New JBL 4349 Speakers

[Bengtchr]

Deer Creek Audio is working on a custom stand for the JBL 4349
We are thinking of a 3° tilt and a front height of 8"
We would like to hear your ideas.
View attachment 97498

7° degree would be the spec
Seeing Napilopez measurements it seems more proper

 

[Bengtchr]

I would prefer you did something in the style of what sells in Japan (only) for the 4349: “JS-360”, but 2-3 inches less tall and with an adjustable tilt (~3 deg). See attached photo of JS-360.
In my humble personal view, your suggested design is a little bit too pop-toy:ish and more suitable to L100. The 4349 (and 4367) deserves something more sturdy looking like the JS-360.

 

[deercreekaudio]

I would prefer you did something in the style of what sells in Japan (only) for the 4349: “JS-360”, but 2-3 inches less tall and with an adjustable tilt (~3 deg). See attached photo of JS-360.
In my humble personal view, your suggested design is a little bit too pop-toy:ish and more suitable to L100. The 4349 (and 4367) deserves something more sturdy looking like the JS-360.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is an example with a 5" front height and a 3° tilt. All inputs appreciated.

 

[Valentin R]

The acoustical center axis is probably between the horn and woofer “supposition “
Hope Amir can verify this when he measures them

 

[Valentin R]

This could be helpful
If you are listening @ 8feet /2.44m with the JBL js120 stand 7°. the sweet spot is at 91.5cm ( taken between woofer and tweeter)

 

[DK11706]

Deer Creek Audio is working on a custom stand for the JBL 4349
We are thinking of a 3° tilt and a front height of 8"
We would like to hear your ideas.
View attachment 97498

They look very nice

I have both the JBL 4349 and the JS-120 stands. Distance between speakers are 2.5 meter and listening position is 3.3 meters, the height of the official stands are perfect but the tilt could be a little lower for my listening distance, 4-5 degrees would be perfect for both near and far field listening. Where we really need an upgrade is on the quality, yours should be more sturdy and wider (depth is perfect), the JS-120 wobbles and smell bad quality .

PS: You should add adjustable feet or spike as well.

PPS: Do you have a European reseller?

 

[Valentin R]

They look very nice

I have both the JBL 4349 and the JS-120 stands. Distance between speakers are 2.5 meter and listening position is 3.3 meters, the height of the official stands are perfect but the tilt could be a little lower for my listening distance, 4-5 degrees would be perfect for both near and far field listening. Where we really need an upgrade is on the quality, yours should be more sturdy and wider (depth is perfect), the JS-120 wobbles and smell bad quality .

PS: You should add adjustable feet or spike as well.

PPS: Do you have a European reseller?

What do you think of the sound
Any thoughts comparisons

 

[DK11706]

It’s an election you have in Japan
View attachment 97075

The JS-360 does not that great looking up close, the weldings are ugly and the paint to shiny. They are also way to tall, if I remember correctly your sweet spot is something like 105 cm.

 

[Fonzombie]

For reference Ive owned the 4429, 4365 and the 4367... out of those my personal tastes landed with the 4365s. Fantastic speakers. I also loved the 4429s. The best they sounded was when I had them hooked up to a AR GSi75. A combo I regret selling to this day. Alas the adventure starts again - I couldn't find a new pair of the 4429s so I decided to go with the 4349s. Initially I had them hooked up to a Primaluna Evo 400 (KT 150s) Int - I didn't hate the sound but anything above a low volume made me wince when they hit a certain pitch, they had swing dynamics punch great mids but they would hit a certain pitch that just drove me nuts and made listening unenjoyable. I had that same Primaluna hooked up to a pair of Klipsch Heresy IV's as well and they sounded DAMN good. And I'm not a Klipsch guy, but they did something right with the IVs. Not one bit fatiguing. I tried moving the 4349s around, put them on the deer-creek stands (which are really strong, no wobble or bounce. JBLs stand for the LS20 is garbage, at least for an 85lb speaker), hooked them up to different ohms outputs, and even tried putting some felt and toilet paper in the horns to tame them. I was desperate to make them work but had given up. Fast forward a month later and I became really interested in getting a Line magnetic. I shopped around and bought one through Stereo Haven in Illinois. I went with the LM-845 Premium. I was still pretty set on selling the speakers and purchasing a pair of the Klipsch Cornwalls. I had them packed and ready to sell but I absolutely had to give them one more chance. After all the 4349's build quality is just sublime and I LOVED the way they looked. I wanted to love the way they sounded as well. Unpacked them... hooked them up. Held my breath, the idea of shipping these made me wince, turned the LM-845 on let it warm up and tossed on some Bill Callahan: My apocalypse. Unreal. The brightness had completely left and the reasons I fell in love with the 4429 were now how I felt about the 4349's. I remember I had a very similar experience with finding a good match for the 4429, but when I did it was bliss. Long story short the 4349 are staying and have become a welcomed companion to the LM-845 Premium. Component synergy is just so damn important. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it don't. Luckily my situation falls to the former and I can say with confidence the 4349 are a force to be reckoned with... and voices sound phenomenal on them - especially podcasts. It's like your in the recording studio with them. Here's my take away - I lucked out. I was VERY close to selling these. They were finicky and bright but in the end it all worked out. Interested to hear other peoples experiences. Different ears different fears.

 

[DK11706]

I owned both the 4429 and 4367, loved the 4429 and never became good friends with the 4367, way to detailed for me. Anyway I was looking for a pair of new or second hand 4429 as I really regret selling them, but could not find any, so I went to audition the 4349. The pair only had a few hours of playtime so wasn't expecting much but after 40 minutes of listening I ordered a pair, they just felt right for me, the 4349 had that extra woofer slam that the 4429 lacked, and a sweeter top.

How the sound signature has changed during the burn-in is insane, they went from a very sloppy bass and compressed top, to a very punchy and dynamic bass with a very wide and open top without any trace of sibilance. Imaging is exceptional good and soundstage is also pretty good, way better than you would expect from a studio monitor. They are powered by the Anthem STR pre & power combo, Chords clearway cables and an Auralic Altair G1 streamer. I usually have 10 things I hate about my new speakers, and ends up selling them again within a year or so (I only had the 4367 for 3 months), but I really can't find anything I dislike with 4349 so I almost sure that this is the last pair of speaker I will own.

One should note that this a studio monitor and very revealing, but not to the point where they get annoying with spiffy S and T sounds, but more like in a way where they pick the instruments apart and how they are "attacked" by the musicians showing all shortcomings and if the band is out of sync. Great bands sound great, and the bands you normally hear in your car and wonder why they never made the big scene, should stay in your car, they will sound awful with the 4349.

The finish compared to the JBL 4429 and especially the 4367, is immaculate, all lines match up perfectly and the black paint/oil treatment (don't know the English word for that) is also perfect including the sharp edges, where my 4367 had close to no color.

I'm thinking about swapping my Anthem set for a Luxman L-509X, anyone have experience with JBL horn and Luxman?, tried an Accuphase E-480 but didn't like the sound, to thin for my taste.

 

[fredoamigo]

nice compilation of subjective analyses guys!
you don't talk about the interaction of the hp in your listening rooms ? what dimensions ? did you do some measurements before the amps waltz ?
i'm very surprised that arc anthem doesn't give good results? and dubious about the luxman's contribution?

 

[Fonzombie]

I owned both the 4429 and 4367, loved the 4429 and never became good friends with the 4367, way to detailed for me. Anyway I was looking for a pair of new or second hand 4429 as I really regret selling them, but could not find any, so I went to audition the 4349. The pair only had a few hours of playtime so wasn't expecting much but after 40 minutes of listening I ordered a pair, they just felt right for me, the 4349 had that extra woofer slam that the 4429 lacked, and a sweeter top.

How the sound signature has changed during the burn-in is insane, they went from a very sloppy bass and compressed top, to a very punchy and dynamic bass with a very wide and open top without any trace of sibilance. Imaging is exceptional good and soundstage is also pretty good, way better than you would expect from a studio monitor. They are powered by the Anthem STR pre & power combo, Chords clearway cables and an Auralic Altair G1 streamer. I usually have 10 things I hate about my new speakers, and ends up selling them again within a year or so (I only had the 4367 for 3 months), but I really can't find anything I dislike with 4349 so I almost sure that this is the last pair of speaker I will own.

One should note that this a studio monitor and very revealing, but not to the point where they get annoying with spiffy S and T sounds, but more like in a way where they pick the instruments apart and how they are "attacked" by the musicians showing all shortcomings and if the band is out of sync. Great bands sound great, and the bands you normally hear in your car and wonder why they never made the big scene, should stay in your car, they will sound awful with the 4349.

The finish compared to the JBL 4429 and especially the 4367, is immaculate, all lines match up perfectly and the black paint/oil treatment (don't know the English word for that) is also perfect including the sharp edges, where my 4367 had close to no color.

I'm thinking about swapping my Anthem set for a Luxman L-509X, anyone have experience with JBL horn and Luxman?, tried an Accuphase E-480 but didn't like the sound, to thin for my taste.

I agree with all of this, especially about the 4367. I felt they were way too bright as well. As for Luxman I had the 509x it was good but the 590-axII is sublime, I love that amp with JBL, its conservatively rated at 30 WPC but man those watts sound straight up class A, and full, the mids sound tangible. I had it hooked up to my 4429's and it sounded stellar. If you do go Luxman give Precision Audio a call. (773) 720-1542, they really work with the buyer with pricing and they great at system synergy.

 

[Fonzombie]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is an example with a 5" front height and a 3° tilt. All inputs appreciated.


View attachment 98223
View attachment 98224

You guys make incredible stands. I have 3 pairs.

 

[changer]

another subjective review. I could not find too much useful information there, but maybe some will appreciate it anyway (his review of the 4429'ers was a bit more substantial, I think): http://highfidelity.pl/@main-1051&lang=en

 

[BeppeP]

Hello, I want to add my experience if I can used to own 4429 driven by mcintosh 8900. Speakers were very good with certain type of music as rock and jazz, blues. But for tamale voice were too bright, not coherent with complex classical music and bass was not extended. Certain sounds were not reproduced at all, reason why sometimes they sell as home theatre speakers. They sound more like 80s speakers and I sold them as bass stop at some point and couldn’t go lower. Horn were perfect with electric guitar, super tweeter I don’t know if I was able to identify. Are the new different? Can they go lower or you need to modify crossover?

 

[Fonzombie]

Hello, I want to add my experience if I can used to own 4429 driven by mcintosh 8900. Speakers were very good with certain type of music as rock and jazz, blues. But for tamale voice were too bright, not coherent with complex classical music and bass was not extended. Certain sounds were not reproduced at all, reason why sometimes they sell as home theatre speakers. They sound more like 80s speakers and I sold them as bass stop at some point and couldn’t go lower. Horn were perfect with electric guitar, super tweeter I don’t know if I was able to identify. Are the new different? Can they go lower or you need to modify crossover?

I had the 4429 hooked up to a Mcintosh MA9000 - way to bright. I later got a mc462 - and used a schiit freya + and it was better. Unfortunately Ive never heard a Mcintosh pair well with the JBL speakers. Maybe one of their tube amps would? I've also noticed all Mcintosh to be light in the bass regardless of what speaker you use. I will tell you for female voices the 4349 sound great, and there is a more punchier bass. I (me personally) still would not pair with a Mac though. I think that combo would be waaaaay to bright.

 

[BeppeP]

Question, is possible to modify the crossover to increase bass excursion on 4429? I think Kenrick in Jap does customisations

 

[Valentin R]

Question, is possible to modify the crossover to increase bass excursion on 4429? I think Kenrick in Jap does customisations

Question, is possible to modify the crossover to increase bass excursion on 4429? I think Kenrick in Jap does customisations

Bigger box with a different bass port tuning and xo
Most likely

 

[fredoamigo]

It is still simpler and more powerful and especially less problematic for the integrity of the loudspeakers to add one or two subwoofers while respecting the work of the engineering jbl .
without thinking that after this modification the speakers are not worth anything for resale.

 

[Valentin R]

I had the 4429 hooked up to a Mcintosh MA9000 - way to bright. I later got a mc462 - and used a schiit freya + and it was better. Unfortunately Ive never heard a Mcintosh pair well with the JBL speakers. Maybe one of their tube amps would? I've also noticed all Mcintosh to be light in the bass regardless of what speaker you use. I will tell you for female voices the 4349 sound great, and there is a more punchier bass. I (me personally) still would not pair with a Mac though. I think that combo would be waaaaay to bright.

Some pics would be nice