I was always intrigued with Hi Fi and especially Vintage . About 28 years ago I purchased my first amplifier a JVC AX 30 40 W amp which still is running perfectly. As times went by I have added quite a few amplifiers and speakers to my collection. My interest in JBLs was aroused after I once managed to visit a Japanese site by Kenrick Sound and then the rave reviews I read. Eventually last year I purchased a pair of JBL 4312 Bs. They are in quite good condition except for a slight flexing in one side of the cabinet of one of the speakers.

What can I say about the sound. I was surprised by the clarity of the sound as well as the breadth of it.

However I found that if the bass is low enough and if I were to increase the sound , during deep beats there would be a popping sound from one of the speakers.

I have seen from outside but there is no damage . However I am not been able to find why the speaker pops in low bass beats if played loud.

I would be grateful for some advice.

Overall a great speaker.

Bought a pair of 4312s at Bentwaters UK BX in 87, I already had a pair of JBL J320A monitors that I bought in Iceland so I knew I wanted JBL. The 320s sound incredible, the 4312s sound even more incredible, put both pair together with my Soundcraftsman amp/preamp and a good CD player and the purity of the sound is noticeable over any other speaker you will find. The key is the bass reflex sound holes. JBL invented that technology and they put their in the front instead of the rear of the speaker; putting the reflex hole in the rear sends the bass freq right into the wall. It makes the bass sound more pronounced because bass frequencies travel through solid objects instead of bounce off like high freqs.

So, when I'm listening to a good jazz tune with a swinging upright bass I can turn the volume down to room level, then walk to any room in the house, upstairs or down, and still hear the clear bass just as if the speaker is in the same room, not the muddy muffled bass sound you get through the bass boards like those speakers with the holes in the rear. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

I was going to put all my gear up for sale, plugged it all in so I can demonstrate it to potential buyers. Heck, now I want to keep it all even though I don't have any room for it.

It is interesting that anyone can qualify to post a review here. Listening is a highly subjective thing, complicated is finding the correct words to describe your subjective tastes.

First; These are "Nearfield" type speakers and comparing them as "how bad they sound" to another speaker you prefer is absurd if not totally ridiculous summary.

Funny the broadcast industry used these so long for some reason isn't it? I think this fact speaks "volumes" nit nit...I mean Klipsch? C'mon man!

I owned the Snell A's for years and they cost $2700 new in the late 70's and I sold them last year in near mint for $400. The 4312's did not cost near $2700 (with inflation in 8 years considering the era about $5900 in '85 dollars, ) in the Mid-80's when I bought them. Both speakers are polar opposite but both produce even flat responses in listening. Point is, what holds values relaisticly anyway? Add inflation please before you calculate value? The market value is the price readily available consumers are willing to pay for something. That's important, no demand means no interest and I believe you can relate no interest to not sounding that great. So if the value stays up, they must sound good enough.....for enough.

It takes 15 second evaluators to mess up a reputation doesn't it?

Second the negative posters have these confused with other models somehow, maybe the 4311? Who knows? The 4312's I own have "cross-over" contour controls built in so I can adjust the speaker for the accoustics in the room I use. Puzzles me

How about their value on the market? Me are now nearing 30 years in age and worth a bit for a speakers that age with a willing market to boot. Why is that?

I am a musician and I bought my JBL4312 control monitors in 1982 ... they are still going strong and in perfect condition ... I wouldn't want any other speaker to use in my home studio or for just listening to music ... when you consider that JBL monitors were then and probably still are used in 90% of the worlds recording studios I figure I'm listening to the music as it was originally recorded and engineered ... they have such clarity.
At the time I bought them I was working in a music store and they were the latest release from JBL ... I got them wholesale ... I think they cost me around AUD$1200 ... a lot of money for those days but the best investment I ever made ... $40 per year so far and getting cheaper every year.

Picked them up when I was stationed in England at the BX in the mid 80's for $500. Monitors today just don't compare. Having a friend re-finish them in black right now; been in the garage for 2 yrs & it's time to bring em' back in...

Best sudio monotors I have ever heard. Mine still going strong.

on since 1990 with mcIntosh pre +amps 200 w !!!!

always great !

i bought my first pair of 4312 in 1987 in second and,i compared them by that time with sililiar priced kef 104 and the jbl´s sounded much more open and with much more control in the bass, even with my denon´s 6600,the sound was loud and defined without compression.

i changed later the cables inside and reinforced the back panel with high density mdf and that did a even more improvement in overal sound quality.
sold them to a friend that still as the speakers and they´re still playing loud and clear.

I bought my 4312's from the navy exchange catalogue while oversees in 1983. I
have had them in storage for 12 years and they had some water drip on one and bunch of mold grew under the grill. I had the connections replaced lower on the speaker because the original ones were unusable. the speaker shop said they were a good speaker and it was too bad I stored them the way I did. I hooked them up to my cheap techniqes surround sound amp and was blown away by their sound. I had a carver amp and pre amp that was stolen and don't remember them sounding that good with records. I am cleaning them up and can notice no problems with them.

I purchased my JBL 4312's at a garage sale for $100 about three years ago. I had heard of them but never actually had auditioned them. I took them home and connected them to my system, "praying they worked" and they did. I turned up the volume and was surprised. Really surprised! I placed them on 2' tall isolated stands and repositioned them several times in the room before achieving really good stereo imaging. I cranked up some Pink Floyd and I was absolutely blown away by the clarity, punch and ease of power handling. I love to listen to these 4312's loudly for hours at a time. I sold my B&W's that sounded incredible but couldn't handle any power. As far as what I'm using for a system because it does make a difference: Technics 1210 turntable with Ortofon cartridge, A Carver 490t CD player, A Phase Linear 3500 preamplifier, a Phase Linear 700 ll amplifier and Audioquest interconnects throughout. Since I got the 4312's, "I've got a whole new love for all my vinyl". Oh my God, "the punchiness and depth is amazing"! Granted, there's much better loud speakers out there but for the money, "these are the deal of century". I would recommend the JBL 4312's as an affordable, awesome set of speakers to anyone. For the truly clueless, "stay out of Best Buy, they have nothing to compare".