost seems an unfinished design. Like someone put level controls, but forgot to finish the basic response filtering and so on.

 

[fpitas]

Seems the woofer and mid overlap a LOT. Tweeter also overlaps mid. Woofer runs free and into huge breakup.

Almost seems an unfinished design. Like someone put level controls, but forgot to finish the basic response filtering and so on.

My cynical side says, "Tossed some cheap drivers in a box to look impressive".

 

[Sokel]

Even without filters as it is,tweeter just seems broken,I have never saw a response like this even in 30 euro cheap ones which people use as sacrificial,even those were decent.
That sudden fall after the 8Khz mark is similar to broken ones,seriously,and I suspect that's the case here,there can not be any other explanation.

A tweeter like this simply does not exist and if it does it must be in some aliexpress 10 euro knock-offs.

 

[Haskil]

What did the originals have? Screw terminals?

Thank you for this test !
I have the original versions - 4311 - with speaker from bass to small fold suspensions and cone tweeter...

the terminal block is a spring model which pinches the speaker cable which must be thin to enter the very small hole... We were at a time before special HP cables. The internal wiring is made of rigid wire, very fine in diameter, under a yellow sheath.

 

[DanielT]

My cynical side says, "Tossed some cheap drivers in a box to look impressive".

You got there before me. I was just going to write this:
Some hot shots in the market division are trumpeting: Make a retro vintage looking speaker, they sell like hell. Just slap some cheep drivers together more or less at random. It doesn't matter how the sound turns out, as long as it looks retro vintage.

 

[beagleman]

Even without filters as it is,tweeter just seems broken,I have never saw a response like this even in 30 euro cheap ones which people use as sacrificial,even those were decent.
That sudden fall after the 8Khz mark is similar to broken ones,seriously,and I suspect that's the case here,there can not be any other explanation.

A tweeter like this simply does not exist and if it does it must be in some aliexpress 10 euro knock-offs.

I have to agree.
I have seen some truly cheap drivers with similar response, honestly, but they were quite low priced junk basically.
Also I have to wonder if the Level controls could contribute, as I have seen controls such as these create issues with intermittent contact, and resultant huge response issues and distortion.

But remember the tweeter does not even kick in till a supposed 12khz, so you are essentially talking about the midrange speaker, which is not serving as a typical midrange, but more of a small cheap tweeter, with a tiny .75" tweeter covering just the last 12khz upwards.

It is quite the mess.

 

[fpitas]

You got there before me. I was just going to write this:
Some hot shots in the market division are trumpeting: Make a retro vintage looking speaker, they sell like hell. Just slap some drivers together more or less at random. It doesn't matter how the sound turns out, as long as it looks retro vintage.

When they fired Greg Timbers, it was a shot across the bow that they didn't care about good design. So, not surprising.

 

[YSC]

from that vintage look and arrangement I expected complete disaster.. but then ignoring the crazy resonances.. in the grand scheme the directivity above 1khz still maintain somewhat uniform, and the most disasterous part is >10khz, in reality maybe it won't sound that bad

 

[Sokel]

I have to agree.
I have seen some truly cheap drivers with similar response, honestly, but they were quite low priced junk basically.
Also I have to wonder if the Level controls could contribute, as I have seen controls such as these create issues with intermittent contact, and resultant huge response issues and distortion.

But remember the tweeter does not even kick in till a supposed 12khz, so you are essentially talking about the midrange speaker, which is not serving as a typical midrange, but more of a small cheap tweeter, with a tiny .75" tweeter covering just the last 12khz upwards.

It is quite the mess.

12Khz?!
Then I'm totally fooled by Amir's NF responses which the tweeter seems to take over (for a while at least,until the mid edit: nope,it's the woofer's resonance+mid!!! takes over once again) at about 3Khz.
Yep,a total mess.

 

[fpitas]

I pity the guy that buys these thinking they must be good, since the price is high.

 

[beagleman]

12Khz?!
Then I'm totally fooled by Amir's NF responses which the tweeter seems to take over (for a while at least,until the mid edit: nope,it's the woofer's resonance+mid!!! takes over once again) at about 3Khz.
Yep,a total mess.

The woofer is running free way up to 10khz or so. but its hard to read Amir's NF as there would be driver "Bleeding" from nearby drivers.
Agree quite a mess.

The woofer itself appears to be quite decently made and similar to many smaller P.A. or sound reinforcement drivers this size. The rest, I truly would love to understand what they are going for......

 

[RobL]

Drivers in the 4312m mk I:

 

[fpitas]

Magnets are shielded for some reason. Leftover stock they had to move?

 

[TuteTibiImperes]

No a big surprise for me. I consider this brand with a lot of distance, first experience many years ago was so horrible I thought all JBL products were bs. When you see the measurements you can understand why European people with less exposition to this brand than American people are not so convinced.

And please @amirm, I think it is time to found in your backlog a nice product now.

JBL has a ridiculously large and varied product line, for better or for worse.

Harman uses the brand to sell everything from cheap portable Bluetooth speakers to ultra-high-end stereo and HT speakers and electronics that can retail over $10K, plus a ton of pro-audio stuff.

Because of that there’s a lot more variation in the product offerings than say a more streamlined and focused brand like Revel.

Still, JBL does have some speakers that measure exceptionally well. Like their HDI series, M2, 4367, and a bunch of others.

I think these re-releases of their old-school models, starting back with the new L100 they did a few years ago, are targeted squarely at the demographic whose heyday was back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They’re selling nostalgia, and maybe those people want the sound of speakers from back then. Plus, their hearing probably isn’t good enough to really notice fine-details anymore.

I wonder what they’re going to try to sell us in another 20 years to hit the nostalgia buttons for those of us who came of age in the ‘90s.

 

[fpitas]

Still, JBL does have some speakers that measure exceptionally well. Like their HDI series, M2, 4367, and a bunch of others.

Yeah. So they fired the guy who designed the 4367.

 

[Sokel]

I think these re-releases of their old-school models, starting back with the new L100 they did a few years ago, are targeted squarely at the demographic whose heyday was back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They’re selling nostalgia, and maybe those people want the sound of speakers from back then. Plus, their hearing probably isn’t good enough to really notice fine-details anymore.

I wonder what they’re going to try to sell us in another 20 years to hit the nostalgia buttons for those of us who came of age in the ‘90s.

I think we would be surprised if we get to see the demographics,I suspect the age must be far-far younger as these stuff are a thing these days.
The sinister aspect of this is those who you describe give them as gifts to younger ones,"here's how real music sounds" .

 

[thewas]

And they made it 3-way for some mysterious reason, considering the tiny woofer. That will keep someone completely frustrated sorting it all out!

From what I had seen in the past such miniaturized models are made more for the Asian and especially Japanese market where people like having the 3-way classics but don't have the space for them, there were also similar models for the Yamaha NS-1000 and other classics

YAMAHA NS-1000MM Specifications Yamaha

 

[fpitas]

From what I had seen in the past such miniaturized models are made more for the Asian and especially Japanese market where people like having the 3-way classics but don't have the space for them, there were also similar models for the Yamaha NS-1000 and other classics

YAMAHA NS-1000MM Specifications Yamaha

They may be in the process of milking the JBL name until people catch on. Pity.

 

[TurtlePaul]

The JBL website claims crossover frequencies of 7 khz and 12 khz. Assuming it isn’t a typo… why even have a mid and tweeter at that point (they are barely doing anything). When I saw the driver sizes I was expecting ~1 khz and ~3.5 khz for crossover points.

Is it $1k for the pair? Can’t possibly be $1k per side.