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JBL 4367 shoutiness remedies?

Hello all, I am a first time post-er, so pardon me if I am clumsy with this venue. 
I live in a small town on an island in SE Alaska, and do not have immediate access to anywhere locally that sells hifi equipment besides Walmart. So after reading complimentary reviews, I ordered from USA Tube Audio a pair of JBL 4367 speakers, ..a two way design  with a woofer and a horn. I have about 20 hours on the speakers, driving them with a Primare I35 Integrated Amplifier and a perceived higher end Primare CD player., and for an alternate music source, I use Music Choice from my cable box. I also have a 10 band graphic EQ to tailor the  sound to my liking. The issue I bought when I paid for the speakers is a  loudly blaring shoutiness in the range of frequencies of the human voice. It can be loud and overpowering even with EQ attenuating the frequencies between 500 and 4khz. I called the dealer who I bought them from for advice..he told me the amp and cd player are junk, ($6000 junk) and the only way to fix the shoutiness was to buy tube equipment.  On some recordings, the speakers sound wonderful, but on some, it makes me question whether or not they're worth keeping. The room in the apt I have them in is about 15x18 with low ceilings. Does anyone have any practical suggestions or ideas on how to remedy or at least partially correct this issue? Thank you for reading.
deckhand
audiokinesis
2,731 posts
 
Deckhand, you might try listening from fairly far off-axis, like 20-25 degrees. I suggest moving the speakers a bit further apart than normal and toeing them in severely, like 45 degrees and maybe even more, such that their axes criss-cross well in front of the listening position. This will reduce the relative loudness of the horns in the first-arrival sound, increase the sweet spot width, and may increase the sense of immersion in the acoustic space of the recording.

The unusually well-behaved off-axis response of the 4367’s big horn makes this cross-firing configuration feasible. Its pattern width is just right, and I'm pretty sure it’s a constant-directivity horn (or darn close thereto) in which case the off-axis response is very similar to the on-axis response, but not as loud.

Duke
horn speaker designer
audiorusty
270 posts
 
Listen to Duke, he knows what he is talking about.

Also, don't overlook room acoustics as others have said, they make a far larger impact on your sound than you might think.

Here is a company that I believe Duke has recommended in the past that may be able to get you started down the right acoustical path.

http://www.hdacoustics.net

As others have also said, there is unfortunately a huge variation in the quality of recordings, but a well tuned room along with your eq. should help mitigate that to some extent
mr_gray
61 posts
 
1st things first - beautiful speaker - good choice!

2nd - 20 hours is nothing.  these speakers are notoriously difficult to loosen up.  500 hours of use before they settle down for ever.  Some have said they don't even sound that great til they've worn in a bit.  20 hours is effectively brand new so don't judge them yet.

3rd - I have a SPEC Class D amp running JBLs (4344) (highs only).  Beautiful.  So don't listen to people including your dealer re: that.  I haven't heard Primare Amp but I doubt that is the issue.

4th - people mentioned acoustics.  listen to those people.

good luck with it!
trudat
60 posts
 
You own one of the smoother horn speakers out there.   You have a 10 band EQ.  You have good electronics.

You many simply not like horns.

You can piss away money on a power conditioner, but that isn't going to do anything.

You can do SOME room treatments, but horns do take some of the room out of it as they are more directional.  Maybe consider some absorption panels behind you, or at the 2nd reflection point actually.

But... you may just not like horns.  
d2girls's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
d2girls
1,029 posts
 
first of all the jbl 4367 are ruthlessly accurate and revealing of source gear however more then that they are just straight up neutral. it is highly likely that you are simply not accustomed to the sharpness in treble which can be accounted for as in increase of midrange energy due to the speakers design. as I said, it is a very flat speaker. it is highly possible your previous speakers had a dip of several dB. most speakers designed today have this. the JBL 4367 do not.


read the user manual how to set them up. 3 feet into the room. 11 feet apart. will give them 2 feet of space from side walls. toe them in to your listening position. ideally sit 11-13 feet away. toe them in more if you sit closer. experiment with toe in and distance from the speaker. personally I like triangle setup, sit equal distance from the speaker. measure length from center of speaker to center of speaker. like I said, 11 feet apart if you set them on the 15 foot side of your room.


this is the best advice youre going to get in the thread. your gear has nothing to do with how the sound you are hearing, its the function of the speaker with your room, and the fact they are much more accurate and revealing then your previous gear (assuming this but most likely true)

good luck and do not under estimate the improvement in sound you can get with proper setup.
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