Why DD67000 and K2-S9900 just don't matter...

[Mr. Widget]

Recently I saw the announcement that a very lightly tweaked L100 Classic was being rolled out as the 75th Anniversary JBL... quite a change from the full blown assault on the audio industry just 15 years ago with the JBL 60th anniversary roll out of the DD66000.

Watch this: https://explore.harman.com/video/lifestyle/

...and you see that Harman and JBL know where their market is and how to stay in business another 75 years.
In the spirit of this exciting development I have spent some time thinking about this and have come up with an appropriate slogan for the company:

JBL, oh how bland we are!

Maybe they can change their logo from a vibrant orange to a more appropriate beige.


Widget

[JeffW]

People who are used to seeing original L100 on Craigslist for a few hundred evidently thought that these new models should cost the same.

Even so, I'm guessing the L100 is what put JBL on a lot of boomer's radar and I guess they are trying to tap into that nostalgia.

Not a lot of people looking for a pair of huge 67000 (I know at least one guy who owned a pair and passed them on due to WAF issues ;) ), I hold JBL's feet to the fire more for never (or grudgingly after a period) selling many models in the US. Not sure why they thought that was a good idea - how popular would the original L100 have been if never sold in the US?

Anyway, the company appears to be nigh on unrecognizable when compared to the L100 era, no amount of hand wringing from former customers will ever make it back into what we remember..

[Mr. Widget]

People who are used to seeing original L100 on Craigslist ...I'd submit more people are familiar with the famous Maxell tape ad than with L100s. Most people I know lump L100s in with the product category they call large brown boxes. This includes '70s receivers, TVs, speakers... but that is most people. Then there are those who collect this stuff. It takes all kinds. :bouncy:

That said, I'll guess you didn't watch any of the almost 30 min. video. I only watched bits of it jumping over most chunks hoping to find something of interest. It is almost entirely about headphones and bluetooth speakers. Products generally considered landfill after a few months, not the sort of thing you might consider handing down to a later generation.


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[JeffW]

I admit to not watching it, wrongly assuming it was to do with the 75th anniversary L100 roll out.

[pos]

Wait, they mention audioheritage at 10:09! :p

[Robh3606]

Yes they do and legacy is so important done at 10:09:10

Rob:)

[grumpy]

"Get ready, collectors" :rotfl:

I'm old. Presentation blew chunks as far as I'm concerned.
FWIW, 24:50 gets you to the "Luxury" element.
Won't get that time back.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Recently I saw the announcement that a very lightly tweaked L100 Classic was being rolled out as the 75th Anniversary JBL... quite a change from the full blown assault on the audio industry just 15 years ago with the JBL 60th anniversary roll out of the DD66000.

Watch this: https://explore.harman.com/video/lifestyle/

...and you see that Harman and JBL know where their market is and how to stay in business another 75 years.
In the spirit of this exciting development I have spent some time thinking about this and have come up with an appropriate slogan for the company:

JBL, oh how bland we are!

Maybe they can change their logo from a vibrant orange to a more appropriate beige.


Widget

I think the action is with this press release. The margins and the demand is with the integrators.
JBL basically destroyed the DD67000 market and the product with stupid distribution and pricing management following Greg Timber’s departure. The competition just walked in and took the market

Flagship SCL-1 Loudspeaker and SSW-1 Subwoofer

[macaroonie]

I have some hope that things will be OK

Samsung have a big responsability taking on the brand portfolio that Harman have.

Levinson , AKG , JBL et al FWIW a guy in my village was sporting one if those little bluetooth JBL speakers. I'll tell ya for what it was it sounded really good. If that translates into 'our ' kind of speaker sales then good.
The job of taking on a legacy brand like JBL , Pro and Domestic is huge just to keep the old docs available.
JBL tour sound is cutting edge on a worldwide level Russia , Asia US Europe. They are not about to let that slip and we know about trickle down in the JBL line......Whats that little two way blue front ? As a hors d'ouvre I think it looks pretty good and is probably a sign of things to come.

Good luck to them. M

[Mr. Widget]

I have some hope that things will be OK
I’m confident that Samsung will make money with JBL and Harman... and there are interesting developments. Samsung Pro is rolling out a commercial cinema LED display wall that is promising. Since LED panels are not acoustically transparent, they have been working with JBL to produce speakers that can be deployed with these displays to create a sound field that appears to come from within the image.

That of course was pre-COVID. I imagine the roll out has been roughed up by the turmoil in the commercial cinema market. Assuming commercial cinemas make a comeback we will likely hear more about this.

I think that this work is very interesting and I look forward to more interesting products from JBL Pro... but I don’t have much hope for another Paragon or Everest in the Samsung/JBL universe.


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[macaroonie]

I’m confident that Samsung will make money with JBL and Harman... and there are interesting developments. Samsung Pro is rolling out a commercial cinema LED display wall that is promising. Since LED panels are not acoustically transparent, they have been working with JBL to produce speakers that can be deployed with these displays to create a sound field that appears to come from within the image.

That of course was pre-COVID. I imagine the roll out has been roughed up by the turmoil in the commercial cinema market. Assuming commercial cinemas make a comeback we will likely hear more about this.

I think that this work is very interesting and I look forward to more interesting products from JBL Pro... but I don’t have much hope for another Paragon or Everest in the Samsung/JBL universe.


Widget

Revel was of course Harmans ' audiophile ' brand , I think that the DD/ Everest models never quite hit the button in the audiophile market. As I know from experience Harmans marketing remained woeful from a dealers point of view. They just never got away from the Mayonaisse days.
Case in point , how many proper dealers with proper demo stock of good quality JBL models are there in the US. All that spot discounting just made the dealers walk away , left with dead stock that cost them more than the sale price online.
Yes Synthesis seems tight , I don't know of a Synthesis dealer in the UK.

Youll get a laugh frm this. As a JBL dealer we periodically dabbled in pro , it started out simple like having 4301's and 4313's as an alternative to L series eqivalents. It was fine for a while and then JBL consumer ond JBL pro within Harman UK started bickereing. I wanted a pair of 4430 for stock but pro said no ( all of a sudden.
So I'm down at this trade show in that London and there is a meet coming with all those guys. I could smell what was coming. Consumer was OK but Pro had come up with a crazy front end stock plan way beyond what we could or would want to cope with. Anyway the discussion was going round in circles , eveyone was smoking in those days , well I had come prepared with a couple of cigs with the joke firecrackers in them. You should have seen their faces when the bangs went off.
THEN I weighed into them starting with ' have I got you forkers attention yet? May I speak please '
I hasten to add there was no pro dealer in Scotland although I was doing a fair load of recones on 15" 's , and all the kits came from pro. They wern't unhappy about that , a point I made to them forcefully.
Result , I got unlimited access to Pro on a piece by piece basis and guess what , bit by bit we built up a steady flow.

MAYO !!

[Cyclotronguy]

The wife would be perfectly happy with "Everest" or most anything from
Greg. The SCL and I would be on the thrash heap together

[Earl K]

Nice Story Mac!

Loved the exploding cigarettes part.

:)

[macaroonie]

Nice Story Mac!

Loved the exploding cigarettes part.

:)

You shoulda been there Earl , there was them all suited and booted trying to be corporate. The big boss was splitting his sides , it was him that sorted it all out.
But thats where Harman went wrong.

Having said that their portfolio of brands at the end was very impressive , so what do I know.

[AlanD]

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?42133-Future-JBL-products-announced-in-Japan

Pre-Covid, there were promises of a SUMMIT series product but it may just be the DD67000 with the BMS compression driver.

[Mr. Widget]

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?42133-Future-JBL-products-announced-in-Japan

Pre-Covid, there were promises of a SUMMIT series product but it may just be the DD67000 with the BMS compression driver.Promises? Threat seems more apropos. :banghead:

I forgot about that thread. In this thread Mac and Ian pointed to JBL's moves towards the CI (custom install for the uninitiated) market sector as their new residential focus. And that is where the smart money is since it is growing as opposed to the contracting brick and mortar retail sector. Unfortunately, I don't think they are making great headway in that sector either. I am not aware of many firms embracing their product offerings. As a full time CI system designer I almost never specify Harman products as there are almost always other brands that better fit our needs or our customers' needs.


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[Thomax]

https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20201021-1429252/

Seems the plans have changed a bit, that the new "Summit Series" initially set to release in 2021 for the 75th anniversary are postponed after 2021. Hence the tweaked L100 and new receiver to fil the gap.


"JBL Studio Monitor will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020 and the 75th anniversary of JBL's founding in 2021. JBL plans to launch a flagship series named "SUMMIT SERIES" after 2021, and although development has been delayed due to the influence of the new coronavirus infection, development will continue regardless of the anniversary. .."

[Kay Pirinha]

Hi,

the music in this video is as boring, for not to say annoying, exactly as these advertised lifestyle products are. Not even Lang Lang gets appropriate background. My attention just rose a bit when it came next to the end with the L100 and SA750 presentations.

Btw, this Michael Mauser is German, isn't he? At least his pronounciation is as humble as mine when I'm trying to speak English (but better than Guenther Oettinger's and Guido Westerwave's anyway :p).

Best regards!