Would it be a good move to trade JBL 4349s for Mofi Sourcepoint 888s?

[Rischa]

I’m a bit nervous to post this so I ask for grace in advance…About 4 years ago I bought a used pair of JBL 4349s before reading Amir’s measurements here on ASR. I was familiar with Erin’s measurements of the JBL 4367s and assumed the 4349s would measure similarly well. I admit the purchase was made in haste because the asking price was half retail at $4k, and they came with custom Deer Creek stands which are an improvement over the stock JBL stands, so I wanted to grab them before somebody else did.

Measurements are important to me, so I was a little bummed when I saw the frequency response graph here on ASR. But subjectively they sound amazing and I don’t regret the purchase despite the poor measurements.

That said, I’d still like to own a pair of speakers with objectively good performance and have been considering selling the 4349s and replacing them with Sourcepoint 888s.* However, I don’t want to trade the bass, dynamics, and great directivity of the 4349s just for a more linear frequency response (I don’t notice the midrange dip in the 4349s). I’m not as skilled at interpreting measurements as most folks here on ASR, so I’m wondering if there’s anything other than the better FR to be gained by swapping out the 4349s for the 888s and would love some advice on this.

For context, my DAC and preamp are Benchmark, and amplification is mainly a Buckeye 2-channel Purifi, but occasionally I use the external preamp inputs on my Denon PMA 1700 integrated.

Thanks, and apologies for the long post.


*If I keep the 4349s, I plan to buy a pair of Sourcepoint 10 Master Editions as a second set of speakers just so I can experience objectively good speakers. I don’t have room for two big sets of speakers, but the 10s can be stored in the closet and brought out occasionally.

 

[fpitas]

Why not simply EQ the JBLs, like Amir did?

 

[Rischa]

Why not simply EQ the JBLs, like Amir did?

I don’t notice the midrange dip in the JBLs so it’s more a matter of wondering if the data shows any areas where the 888s would offer improvements beyond the flatter response. I realize the speakers are very different designs so one might subjectively prefer one over the other, but I’ve come to find that the subjective differences between objectively good gear aren’t worth worrying about. I might hear a difference, but in my experience those differences aren’t what matters. I like speakers with controlled directivity and low bass, and both these have that.

 

[kemmler3D]

I don’t want to trade the bass, dynamics, and great directivity of the 4349s just for a more linear frequency response

the 10s can be stored in the closet and brought out occasionally.

OK, sounds like budget is not a problem...

If you like the dynamics I would caution you about moving away from a horn speaker. As Amir notes in his review, the efficiency counts for something. If you are used to that, a very linear but dynamics-constrained cone speaker might not check the box.

Given all that, maybe upgrade to a JBL M2 or 4367, or even something from Danley...

 

[fpitas]

Only you know what you really want, but yes those are very different speakers. JBL was insane to fire Greg Timbers, but I'm sure the basic horn in the 4349 is excellent.

 

[kharan]

Why not simply EQ the JBLs, like Amir did?

This, the dip is very correctable with EQ.

Look at the normalised contour charts of your speaker on spinorama.org, you'll see that there's a slight narrowing of directivity at the frequency dip, but nothing too bad. It is certainly much much better that the non normalised isobar versions.

Sound power DI shows the same thing but normalised contour charts are probably more easy to understand to the lay person.

 

[Rischa]

OK, sounds like budget is not a problem...

Lol, I don’t want to give the impression that I have a bottomless bank account. Music is my passion so I prioritize funds towards my system. Some guys have a fishing boat or sports car, I drive a 12 year old Honda hatchback and have a decent stereo. I’ve been saving for a while and recently sold some gear so that’s why I’m thinking about this now. It’s been my goal for a long time to have a transparent system as that’s the type of sound I prefer, and speakers have been the hardest nut to crack in this regard.

Good advice on the horns.

 

[kemmler3D]

Lol, I don’t want to give the impression that I have a bottomless bank account. Music is my passion so I prioritize funds towards my system. Some guys have a fishing boat or sports car, I drive a 12 year old Honda hatchback and have a decent stereo. I’ve been saving for a while and recently sold some gear so that’s why I’m thinking about this now. It’s been my goal for a long time to have a transparent system. Speakers have been the hardest nut to crack in this regard.

Good advice on the horns.

Hey, a few folks on this forum seem to have bottomless bank accounts and they don't get flamed or anything.

I just felt like "I will buy $3K speakers and keep them in the closet" was a high dollar thing to say.

The HRE and M2 are well outside of that range so possibly not good suggestions. But I think good DIY versions are possible at least within shouting distance of the $3K mark if you're willing to go that route.

If you want to experience very linear frequency response and off-axis, you should also be looking at the Ascilab stuff. Won't give you horn dynamics but not many speakers have such smooth FR all-around.

In terms of new vistas of transparency, you should also look at Dirac ART / Trinnov Waveforming (or maybe) Umami Perfect Soup. These are DSP systems that use active cancellation to clean up the bass and actually reduce decay time in-room. This is something otherwise only possible with serious acoustic treatment, and the subjective reviews are pretty strong.