I've had these speakers for over 8 years and they have never
dissapointed me.Nothing compares to them even with the rest
of the J.B.L line of speakers.I love them too much to let
them go any time soon.The sound is crisp and clear;however I
noticed they can't handle heavy bass too well and I am forced
to decrease the bass of my amplifier just a little if I want
to play music loud.
I bought them at a local popular audio store "on sale" for a
little over $ 350.00 each after waiting for over two years for
the price to drop from the original $500.00 each.
As a nice high quality feature the speaker cones are mounted
in thick glued paper instead of cheap foam which makes them more
durable in the high humidity of South Florida.
Is anything I dont like about them ? NOT REALLY ! Well, maybe
the fact they probably will outlive me.

My 4312s are 13 (almost 14) years old. They're a little scratched and have a couple of dings in the oak casings from being moved around the world and back again, but they still sound great. I've worked in radio and television for years and have never heard anything better. If you're getting poor performance, make sure you have an amplifier that can drive the speaker well. I've used the same old 200 watt Kenwood since buying the speakers and have had no problems.
Some reviewers complain about bass output. Take note: these are not "superbass" speakers. They are true monitors. What you get is what's on the recording.

These things are top-notty. They accurately output the recording as was intended by the sound engineers. I have them paired with an Onkyo receiver and CD player and AudioQuest cables and everyone that listens to them are amazed.

Ok, They may have been good 10 years ago, maybe a 3.5 or 4. But now? Get real. A $250 pair of B&W DM302's image better and have a clearer midrange.

presence, impact

First off all, these are studio monitors,i.e. they do have a distinctive sound by design, if you are not familier with, or don't care for that sound, then listen carefuly before a purchase. Even though they are an older design, I believe they still more than hold their own. Solid cabinets and massive driver motor structures produce almost everything effortlessly. Bass??- Mine will shake the floor on pipe organ recordings. Check them out if you love the old JBL Monitor sound!

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Altec605A's

Very good speaker

reproduction-

cheep conection posts

I can not remember when exactly I pechased these but it was
not soon enough.
I'am even considering perchasing replacement drivers befor
they wareout and become hard to find.
they still have thes in recording studios for a reson.
you will need at least 75 watts to drive these(clean 75 watts ). I use them for music and have added a sunfire sub
for movies. I took these to a high end dealer to compair
them to what I thought would be a upgrade to home theater
system and impressed several shoppers as well as ticked of
a few sales people thet could not justify there products,
prices to the people in aww of 35 year old technology.
I returned home with my poor little old jbl's to order two more for rear channels. the proof is in the listening.
if you can find them put them side by side whatever you want
any price range use the same power sorce close your eyes
and have someone adjust tone on each till you are happy with
what you here from each speaker. sales people have a way of
making the more expesive sound better so take a friend to
ajust things. I did this for 4 diferent people the day i took them in to compare.

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jbl4311

They're efficient and better than Bose

Ear piercing highs; unnatural mids; Slow, thumpy, detailess bass.

Its amazing that these speakers are still available. No company makes speakers so tonally iaccurate any more.
( at least not intentionally)

Very efficient reproduction. Industry reference monitor designed accurately to replay source recordings.

None

I first purchased my 4312's in 1985, and added another pair in 1994. I appreciate these monitors because they aren't designed to be popular retail outlet speakers. They are true heavy duty monitors designed to reproduce source material. Their original design dates back to the late 60's at the request of the recording industry. They have been periodically up dated until being replaced by the 4412's. The driver motor is the biggest I am aware of in any 12 inch driver. That is one reason they are so tight and not victim to loose base response. Those that understand their "design purpose" know what I mean. They're still excellent. I recently went shopping for speakers for another room only to end up ordering the new 4412's from JBL. They so influenced me that my surround system including sub-woofer is all JBL.

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ElectroVoice and Infinity, both top notch as well.

Still kicking after 6 years. I love these speakers and refuse to part with them.