the walnut era

One thing about doing the craigslist thing,
is if your getting rid of chit,
you end up finding even cooler chit.

1975 JBL 4311-WX

Now if I was posting on "auto parts",
why would I be looking in "electronics",
especially at 9:30pm!

1975 JBL 4311 speakers

Well the reason is obvious,
these JBL speakers were meant to be in the family!

JBL 4311-WX  control monitor

I don't think I've ever seen a pair of original owner JBL 4311's up for sale.
That's breaking a 37 year old relationship!
I had to email the seller and tell her I couldn't afford them but put me in line.

back side 4311's

Surprisingly she agreed and later the next day we sealed the deal.
Michelle was a little sentimental,
they were bought in Germany in 1975,
and had lasted through a couple kids.
She knew after a brief conversation they were going to a good home.
Definitely not getting flipped!

busted covers

Besides some lightly dented caps,
the only issue was purely cosmetic.
The screens are made of the cheesiest particle board.
Hopefully this glue will hold.

I'd rather not use the screens really.
Those white 12" woofers are so bitchin.
These should have Alnico magnets,
and they're coated with something called "lansaplas" or "aquaplas".
They contrast so well with the walnut veneer.
So cool.

wall of sound

I picked these up thursday night about 7:30pm,
and by 8:15 they were hooked up to the old kenwood kr-7600.
It was immediately obvious these were rock-n-roll speakers.

jbl 4311 vs klipsch heresy

The Klipsch Heresy speakers are great sounding speakers,
kinda midrange-y in a way and very clear.
Yeah I know it's not the best location.
The horn style speakers are really efficient and get really loud really fast.
I liked the sound especially as close to my head the speakers are situated!

4311 vs heresy

These new old JBL's have the bass though.

The inherent problem with heresy's is they cut out at 50hz or so.

The JBL's go down to about 45hz.

In addition,

the JBL's have the tuned port,

that hole on the bottom between the 2 smaller speakers.

I was so used to the klipsch brightness,

that it took a while to understand the JBL sound.

All I can say is after a couple songs,

I realized the JBL's sound more "real" than the Klipsch's.

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Grateful Dead - 1978 mojo jam

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Most of the stuff I listen to are live recordings,

not the studio stuff these control monitors are made for.

Regardless,

when playing some crispy dead soundboards,

there is the feeling of a live show the way the sound engineer intended.

And that's with an 80wpc 1978 Kenwood receiver!

1975 jbl 4311 vs 1980 klipsch heresy

I preferred to use the loudness button with the heresy's,
but with the JBL's they sound fine with just a little kick up on the bass knob.
Ok,
right now it's late and the music is low,
so the loudness button does help.

klipsch vs JBL

I wonder what the heresy's would sound like with a tuned port/bass reflex hole.
Some day I'll have to make a replacement backing piece and try it out.
Also,
why did Klipsch use such cheesy wire connectors?
The JBL's have super cool spring loaded buttons.

typical messy desk

You guessed it,
the JBL's have taken over the computer area.
The Heresy's will go in the garage,
hooked up to the Sansui 9090.
I think that will be a kick-ass setup.
Especially cause I won't be sitting in front of the speakers!

walnut veneered JBL 4311

It's funny,
since these speakers have been hooked up,
I've typed 3 posts already!

Thanks Michelle!

TP