I bought these from a pawn shop for less than $50 about one year ago. I read all about the JBL 4300 series on the major forums and I knew what lay before me was a great opportunity to try some coveted speakers. The cabinets were a little rough, but all the drivers were in good order. At the time I was coming off an East Coast speaker binge, the AR-4x, AR-3, KLH Model 6 and the like. The first piece of equipment I used these speakers with was a Pioneer SX-980. At first, I was really loving the top end and midrange, my 70s and 80s punk and rock LPs sounded great; I forgot all about the East Coast sound I was accustomed to.

Some time passed and I moved on to a restored McIntosh MC2105 with a PS Audio 4.6 Preamp, which was definitely an upgrade from my old Pioneer. I also moved into a new apartment where positioning became a challenge. High ceilings, an open floor plan, and hardwood floors made placing these speakers a real challenge. Two months passed where I absolutely hated these JBLs. I couldn't find any particular setup that I liked and it seemed that no matter what I did, every weakness of this particular speaker was highlighted. Off-axis listening was terrible, the highs seemed harsh and the bass was either boomy or non-existent depending on the placement.

It took me awhile before I finally found a setup that worked and I was able to tame most of the deficiencies that plagued my listening area. As a result, I have come to terms with these speakers, but it took a lot of consideration and careful placement. These speakers can benefit from being placed in corners, but the tradeoff is boomy bass. When you pull these away from the wall they will be incredibly bass shy with unimpressive performance. "Zilch plugs" may be a solution for those experiencing boomy bass in corner situations. Bringing the tweeter up to ear level helped improve my opinion of this speaker greatly. The level controls on the front of the speaker were great for the final tuning stages. Carpeting or floor treatments can minimize reflections and made a huge difference in my experience. There is a definite sweet spot in my listening area, and when I am in it, boy is it sweet.

Once I got the placement dialed in, I felt that my source material and amplification was more than adequate for these speakers. My McIntosh amp does a good job of coloring the material in a way that I can appreciate, warm while retaining detail, presence, and musicality. The bass still does not go down as much as I would like, but it is fast and accurate. I would like to add a sub to fill the lower registers, but I feel that these speakers are acceptable for the time being.

I can't say that these are for everyone, but I enjoy having them in my collection. If you're into rock, punk, or early electronic music, these are great. I prefer my AR-3s for classical or orchestral music (especially post-rock), but the 4312a does a fair job with these genres as well. They may be finicky, but I think they're worth the effort.

accurate, punchy and clean

can get bright in the high end

I have to agree with the review who said that people don't
understand what these speakers are supposed to be used
for and how they need to be positioned. As the name says,
these are control monitors. The are extremely revealing
and will sound horrible in some rooms (hardwood floors)
and with newer, bright amps. I've heard the 4312A in a
studio and it was pure heaven. They're fast and very
musical. I went out and bought
a pair of Control 10 monitors (same design) to use for PA
and home use. They're powered by a big, bright QSC pro
amp and I am not disappointed with the sound.
These speakers handle lots and lots of power. They
take a lot of the 500 watts from the big QSC. They
don't have a lot of bass, but it's tight, accurate bass.
These will need to be used with subwoofers, crossover
and an equalizer if you're planning on having a party.

Similar Products Used:

Control 10

Price (£100 second hand)

Boxy sound.
The titanium dome is very tinny, stressful to listen to for longer than an hour.
Very small soundstage.
Bass bottoms out at around 60hz (tested).

Glad to have purchased this for £100 ($150), but I wouldn't have paid more than this.
The bass drops off rapidly below 60hz.
A very "boxed" sound as tweeter and mid range are on same horizontal plane.
The titanium dome is very tinny, very harsh on the ear. Outdated design and appallingly small soundstage.
Bass bottoms out at around 60hz (tested).
Not the best, sorry.

this is the way the rock music sounds live

not for audiophiles...

after hear about this model a lot, finally I got a pair, I have to say this is one of the for rock music, I use them in a small room a sound very well

Similar Products Used:

JBL 4412A, JBL L90

Masterly recreation of recorded music. Beauty of construction and elegance of appearance. Drivers so good they never need reconing, or repair. Soak in enormous amounts of amplifier power and sound better with each magnitude of wattage.

Needs carefully selected amplifier to minimize errors in frequency response. Needs careful positioning to recreate sound stage. Cheap grill clothes.

I have heard them all: the 5.1 speaker setups, subwoofer boxes/satellites, and plastic/paper cones. The 4312A continue to be my only speaker of choice. I use them to play back my personal violin and piano performances off of DAT’s and reel to reel tapes. I pipe through them ordinary radio and store-bought disks of all kinds. They do tend to be “bright” sounding because of the titanium domed tweeter and co-planar positioning with the midrange driver. So, I run them with a Carver m1.5t which deliberately warms the sound. This counter-balanced arrangement delivers a jaw-dropping performance no matter the type of music or its source. What is even more striking is that my 4312A’s date back to 1986 and my Carver system dates back nearly that far. Let’s fast forward to the modern world: internet-based music. How good is it really? I had an idea to check out how good mp3’s really are. I connected an Athlon-equipped personal computer with a sound blaster PCI 128 sound card through a gold-ended cable I bought at Radio Shack. This wire ran into a Carver C-1 preamplifier which fed the amp and speakers. The sound was as clear and as powerful as if I had used any tape or disk. Bit rates above 192 kbps yield the best defined and most properly spaced results. However, with complex rock and jazz, even 128 kbps sounds live. So, based upon my ears and heart, the JBL 4312A’s are in incomparable purchase. If I was ever asked to render a recommendation to either a rich or poor person as to which speaker to buy with their money, the 4312A’s would be it. Value, longevity, musicality, and proficiency at rendering an impeccable sonic illusion make these speakers a precious possession.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Bozak, Bose, Infinity, Polk Audio, and MacIntosh.

Timing and precision. It doesn't get any better. Move over electrostats.

Older design, a little boxy sounding,due to R12 insulation in the box and no bracing. Not designed for the casual listener.

Why do people continue to slam this speaker. First let's get one thing straight. The 4312 and it's sisters were designed for nearfield monitoring in control rooms, not somebody's living room. I use mine daily. They sit about 3 ft to either side of me at my computer on 24" tall stands toed in. Let me tell you folks, this speaker is about speed. The shear timing of it is uncanny. They will show you all the faults in your so called Audiophile recordings, so maybe they are not for you. What they do represent, is music. Plain and simple. They have an ability to capture music's structure and emotion and in doing so, involve you in what the artist is trying to convey. Any audiophile worth his or her salt, knows the impeccable and untarnished heritage of this speaker and it's older siblings. Ed May designed this speaker when he was at JBL. He also designed many of the pro drivers still used today. If set up properly they will deliver in spades folks. Love them. Embrace them. Feel the music and forget ludicrus pricing of so called "High End" stuff.

Similar Products Used:

Century 100, 4310, 4311, 4312

BEAUTIFUL CLEAR SOUND ESPECIALLY IN TODAYS DIGITAL WORLD.

NONE

RECREATES CLEAR CRISP SOUNDS OF JAZZ AND TRUE R&B..USED
WITH DBX SOUND PROCESSOR EQUIPMENT AND TEAC REEL TO REEL
AS WELL AS METAL AND HIGH BIAS TAPES BEFORE DIGITAL TOOK
OVER. POWERED BY SANSUI POWER AND PRE-AMP FOR 15 YEARS AND
HAVE NO COMPLAINTS. FOR THOSE COMPLAINING OF ITS UNFORGIVING
NATURE, YOU DON'T HOOK UP QUALITY SPEAKERS TO AN ALL-IN-ONE
RACK SYSTEM. IF YOU WANT QUALITY WAIT FOR THOSE GREAT CLOSE-OUT SALES AND GET A GOOD AMP TO PUSH THESE. YOU WON'T BE
DISAPPOINTED.

Similar Products Used:

BOSE 501'S - KLIPSH KG-3

SUPERB PRECISION, BALANCED, DYNAMIC, SECOND TO NONE IN SPATIALITY AND IMAGING

NONE

It's no wonder these monitors are used in a majority of recording studios. I picked up a pair of these used for $600 because of their legendary sound and craftsmanship. I was not disappointed. Performance is best described as clean and dynamic. Bass is tight, midrange and treble are precise. The sound is a definite improvement over my B&W's. For an used pair of speakers, this is what they mean when they say the don't make'm like they use to. These used to sell for over $1,500!! No wonder they were and are heavily used in true studio monitoring. Some people complain of harshness or brightness of the tweeters....it all depends on your equipment. I used an SAE and they were splendid. When I used a standard Pioneer, they were a bit harsh. That was due to the solid state sound these new cheap receivers put out. Your sound is as good as its weakest link..For those other reviewers who still complain of harshness and brightness, try hearing a pair of horn speakers like Klipsch...that is harshness and brightness. While my B&W's excelled in fine detail, the JBL's blew them away in all other categories....especially price.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 803'S, KLIPSCH

Tenue en puissance, fiabilité, qualité des composants, neutralité, linéarité (45 hz - 20.000 khz • +/- 3db)

Manque de extrème-grave

Probablement l'un des rares modèles aux qualités audiophile de la gamme pro de JBL. Certains leur reprochent un manque de grave (dont moi) mais je crois que c'est plus lié à de très mauvaises habitudes d'écoute sur des systèmes un peu trop simples. Cette enceinte possède un grand pouvoir d'analyse, tout y est très défini, décortiqué, surtout du haut-grave à l'extrème aigu. Les défauts des électroniques sont impitoyablement mis en avant, mais leurs qualités aussi… Ecoutées à faible niveau, elles délivrent un son plutôt décevant, mais si l'on pousse volume, le grave retrouve sa linéarité et l'impact peut alors pousser très fort. Ces enceintes sont comme des pure-sangs, capable du pire ou du meilleur, et sont tout sauf consensuelles. On les trouve bonnes ou on les déteste.

Similar Products Used:

JBL L50 • JBL 4208

Classic accurate monitor

weak bass unless placed against wall or in corner

Bought to replace my rear surrounds wich were rattling with low bass. The JBL's when placed on the floor in the corners provide all the bass anyone would want. Very happy with them.

Rotel RB-981 – power for mains
Yamaha DSP-E492 – surround sound pro/amp
Paradigm Monitor 7 - mains
Paradigm CC-350 – center
JBL 4312C – rear surrounds
Nakamichi – MB 2s – 7 Disc CD Player
Sony – CDVP-360 – DVD
Sony 27 Trinitron