JBL 3677

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

The nice thing with 3677s is that you can spend the rest of your money for a source upgrade:-)

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Re: JBL 3677

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beck wrote:A very good read indeed stuffed with interesting information (have read it several times). I absolutely agree that it sounds like a very good speaker listening to the clips on this forum.
I only have one nagging question about this speaker: It was made to be placed inside a wall? How does this impact on its performance? Would it perform better if we cound use it the same way at home? What kind of sound would originally be expected to come from this speaker and how does this sound compare to what you are getting at home now? Is it all just getting better or are we also loosing something else?
It is designed for baffle wall installation as are all cinema speakers. I have mine installed this way. My first set of 3677s years ago I did not.
What you get are better imaging, better more seamless panning, and increased midbass slam and dynamics thanks to no more SBIR.

Of course as I said the first time I had them they were not in a baffle wall and still sound amazing and impressed me so much that I have them again in my current Theater which is pretty much a no compromise HT implementing everything I've learned about acoustics and HT over the last 15 years.
Last edited by cdy2179 on 2017-02-28 14:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: JBL 3677

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Funny you should bring up Pi speakers. The 3677 is very similar to their 4Pi speaker and that is hands down their most popular speaker. Years ago, Wayne "the owner" and I have had lengthy discussions about the 3677. He actually used to use the CD in the 3677 for his pi speakers until he found the B&C drivers which extend higher and are just as smooth for less money. But he really like the driver.

Long ago I experiemented on the 3677 with different horns and tried the horn the 4pi uses. The stock horn to me sounds better. The 3677 is awesome as is IMO.
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by ThomasOK »

cdy2179 wrote:

Funny you should bring up Pi speakers. The 3677 is very similar to their 4Pi speaker and that is hands down their most popular speaker. Years ago, Wayne "the owner" and I have had lengthy discussions about the 3677. He actually used to use the CD in the 3677 for his pi speakers until he found the B&C drivers which extend higher and are just as smooth for less money. But he really like the driver.

Long ago I experiemented on the 3677 with different horns and tried the horn the 4pi uses. The stock horn to me sounds better. The 3677 is awesome as is IMO.
Thanks for this post. That is very useful information.

I noticed that the 4Pi was not only the top of their 2 way range but that also the 15" driver most closely met the desired dispersion characteristics at the crossover frequency to blend with the tweeter. It was also interesting that a JBL 15" driver (although not the same one) was an upgrade option. The similarity was not lost on me and is one reason I read further into the information he has up there, although I must say finding the info can be a little difficult. It is not well arranged nor is it very well cross referenced.

After reading his info on the horn he sells I wondered if there would be any benefit in replacing the one in the 3677. I hadn't tried it since it wasn't just a drop in replacement. I am glad to hear that you like the stock one better. Did you also try the B&C driver vs. the JBL?

I agree that the 3677 is awesome as is. It was quite a find, especially as the value for the money is exceptional. All thanks to jajo who discovered it here and to Fredrik Lejonklou, Erik, Christian and Music Lover who all convinced me I should buy a pair. The sheer force of that many trusted ears making the same recommendation was impossible to resist. :-)
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

Something to listen with 3677s:

"Stan Getz: Cafe Montmartre"

Pure pleasure!

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by ThomasOK »

Just for the interest of those into the JBLs here are two more new speakers that have some striking similarities.

First is the previously mentioned new Icon horn loudspeaker, as yet unnamed, and with no info on their website. Scanned from a UK magazine:

Image

It has a 15" woofer and is said to be very efficient.

This one is a new speaker from US company ampsandsound called the Seneca:

Image

It a 15" woofer, 2" beryllium horn tweeter with wide horizontal and limited vertical dispersion and runs $20,000 a pair! Here are the specs:

Cabinet: 34”H x 24” W x 16” D
Weight: 125lbs/per cabinet
Quoted Frequency Response: 34Hz – 20Khz -3db, 99db
Sensitivity: 100db 1W/1m, 200 watts/maximum power handling

They also make a three-way version that appears to add a 1" horn supertweeter and 20 lbs to the speaker (really heavy supertweeter!) while losing 1dB efficiency and retaining the same dimensions and quoted frequency response. Oh yeah, it also adds $10,000 per pair to the price.
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by beck »

Thank you for the pictures. It is really interesting to see how different compagnies use this kind of configuration to make speakers and how they "price" their efforts! :-)
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by tokenbrit »

Seeing those makes me appreciate the JBLs ;)
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

tokenbrit wrote:Seeing those makes me appreciate the JBLs ;)
.......and comparing to those you have more than 18000 USD or 8000 GBP spare for source or amps.

Very nice to have these excellent passive speakers when you consider the discussion here:

http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=36148

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

Maybe it is time to start a site for 3677 owners like this one for Isobarik owners:

http://mybriks.com/

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by ChrBea »

I am really interested in hearing a system with these speakers or even buying them directly following all your reports. But I hesitate as I do not want to ruin them, in doing all the modifications myself.
Fredrik, are you selling them modified? Or is there another place where I could get a modified pair?
If not, I think I will go the Akubarik way, even if they are not comparable.
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

ChrBea wrote:But I hesitate as I do not want to ruin them, in doing all the modifications myself.
IMHO, the 3677s outperform most other speakers without any modification.
My pair is completely stock at the moment and I am very happy with them.
They need about six months burn-in time, so I would not change anything during this time frame.
And no need to go the Akubarik way:-)

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Last edited by matthias on 2017-03-25 16:54, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by Erik »

ChrBea wrote:I am really interested in hearing a system with these speakers or even buying them directly following all your reports. But I hesitate as I do not want to ruin them, in doing all the modifications myself.
Fredrik, are you selling them modified? Or is there another place where I could get a modified pair?
If not, I think I will go the Akubarik way, even if they are not comparable.

The only mandatory thing is to get a pair of Ofil Stands. Those are essential and a must if you want to get the best out of the 3677s.

/Erik
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by Music Lover »

ChrBea wrote:I am really interested in hearing a system with these speakers or even buying them directly following all your reports. But I hesitate as I do not want to ruin them, in doing all the modifications myself.
Fredrik, are you selling them modified? Or is there another place where I could get a modified pair?
If not, I think I will go the Akubarik way, even if they are not comparable.
They are great "out of the box" (100% stock) standing on 35cm high support of any kind.
So even without Ofil Stands and without burn-in, they are great.

The biggest performance enhancer is the Ofil Stands, huge difference.
Burn-in makes them better...
Smallest enhancement is the modification.
It's all about musical understanding!
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by ThomasOK »

I agree, very good stock on a stand of the proper height, BIG improvement with the OFIL stands. Much smaller improvement from making the crossovers external, but worth it if you have the inclination. And yes, lot of burn in time.
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

Listening this morning to
David Murray, Lester Bowie, Phillip Wilson, William Parker: Jazzwerkstatt, New York Box, Vol.1
Streaming via Spotify with my sons Macbook and his cheap E-MU 0202 DAC

It is like the musicians are playing in your living room.
These speakers are the bargain of the century.

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by beck »

matthias wrote:Listening this morning to
David Murray, Lester Bowie, Phillip Wilson, William Parker: Jazzwerkstatt, New York Box, Vol.1
Streaming via Spotify with my sons Macbook and his cheap E-MU 0202 DAC

It is like the musicians are playing in your living room.
These speakers are the bargain of the century.

Matt
Yes, it is great when things work out the way we wish for. I use my ipad often connected to my system and it is a plessure and more than once I just think "wow"! :-)
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by ThomasOK »

I have to agree that this level of musical performance for the small outlay is quite unexpected. It is also interesting that a number of happy 3677 owners have had some pretty heavy hitters in the past yet find them quite satisfying.

I think it would be interesting to know the previous speakers owned by current 3677 owners. I'll start with my speaker history (main stereo system):

Original Advent (later known as Large Advent)
Spendor BC-1
Dahlquist DQ-10
Quad ESL
Linn Isobariks 1980 version
Linn Isobariks 1988 version (passive then Aktiv)
ATC SCM100 ASL (active)
JBL 3677s with 4645C shortly added
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by Music Lover »

Only the serious speakers listed:
One of the bigger "Cabasse 3-way fully active"
2 pair Kan mkI/mkII
Sara, Sara 9
2 pair Active Bricks
Keltik
212 with 345sub
Komri
M140
A242
JBL 3677s with 4645C
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

Audioplan Kontrast, original standmount
Naim SBL, first model
JBL3677 without sub

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by fatjulio »

Tukans
Katans
Espek
242, then with K345
JBL 3677 with K345

I'm not totally sure the 242's were overall better than the Espeks
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by ThomasOK »

Still running around the JBL threads here and there from time to time trying to find out more about the 3677s. I bumped into a thread dealing mostly with the 4367s I mentioned on the JBL PROJECT K2 S9900 thread here. I ran into some interesting information that tied in with other things I have read various places. It made think there is a good possibility that the JBL 3677 may well have been designed by Greg Timbers or a team lead by him. Greg was with JBL for 43 years before being recently let go (apparently somewhat unceremoniously). Much of this time, and certainly up until before he was let go, he was their Chief Systems Engineer. He was responsible for the design of some, if not all, Everest and K2 models and many of the pro models as well having worked on hundreds of projects. The 4367 was also one he was originally involved in. In reading about him and some of his writings I came upon this quote:

"One of my trademarks was designing systems that sound blended, without that multiple transducer sound. They are not perfect in all ways, but I usually get that one characteristic right. That is probably the most difficult aspect of a large format 2-way system. The cool thing about a 2-way is that there is only 1 crossover point. Crossovers suck in general and the fewer and further between, the better. While it is easy to get a more uniform sound power curve with a multi-way direct radiator system, having 3 crossover points can cause some significant problems also. I had very good success with the 250 family and the Performance series, both dynamically and from a blending standpoint, but they were really difficult to do. Most 4-way direct radiator systems have a multi-transducer sound, to my ear, and are often rather lacking in dynamics."

Another quote: "I have long ben a fan of compression-driver systems. They have a speed and effortlessness unmatched by direct-radiator systems. Current hardware is very low in distortion, has smooth frequency response and can be designed to have a very smooth, consistent directivity patterns."

I also read in one place where he said that they long ago got rid of the "horn" sound many found colored in early horn-loaded systems. Plus he mentions in a few places that the final designs have to be tuned by ear as measurements will not tell you how it will actually sound.

A lot of his favorite projects were using large format, generally 15" bass drivers in a two way system with a compression high-frequency driver (in some cases with a super tweeter for further extension. Considering the qualities we enjoy in the 3677 - which certainly includes speed and effortlessness and a seamless quality to the driver blending. It makes me think he certainly could have had a hand in these.
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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

Thomas,
very interesting,
thanks for sharing.

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by matthias »

Would be interesting to compare this upcoming speaker (May 2017) to 3677s:

http://www.jblpro.com/ProductAttachment ... _Sheet.pdf

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Re: JBL 3677

Post by tokenbrit »

Interested to know if this upcoming speaker is designed to be used either way up - if it said anything in the preliminary specsheet, I missed it.
I recall that the 3677 was found to be most musical with the horn at around ear height... If that's the case again with the C211, as pictured, it would require quite the stands if it can't be used 'upside-down', in the same orientation as the 3677.

Answering my own question:
Interested to know if this upcoming speaker is designed to be used either way up
Since the input connectors are on top, it seems not unless the stand could have an opening or recess for connection & speaker cables underneath...
http://www.jblpro.com/www/products/cine ... eries/c211
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