Las Vegas – Harman’s JBL brand will
go to International CES to demonstrate a new home speaker series that borrows
technologies from its movie-theater and concert-venue speakers in a bid to
bring the impact of movie-theater and concert sound to the home.
The JBL Studio 5 series offers
bookshelf model at $689/pair, three floorstanding speakers with prices from
$689 to $1,109 each, two subwoofers at $689 and $899, and a $419 center-channel
loudspeaker. They were designed by JBL chief engineer Greg Timbers, who
developed the brand’s flagship Project Everest DD66000 home speaker.
The models join the lower-priced
Studio 1 speaker series, which shipped in early 2011 with a new industrial
“weave” design that simulates large woven straps on the speakers’
baffles. They’re priced up to $449 each.
The Studio 5 sports a new
industrial design with a baffle that flares out like a horn. Like the company’s
concert speakers, the home speakers feature high-frequency compression driver
with bi-radial horn to deliver music and movie soundtracks with impact, the
company said. All models are black.
The series includes the $689/pair 18-inch-tall
Studio 530 bookshelf speaker with 5.25-inch woofer, 1.5-inch-diameter woofer
voice coils, and a 1-inch high-frequency compression driver in a glass-filled
ABS bi-radial high-frequency horn. The cabinet is made from 0.75-inch MDF. The
recommended amp power is 125 watts.
The $689-each Studio 570 tower is
36-inches-tall with dual 5.25-inch woofers with 1.5-inch voice coils, 1-inch
high-frequency compression driver in a glass-filled ABS bi-radial
high-frequency horn, and 0.75-inch MDF enclosure. Recommended amp power is 150
watts.
The $889-each Studio 580 tower is 3.5 feet tall
and features two 6.5-inch woofers and 1-inch high-frequency compression driver
with neodymium in a glass-filled ABS bi-radial high-frequency horn. Recommended
amplifier power is 200 watts.
The $1,109-each Studio 590 tower is more than
4 feet tall and features two 8-inch woofers and a 1-inch high-frequency
compression driver with neodymium in a glass-filled ABS bi-radial
high-frequency horn. Recommended amp power is 250 watts.
The $689 Studio 550 subwoofer
features a 10-inch driver in a sealed box with 250 watts of amplification. It
measures 16.5 inches by 15 inches by 15.5 inches. The $889 Studio 560 subwoofer features
12-inch driver in a sealed box with 500 watts of amplification. It measures
18.5 inches by 15.75 inches by 16.5 inches.
