Updated JBL 4311

Got myself a pair of 4311 a couple of years ago. The cabinet did not look good and the stock filters and L-pads needed to be updated.

The crossovers are now re-capped with Jantzen components. New Monacor L-pads and Supra internat wires. Old speaker connectors is changed to Jantzen that allows banan and spades. Also the cabinet are refurbished and oiled to look descent again.

The stock baffles are now painted in blue.

Now I´m looking for a new project. What 15" or 12" vintage speakers is suitable for tubes? 4333? 4344?

Some more pictures.

The amount of blue on some of the larger monitors is a bit overwhelming - just my personal opinion - but these little guys with blue baffles look just great. Nice work!

Looks nice and very clean!

For your next project, is this anticipated as a 'period' setup and a stock driver JBL system complement?
Is biamplification an option? (e.g., Tubes on top)

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Originally Posted by grumpy

Looks nice and very clean!

For your next project, is this anticipated as a 'period' setup and a stock driver JBL system complement?
Is biamplification an option? (e.g., Tubes on top)

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Thanks,

My plan is to build the cabinet from the scratch and to buy drivers.

I like the looks of The 4311 but it have its pros and cons. One of Them is the boominess when volume is increasing.

Today I run 300b set amp and Im not afraid to biamp if that is a must.

I have looked at 4333 and 4344. Unfortionally I have never heard any of them irl.

A four-way system would be my initial/personal suggestion then, perhaps a more modern iteration of the formula.

Having a mid-bass driver makes a difference. There are multiple build examples with crossover info (and some detailed cabinet designs) in these forums.

It helps to keep in mind what different speaker system designs were intended for when they were new. The 4311s were designed to sit on a shelf along the meter bridge of a studio mixing console for listening from literally a meter or two away. The 4344 was designed for install into soffits above the control room window in a studio control room to be listened to from four or five meters distant and at much higher levels. Probably best to work from how and where you plan to do your listening and work back from there in your speaker building choices. JBL tried in their studio monitors, to the extent possible, to make the various models have similar tone color so that recordings could be done at different studios and different monitoring levels and still be judged on the same basis.

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Originally Posted by ljungberg

Thanks,
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I have looked at 4333 and 4344. Unfortionally I have never heard any of them irl.

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Originally Posted by Riley Casey

It helps to keep in mind what different speaker system designs were intended for when they were new. The 4311s were designed to sit on a shelf along the meter bridge of a studio mixing console for listening from literally a meter or two away. The 4344 was designed for install into soffits above the control room window in a studio control room to be listened to from four or five meters distant and at much higher levels. Probably best to work from how and where you plan to do your listening and work back from there in your speaker building choices. JBL tried in their studio monitors, to the extent possible, to make the various models have similar tone color so that recordings could be done at different studios and different monitoring levels and still be judged on the same basis.

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Thanks 👍,

Yes I know about the 4311, my comes from a studio. The listening room I have today is around 48 square meters. I sit about 3-4 meters from the speakers. I have also looked at more modern speakers like L100 classic and 4349 but I always come back to the vintage gears as I really love the raw looks of the cabinets.

I like the 4411 which has a great woofer and a very proper crossover. It voices flat , forward and back and was produced a little longer than other studio monitors. For my money the bass is exceptional. But to each his own.

The 123a was misaligned in a vented box and sounds better sealed. Jbl wasn't just after uniformity they also voiced their early systems similar to the 604 altec and other monitors of the day. The L100 for example. Later monitors are much better

I'm working on a compact 3 way using the 2214h in a format similar to the 4411 but the driver parameters are not as good as the 128h. A box of similar size doesn't yield the bass. I recently reconed two 2214h drivers and will attempt to design a system from them.