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I have a pair of JBL 4312 monitors. Now, when I hear the term "near field" I assume you sit up close to them and generally think "smaller speakers". My JBL's are friggin huge to me and I have no clue at what range I am supposed to be sitting in respect to them. Near? Far? Who can tell. . Currently when I use them I sit about 10 feet away and when I think about sitting very close to them I imagine my head exploding when the mouse slips and I accidently crank the gain on that trebley guitar lead.

The reason I ask is because I am moving into a smaller space and don't really have the room to sit them way across the room from me while doing the majority of the work. I could however buy a smaller set of nearfields(if I HAVE to) and use them until final mixdown where I could move to another room containing the JBL's for the duration.

Is this necessary?

Comments

Davedog Wed, 02/01/2006 - 17:38

4312's.....takes me back a few years...........

These are NOT nearfields by any stretch of the imagination.

Your concept on arraying them is sound. These speakers have a focal point. The place at which all of the frequencies reproduced by the speakers will arrive at the same time with similar power. This is also known as the sweet spot.

Since I have no idea what your rooms' configuation is then it would be hard to identify this spot. Its almost impossible to identify it over the internet anyway.

Experimentation is the best way to find it. If you are moving to a room that has too little of a cubic area for these speakers' throw and range then you are effectively killing their performance in any number of ways.

It would be a shame to do this since they are still a very viable monitor.

Yeah, you may be looking at a purchase. Those need room to develop and they need room behind em to breathe.

Experiment when you get to the new digs.

RemyRAD Thu, 02/02/2006 - 18:42

I have 2 pairs of 4310s, 1 pair of 4311, 1 pair of 4312 and 1 pair of 4411. They are midfield monitors and they were not generally offered in a mirrored format and so are peculiar to monitor in the near field (the 4411s and the latest of the 4312s were offered in a mirrored left/right face format for more even monitoring). And yes, 6 to 10 feet are good for those speakers.

Near fields can be put right behind your console. That certainly makes them upfront and personal. I hope you're using a good amplifier like a Crown or a Bryston, on your JBL's?

JBL woman
Ms. Remy Ann David