JBL 4367: What an AMAZING sounding speaker!

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.

@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~

@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.

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.

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!

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...

@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...

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.

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

If you look on music direct they have several Synthesis models at a significant discount. I've read that the pro series does not have massive profit margins compared to the Synthesis line. Which makes sense because I've seen dealer demos go for about 30% off list.

Since putting them on stands, not only do they look more 'proper hifi' the sound has vastly improved. Imaging is even more pinpoint, bass is tighter and more detailed, and most importantly, I've found the midrange to become more detailed! By comparison the sound was a bit smeared than before...
picture: https://i.imgur.com/rO22cH5.jpg

The stands looked fine, but they broke after I tried to slide them around on my floor. I got a 50% refund and decided to just strengthen them by adding some wood screws into the joints. The maker decided to use one joint which was the wrong kind to use for something like this. I may just wind up ordering those Kenrick Sound ones in the new year!
Currently I'm saving up for a nice amplifier. $1800 stands can come later.

No maritime, but the Kinky was never meant to be a permanent addition to my system. 

@alex_bolotnikov wow congrats on the purchase. How big is your room?

@mrdecibel thanks. I’m hoping to acquire a new amp next year. Either a good integrated (thinking Accuphase it Luxman integrated) or possibly a mcintosh mc462.