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Originally posted by Giskard.Quote:
We've been over this several times before, often in detail, and the fact is some people prefer the older 43xx series and some prefer the 443x. There is a reason why I personally own 4430's and no longer own 4331's, 4333's, and 4343's, and it sure isn't because I hate blue baffles, on the contrary!
Maybe this would be a cool poll topic. If someone knows how to set up a poll...
I don't know guys. I consider myself blessed just to have SEEN 7 or 8 of the 12 monitors listed. To be able to give accurate appraisals of their sound is way beyond my experience.
I'm very happy with my 4355s but I sure would like to give a serious listen to the 4344s or 4345s as they are taller speakers they might have just a tad more of the airy sound that I like.
Hmm I wish I had experience with them! A friend had L200's so that is my experience with that notorius "monitor". Boy did it need a slot IMHO! Never liked the highend at all and the bottom was well boomy. The only other is the L300's which were really nice! No boom, extended highs clean and snappy. Never done a side by side against the next generation horns. So I abstain from the vote. But I think I would like the 44XX series better. One of these days I have to get the horns and lenses and a pair of 2235's and give the 4343 a try. Waiting for Ian to see how he likes the comparison.
Rob:)
Classic JBL sound at any level. I've never had the pleasure to listen to the 4350/55's. I do have a pair of 4430's that sound nice..... but I keep coming back to the 4343's. :D
This message comes from JBL Dog :cool:
I am certainly biased, but then I guess we all are.
I like the 434X and the 435X as the mid bass drivers are more detailed sounding than taking a 15" driver up to 800 or 1000Hz. I also like the more extended top end of these over the 44XX series. I do admit they are not as good as the 44XX for imaging.
I don't feel the 4355 and the 4350 are as closely related as most people seem to place them. The 4355 crossovers are a significant improvement and the 2235 and 2441 are both improvements as well. The greatest weakness of the 4355 in my opinion is the elliptical horn/lens combination. Replacing it with a larger bell horn on that wonderful 2441 driver makes an incredible monitor.
Well,
I am another biased JBL fan, bit not without good reason.
The 1st JBL monitors I heard were the smaller 4315's, I could not justify them when I heard the siginificantly more dynamic 4333, this is still one my favourites and is one the best balanced 3 way speaker I have heard.
However, for me the 4343 is the ultimate expression of the classic JBL sound with clean decisive transients, crisp instrumental clarity and definition.
I am a user of the 2433 Bi radial but are not convinced the 4430-4435 series are best suited for domestic situations, they were designed to satisfy specific monitoring criteria....not HiFi as such according to the engineers. (the right acoustic decor may help)
The 4343 appears to be able to span both applications very well (this was further evolved into the 250T1 By GT)
Ian Mackenzie
Twenty-five years ago I reviewed most of the 43xx range and found the sound quality improved with more drivers, bigger cabinets, and higher prices. The loudness of the 4350 was not required. The 4343 was obviously the best compromise. The dealer suggested horns were a bit coloured compared to cones. The 4315 was half the price of the 4343 and except for the bass, quite similar in sound quality, so I bought 4315. Today I wouldn't buy anything from JBL without a 15 in driver.
All the large 43xx are impressive reproducers. I believe the 4315 sounds more balanced at low volumes and this was another factor since I rarely need to bang my brains with sound.
How come you haven't included S2600, S3100, S5800, and S9800 on the list of monitors?
They aren't monitors. They are all strictly designed as home speakers. Nonetheless, feel free to start a poll of your own on JBL home speakers.Quote:
Originally posted by Jan Daugaard
How come you haven't included S2600, S3100, S5800, and S9800 on the list of monitors?
With the exception of the 4315, I believe the original 4-way monitors were the work of Pat Everidge. Just to clarify, while Greg did finish the design of the L212, the concept and original work was not his. It was the last JBL design done by Ed May before he moved on to Marantz. You can read about it in the first new article to arise from the Lansing Heritage Tour 2003 here:
http://www.audioheritage.org/html/people/may.htm
While you're at it, check out the new JBL Professional History articles here:
http://www.audioheritage.org/html/hi...ro/jbl-pro.htm