JBL launches retro-looking 4309 Studio Monitor bookshelf speakers

JBL launches retro-looking 4309 Studio Monitor bookshelf speakers
(Image credit: JBL)

The JBL 4309 is a smaller version of the JBL 4349 and shares the same retro aesthetic. The compact speakers (they measure just over 41cm/16in tall) come equipped with a 1-inch compression driver teamed with a High-Definition Imaging horn and a 6.5-inch, cast frame pure-pulp cone woofer.

The crossover network features air-core inductors, cast wire-wound resistors and low-ESR metallized film capacitors, which JBL says optimise the performance of those drivers.

On the front panel, an ultra high-frequency tonal adjuster lets users tweak the sound to their preference, and the enclosure is braced with 3/4-inch thick walls incorporating a bass-reflex design with dual front-firing flared ports. On the back, you'll find twin sets of gold-plated binding posts suitable for single-ended or bi-wire/bi-amplified connections.

2021 marks JBL's 75th anniversary, and to help celebrate this milestone, the speaker baffles are presented in the brand’s iconic blue. The cabinet comes finished in a choice of walnut (with a blue cloth grille) or black walnut (with a black grille) satinwood veneers.

The JBL 4309 Studio Monitor will be available from June priced at £1,799 ($2000, about AU$3500) a pair.

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Mary is a staff writer at What Hi-Fi? and has over a decade of experience working as a sound engineer mixing live events, music and theatre. Her mixing credits include productions at The National Theatre and in the West End, as well as original musicals composed by Mark Knopfler, Tori Amos, Guy Chambers, Howard Goodall and Dan Gillespie Sells.