old JBL studio monitors

Studio Monitor was a promotional term used in the seventies
to suggest that the speakers making that claim were designed to be utilized as monitor speakers in the recording studio. If the engineers used these speakers to record the sound, surely you would be wise to use them for retrieval. I always thought it was a lot of crap but it certainly sold a lot of product.

JBL construction quality is unsurpassed but the sound is definitely a matter of taste.

I have 2 pair of JBL monitors. 4311's and L-100's. The 4311's came from a co-worker who bought them new and took very good care of them. The L-100's came from the Salvation Army for $40.00. They have had some cabinet work, but sonically were in great shape.

Both of these pairs have held up really well. The only problem I have is that one of the attenuators has a dead spot in it. Deoxit has helped but not completely. No caps in the crossovers to fail.

I have several vintage receivers and one thing I have noticed is that these speakers need more power than most people think. It's true that they can be driven nicely with 50WPC, but give them 100 or more and they change dramatically. It's like a completely different sound.

I can't see paying the dollars that people are getting on ebay, but if you are looking to put together a vintage system and like 70's rock and or jazz, you might find them very pleasing.

Studio monitors.... The ones I used to listen to in my recording days were the ones like Dynaudio's, old B&W 801's and some active stuff like ATC's and Genelec. They had in common that they sounded very analytical, a bit harsh, could go incredebly loud and didn't do much imaging, although I have to be honest: placing wasn't always optimal. So one day I decided to buy a couple of Yamaha NS10's from the studio (small two way monitor) and use it at home. It was dreadfull!! I traded them for some small Mission's, which were less 'hifi' but more 'fun'...... So, in my experience, real studio monitors are not necessarily good in home situations. But it does make, as said before, a nice marketing statement.

I have 4311 and it sounds realistic and neutral like you are hearing live musicians - especially good for acoustic instruments. Whether realism is prefered or not depends on the music you listen to. I say for classical, it is good.

For some music, you want speakers that are refined - not realistic. Although they are not transparent on top frequencies, they have satisfying bass and mid. Piano especially sounds good on them.

Did you notice how different speakers do different instruments well? Speakers that do feminin voice well might not do piano well for instance. Excuse for us to hook up several sets of speakers to an amp - and switch depending on the music and the mood.

I like my JBL - especially for that realistic rendition of acoustic instruments that have a warm low sound. There are modern speakers that do highs better - like B&W for instance. Sometimes I feel like I am at a live concert - and wonder why we need more than this.

I heard that it would take JBL $4000 to build them today like they used to - with good sounding alnico magnets. If you are into transparency, then this might not be for you - but I like mine for their realism - especially good for dance music - has rhythm.