Over the course of its remarkable history, JBL has remained true to the vision of audio excellence and innovation established by its founder James B. Lansing. A major contributor to many of the music industry’s most iconic events and venues, appreciated by professionals for its superior sound and by consumers for its immersive energy, JBL still brings music to life today.
The particularity of that innovation is a meticulous attention to detail. When designing a new product, JBL develops its own solutions, invents its own technologies, and creates its own tools with a willingness to follow the pioneering spirit of innovation wherever it may lead. Over the decades, JBL’s engineers have worked with talent and passion to produce a multitude of groundbreaking technologies, develop industry-leading audio, and set new standards of excellence in design.
From the movie theater to the home theater, from Hi-Fi to headphones, from portable speakers to in-car audio, JBL has charted its own path and built a legacy of innovation – garnering Grammy awards, Academy awards, and widespread recognition from the world’s most celebrated musicians and consumers along the way.
"JBL’s innovative design and audio heritage are one of a kind. What other name in the industry has been such a key enabler of musical pop culture and has been able to withstand the test of time? That heritage is largely owed to JBL's absolute commitment to quality, innovation, and to keeping the consumer front and center," says Dave Rogers, President, Harman Lifestyle Division. "The listener experience has always been JBL’s guiding light and as the decades have gone by, JBL has continuously offered rich and rewarding audio and lifestyle experiences for listeners everywhere."
An Exceptional Heritage
Over the past 75 years, JBL has played a unique role in the history of music, with a special place at the very heart of epic events and pivotal moments – like Woodstock, the Grateful Dead Wall of Sound, and Tomorrowland - alongside some of the world’s greatest talent. JBL’s legacy of exceptional audio began in 1946 with its founder, James B. Lansing, an inspired engineer with a taste for innovation who dared to dream big. From movie theaters to sporting events, from jazz clubs to concert arenas, from record-setting portable speakers to game-changing headphones, JBL has consistently contributed to the evolution of audio reproduction in professional, home, automotive, multimedia applications, and connected technologies. Today, JBL loudspeakers are used in more than half of the world’s movie theaters, sports stadiums, and music venues, and with well over 100 million portable speakers sold globally, JBL is the portable audio leader as well as the fastest-growing headphones brand on the planet.
In the spirit of Harman's mission to create memorable, elevated experiences, and to show that innovation is still the lifeblood of JBL, the company promoted an online event to present its latest products and also to introduce a few, very special, anniversary limited edition products. Among the new luxury audio products announced, is the new L100 Classic 75 loudspeaker that features the iconic, 1970's-style retro JBL L100 Classic design, including an iconic black Quadrex foam grille and exquisite teak wood veneer cabinets. With only 750 pairs of this historic product available, the exclusive loudspeaker features a unique signed rear-badge and Certificate of Authenticity to commemorate the anniversary.
The other product is the JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier. Inspired by the vintage JBL SA600 and SA660 integrated amplifiers from the 1960s and 1970s, the new JBL SA750 is a fitting tribute to the innovative leadership that JBL has consistently demonstrated since its founding in 1946. The SA750 features an iconic retro-inspired milled aluminum face panel with volume, balance and input dials and hefty switches for power, mute, direct, MC/MM phono, and Dirac Live room calibration. The face panel includes a 3.5mm Aux input and 3.5mm Headphones output, plus a 2-line orange LED screen. The look is completed by classic teak-wood veneer side panels to match the new anniversary edition JBL L100 Classic 75 loudspeakers.
JBL 75th Anniversary Edition L100 Loudspeaker
75 years after JBL’s founding and 51 years after the introduction of JBL’s iconic L100 Century loudspeakers, the two seminal events are celebrated with the launch of the limited edition JBL L100 Classic 75 — an exclusive take on the legendary best-selling JBL L100 loudspeaker.
"We have seen tremendous success with the latest L100 Classic model that we introduced in the fall of 2018," says Jim Garrett, Senior Director, Product Strategy and Planning, Luxury Audio, Harman. "We thought there was no better way to honor the 75th anniversary of the JBL brand than with a limited edition version of what is perhaps our most iconic loudspeaker of all time. This one-of-a-kind loudspeaker is destined to become a highly sought-after model by music lovers around the world."
The most immediately striking feature of the L100 Classic 75 is the beautiful teak wood veneer that graces all sides of the loudspeaker enclosure. The wood finish is complemented by a black Quadrex foam grille accented with a gold and black JBL logo. Special edition badges are found on the front and rear of the loudspeaker including a commemorative plaque that includes the signature of the principal system engineer, Chris Hagen, as well as the individual pair number out of the total 750 pair production run. Acoustically, the L100 Classic 75 features an improved woofer suspension design and a revised network to include bi-wire capabilities via a premium input cup with dual sets of gold plated binding posts. The L100 Classic 75 is sold as a matched pair system and includes a set of JS-120 floor stands. The entire system ships inside a specially-crafted wooden crate with limited edition artwork on the side panels.
The L100 Classic 75 features the JT025Ti2-4 1-inch (25mm) Titanium dome tweeter mated to a waveguide with an acoustic lens for optimal integration to the JM125PC-8 5-inch (125mm) cast-frame, pure-pulp cone midrange driver located directly below. The vertical HF and MF transducer arrangement is slightly offset to the right of the woofer below, with HF and MF attenuators located on the upper left of the front baffle. Low frequencies are delivered by the JW300SW-8 12-inch (300mm) cast-frame, white pure-pulp cone woofer operating in a bass-reflex enclosure system that is tuned via a single, front-firing port tube with flared exit.
The JBL L100 Classic 75 will be available beginning in April 2021 and retails at $5,500 a pair.
75th Anniversary JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier
If the walls of JBL’s storied Northridge, CA design center could talk, they’d sing the accolades of 75 years of pioneering acoustic, transducer and electronic design. They might also speak to the impact of JBL’s innovations on music, movies and broadcast audio but they could well be lost for words to capture the audio engineering and design of the new 75th Anniversary JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier.
The JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier features an iconic retro-inspired milled aluminum face panel. The retro-chic of the JBL SA750 design is contrasted by state-of-the-art high-output Class G amplification technology and streaming protocols including Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay 2. The SA750 also includes a high-resolution DAC, a switchable MM/MC phono input, support for UPnP wireless, full MQA file decoding, and is Roon Ready, plus a host of additional premium audio features including Dirac Live room calibration for optimized performance in any listening room.
The heart of the JBL SA750 integrated amplifier is a high-performance Class G amplifier that delivers 120W of power per channel into 8Ω and 220W per channel into 4Ω. This Class G design, Harman claims, provides "impeccable sound quality and efficiency operating as a Class A amplifier for low-level signals and switching in an additional power supply for large transients and dynamic waveforms. The result is incredible detail and accuracy at low levels, low crossover distortion, and high-current capability for extreme power demands."
Connectivity includes Ethernet and WiFi with UPnP for connecting to a home network; USB for playing files from removable memory drives; Ethernet and RS-232 serial control for third-party control systems; two optical and two coaxial digital inputs, and six pairs of analog RCA inputs. The JBL SA750 features two pairs of binding-post speaker connectors, a front-panel 3.5mm auxiliary input, a 3.5mm headphone output, and one stereo RCA preamp output.
"The SA750 combines the appeal of retro design with the most current room optimization and streaming technologies in the market,” says Jim Garrett, Senior Director, Product Strategy & Planning, Harman Luxury Audio. "It’s the best of both worlds — past and present — and is already generating considerable excitement among audiophiles and enthusiasts to whom we’ve previewed it."
The new JBL SA750 is priced at $3,000 with availability beginning in April 2021.
www.harman.com | www.jbl.com
