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JBL Synthesis “Bookshelves”

Hey Guys,

As a current owner of JBL Synthesis HDI-1600 (love them) I’m now seriously considering picking up a pair of the larger “bookshelves”. Problem is, I’m having a hard time parsing the differences between their offerings..

L100 - Best looking grilles, and available matching stands that are a no brainer and look great. Shares 12” driver with other models, but may have different mid/hi. No horn loading.
Can anybody advise which (if there’s a clear winner of the bunch) is the best between the L100, 4307, 4429 and 4319. Note that the only one that JBL deemed worthy of the term “Audiophile Sound” on their website was the 4319, which consequently got trashed in an AudioScienceReview write-up.
I started out being set on the L100, just wanna make sure I’m not making a mistake.
128x128dougeyjones

Showing 2 responses by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,606 posts
 
Hey Doug,

If you do get the chance to check them out and decide to get something, you might want to check out these stands from deercreekaudio.com.
https://deercreekaudio.com/p/custom-stands

I’ve read where the quality of the JBL stands is questionable (cracks and rust). Back when I got the Deer Creek Audio stands there were only about 4 versions and the price was around $350 or so. I noticed that they’re now about $17 more but they now can make them for just about any speaker you can think of. They’ve definitely expanded the line up.

The workmanship is second to none as they’re made by a local artisan who works in metal sculptures. Good luck in your search.

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,606 posts
 
I wouldn't worry about what AudioScienceReview says. They, themselves, have been trashed by other sites. Trust your own ears.

I have the 4319 monitors and love them. Are they perfect? Heck no. No speaker is as they are all compromises. What they are, are very musical and convincing. Given great components upstream, they let you forget about everything and just enjoy the music.

A former recording engineer who now runs Hi Fidelity (a Polish site) loved them as he used to record using JBLs. It's hard to find reviews of them but there are a few out there.

The best thing is, you can get a pair for $2500 from musicdirect.com which is a steal considering I paid $4K for them about 2 years ago. Now that the L100 is out, they've been regelated down in the line up and may be on the way out.

I'd love to hear the L100 monitors to see if they'd be worth it over the 4319 but that's for another day.

All the best,Nonoise
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