I was reading the posts on this forum and have found too many misunderstanding regarding JBL status in Japan, so I would like to correct them here.
1. In Japan, JBL has been THE speaker to listen to Jazz, or Jazz oriented music. Actually, most audiophiles in Japan only listen to Jazz and classical music. Classical music lovers don't choose JBL, they choose European speakers or high end such as Tannoy and Sonus Faber. Of course, people listen to pop and rock music in Japan, but they are not considered as real audiophile music, except a few recordings. It's very common a serious audiophile who listens to both classical and Jazz buys 2 speaker sets, JBL (or Altec) and the other.
2. Japanese only value certain type of JBL speakers, Paragon, Hartsfield, 43XX monitors, S9500, and vintage alnico units. 44xx are unpopular. "L" consumer JBLs are extremely unpopular. I'll tell you why later.
3. Historically, Paragon and Hartsfield became popular in Japan at first, as an icon of American Dream. Only very few successful people could afford them. Some bought Tannoy instead. Average audiophiles at that time was using Altec or building own speakers with JBL / Altec /Goodman units. Western Electric was already the legend.
4. Now 4343. The true JBL craziness in Japan started here. You guys must understand that 434x have been VERY controversial speakers in Japan although they have been extremely popular. When they appeared, Japanese audio critics said that they could sound really good ONLY if the user TRULY understand how to properly set up all the audio equipments. It is true that 434x are very hard to use speakers due to phase issue, multiple amping difficulty etc., and they tend to sound bad, but Japanese serious audiophiles started challenging them, and a (very) few audiophiles successfully could have made them sound extremely good, then those few has become audiophile legends. So 434x is considered to be THE speaker which all serious audiophiles should challenge at least once in a life time to test his ability and know his limit as an audiophile. 4343’s rather Spartan look does really matches to their intention. In a word, JBL has become a martial art, it's all about the challenge to overcome the limit of user himself.
4. "L" and the other consumar JBL has never been popular in Japan. This is because they look like nothing but luxury home speakers, and they tend to sound good whoever use them. No need for struggling, therefore they are not true JBL. JBL is a martial art in Japan. Samurai shouldn’t choose easy way, in this case, home speakers. On the contrary, 431x was very popular among the young wannabe audiophile who couldn't afford 434x. 431x sound bad, of course, because JBL has to sound bad, only the user will make them sound good. 44xx was not popular, because they sound good regardless of the users. They think 44xx are not a real audiophile speakers. K2 S9500 became really popular albeit $40000 price tag, because they tend to sound horrible. Then people called it ultimate JBL. This is not a joke. This would sound extremely strange, but that is the typical Japanese audiophile mentality. Tannoy, Altec, and the other speaker users in Japan have different mentality than above JBL martial artists, but eventually all audiophiles in Japan have been definitely influenced by 4343 culture.
5. There is another thing. In Japan, there has been the places called “JAZZ COFEE SHOP”, where 50s-60s Jazz are played very loud all day long, customers can’t talk each other in this coffee shop, because people go there for listening to music. 99% of those Jazz coffee shop uses JBL (some use Altec), and JBL / Altec has become defact standard of listening to Jazz, then Tannoy and the other for classical music. High End speakers are also considered as “sound stage speaker” for classical music, variations of ESL 63, so Jazz listeners still choose vintage JBL. 21 century JBLs are not really considered as true JBLs. They are considered more like somewhat inferior high end speakers. DD66000 is highly regarded as a true high end speaker, though.
1. In Japan, JBL has been THE speaker to listen to Jazz, or Jazz oriented music. Actually, most audiophiles in Japan only listen to Jazz and classical music. Classical music lovers don't choose JBL, they choose European speakers or high end such as Tannoy and Sonus Faber. Of course, people listen to pop and rock music in Japan, but they are not considered as real audiophile music, except a few recordings. It's very common a serious audiophile who listens to both classical and Jazz buys 2 speaker sets, JBL (or Altec) and the other.
2. Japanese only value certain type of JBL speakers, Paragon, Hartsfield, 43XX monitors, S9500, and vintage alnico units. 44xx are unpopular. "L" consumer JBLs are extremely unpopular. I'll tell you why later.
3. Historically, Paragon and Hartsfield became popular in Japan at first, as an icon of American Dream. Only very few successful people could afford them. Some bought Tannoy instead. Average audiophiles at that time was using Altec or building own speakers with JBL / Altec /Goodman units. Western Electric was already the legend.
4. Now 4343. The true JBL craziness in Japan started here. You guys must understand that 434x have been VERY controversial speakers in Japan although they have been extremely popular. When they appeared, Japanese audio critics said that they could sound really good ONLY if the user TRULY understand how to properly set up all the audio equipments. It is true that 434x are very hard to use speakers due to phase issue, multiple amping difficulty etc., and they tend to sound bad, but Japanese serious audiophiles started challenging them, and a (very) few audiophiles successfully could have made them sound extremely good, then those few has become audiophile legends. So 434x is considered to be THE speaker which all serious audiophiles should challenge at least once in a life time to test his ability and know his limit as an audiophile. 4343’s rather Spartan look does really matches to their intention. In a word, JBL has become a martial art, it's all about the challenge to overcome the limit of user himself.
4. "L" and the other consumar JBL has never been popular in Japan. This is because they look like nothing but luxury home speakers, and they tend to sound good whoever use them. No need for struggling, therefore they are not true JBL. JBL is a martial art in Japan. Samurai shouldn’t choose easy way, in this case, home speakers. On the contrary, 431x was very popular among the young wannabe audiophile who couldn't afford 434x. 431x sound bad, of course, because JBL has to sound bad, only the user will make them sound good. 44xx was not popular, because they sound good regardless of the users. They think 44xx are not a real audiophile speakers. K2 S9500 became really popular albeit $40000 price tag, because they tend to sound horrible. Then people called it ultimate JBL. This is not a joke. This would sound extremely strange, but that is the typical Japanese audiophile mentality. Tannoy, Altec, and the other speaker users in Japan have different mentality than above JBL martial artists, but eventually all audiophiles in Japan have been definitely influenced by 4343 culture.
5. There is another thing. In Japan, there has been the places called “JAZZ COFEE SHOP”, where 50s-60s Jazz are played very loud all day long, customers can’t talk each other in this coffee shop, because people go there for listening to music. 99% of those Jazz coffee shop uses JBL (some use Altec), and JBL / Altec has become defact standard of listening to Jazz, then Tannoy and the other for classical music. High End speakers are also considered as “sound stage speaker” for classical music, variations of ESL 63, so Jazz listeners still choose vintage JBL. 21 century JBLs are not really considered as true JBLs. They are considered more like somewhat inferior high end speakers. DD66000 is highly regarded as a true high end speaker, though.
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