New JBL products

[CONVERGENCE]

I think JBL is going to be quiet for a while.
There's really nothing they can invent that will make a difference.

We might assist the reissue of old models.

[Ian Mackenzie]

No they have announced a new range here in Australia.

[CONVERGENCE]

No they have announced a new range here in Australia.

In the Pro division or consumer division ?

[Don C]

The future seems to be Samsung using the JBL name to sell their products. The new "partyspeakers" are showing us what this will look like.

[Ian Mackenzie]

https://www.stereo.net.au/news/jbl-delivers-industry-leading-acoustics-with-hdi-series-loudspeaker-range

[Don C]

Those are nice to see. Maybe I'm too pessimistic lately.

[BMWCCA]

Expected here in the USA May 28th: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_109HDI38WN/JBL-HDI-3800-Satin-Walnut.html

In stock now: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_109HDI16WN/JBL-HDI-1600-Satin-Walnut.html
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_109HDI36WN/JBL-HDI-3600-Satin-Walnut.html

[grumpy]

(re the smaller system)

85db sensitivity? pad the horn to match the small(ish) woofer and cabinet... & more room for passive EQ, I suppose.

Would be interesting to hear a Revel M106 in comparison. Roughly the same price.

Not bad looking.

[Titanium Dome]

The news has been out for a while.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/jbl-aims-high-new-hdi-speaker-range

IMO, JBL and Revel speakers are looking more and more alike. When the decision was made some years back that JBL floor standers would tend toward horns on top and Revel would feature direct radiators, that appears to be the only obvious distinction anymore.

JBL: narrow baffle 1, 2, or 3 woofers with a compression driver and horn in a linear arrangement
Revel: narrow baffle 1, 2, or 3 woofers, maybe with a direct radiator mid, and with a waveguide/tweeter in a linear arrangement

The speakers have different levels of fit and finish (Revel being given the better cabinetry) and components (Revel having more expensive materials).

Yes, there remains some legacy JBL designs still available in the Synthesis® and Pro lines such as K2 S9900, Everest DD67000 and other "Summit Series" products; the M2 and its derivatives like 708, 705, and 4367, and of course the Classic monitor designs, such as the new L100 Classic or existing 43xx designs that used to be limited to Japan. Yet we know the famous designers and engineers for many of these loudspeakers are long departed, anecdotally for not embracing the new company design directive toward sameness.

Speaker designers want to experiment, prototype, improve and, yes, even fail in the pursuit of advancing the art and the science of loudspeaker development. Corporate suits and marketing people want to cut costs and make money for themselves and stockholders. That's much easier to do with unity of design, consolidation of operations, and outsourcing of manufacturing.

(That sure went off the road quickly.)

[Ian Mackenzie]

Hi Doug,

My impression is they are hiring millennials on a short term basis to design systems for their own generation.

Here today. Gone tomorrow.

This is the thing.

The number of followers and users of JBL legacy designs (up till GT's last system) is exponentially larger than the market for these new offerings.

The actual followers are looking at JBL for the next big thing. But they are not coming out with the next big thing. So nothing's happening.

JBL used to be a brand that wowed the market with its products.

Instead they have been franchising the legacy value of the brand to the mass market.

They need to get back to their roots and get serious with the product and distribution.

[BMWCCA]

Anyone had a chance to hear these yet? Any impressions?
JBL HDI-3800 (https://www.hifinews.com/content/jbl-hdi-3800-loudspeaker?fbclid=IwAR2_nQqNZefgr_lzLtf5NcmsqsUEa nY8puxy43tYyfxkE68LJ3Dtex8bo5s)