« Great but a bit pricey »

These monitors sound good and we have used about every monitor made by man or machine. I would say they don't remind me of the old 4430 or 4435 the most impressive monitor ever made but they do have a great sound. I think all JBL's made today accentuate the low end compression too much and can be deceiving. These are a bit colored sounding. I would look into the Mackie monitors the MRK 2 for the money. I like flat monitors and the new line of JBL seems to be a bit to compressed sounding for a better word. There is not a real bump on the low end nor on the high end but overall I find it to be very hard to tell a real representation of my mix. I have heard other JBLs with the same coloring but these are better than some of the models I tested from 2005 to 2012 when buying monitors for my smaller rooms. I like the fact they do sound like an older JBL and that is unusual for a newer set of monitors. I have heard a great deal of the JBLs. I have 4430 and 4435's mounted in our sockets in our A studio and in our B studio and both have a great flat response. I always suggest when buying monitors you have to consider the room you are listening in and the acoustics or on most all cases you will be deceived by bad acoustics especially on the bass or low end. Bass enhancement is common place on the newer manufactured monitors so be careful. I would listen to these in a store and run some music that you have mixed.

SOUNDS

Great stereo imaging. Good clarity but a bit too punchy. When I say punchy I don't mean low end around 20 or 30hz. The effects are a bit too smooth for my liking and that is the case with any newer monitor. I have not found a solid pair that don't mess with the effects a bit. This is also on the user, some mix with a great deal of effects so any monitor along with a poor room can mess with your head. These monitors did not strike me as having any special bad misrepresentation of any effect "tails" or roll offs of any highs or lows on the effects. I found the speakers to have very good grades on the clarity. They were very clear and crisp. I think that if you are looking for speakers with an high end budget I would look into a store that would let you try them out on your credit card and take them back in exchange for another pair. Just to be on the safe side.

OVERALL OPINION

If I were spending the money I would buy an old pair of NS10M Yamaha's over this speaker to mix on. They are a bit colored but if you want to impress your clients this speaker will suffice and then some. They are clean and crisp and have a JBL sound as only JBL can do. I love JBL but I like JBL's that require power and are really flat from 20-20. www.chrislieckstudios.com