JBL 4311b Studio Monitors

[laatsch55]

There's 2 L-Pads, prescense and brilliance, they seemd right about halfway on prescense and about a quarter on brilliance. I reached over to snatch one off the floor and noticed it'd take both hands. A delightful sounding speaker.

 

[pennysdad]

There's 2 L-Pads, prescense and brilliance, they seemd right about halfway on prescense and about a quarter on brilliance. I reached over to snatch one off the floor and noticed it'd take both hands. A delightful sounding speaker.

the L-pads can vary considerably depending on the age and state of the caps in the x-o.
(btw, two of the x-o screws are located under the bottom label (foilcal), and can only be accessed by lifting some of the foilcal with a bit of heat from a hairdryer if you ever need to change anything like caps etc.)
yes, they are a tad too heavy to give to the kids to play with.
a fun speaker, that can take a bit of a hiding.

 

[laatsch55]

I was pleasently surprised...

 

[pennysdad]

I was pleasently surprised...

never doubted it….

 

[derek92994]

The 4311b's are certainly a different sound from my old speakers which were quite basic. It took a little time to get used to their sound, but I most certainly would prefer this 1 pair of JBLS than all 3 pairs of my other speakers. Have the mid dial set to 3 and the high dial set to 5, sounds just fine to me. Much better accuracy these speakers, can rest assured that I'm hearing how it is supposed to be heard. Its amazing how many albums I have played and heard parts never heard before. Bass is very tight and transients much better. They are very directional, I have them pointing straight ahead though, sitting on top of two other 12 inch speakers which are on their side. Found this to be the optimal height. At first I had the speakers turned upside down, but they seem to work better in the position intended, I don't mind having the woofer at the top. I never go above 10 o'clock on the volume dial, these are efficient and loud, also want to treat them well. Hope to get a bigger amp someday to drive them a bit nicer, 125 watts per channel is still ok though for now.

 

[derek92994]

Lee, what do your 4311b's look like? Post a pic if you could, thanks.

 

[laatsch55]

Derek, they are not mine, but my cousin -in-law's. I have heard them both now, the JBL's and my K's, Derek, they are not in the same league nor should they be, there's the money factor then simply the design. I know Paul Klipsch diddn't design a rock and roll speaker, but he couldn't have done better had he tried. I truly hope one of these days you can experience a set ok K's set up like these are. Should be on every man's bucket list...

 

[laatsch55]

The --"I'm hearing things I haven't heard before" would continue from the JBL's to the K's....

 

[Rex Everything]

The 4311b's are certainly a different sound from my old speakers which were quite basic. It took a little time to get used to their sound, but I most certainly would prefer this 1 pair of JBLS than all 3 pairs of my other speakers. Have the mid dial set to 3 and the high dial set to 5, sounds just fine to me. Much better accuracy these speakers, can rest assured that I'm hearing how it is supposed to be heard. Its amazing how many albums I have played and heard parts never heard before. Bass is very tight and transients much better. They are very directional, I have them pointing straight ahead though, sitting on top of two other 12 inch speakers which are on their side. Found this to be the optimal height. At first I had the speakers turned upside down, but they seem to work better in the position intended, I don't mind having the woofer at the top. I never go above 10 o'clock on the volume dial, these are efficient and loud, also want to treat them well. Hope to get a bigger amp someday to drive them a bit nicer, 125 watts per channel is still ok though for now.

You do know those tweeters are supposed to be at ear level, right? Those speakers were designed to sit on a recording console. These are basically L100's.

 

[mlucitt]

You do know those tweeters are supposed to be at ear level, right? Those speakers were designed to sit on a recording console. These are basically L100's.

I have the L-36 (and I don't think the flow of numbers means much). I always considered them similar to the L100, the non-pro sound version of the 4311B. Mine are more like a "4310" because the woofer is a 10" speaker.

Mark

 

[pennysdad]

Those speakers were designed to sit on a recording console.

Oh no they weren't!
They were designed to be suspended from the ceiling so they could be out of the way…..
They are way too big to be sitting on any console let alone closer than 2-3 metres away.
They are NOT 'near-field' monitors.
…. and you can have 'em any way you want, be it upside down, right way up, or on their sides.
Wotever suits the listener and the physical constraints with locating them.

… and yes, the L100 and any of the 4310, 11, 12, 13 are all very very similar.

About the 'K's' (Klipsch Horns), yes, totally different ballgame, BUT, a pair of JBL J-bins (4530) would be in a similar vein. Maybe a bit taller, but they are a quarter of the price and put out twice the energy. For the budget conscious, I'd recommend them in a flash, IF you have the room for 'em.
They are just a bass box, so you would need to add some high frequency elements to the set-up, but that's the best part. You can interchange and experiment at your pleasure.
I've had 'em all, and still have my J-bins.

Pump up the volume……

 

[Rex Everything]

Oh no they weren't!
They were designed to be suspended from the ceiling so they could be out of the way…..
They are way too big to be sitting on any console let alone closer than 2-3 metres away.
They are NOT 'near-field' monitors.
…. and you can have 'em any way you want, be it upside down, right way up, or on their sides.
Wotever suits the listener and the physical constraints with locating them.

… and yes, the L100 and any of the 4310, 11, 12, 13 are all very very similar.

About the 'K's' (Klipsch Horns), yes, totally different ballgame, BUT, a pair of JBL J-bins (4530) would be in a similar vein. Maybe a bit taller, but they are a quarter of the price and put out twice the energy. For the budget conscious, I'd recommend them in a flash, IF you have the room for 'em.
They are just a bass box, so you would need to add some high frequency elements to the set-up, but that's the best part. You can interchange and experiment at your pleasure.
I've had 'em all, and still have my J-bins.

Pump up the volume……

or flown as you say.

Honestly, they have no place in a studio of any kind but that is a personal opinion.

(you can place speakers where you want them but it's pretty much a well known fact the tweeters are meant to be at ear level when listening.)

 

[pennysdad]

or flown as you say.

Honestly, they have no place in a studio of any kind but that is a personal opinion.

(you can place speakers where you want them but it's pretty much a well known fact the tweeters are meant to be at ear level when listening.)

…. you miss the whole point of flying these things. (upside down)
…. and in the 70's and 80's these WERE the monitors of choice.
re:

they have no place in a studio of any kind but that is a personal opinion

...what a stupid thing to say.
75% of everything mixed in those days, would've been done on these or the next model up, the 4333.

 

[mlucitt]

The JBL 4311B was actually labeled as a "Control Monitor" because in the late 1960's, there was the recording studio and behind the glass, the control room.

 

[pennysdad]

The JBL 4311B was actually labeled as a "Control Monitor" because in the late 1960's, there was the recording studio and behind the glass, the control room.

… it's unfortunate, but that pic shows the absolute worst place to put them, simply because at that distance you are hearing the individual components, made even worse by the fact they're not mirrored, whereas from a distance, you get to hear the box as a whole unit.
As I mentioned before, the best place for them is about 3 metres away, suspended/flown, tilted down a bit, and the components then phase and time align correctly, and with having the tweets and mids at the bottom, puts them at ear height.
Granted, there's probably a lot more better stuff around today, but if you upgrade the caps inside, it soon brings them into line with current trends as the speaker components are just as good then, as what they are today, if still not better.
…. and as I also mentioned before, because they were the monitor of choice at the time, if you play recordings of that era, then you're hearing as THEY heard it.
By using today's later technology, then you're hearing something else. Some will argue this is good, but some will argue the opposite. I'm more than happy to hear it as it was, IF that's wot I'm listening to….

Wot D2 has, is a pair of thoroughly rebuilt from scratch, with EVERYTHING upgraded to 'better than new' condition including the crossovers, drivers, and finish. He's really happy with them, and I'm just as happy for him. It's certainly a leaps and bounds progression from wot he had, and worth every penny and all the effort he spent getting them…..

 

[Northwinds]

BD, a friend of mine owns MCE Records (which is now defunct, he opened Hully Gully which is in operation) has those same JBL monitors sitting on either side of the big analog console he still uses so Paul's comment has merit. They have more up to date digital equipment in the new studio but Mark loves his analog rig for personal mixing. No where in either studio is suspended monitors that I noticed. You don't need huge volume levels when mixing/monitoring so that is a moot point in reference to them not being near field. The last thing recording engineers want is deafening sound levels. Even then, headphones are the choice of most recording engineers. Their ears are their income so why chance damaging your hearing when it's your bread and butter? They use different speakers to guage how a mix will sound through car or home type speakers and that's where they put the gas to them. For monitors, they only want flat response, not ear shattering dbs. In the old studio, there is huge in wall JBL speaker system that was left just "to impress the clients" and are not used at all. It would have been a hassle to get them out and redo the walls. There is no law that I know of that says you have to fly ANY monitors, it was just a space saving consideration in cramped studios. The reflections off the corners and ceiling would to me "color" the sound. That works for Bose 901's but not for flat response, non-direct reflecting monitors

JBL and Altec were the monitors of choice but were quickly supplanted when Yamaha released the NS-10s

Interesting discussion!

Mark's digital system is a compact self-contained remote recording setup based on the Alesis ADAT digital multitrack recorder with Alesis mixer used for live on location recording in nightclubs. Mixdown is done to DAT or CD masters at the studio

Personally, I hate how studio monitors sound in a home stereo application. I did have the NS-1000's which are highly regarded but found them severely lacking in lowend response so they were moved on. I want thundering lowend, I want crystal clear highs. Flat response is cool if your into it, I find it stale personally

 

[pennysdad]

BD, a friend of mine owns MCE Records (which is now defunct, he opened Hully Gully which is in operation) has those same JBL monitors sitting on either side of the big analog console he still uses so Paul's comment has merit. They have more up to date digital equipment in the new studio but Mark loves his analog rig for personal mixing. No where in either studio is suspended monitors that I noticed. You don't need huge volume levels when mixing/monitoring so that is a moot point in reference to them not being near field. The last thing recording engineers want is deafening sound levels. Even then, headphones are the choice of most recording engineers. They use different speakers to guage how a mix will sound through car or home type speakers and that's where they put the gas to them. For monitors, they only want flat response, not ear shattering dbs. In the old studio, there is huge in wall JBL speaker system that was left just "to impress the clients" and are not used at all. It would have been a hassle to get them out and redo the walls. There is no law that I know of that says you have to fly ANY monitors, it was just a space saving consideration in cramped studios. The reflections off the corners and ceiling would to me "color" the sound. That works for Bose 901's but not for flat response, non-direct reflecting monitors

Interesting discussion!

Mark's digital system uses is a compact self-contained remote recording setup based on the Alesis ADAT digital multitrack recorder with Alesis mixer used for live on location recording in nightclubs. Mixdown is done to DAT or CD masters at the studio

It has nothing to do with being loud. Suspending monitors is exactly for the reason you say, and that is

it was just a space saving consideration in cramped studios.

With a bit of simple surface treatment around the flown speaker, reflections etc would not be a problem.
We must keep in context with the era we are talking about. It's a different ball game today, and that doesn't apply to the points I'm trying to make.
I've designed a lot of smaller personal studios here and installed lots of monitors, and the prime directive was NOT to obscure the view of the 'window', as well as having a clear access to everything in and around the console for patching and upgrades, and yes, there was a directive issued by JBL at one time that suggested ceiling mounting and that's how and why the 'upside down' series of monitors came to be.
There was also the alternative flush wall mounting of monitors, and that in itself was a point to keep oversized monitors off the desk, (because they obstructed line of sight of any 'main' wall mounted monitors). But you have to also keep in mind, that studios of that time had electronics and speakers updated as time went on. These days, pro studios are built around the monitors, and not vice versa.

…. and I forgot to mention, corner flying absolutely eliminates standing waves, and that's one thing you don't wanna have, otherwise you need a really deep room, to be able to kill them with treatment.

 

[Northwinds]

I can see why they were designed like that and understand what your saying about obstructing view. This is not an issue at either of his studios. I got to sit at the main console and could see everything. What a great way to make a living (as long as you have enough customers)!!!!

 

[mlucitt]

The JBL 4311 came in during the late ‘60s and were used throughout the 70s by almost all of the major studios. These monitors are still considered a high end industry standard product. Designed to have a flat low frequency response at a mind boggling 22hz just below the human hearing level. 4311’s also have a user adjustable midrange and tweeter frequency adjustment on the front face of the speaker, this helps you to smooth out your sound to get the right balance in your room.


- Lifted from:
[h=2]Just like the Neumann U87 the JBL 4311 control room monitors are a classic industry standard.[/h]http://vintageamps.com/blog/just-like-the-neumann-u87-the-jbl-4311-control-room-monitors-are-a-classic-industry-standard/

 

[pennysdad]

I can see why they were designed like that and understand what your saying about obstructing view. This is not an issue at either of his studios. I got to sit at the main console and could see everything. What a great way to make a living (as long as you have enough customers)!!!!

yes you're right. it's not an issue THESE days, but my point is, it was THEN…..

it's also a great way to set up at home too! i have a basic mastering suite set-up in my lounge. LoL
i have friends that often come around here and check their recordings on any of up to 20 different pairs of speakers, so never a boring moment…...