JBL 4412A's Placement

[sab]

Hello,

I'm looking at buying a set of JBL4412A's and was wondering the following:

The manual says that they should be placed 1 - 1.5 meters away from your eye level. From all my years of recording, I'm now confused, a 12" speakers sitting 1 - 1.5 meters away. They must be crazy because logic tells me that a speaker that size has to have a some space.

I've read in other forms and in the manual that these speakers are rated nearfield and in other places they are rated semi nearfield. If semi-nearfield then how far a part shoudl the speakers be and how far away from the person should they be?

I can't imagine that these speakers should actually be that close to someone.

Now, the 4408A's I also have and they sound great 1 - 1.5 meters away.

Your opinion and what have you done with your speakers and how do they sound in that position.

Thanks for you help in advance.

[BMWCCA]

It all depends on what you're doing with them. Right now mine are only about three feet apart inside edge to inside edge (crowded temporarily by a pair of L5s) and I can sit four feet away and enjoy them just fine. If you want to use them as studio monitors in that arrangement, they'll do fine. They also work great up to ten feet apart in a large room, as far as I've been able to tell. If you believe the specs, they're no larger than the 4410s. JBL says:

4412A For applications requiring 3-Way maximum low frequency 300 mm (12 in) output from a bookshelfsized monitor, this 3-way Studio Monitor system tightly clusters its transducer complement for accurate close proximity listening. A great allpurpose monitor for any application.

[Fred Sanford]

For what it's worth, I'm using L110s as monitors at this point, and I just checked- they're 4' apart from each other, and I generally sit at the other point of the triangle- ears at ~4' from either speaker. Checking stereo mix/image I'll sometimes kick back a little, maybe 5' from each, and stand up (speakers are just above eye level when sitting, not really optimal to me). These are 3-way with 10"s, in-line drivers, and not mirror imaged in the cabs, so somewhat different from your situation.

je

[sab]

Wow, I'm really surprised that you don't get too much bass in your face being that close. I would definitely like to use these for studio monitoring for bass response mostly. Will still be using my 4408a's and A/B between them. Thanks for your replies.

[SEAWOLF97]

If you believe the specs, they're no larger than the 4410s. JBL says:

4410 & 4412 are same cabinet ...IMHO box is small for the 12 in LF of the 4412 and correct for the 10.

[Fred Sanford]

Wow, I'm really surprised that you don't get too much bass in your face being that close. I would definitely like to use these for studio monitoring for bass response mostly. Will still be using my 4408a's and A/B between them. Thanks for your replies.

Sounds like a valid plan, I liked the 4408s I had, and a friend is now mixing on them in his home studio. Could depend on the type/style of music you're working with, mine is almost exclusively entire-band-live-to-tape multitrack. Very little electronic/dance/rap or even bass-heavy stuff.

I also have an M&K sub under the desk, but run the L110s full range. That way, when I'm mixing more quietly, I can have the supplementary sub on & still feel the bass so I don't overload the recordings. Works for me, I know it's not everyone's approach.

je

[BMWCCA]

4410 & 4412 are same cabinet ...IMHO box is small for the 12 in LF of the 4412 and correct for the 10.

Yeah, I've heard that for years on this list but never heard anyone complain about the previous model 4412 which is actually a half-inch smaller in depth with all other dimensions the same, and uses the same LF 128H-1. Granted the JBL literature says the range of the 4410A is down to 33Hz (-10dB) where they list the 4412A at 30Hz, but even their own charts and graphs show a steeper drop in that area from the 12" than the 10" with the smaller speaker's graph seeming to indicate at least slightly better low end. My layman interpretation of the data is that the 12" actually has less distortion from the woofer than does the 10" at the same SPL. But what do I know. Either should do just fine in the application and the only way to tell if there's really any difference would be for me to buy a pair of 4410As and A-B them. Anyone have a pair for the paltry sum I paid for my 4412As? All in the name of science?

I've spent some time A-B-ing the "new" L5s against the 4412As and, even as biased as I am to the 12" (L112, L150A owner), I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the tiny L5 isn't a more pleasing speaker to listen to. And I haven't even been fair to them and gotten them away from the back wall enough, according to JBL. I'm guessing if you blindfolded me and swapped 4412A with 4410A I might not be able to tell the difference, either.

[SEAWOLF97]

I'm guessing if you blindfolded me and swapped 4412A with 4410A I might not be able to tell the difference, either.

I did have both 4410 & 4412 in the same room , on the same stands running off the same amp and only minutes apart. World of difference.

the 4410 is VERY tight and accurate. the 4412 reminded me of an updated L100 . The bass was not well controlled ( in comparison to the 4410) ..with its vertical layout, the 10 images very,very well, like an L26, but even better. I didnt like the imaging of the 4412 (tho it was run verticle-not as designed to be horizontal). I was asked the comparison of the 4412 to the L-166 by Fangio and answered that I liked the L-166 slightly better. More hf dispersion (tho much more difficult to replace 066 vs 035tia)and I felt better defined bass. (and the grill is way cooler ) JMHO.

(I sold my 4412's and prolly will always keep the 4410's)

[bone215]

I listened to my 4412a's horizontal, tweeters to the inside, 4 feet apart and I sat 8 to 10 feet away. They were used as L and R speakers over top subs in my rec room for both HT and Music. Very clear.
The bass was provided by subs, and the speakers were only being fed 150hz and up so I can't speak to the tightness of the 12" speaker.
I liked them, they seemed effortless, very clean. They replaced 4408A's. Although the 08s were very nice, the 12s were nicer.
Instruments sounded right, sax was like a sax, piano was like piano. Nicely done recordings were a joy to listen to, all types, jazz, classical, electronic, r n b. You can hear all the mix, from too much reverb, changes in volume in the same song, etc.
I have since moved them to my basement and now use a smaller speaker in the HT system.
I don't think I would get rid of them unless I stepped up to the lsr series.
I would like to hear a surround system of all 4410a's, or 08's or 12's. That would be something.