JBL 4367: What an AMAZING sounding speaker!

Yup. Had my 4367s ever since they came out, I probably have one of the first pairs shipped. They still blow me away every time I sit down to listen. They are the best audio purchase I ever made, very happy

TL

Something I found very interesting: out of the speakers I have had,I found the JBL 4367 to be MUCH more responsive to small adjustments like angle, toe in and moving away from the walls than my Harbeth or KEFS ever were.

@tlong1958 that great! Glad to see another happy owner. I made this thread because I don’t see much talk of this speaker on audiophile forums, I want people to understand his musical these speakers actually are. I hope to write a more in depth and focused review at some point. I’m no professional writer but I want to practice writing about audio gear more as I find it fun.

@d2girls,
I just loved your impressions and review of the JBL 4367 monitors. I feel a kind of vindication of sorts in my getting the JBL 4319 monitors as everything you've said about yours, I can be said about mine. 

These are speakers for the long haul, size notwithstanding. Mine dominate my room as well and yet they image spectacularly, almost to the point of sounding like headphones due to the amount of detail and realism they convey, but without the drawbacks of headphones.

Also, I think it really helps with the Kinki EX-M1 in the mix. As much as I loved my 4319s with my Marantz Reference integrated, the Kinki is on another plane entirely.

All the best,
Nonoise

Wow!

@nonoise 

thank you for the kind words. It’s intersting how the 4319 sound so good! I always thought the metallic drivers might sound... well you know. Metallic.

@maritime what do you mean?! Wow could mean a lot of things! If you can, please elaborate~

Wow, I’m jealous. My KEF R900 speakers are just ok. 

How is the low end?  Any need for a subwoofer?

have you heard the M2 in comparison?

@dep14

The low end is more than adequate for my needs. My JBL are essentially corner loaded and as such, have a low end extension that is more like -2db at 30hz, as opposed to the rated -6db. As you’d expect with a speaker with dual 15” woofers, it’s gonna kick like a mule. I mentioned bass briefly in my original post but I guess I didn’t really go over it aside from mentioning the Sheffield Test track.

Some of my other reference tracks include Lenny Kravitz American Woman, which has very nice, very low subbass harmonics in the kickdrum, Keb Mo I Don’t Know, which has extremely powerful and musical sounding low end bass guitar notes, and the entirety of the Tron Legacy soundtrack by daft punk. That album in particular has very complex bass that can get lost amid the middbass. If your woofers have control on that album, they’ll have control on basically anything. Goes without saying that the JBL performed as admirable as I hoped.

I guess I should also mention how the JBL perform in movies. After all, the Synthesis line is right at home in a home cinema environment. I haven’t had the time yet to playback a lot of my reference movie scenes, but I did a few of my favourites. One of my favourite scenes for subbass is War of the Worlds tripod scene. When the gravel starts to crumble as the tripod shifts underground, you get a crunching of rock and earth that is probably the most accurate sounding depiction I’ve ever heard. It is truly a subterranean bass moment and the woofers on the JBL do a damn good job recreating that noise. I also liked the low whoof noise of the cannonballs firing over heads in the opening attack scene in master and commander, the drone attack and bass sweep in oblivion, when his safety line is cut, and the hilariously mixed 0dbfs opening credits sequence of edge of tomorrow. Put THAT scene on for a laugh, 10hz reference level volumes, I think the sound engineer of that Blu-ray Disc was having a laugh. (Ps. Yes I’m a big fan of Tom cruise)

Will the JBL 4367 have enough bass if placed a significant amount away from the boundaries? Possibly not, maybe yes. It depends on your expectations. However I must tell you, the way bass sounds on a single 15inch woofer is very very different than bass on two 8inch or 4 6inch woofers. You’re getting ACTUAL displacement of air. What the engineers at JBL have done is create a speaker that is or more than capable of playing back all forms of music because of the massive surface area of two 15” woofers, and the significantly larger volume size of the cabinent compared to a speaker with a thin baffle with two 8” drivers stuck on the front. This type of speaker is just all too common, and they always claim a frequency response of around 35hz, but in reality it’s just small sounding bass compared to the JBL.

That turned out to be a longer post than I intended. I will be sure to include all of this information in a much more concise manner when I take another look with you guys in 3-4 months time.

Wait.
Someone (somewhere) said "Neil Peart isn't a good drummer"?
BWWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Drugs obviously aren't their cup of tea!

Excellent write up @d2girls. I want to hear this system!

Good for you! JBL are awesome. Floyd Toole did an amazing job at Harman with improvements in speakers across the board.

He said something along the lines that their drumming has no soul. To me that’s flat out saying he is a bad drummer.

@audionoobie

thank you. Really, that is why I do this. Sharing my experience is rewarding and I hope I can convert others to be JBL loyaltists.

Congratulations, D2! And I second the compliments on your writeups, which are truly outstanding IMO.

BTW, regarding "Both Sides Now," the Judy Collins version has long been among my four or five all-time favorite popular recordings. Her original recording, that is, not the disappointing remake that is sometimes heard which she did some years later for whatever reason.

Enjoy! Best regards,
-- Al

d2girls....Hey, it's grandpa......A bad drummer ? That is BS. Excellent review ! With your ears, your background, your intelligence, and your ability to convey your sonic impressions ( yes, to this guy ), I have no doubt you have what it takes to be a professional reviewer. Enjoy ! MrD.

Just read a couple of online professional reviews as well as yours. Nicely done! I bet your rig sounds fantastic.  Question. Can or even should these be tilted up a tad in the front since they are so low to the ground? 

Hey d2girls congrats on the new speakers! I know how great high efficiency can sound and you seem thrilled with them so way to go! And excellent writeup on these speakers and the other reviews you've posted.

Almarg, about 2 years ago I was in Ft Lauderdale with my two uncles at a Judy Collins concert (was magical), she sang Both Sides Now, I looked over and one of my uncles had tears in his eyes.  A great memory of a great artist singing a great song.

@Rpeluso, thanks for sharing that.

I'll add that regardless of which version one prefers, kudos must of course be given to Joni Mitchell for having composed what IMO is a songwriting masterpiece.

Best regards,
-- Al 

The JBL speaker has good potential being a horn it can beam 
and for sure not the best at imaging but great dynamics.
the Xoverparts  inside are rubbish ,average at best.                    this speakerwould be much better 
with for example Jupiter Copper foil caps with a Duelund Silverfoil oil bypass caps caddock resistors and Jantzen copper wax foil inductors , I know someone in Boston. That did exactly that,  a fantastic upgrade. Also get rid of the cheap blue jeans cables they are for sure holding back the speakers  .i had them ,and were not even good enough for my Blu-ray player .a $15k speaker deserves a Lot better atleast $2-3 k for cables . Just ask any long time Audiophile good cables and power cords can, and do make a audible difference. I am just stating what I feel to be true  from what I have heard which is a lot over the years and being into modding for over 20 years I can say with some conviction these observations are pretty accurate.if you don’t care  then enjoy what you have as it is.

Oops. 

Audioman58, I just have to say, recommending a few thousand dollars in cables, and upgrading crossovers, at this point, is your way of saying what she is hearing is mediocre. I disagree with you. No doubt there are improvements that can be made, but the speakers are a month new, the integrated amp is 2 months new, and she has heard a huge upgrade over the other speakers she has owned. So obviously, her current cables are giving her the ability to hear improvements. Do you own horns ? I do, and they image very well; they disappear in my listening room. I am glad you mention dynamics. If you do not own horns, it would be easy for me to say to you, " until you own horns, you will never experience dynamics ". You should hold back your negativity, as it is a bit like trolling to me. How I see it. Enjoy ! MrD.

Right on MrD.  There’s always something better in someone’s opinion.  The OP is thrilled and so we all might be as well if we heard her system.  

Hi everyone. Been busy but I am here now to respond to all your inquiries and comments.

@mrdecibel

You know, I was just teasing with the grandpa comment. I’m willing to forgive and forget. Thank you for the kind words regarding my write up. I appreciate the acknowledgement. I actually am very passionate about this hobby. I am very green and learning, so yes, maybe I am “in over my head” but it seems spiteful and discouraging to just say that to me. You have no idea the amount of crap I’ve gotten beinf a young female and surrounded my old men in this hobby constantly. It’s like I’m surrounded by wolves. Sometimes I let my many mood swings get the better of me. Sorry. But I’m willing to drop things and start fresh. Ok?

@grannyring

Im currently still looking for suitable stands. So far the only one I can find that is satisfactory to me is the Kenrick Sounds stands they sell for the Jbl 4365. I believe it should still be good for the 4367. However at $800USD it does seem to be awfully expensive for what amounts to just some lightweight solid oak. 7kg a stand, seems pricey! But the craftsmanship... just wonderful. Anyway, if I got those I imagine it wouldn’t be a terribly difficult ordeal to angle the JBLs on top of the stands slightly, I might even angle them using material between the floor and the stands.

As as for @audioman58
Comments, I didn’t come away from his Post as he was being negative, per se. Indeed, maybe he is right and upgrading cables would lead to a better sound. I myself upgraded my power cords and heard an audible difference, same when I upgraded my interconnects. I know that it’s not just all smoke and mirrors, cabling does make a difference. However I simply do not feel the need to go out and purchase a $10k pair of audioquest redwood. Maybe that kind of upgrade will make sense when my system is more well rounded. First order of business is to get a new dac, and a new amp/pre or possibly an integrated in a few months time. It would be very easy to toss aside his cable upgrade suggestions as it’s convenient for me, but I’m sure I can do better. It’s not like I ever said “I don’t believe in expensive cables and I’m NEVER getting anything but $10/ft blue jeans!” I actually think a lot of times people tend to assume this when they hear I use blue jeans. The condescending “If you don’t care” remark he finished his post with leads me to conclude that.

On the other hand, I’m reminded of an interaction I myself personally had with Israel Blume from Coincident around this time last year. I told him I was completely new to this hobby and I asked him if he would accommodate any special cash pricing on a pair of Super Victory V, and pair of his Frankenstein amps, plus some cable. I told him my budget was around $15k. Since he is a local dealer, and my best friend of the time told me he often does local cash and carry deals, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. You know what he did then? He suggested I buy his cheaper speakers, the Dynamites, and spend the remaining $8,000 on his statement power cables, statement speaker and interconnects. I felt so jaded from that exchange that I abruptly ceased communications with him. Honestly, what an insult to my intelligence. Whenever I see people suggest I spend 80% of my budget for my next purchase I am reminded of Israel Blume and his desperate attempt to swindle a ton of money out of me.

As well, I have not been at this hobby as long as you guys. I am almost 1/3 the age of most of you. Most of you have years, and DECADES of not just experience in this hobby, but also that long of actual time in life to cultivate your businesss, your connections and your wallets. I’m playing catch-up! Everything is much more expensive than when you guys were my age. Housing in my area is around 1.4m for a detached home, most students have $100k in student debt loan after graduating, and the cost of living has gone up by 1000% meanwhile salaries have remained largely the same. So excuse me for deciding to go cheapo on my cables and invest heavily in my speakers

Sorry I kinda got off track there. To everyone else who’s been incredibly kind and supportive thank you very much. It really brings me pleasure to share my listening experiences with you guys. And yes even you mrdecibel, thank you!

To dtgirls I owned the dynamite speaker 
me being a modding guy for20 years I was horrified the Junk inside 
and presboardcabinet walls awg 20 crap wire,zinc connectors,
a Xover less then $20 combinedeven an electrolytic cap used in the midrange 
that is a disgrace .i rebuilt it with proper qualityparts, sounded night and day better and sold it I got for 50% off the $3k retail 
it was worth maybe$700 lesson learned .

Hey audioman58 I think I remember seeing your for sale ad ages and ages ago. That was actually you, huh? Looks like I dodged a bullet there! Ps. Could you please proofread your posts before you hit the “post your response” button. It’s a little difficult to make out what you’re saying sometimes. Sorry...

Sorry about your experience with Mr Blume.  He makes great gear, but it would be best if he had a different person dealing with customers for sure. 

Great idea on the stands and good luck finding goods ones at a reasonable price. You will eventually.  Perhaps used.  

@grannyring If audioman58 is even only half right, time to warm up the soldering iron...

Wow, again. 🙀

D2girls,

Awesome review and great to hear you're enjoying the music your system is providing. That's what it's all about afterall. I picture you in front of your speakers like the old ad with the guy hunkered down in front of his speakers with his hair blowing back. Maxell tape ad?

The temptation to constantly upgrade my system is something I ( and many others here) battle with all the time. One of the greatest lessons I've learned from some here is to be content with whatever system you have and enjoy the music........and the system will take care of yourself. You may be younger than most of us but you seem to have learned that lesson already. Kudo's. 

Having said that, a relatively inexpensive speaker cable to try would be the Duelund 12 gauge wire. I bet they would work well with your JBL's. Just a thought. 

d2girls....It was your earlier post " I am a better and more experienced listener than the rest of you ", that got me going. Move ahead, move ahead, move ahead......No need to talk about " our past ". We are fine, you and me...Moving forward, I think the JBLs were a great choice. And again, your creative words, and passion, WOW……...Always, and Enjoy ! MrD.

@d2girls " First order of business is to get a new dac, and a new amp/pre or possibly an integrated in a few months time."

Just curious - are you not "sold" on your new Kinki integrated? 

@facten

I bought the Kinki out of necessity, not because I wanted to downgrade to a simpler setup. I say “downgrade” but it really isn’t a downgrade when you consider the cost to performance ratio of the Kinki. I had Pass Labs separates before, and the time was just right to sell them for maximum profit and use those funds towards the JBL. As it so happens, the Kinki just happened to be THAT good that I probably would have gotten it anyway and sold the Pass Labs gear irregardless. The convenience of a much much lighter form factor, less heat dissipation, and one box, as opposed to two, made my decision to simply sell the Pass gear and take my chances with the Kinki pretty easy.

However, I, like many in this hobby do tend to plan ahead on the “next big thing” and far as it may be on horizon, I know eventually I want to get a bigger, and badder amp. Something class A again, probably. I do miss the refined nature of class A. I’m sure I can find an even better integrated solution to what I had before. And as I’ve stated I plan to upgrade my dac before I upgrade my amp/pre. That alone is going to be a pretty penny as I’m leaning towards acquiring a used Briscati m1 (5500usd) or even a Rockna Dreamwave Signature (perhaps one could be found for under $10k)

So I’ve got quite a bit of saving to do!

@mrdecibel
I’m very please you enjoy my writing style. Thank you! As well,

I wholeheartedly agree, let bygones be bygones. However I do apologize for saying such a conceited thing to you. I guess I actually was being a bit of a brat. I promise I’m not normally like that! I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that day...

d2girls, Thanks , was just wondering. 

Hi guys. My friend implored me to offer some negatives I have of the JBL. I am going to do my best to describe my negative impressions of them here, right now.

There is some slight horn coloration. Now if that’s not your thing, then you can stay well away from them. However, the benefits the horn loaded system offers, in terms of dynamics, spl capibility without loss of detail that IS there, is extraordinary and far out weighs the slight coloration I speak of. It is not honky, it’s not ’horn-y’ it is a natural shrillness to the 5-10khz range that is just naturally there in brass and upper end vocals. The detail that is there, is there in bounds. I do not want for more. If I wanted hyper detailed (and potentially fatiguing) speakers then I would have gone for the KEF Ref 3 or Ref 5. Both are in the ballpark of the 4367 price range. Both would offer a more detailed presentation. I admit the JBL 4367 are not the last word in resolution, but you get a tradeoff of a unfatiguing experience.


Bass. I did mention this but was somewhat vague. The JBL 4367 are rated -6db @ 30hz. Considering the size of the woofer, this may be unacceptable to you. I can understand that. However, I’d much rather take these -6db @ 30hz over (claimed) frequency response of 18Hz -3db of the B&W 800D3, for example. Science is science, and the fact is a cabinent of smaller cubic size than the JBL will struggle to provide meaningful displacement, and without that displacement you just cannot get that 18hz claimed response.
But I digress, there is a serious lack of subbass on the JBL 4367, and you will need a (pair) of subwoofers to fill out the bottom end if you are truly a basshead and require THX 105db spl for 10hz LFE for the latest Transformer movie. Or you can corner load them like I do. I truly feel this is one of the best ways to enjoy these speakers.

@d2girls, I wouldn’t fret any over the down -6db @30Hz spec as it’s not that bad when measured in room, as with any speaker. When base is called for, your 4367s answer in a most authentic and pleasing manner, as you’ve pointed out. Trust your ears.

Yes, a sub would help in that last octave but what resides down there that you can actually hear? Like you said, there’s nothing like displacement when it comes to recreating base notes. Dynamics, kick and impact are there in spades.

The same can be said about my 4319s. Here’s a review from a guy who’s reference speakers are Harbeth 40.1:
http://www.highfidelity.pl/@main-2468&lang=
He was very impressed with them and noted that though they lack the last word in base, what is there is more than enough.

Here also, is his impression of your 4367s:
http://www.highfidelity.pl/@main-2614&lang=

The translation is a bit iffy but in short, he says they’re beautifully balanced. He used to work with JBLs when recording so he’s very familiar with them.

All the best,
Nonoise

Hello hello I have owned a Audio store in the U.K for a number of years untill 07,
and have spent more on Audio then most peoples homes. Over35 years in Audio 
i was not trying to bust anyone’s stones. I spoke the truth when mentioning 
crossover upgrades and wiring you can make your very good speaker Great 
At  least a 10% improvement across the board . 
The speaker wiring even the Kimber 8tc ,12tc is even better and does not break the bank under $800 is a nice step up from the blue jeans .makesure you get Copper connectors not brass , brass is a bit harsh compared.Silver over copper alsogood.
you can email me for help or questions my door is open .I have owned every type of speaker pretty much ,nothing is perfect ,but the crossover is almost allways the weak link 
unless your speakers are in the $30k and upclass itis all about $$.25% actually goes into the speaker  or less, the rest overhead and dealer markup. Just keep this in mind it would cost probable $2k to upgrade your crossover and wiring .the 
Upgrade result, Staggering. The pair I heard in Ma. with the Jupiter,Duelund upgrades was dramatic from the stock version. In the mean time just enjoy 
your music.

I don't think anyone doubts what you say or that you have an axe to grind as I've stated elsewhere that in the future, I'm going to upgrade the capacitors and wiring in my JBL 4319 monitors like the way Kenrick Audio does over in Japan (see youtube). 

And, I agree that speaker cabling can be bettered for not much investment.

All the best,
Nonoise

@d2girls - Hi, I was curious and tried to look up the 3 reference tracks you mentioned but could not seem to find the last one - Sarah K. Turn Into Nothing on Tidal or on youtube/google? 

@rsure
oops! sorry I got the track wrong. it’s Sara K All your love (turned to passion)

I have mine raised about 2” off the basement floor, using landscaping pavers. I also run a pair of JL Audio Fathom subwoofers with them. Not sure the subs are all that necessary. 

I have had my pair for a number of months but have been too busy to do much with them. They are certainly designed within Toole's philosophy. Although their tone is dry they are not quite as bleached out as I have experienced the similar sounding Revel Salons. They are so low in distortion and hyperarticulate they do well with dense recordings. I agree they are not the best in resolution but good enough for me. 

I have them on temporary dollies to play with height before ordering stands, likely from Sound Anchors. There is a thread on whatsbestforum about an owners journey from which I learned Isoacoustics knows how to make them for the 4367. 

The bass extension does not belie the fact they are really giant 2-way book shelves. The upside is there is no distracting additive notes from the ports, but my opinion is they require augmentation. REL's website has a recommended model for the 4367, but I do not know how that works. I would like to try voxativ standalone woofers but they are really expensive.  

I’m a recent convert to horns in my hifi rig (horns in my pro audio stuff are there now and always), and imaging is astonishing with the weird fat little Klipsch Heresy IIIs (boosted with 2 REL subs)...I bet the JBLs sound great as a classic 2 way horn speaker should...the mid-high range large diaphragm horn has similar specs to the Altec A7s I owned for years, and they sounded beautiful.

No I never said it was not a good speaker. I was just pointing out 
when funds are available to start buythe Kimber 12 TC cables a small investment for noticable gains . Then maybe in a year or two
or when funds allow upgrade the Xover . I am a bit on the extreme side .i look inside the speaker the first week I But them andlook to see how cheap the parts quality is . I called Marten Logan after I rebuiltone of their New models over $10k ,and their flagship
$80k speaker using Mundorfs cheaper white ego oil caps is a disgrace ,I told them at that price they should be using their best 
which the the Supreme ,Silver,Gold oilcapacitors which might add $1200 and they get 50% off. Sometimes,or most times MFG 
should just spend a bit more to start for to rebuild 1/2 the cost now is Labor. A perfect example is on tweaks Synergistic a Research sell 
what they calls The Carbon Xrossover purifiers . The plug in the back of your speaker $450 in a pretty shell and two wires inside a resistor and capacitor ,the quality not even close it balances out the impedance dips and allows to amp to work a bit easier.iI bought them and sold them . I am building my own and using the best parts in the world like a Duelunds Silver foil paper oil capacitor and top 
resistor with rhe best wire and Copper connectors and sell for 
less then Synergistic for a product Much better .if you are going to build something take some pride in at least going at least extra 
to some extent on parts quality. Most people donot even realize what is inside.ifit sounds good ok . That’s fine ,Myself being an Audiophile and ex store owner know what to look for and mods are a great way to get a Giant gains .thst is how Modwright got going 
in electronics. Just my observations nothing more .

at $15,000.00 they should sound awesome.

I built a pair of JBL Lancers right from the blueprint back in the 1980,s.  I remember they sounded almost as good as the large cased cousin with the 15' woofer.   I remember the name Jubel.  Mine could not match the crispiness of the compression driver. Mine used the white aquadag 14"  I loved them for 30 years.  JBL can make great speakers. The 70s , 80s were the best.

The 4367 is the best speaker I have owned. The D2 high frequency driver is a revelation. It's truly a next generation speaker!
The high's are incredibly smooth, I listen for hours and hours. The realism and detail is insane without fatigue. I can't say enough great things about them.  To some (my wife), they are not pretty....  but I love the look too, so win all around for me. 

She Who Must Be Obeyed would kill me. Maybe it would be worth it....👍

Whoa! What? Your dog would kill you?