Best speaker brands for transient response

I can probably answer your question directly as I own the JBL 590 and JBL 4367. I have played them back to back in the same room.

I agree with Phusis and would add it is all about “power to weight” of the system. Speakers are a mechanical system and it is all about power transfer… nothing more. There are a number of things that affect it.

big drivers that don’t move much or lots of smaller drivers that work together to not move much (line source, live venues). then there are horn and driver shading (line sources) that increase directivity which also can make things more dynamic.

It is important to talk about the same thing. What are dynamics to you? Is there a specific frequency you listen for? For me it is most notable in the drums. Does the leading edge “hit”, does the snare snap? Also low bass can greatly affect our perception of dynamics. That 50hz bass drum is critical. Maybe the seal speaker loads your room in the bass better/different.

anyway the 4367 is the most dynamic speaker I have ever heard/owned. I am often shocked at older music of my youth (Grunge/80s metal) which seemed totally dull from a recording standpoint now has some punch/snap to it. Audiophile stuff is easy and sound great as expected. I am not sure how much of that is found in the 4349 as I have not heard them. There is a bit of magic to getting the compression driver crossed over as low as possible and the 4349 is still pretty high as 1500hz. Where the 4367 is at 700ish. That to me is the biggest difference between the two speakers.

I need to listen to the 590s again to comment on them directly regarding dynamics. I was more interested in comparing detail and frequency response. If you want my opinion on the 590 vs 4367 for dynamics just let me know and I can listen again. The 590s are my rear speakers so not a big deal to move them.

Sweetwater has the 4349 on sale if you call. Might be worth checking the sale price. I also think they have a trial period and liberal return policy but I would check. 
 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/4349Wal--jbl-lifestyle-4349-12-inch-2-way-passive-loudspeaker-walnut-wood-veneer-with-black-grille

Transients are impulse responses in relation to steady state and it can be measured. Impulse response is to a specific input from base level. It is used to check time alinement. It is not related to distortion but most systems with good transient response are also low distortion. It comes down to good power to weight ratio of the drivers with pistonic motion.  
 

A system that can make a square wave at the desired SLP in theory has perfect impulse/transient response. Most amps have no problem with this and most all speakers fail this test. I have seen headphones (single driver, no crossover, low output) pass. 
 

Vanessa Fernandez “here but I’m gone” is totally fine for dynamic range. Much better than 99% of albums. Check the dynamic range in software, I am sure it is high. The original poster did not mention orchestral music. Which is hard on systems but irrelevant if you don’t listen to it.

I know the tenet sound track and it sounds fine, not my style. I could rattle my house with deadmau5 too but again not my thing. 

Well I did a direct A/B of my JBL 590 and JBL 4367s just now to listen for transient response. I did it in mono just so I could do instant switching through my preamp. I did not use my subs. amp was McIntosh MC462 and the speakers were right beside each other. I did my best to level match by ear and with a dB meter.

Songs were Vannessa Fernandez “here but I’m gone” for an audiophile choice with good dynamics and Stone Temple Pilots “dead and bloated” for a low fi rock sample.

In general the most notable thing is the 4367 is absurdly more detailed in the upper mids and treble. There is also more texture and tone in the bass of the 4367 but that is more subtle.

Now on to the question. Does the better drivers translate to better transients/dynamics? In short, yes for sure without question. Everything that comes from the 4367’s horn has snap and more inner texture. The notes are much more separated. The 590s horn is dull and splashy with no life in comparison.

I found bass dynamics to be about the same and the 590 has less texture. The weight of the bass impact is about the same. Just less detailed on the 590. For the money the 590s have great bass and crappy highs.

The music choice did not change the outcome.
 

On a side note don’t by anything blind you can’t return. While I agree with some of the recommendations here I complete disagree with others and think they might not understand “transients”.

lol… must not like people criticizing musical tastes…

not sure any system without subs could do the Tenet sound track justice. 

Yes 4329 and the pro monitor the 708p are cheaper options. 
 

i would buy used or demos when possible. I understand why people don’t but it allows me to buy speakers above my price range. I bought my JBL 4367s new in the box for less than the JBL 4349 retails for, food for thought. 
 

here are audio mart is a good place to start looking. 
 

I would take a good look at Volti’s measurements. The frequency response is very poor on axis. There is a ton of comb filtering off axis too. The time domain is very poor. The box however looks dead quiet and they look great. 
 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/volti-audio-razz-loudspeaker-measurements

JBL is more than fine in its price class. The Meyer Sound blue horn is in an entirely different price class (think $100k systems). 
 

https://odyowave.com/products/meyer-sound-bluehorn-system-stereo-2-channel-complete

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.

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.