[mresseguie]

I spent the day yesterday wandering 4 floors of the Taipei International Audio Show. I was mostly interested in speakers, so I didn't spend much time or effort with other gear. I walked into a room that had a pair of rebuilt JBL DD 67000 JBL 4344 mkII speakers, and they sounded marvelous. Bass, midrange, highs....vocals, strings, piano, drums....everything sounded fantastic. These are my new dream speakers (that I'll never be able to persuade my wife to accept). I listened to various other speakers after this pair, and they all sounded flat and 'not so interesting'.

Photo:

Those are 18" woofers Correction: Those are 15" woofers!!

[mcallister]

Those don’t look like DD6700’s? Are these different from the Everests?

[mresseguie]

I believe I made a mistake in naming them. I just searched for vintage JBL 4-way speakers, and found JBL 4344 mkII speakers that seem to be the same as what I saw yesterday.

Good catch! Thank you for pointing this out to me. 

[Letitroll98]

Yes, effortless dynamics, flat frequency response, and low distortion really can make a difference. 

[JLM]

The best overall loudspeakers I ever heard/owned were JBL 708P (active with 8 inch woofer and 2 inch horn loaded compression tweeter).

[maxima95]

Not to split hairs, the 4344 has a 15" woofer and the 4345 has the 18" woofer.

https://audio-database.com/JBL/speaker/4344-e.html

https://audio-database.com/JBL/speaker/4345-e.html

I would love to have either one.

[Wayne1]

Speaker designer, Troels Gravesen, has come up with three versions of a "tribute" to these 4300 series of speakers.

He offers DIY plans and kits to build them:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker.htm


http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker-2.htm


http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker-III.htm

[mresseguie]

Not to split hairs, the 4344 has a 15" woofer and the 4345 has the 18" woofer.

https://audio-database.com/JBL/speaker/4344-e.html

https://audio-database.com/JBL/speaker/4345-e.html

I would love to have either one.

You're correct!  Thank you, maxima95. This is embarrassing. I got the original DD 67000 number from someone's Facebook post about the speakers, but I did not verify the model number because I was in a rush. Then, I did Google vintage JBL speakers and found the 4344 mkII. The 4344 mkII front baffle matches the speakers that I saw and heard. However, the guy showing them at the show claimed they were 18" woofers. I wonder if he was just careless with his inches?

I agree with your comment (and share your sentiment) about owning either one.

[mresseguie]

Speaker designer, Troels Gravesen, has come up with three versions of a "tribute" to these 4300 series of speakers.

He offers DIY plans and kits to build them:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker.htm


http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker-2.htm


http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker-III.htm

Excellent observation, Wayne1!

There are also three passive speaker models - the Faital 3WC series. I'm particularly interested in this one:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Faital-3WC-15.htm#SPEAKER-KIT

[DavidS]

Man you could go down a serious rabbit hole with these speakers.  Heard a 43 series once with a big burmester amp at a guy's house in Vancouver - best sound I have heard - dynamic, detailed and crazy floating image.  Has bewitched me ever since as can't come close to that kind of sound in my small room.  Love Japanese audio culture as there seems like a bunch of people interested, building and financing restored and modified versions of these vintage big boys.

[mresseguie]

Man you could go down a serious rabbit hole with these speakers.  Heard a 43 series once with a big burmester amp at a guy's house in Vancouver - best sound I have heard - dynamic, detailed and crazy floating image.  Has bewitched me ever since as can't come close to that kind of sound in my small room.  Love Japanese audio culture as there seems like a bunch of people interested, building and financing restored and modified versions of these vintage big boys.

I wonder why there aren't more people in North America with such speakers? Have thin and sexy speakers beaten out fat and stodgy speakers? I suspect my Daedalus Apollos with their 10" woofers are closer to that 43 series sound than all these floorstanders with 6.5" woofers. This is conjecture on my part.

I have this whisper of a memory from talking with the guy in that room saying the speakers could be had for something like the equivalent of $8k USD, but don't quote me on that.

[DavidS]

here is a youtube I saw on these - love the space, song / sound (yes I know it is youtube through my Schiit dac), and the speakers / restoration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTE7wrUXAYU

see that rabbit hole is calling me...

[mresseguie]

here is a youtube I saw on these - love the space, song / sound (yes I know it is youtube through my Schiit dac), and the speakers / restoration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTE7wrUXAYU

see that rabbit hole is calling me...

Yeah...yeah....that's how the speakers sounded. It's a very different sound from how I remember the Salk Purifi 2 speakers sounded at Pacific Audio Fest. [I'm not knocking Jim's speakers. They sounded fantastic.]

I've spent the past two weeks reading up on the 3WC-15 and 3WC-12 speakers including the build pics/write ups. [Yes. I knew about them even before I heard the 4344 mkII speakers.] I'd love to have the 15s, but they might (will) be a hard sell to my wife, so I may have to settle for the 12s. I've already lined up two potential cabinet builders. Shipping drivers and kit to Taiwan will be a bit expensive, but still cheaper than buying finished vintage speakers like the 4344s.

[Folsom]

JBL <3

[FullRangeMan]

Hi sensitivity speakers are always interesting, after some time working with 15'' and 18'' woofers I came to prefer the 15'' woofers due the lighter cone, some 18'' cones reach around 300g weight what not easy to a small hi-Fi amp move all this weight, the JBL 15'' woofer cone weight 155g what show its a vintage project.
https://audio-database.com/JBL/speaker/4344-e.html
Iam looking from where the great sound mentioned here would be caming from, perusing the 4344 datasheet it shows no encouraging signs, sensitivity are low 93dB, xover are heavy hand 18dB/3th order, four ways, what means a six (6) freq cuts in the music signal and yet xover has 3 volume pots.
The 4344 woofer is this: (no freq. graphic though)
https://audio-database.com/JBL/unit/2235h.html
For a hi sensitivity woofer I would use one of these Beyma>
15G450/N, 98dB, 30-1500Hz
15K200, 98dB, 25-2000Hz
15M300, 100dB, 30-3500Hz
15KX, 99dB, 25-3000Hz  (Woofer + Tweeter coaxial )
Unfortunately I cant suggest any Eminence woofer as they dont publish the freq graphics for custumer guidance. 

[FullRangeMan]

This image show the 15'' model have better drivers placement in the baffle(always a source of resonance) than the 18'' 4345.

In the speaker 4344 datasheet there is a significant typo=the picture show the external height of the enclosure as 1501mm(150cm) but the actual value are 1051mm (105cm), a common mistake when one think in inches.
Enclosure volume    156L (Woofer)
14L (mid-woofer)

[Rusty Jefferson]

You should check the vendor list to see who this builder is. What you heard are not 'original' 4344s or MKIIs. There are several companies, most famously Kenrick Sound that modify and/or restore JBL systems. That one appears to be modified. I'm not a JBL vintage nerd but the UHF driver and the woofer don't appear correct. That doesn't mean they don't sound great. As we all know, modified speakers can sound more pleasing than originals.  You wouldn't want to go on a hunt for something that isn't what you heard and be disappointed, especially because the more original these speakers are, the more expensive they are. Here's a link to a Kenrick Sound post about modified (custom) 4344s.

http://blog.kenricksound.com/2018/01/jbl-4344-mk2.html?m=1

[mresseguie]

You should check the vendor list to see who this builder is. What you heard are not 'original' 4344s or MKIIs. There are several companies, most famously Kenrick Sound that modify and/or restore JBL systems. That one appears to be modified. I'm not a JBL vintage nerd but the UHF driver and the woofer don't appear correct. That doesn't mean they don't sound great. As we all know, modified speakers can sound more pleasing than originals.  You wouldn't want to go on a hunt for something that isn't what you heard and be disappointed, especially because the more original these speakers are, the more expensive they are. Here's a link to a Kenrick Sound post about modified (custom) 4344s.

http://blog.kenricksound.com/2018/01/jbl-4344-mk2.html?m=1

I stumbled upon Kenrick Sound videos several years ago and loved the look, but I wasn't ready for it then. I've heard enough 'modern' speakers and vintage designs by now to know what makes my heart go pitter patter. My Apollos do this for me, and the 43xx speakers did it as well.

I didn't ask the fellow their origins or mods employed while at the show, but he provided a simple brochure with his contact information. This pair of speakers certainly had the Kenrick feel to them, but he made it sound as though he performed the mods and/or restoration himself.

[Rusty Jefferson]

Roger that. Sounds like you have a handle on what people are doing. If that's the 'version' you like, pursue it over others you haven't heard including stock pairs, at least until you hear them. 

If they have a website, please share it.

[FullRangeMan]

Hi Michael,
I like this video from 2011, JBL4343 15'' from Kendric + Concert Master 300B, the wife are so nice and friendly, always wondered what she is saying?
Do you can tell us what the wife are saying?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbk0EC8IkEI