JBL Launches Time Machine at HARMAN ExPLORE: Introduces 75th Anniversary JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier
$3,000 April 2021
・Inspired by the vintage JBL SA600 and SA660 integrated amplifiers from the 1960s and 1970s
・Class G amplification technology 120W 8Ω 220W 4Ω Efficiency operating as a Class A amplifier for low-level signals and switching in an additional power supply for large transients and dynamic waveforms.
・Dirac Live room calibration ・Iconic retro-inspired milled aluminum face panel ・Classic teak-wood veneer side panels ・High-resolution DAC ・MQA file decoding ・Roon Ready ・UPnP wireless ・MC/MM phono ・3.5mm Aux input and 3.5mm Headphones output
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;
Class G amplification technology on the new JBL SA750 delivers high output sound performance and greater efficiency.
NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA, January 7TH, 2021 — 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 craftsmanship, audio engineering and design of the new 75th Anniversary JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier debuting today at a virtual event, HARMAN ExPLORE.
The JBL SA750 Integrated Amplifier features an iconic retro-inspired milled aluminum face panel with luxurious 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 display screen. The look is completed by classic teak-wood veneer side panels to match the new anniversary edition JBL L100 Classic 75 loudspeakers – also debuting at HARMAN ExPLORE.
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 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,” said 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.”
Over the last 75 years, JBL has become an icon of audio innovation by way of its unique and storied history with artists, producers and audio engineers to create exceptional listening experiences for consumers around the world. JBL’s unwavering commitment to originality, quality and craftsmanship is mirrored in the artists’ dedication to their craft and their singular determination to create timeless music and movies.The depth and scale of JBL’s innovations in transducer technology and acoustic design is unmatched anywhere. With more patents, awards and iconic deployments, JBL continues to be a force of innovation wherever sound matters.
The new JBL SA750 is priced at $3,000 with availability beginning in April 2021.
Modeled on the best-selling JBL L100 Classic, the limited edition JBL L100 Classic 75 is a testimonial to the groundbreaking engineering and thoughtful design displayed by JBL over the last 75 years
NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA, January 7th, 2021 – 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 and commemorated at HARMAN ExPLORE, with the launch of the limited edition JBL L100 Classic 75 — an exclusive take on the legendary best-selling JBL L100 loudspeaker.
The L100 Classic 75 features the same iconic, 1970’s-style retro design as the JBL L100 Classic, with vintage JBL styling 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, commemorating 75th years in our homes.
“We have seen tremendous success with the latest L100 Classic model that we introduced in the fall of 2018,” said 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.
Over the last 75 years, JBL has become an icon of audio innovation by way of its unique and storied history with artists, producers and audio engineers to create exceptional listening experiences for consumers around the world. JBL’s unwavering commitment to originality, quality and craftsmanship is mirrored in the artists’ dedication to their craft and their singular determination to create timeless music and movies.The depth and scale of JBL’s innovations in transducer technology and acoustic design is unmatched anywhere. With more patents, awards and iconic deployments, JBL continues to be a force of innovation wherever sound matters.
The JBL L100 Classic 75 will be available beginning in April 2021 and retails at $5,500 a pair.
Flagship Components
The same revolutionary system architecture, sophisticated software control and expandable, configurable topology as the 1 Series but with unprecedented levels of performance.
Applying every lesson we’ve learnt, questioning every assumption.
Refining PCB layouts and sourcing superior components.
Going back to the drawing board to offer new circuit solutions and even greater versatility in operation.
Two box topology with separate dedicated power supplies for both pre and power.
Three colours and customizable chassis finish configurations.
More power, more capability but above all, much more performance.
The 10 Series has exceeded even our expectations. Let it exceed yours…
L10 Dual Monaural Twin-Chassis Line Preamplifier
When it comes to musical integrity, nothing says “walk silently – but carry a big stick!” quite like the new L10.
When it comes to high-end electronics, there are fewer top-flight line preamplifiers than any other product category, a fact that reflects just how critical their role is to system performance – and how difficult they are to design. So, when you already build the L1, widely recognised as one of the finest line preamplifiers ever heard, how do you set about improving it?
By keeping the recipe and refining the ingredients – something that’s easily said but which has taken all of our accumulated knowledge and experience to achieve. But achieve it we did. The L1 set a new benchmark. The L10 sets an entirely new standard for musical performance.
Any line-stage needs to be quiet, transparent and stable. It needs to be seen and not heard – at least until you remove it from your system. Then you should hear exactly what it brings to the party! It must anchor the incoming signals and deliver them onwards, propelled from a firm footing that ensures dynamic and musical authority. It must pass the source signals in your system, without limitation or disturbance, leaving no trace of itself on their passage. It must be all powerful but also invisible…
The L10 retains the fully discrete, balanced and complementary design, ultra-short signal paths and heavily regulated and filtered, multi-stage power supplies, wide-bandwidth, high slew-rate and DC coupled topology of the L1. It incorporates the same sophisticated R-2R ladder volume control, sophisticated DC detection and cancellation circuitry and software control. But while the overall topology might seem familiar, the execution takes performance to a completely new level.
Signal paths have been further shortened and their routing refined, to reduce induced noise and distortion.
Every single discrete component in the signal path has been reassessed and wherever possible upgraded.
The external power supply is a dedicated design, specific to and optimized for the L10, with increased regulation and massively increased capacity.
Feedback topology can be user selected between local and global settings to suit musical preferences and system requirements.
The result is the most musically sophisticated line preamplifier that money can buy: A lower noise-floor, increased transparency, harmonic layers and textures (especially at low frequencies), wider dynamic range, greater dimensionality and a more natural tonal palette. But what really elevates the performance is the sheer sense of human agency, purpose and drama – from the smallest, poised musical nuance to the most shocking orchestral crescendo, the clarity of the most convoluted solo line to the drive and impact of the most powerful rock band. Irrespective of scale or genre, whether it’s a time to reflect or a time to party, the L10 will breathe life into your music, transport you to the original recording.
Being a CH Precision component, versatility, upgradability (to full four-chassis, true monaural topology) user configurable operation and a full-function control interface come as standard. Exceptional audio and musical performance comes as standard too – except that in this case, that performance is truly extraordinary.
M10 Stereo Power Amplifier
In a few short years, our M1.1 has become a classic, setting the standard in terms of both performance and versatility. So superseding it, establishing a completely new level of musical capability was always going to demand a major effort and a complete re-think, re-examining every part down to component level. The result was a unique new input stage that significantly outperforms existing circuits, all new circuit boards, re-laid to minimise induced noise and distortion and upgraded components throughout the signal path – all contributing to a dramatic increase in low-level resolution, transparency, natural tonality and musical flow. But at the other end of the scale, headroom is a major limitation on amplifier performance. Dynamic swings can test even the M1.1’s generous 200 W/Ch rated output, so for the M10 we didn’t just increase that by 50%, we doubled the power supply capacity too, creating an output stage with massive musical potential. That reservoir of power doesn’t just come into play on musical climaxes. It gives the quietest passages and instruments the same stable clarity and presence you hear in real life, it precisely traces changes in level and musical density, it holds instruments separate but places them precisely within a single space. It recreates the energy and chemistry of the original performance – and when that performance reaches its climax, the M10 reproduces that too. Effortlessly!
It’s when you try to put all that musical potential in a box that the physical challenges begin. Power supplies are big – and they’re heavy. Building a single chassis to accommodate the M10 was certainly possible, but the resulting product would have been somewhere between difficult and impossible to move or house. That’s why the M10 amplifier comes in a twin-chassis configuration. Those two outwardly similar boxes are not mono-blocs. Instead they are an amplifier stage and a separate power supply chassis. Even splitting the M10 like this, each box is a two-man lift, although they retain the M1.1’s manageable dimensions and will fit into standard racks.
What the M10 also shares with the M1.1 is that amplifier’s versatile topology and user configurable operating parameters. That makes the M10 four amps in one, with output configurable for stereo, bi-amp operation, high-current or high-power mono – in which mode it delivers over 1KW into an 8 Ohm load. The modular input options have been simplified and users can now adjust global feedback ratio (damping factor) in 1% steps, allowing even finer speaker and system matching.
Twice the size of the M1.1 the M10 delivers more power, is just as versatile and even more configurable. With unique circuitry, improved components and more refined signal routing, it improves on the performance of the established model in every single respect. Our goal was to raise the bar. Listening to the M10, even we are surprised just how high it’s been set.
More than two decades after founding TIDAL-Audio in the year 1999 we start herewith a new chapter in our successful journey. We are proud to share our newly established partnership with one of the most prestigious brands in the luxury and technology segment in the market – worldwide famous for performance and exclusivity in its own stratospheric heights: BUGATTI.
Both companies are united in a shared philosophy – to strive for perfection without limits in order to perform with exceptional effort and uncompromising spirit.
This cooperation and project are a significant quantum step up from everything we have built before, designed to establish in every possible way a new category of music systems for your home. Expressed in immaculate execution in every little detail and embossed in a polished stainless-steel plaque on all these masterpieces with an engraving as simple as it explains it all perfectly: TIDAL for BUGATTI. A piece of art on its own which takes it timeless spot in your living environment as an unique center of gravity bringing joy to all your senses for many years to come.
The Bugatti of home audio. Literally.
The first TIDAL for BUGATTI masterpiece is the ROYALE series. A name not just given lightheaded, since not only it reflects one of the most prestigious models in the BUGATTI heritage and product history. Also for us it means it is ‘the crown jewel’ of everything we achieved so far, compressing and repackaging all our famous merits – sound, design and finish at state-of-the-art level – in such a high density that we classify it a game changer without hesitating. TIDAL founder and CEO Jörn Janczak has always had a strong passion for sports cars during his whole life and Bugatti in particular had a specific fascination to him given Bugatti’s historic heritage and unique balance between art, craftsmanship and technology. Bugatti has mastered to overcome barriers of what seeems to be humanly possible in industrial art. This excitement and personal promise formed the strong fundament for this project and alliance. What can be noticed and experienced is quite simple: a visual promise of a breathtaking performance that is built within and unfolds to unmatched levels when unleashed – just like the unique experience of a hyper car.
Superlative Quality becomes its own Metaphor.
Not without reason we promote it this way. The design and execution itself are both a reflection and expression of what to be expected beyond the visible part. The complex cabinet, the internal multichannel amplifier with sheer endless power and silky finesse, the diaphragms made out of diamond, ceramic and light-metal and the hybrid concept out of passive and active technologies – each and every detail at the ROYALE series was designed build only for this project. Not a single part can be found in any other product. And yet all our technology works its magic behind the scenes, like the revered world-famous chef at a world-class restaurant. It operates as a discreet, undetectable conduit that conveys the message of the music whilst perfectly preserving its original sonic fingerprint.
Monocoque or Duotone.
We do offer various configurations, finishes being in line of the spirit of Bugatti’s hyper sport car series and the uniqueness that the brand always represented. And what we have become famous for in execution of finishes when it comes to audio equipment. There are two main cabinet themes: Monococque and Duotone. The Monocoque series offers a “shaped out of one block” theme, every choice of a single color in either real piano lacquer or original BUGATTI lacquers. We think the Monocoque is the perfect choice when it comes to black and white. The Duotone theme offers choices of colors and materials to harmonize with each other and execute every pair into a one off. The front-part in white and the back-part in polished macassar veneer. Or in black piano finish and dark grey carbon fiber. Our prestigious clients’ imagination and wish is what dictates the execution.
Individuality.
Another choice are the metal parts, divided in three groups: aluminum, stainless-steel and precious metal designs. Either velvet glass-pearl blasted, brushed or structured, silver, grey or dark and all colors in between – the aluminum package offers almost endless possibilities. Stainless-steel on the other hand is what TIDAL became famous for to execute onto a level beyond every chrome plating. What one sees is what one gets – the real rare material ingredient itself. And it is also the base for all precious metal platings such as gold or rose-gold for example. Needless to say that side grills also can be individualized into every them, such as the front-plate could be selected in mentioned metals, carbon fiber or leather.
ROYALE Limited Edition.
The start of the partnership manifests itself in two limited edition – “ROYALE Edition Blanc” and “ROYALE Edition Noir”. The outside beauty expresses itself in its explicit mono thematic color choices in combination with the Monocoque theme and does provide sophisticated elegance with its sublime contrasts executed all metal parts in polished stainless steel. The “Edition Blanc” appears with its sculptural design in this color ‘feather light’ while blending perfectly into open and spacious interiors. The “Edition Noir” embodies the elegance of black piano finish surface and sets a bold statement, while appearing timeless as a black grand concert piano. Consistently also in the ‘Edition Noir’ all metal parts are made out of massive block of stainless-steel in luxury watch quality and carefully polished and offers a reflecting contrast theme.
We are very proud to share our newly established partnership with one of the most prestigious brands in the luxury and technology segment in the market – worldwide famous for performance and exclusivity in its own stratospheric heights: BUGATTI.
Speaker maker Harbeth Audio Ltd. is set to capitalise on its position as the UK’s most successful wholly-British loudspeaker brand.
Harbeth’s owner and designer Alan Shaw has announced that Terry Miles is joining Harbeth’s engineering department in January 2021.
“Terry brings to us over forty years with a smaller competitor and our combined lifetime of product knowledge in this industry of some 75 years will accelerate our position as the premier supplier.” Alan added: “I have so many R&D projects calling on my time that need to be taken to production that Terry will have a lot on his plate here!”
Terry Miles said “Joining Harbeth is a natural progression for me. I’ll have the resources to turn our vision into reality and the backing of a team of open, like-minded, focused professionals. Experiencing Harbeth and its people and technical resources from the inside has been a revelation. I can’t wait to make a contribution using their state-of-the-art facilities.”
