Best speaker brands for transient response

Yamaha like many big brands with lots of money make both state of the art stuff and total junk. While I have not heard NS 5000, it leans toward state of the art and have a lot thought put into the materials. The tuning (they published measurements) seem bright on axis to me. They would need less toe in than typical speakers for me to enjoy them. Where the JBLs you are looking at have more of a rolled off treble and probably need listened to closer to on axis to sound neutral.

sadly I think the lower end JBLs are pretty average (still good) and are held back by the small compression drivers. You can seen the diaphragm breakup in the measurements and hear it as fatigue. I think the Revel counter parts are better. But at the highend I like JBL a lot better than Revel’s current offerings (I have owned a number of speakers from both brands and speak with experience). Once you get into “real” compression drivers it is a totally different game.

@james633 thank you -- so would you consider the 4349 in the higher end range or more mid-range?

That's still on my list.

I have not heard the 4349 so I can’t really comment. It is the “cheapest” JBL to get the duel diaphragm compression driver which is a good thing but it is also pretty small at 1.5”. The bass driver has the same motor structure as their top of the line models.

I saw an interview with one of the JBL sales men/engineers and they commented on 4349 being the best “buy” in their line as it sounds a lot like (as in almost the same) as their top model (SCL-1) at a fraction of the price.

based purely on looking at the data I feel like the 4349 is comprised a bit and probably should have had a 2” compression driver to allow for a lower crossover. It would eliminate that dip and help with distortion. In actual music enjoyment with room reflections I am guess you will not hear the dip.

I own the 4367 and I personally have not head a more detailed treble. It is not fake detail from lifted treble either. If anything the speaker errors on the warm side which works for me as I am not too much into audiophile music these days and have just been listing to “real” music from my youth. I guess that is a sign of a good speaker as everything is good and the best stuff is still outstanding. Also don’t over look the adjustable horn levels. It really makes a big difference. 0.5db steps does not seem like much but it changes the speakers over all sound a lot.

I am sure there is better but at what cost and effort. If you like your current JBLs I am sure you will like the higher models. To my ear the higher models are much better.

@james633 thank you for your feedback. Yes that adjustment option matters, my KLH Model 3s have a treble adjustment knob and I turn mine lower by 0.5db and it does make a difference.

I do enjoy my 4305Ps very much and while they don’t offer quite the detailed transients as my KLHs (they’re close, however), they are stronger in other ways that do matter. The KLHs can be a little harsh in the treble and higher midrange does have some sibilance with certain vocal tracks. The 4305Ps are not remotely fatiguing and that's been noted by others on forums. 

I am sure there is better but at what cost and effort.

Very well said. Thank you again.

I agree that Magnepans are excellent on transient response. And even more so if it is a 2.7x, which has a ribbon tweeter.

And, while I owned WATTS for several generations and have heard the Sashas, I doubt they have ANYthing on Magnepans if it is strictly "transient response."

Magnepan ribbons are said to be as fast as Raven tweeters (which Nola uses), and that is  really saying something.