JBL 4200 Series

[Ian Mackenzie]

http://www.jblpro.com/pages/recording/4200.htm

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/recording/4200.pdf

A vintage system not talked about much around here..perhaps because it is more associated with home studio users.

I managed to score a pair of the 4208 for $299 the pair with options to buy another 2 pair.

I intend to use them for a number of ancillary purposes including rear surround home theatre, home recordings with my forthcoming Lynx 2B equiped PC and evaluation of some of some diy projects.

They are quite an impressive little monitor (a different league to the o'l 4311) and appear to be able to do some things that the bigger 4 ways system's just can't seem to do.

Best of all they don't take up a lot of real estate.

Ian

[Hoerninger]

... and appear to be able to do some things that the bigger 4 ways system's just can't seem to do.

Interesting ... and what do you mean in detail?
__________
Peter

[johnaec]

I like the little 8" 2-way variety of systems myself. While I don't have 4208's, I do have 2 pairs of 4408A's. A friend of mine has the 4208's and really likes them.

John

[demon]

hey cool i didnt know about them.
please tell us some details about what makes them so good in your opinion - i would guess imaging will bill be quite good when the speakers are set up right.

a friend of mine has the new lsr43?? (the bigger ones) and i really think they are great.
smaller speakers really can rock the big ones sometimes...
(but i will make my big ones rockin everything :applaud: )

cheers,
mikey

[John]

I picked up a pair of 4208's a few years ago for $125
and they are sweet and work great next to my CRT Sony TV. :D

Nice smooth HF. And good imaging as well. Nice system that seems to have slipped under the radar.:blah:

[Ian Mackenzie]

Damn you guys

I should have kept quite

Its a hard thing to express in few words so I'll be blunt.

I guess they demonstrate a decade or so of improvements in loudspeaker design that really matter. (refer to the brochure)

Meaning I am tempted to get the jig saw out and retro fit them in the space occupied by the 4345 dog box.

I'll bet that will make your eyes roll but they are a lot more tidy and together right through the mid range and top end than I have heard from any of the 43 series and the majority of the vintage consumer series.

Interestingly they don't sound like a small loudspeaker and they are very clean and dymanic.

If you find a piar give them a whirl.

Ian

[Ian Mackenzie]

I picked up a pair of 4208's a few years ago for $125
and they are sweet and work great next to my CRT Sony TV. :D

Nice smooth HF. And good imaging as well. Nice system that seems to have slipped under the radar.:blah:

Hi John,

That sums them up.

When setup they are fairly three dimensional and are deserving of a good front end and amp.

I recall they were the best part of $2000 when they were released so they weren't a cheap system.

Ian

[Andyoz]

I remember those coming out. Interesting, as they rarely sell for more than £50 on eBay in the UK. While searching, I found the 6208 (active 4208's)

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar98/articles/jbl6208.html

www.jblproservice.com/pdf/Studio%20Monitor%20Series/6208.pdf (http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/www.jblproservice.com/pdf/Studio%20Monitor%20Series/6208.pdf)

[Ian Mackenzie]

I dont think prices on Ebay are an indication of anything to do with quality.

There are plenty of near field monitors available new for less than $500 so I guess it does not fit into the collecter bid war to go after them.

The 42XX are quite a nice system. I plan of grabbing another pair soon.

Ian

[Andyoz]

I dont think prices on Ebay are an indication of anything to do with quality.

True.

I may have to keep an eye on these :applaud:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130230303750&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:uk

[Robh3606]

I got a pair in excellent shape off E-bay at a very good price. I use them at work in my office. I think I actually get more listening time on these than I do at home! I have them running with the smaller Urei 6211 amps with both a CD player and an I-Pod as sources. Nice speakers I can listen to them all day and often do. Very nice sound in a small package.

Rob:)

[doodlebug]

I picked up a set of the powered versions, the 6604s (maybe they were 4406s), some years ago. They were used as portable monitors for onsite/live recording work. I left them with my ex when I moved out last summer.

Seems to me that the 6604s got a bad review for some minor reason in one of the pro-sumer recording mags back in the 90s. JBL appeared to quickly turn the product line over - or there were other things I didn't know about at the time that caused a rather large product change.

The speakers themselves proved to be quite robust with a neutral presentation that was laid back behind the speaker itself rather than the in-your-face presenatation of the typical studio monitor, IMO.

Its a shame the product line didn't go further.

Cheers,

David

[Andyoz]

Seems to me that the 6604s got a bad review for some minor reason in one of the pro-sumer recording mags back in the 90s. JBL appeared to quickly turn the product line over.

Here I think: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar98/articles/jbl6208.html

[Ian Mackenzie]

Yeah i had a quick read..we all know product quality issue with JBL in the past.

I am not claiming they are exceptional but for $299 I defy anyone to find a better loudspeaker.

[10 Watt Street]

There is much to like about the JBL 6208, the active version of the 4208. And there are a couple of things to consider.

The port is rear facing, so close to wall placement is an issue. If they are nearfield on a console bridge or stand mounted, then the rear port is no problem. If they are nearfield on a DAW against a wall, the placement options are poor.

Also, the power transformers in mine had a very audible hum, just like in the Sound On Sound review.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I agree on the placement and this is to be expected for a system designed for bridge mount on a desk...they are tuned that way.

You can Eq out the bass or as I do have the loudspeaker out from the wall 600 mm and 1 metre off the floor.

I am using mine for home theatre and I love them for that..they are very dynamic with little sign of any compression and the bass is rock solid.

They appear very transparent with a HF quality I have not heard from a JBL previously and if anything they are slightly warm sounding. Although that could be the amp I a driving them with, a Passlabs X250.5.

The whole home theatre versus full two channel loudspeaker thing has been bugging me for a while and I think these are a good solution because they are so compact. The real two channel audio will be a new floor standing system.

My next project will be a media/music server for my hometheate based on a HP pc initially with a Lynx 2B card so I can rip all my CD's and play from the HD and decode 5.1 using suitable software. I have read favourable reports comparing it to hi end processors like the Mark Levinson and Halcro.

0n the hum in the 6208's see if you can find an equivalent rating toriodal transformer.

[Andyoz]

I may have to keep an eye on these :applaud:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130230303750&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:uk


Final Price of just £41...and they sounded like a mint pair. :bouncy: