JBL's best speaker, the K2 S9900.
(Credit: JBL)Most of you probably think of JBL as a manufacturer of affordable high-performance speakers, but the company offers a truly vast range of consumer and professional models.
The K2 S9900 ($15,000 each) is the best consumer speaker JBL makes. It's a massive thing, weighing in at 182 pounds, and it's armed with a 15-inch woofer, 4-inch magnesium, horn-loaded midrange, and 1-inch magnesium horn-loaded tweeter. It can handle amplifiers as large as 500 watts a channel.
The JBL K2 S9900 will be equally at home in ultra-high-end music and home theater systems.
The K2 was originally developed for the seriously finicky Japanese audiophile market. There it has already achieved legendary status, and it was years before JBL brought it home. American hi-fi at its best.
I haven't heard this latest version of the K2, but I'm somewhat familiar with the previous K2 S9800. That one's sound was huge, incredibly effortless, and capable of delivering truly lifelike dynamic range. That last quality alone goes a long way to making reproduced sound sound realistic.
If you can afford the best, make it your business to hear the K2.
(Credit:
JBL)
CNET reviewed the JBL Duet II PC speakers earlier this year and had some good things to say about them, though we did think they were a little short on bass. Now we got our hands on the step-up model, the Duet III, which offers the same design but the speakers are blown up in size by about 25 percent.
The package includes zeppelin-shaped speakers measuring 4.6 inches by 4.6 inches by 12 inches (the Duet IIs are 10.5 inches tall). Their fronts have a metallic silver mesh (read: cloth) covering the speaker grilles while their backs have a glossy black finish. They're attractive, modern-looking, and go particularly well with iMac models that feature an aluminum finish.
Note: The actual price of the JBL Duet III speakers at Amazon is $112.86 (earlier they were as low as $75). To get the discount at Amazon (as of July 22, 2009), you have to add the product to your cart for it to show up with the reduced price.
On Sale Now: $104.01 - $149.99
View the latest prices for JBL Duet III
Extreme sports and music go hand in hand, so it's not surprising companies such as Skullcandy and Nixon take advantage of this relationship to market headphones to teens and young adults with an interest in such activities.
Now you can add Roxy to the list. The female-centric surfwear maker has teamed up with JBL to offer a line of stylish earphones aimed at young women. The middle-of-the-road model is a canalphone called the Reference 250 earphone that sells for $40. This reasonably priced set offers the best value of any of the headphones in the Roxy line, and sound quality isn't half bad.
Read our full Roxy Reference 250 earphone review.
Extreme sports and music go hand-in-hand, so it's not surprising that companies such as Skullcandy and Nixon take advantage of this relationship to market headphones to teens and young adults with an interest in such activities. Now you can add Roxy to the list.
The female-centric surfwear maker has teamed up with JBL to offer a line of stylish earphones aimed at young women. At the top end of the spectrum are the still-affordable Reference 430 headphones, an on-ear set that lists for $70. They're not particularly comfortable, and the bass may not be thumping enough for many, but the colorful style has a good chance of appealing to the target audience.
(Credit:
JBL)
Though they are portable devices, the iPod and the iPhone can make wonderful sources for headphone-free music when connected to speakers. Of course, wading through the glut of iPod-ready tabletop speakers on the market today takes patience and know-how, especially if you have an iPhone, which requires a unit with magnetic shielding for optimal performance.
Luckily, well-established audio device companies like JBL are providing more and more models with that feature, such as the JBL On Stage 400P. This $250 tabletop speaker dock is the largest of the On Stage line and bests its smaller siblings in sound quality. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to Bose's SoundDock, this is a good place to start.
Pink is great and all, but you can't expect to plaster a Pepto paint job on a product and have the ladies come running. The majority of tech-savvy females place more weight on quality and functionality than color and style anyway. Still, that's not to say we don't care at all about how a gadget looks, which is exactly what JBL and Roxy are counting on.
The two companies, one an audio device manufacturer (JBL) and the other a clothing and accessory line for women (Roxy), have just announced a partnership that will have them working together to create a headphone line aimed specifically at fashion-conscious women. Although there are no product particulars or images available at this time, you can expect the earphones to live up to JBL's standard of audio quality while incorporating Roxy's sporty-yet-fashionable ideals. In short: the headphones will be compact, lightweight, and stylish while not sacrificing on audio quality. Or at least that's what the two companies assert.
There's no solid date set as to when we might expect to see the products available on the market, though JBL hopes to start pushing out the first models in the line sometime next month. Vestalife did quite an admirable job incorporating the style of Element Skateboards into its special edition Ladybug iPod speaker, and I'm hoping to see similar results from JBL and Roxy.
Addendum: The rep for JBL pointed me at the "teaser image" below. It gives some idea of what the first products in the line will look like, despite the fact that it's not quite in focus.
(Credit:
JBL/Roxy)
The beauty of desktop speaker sets is that their universal connectivity (usually via a standard 3.5mm plug) makes them suitable for use with MP3 players and other audio devices in a pinch. Of course, many of the models on the market aren't exactly inspiring in the looks department. One exception to this rule is the JBL Duet II, a pair of "space-age" desktop speakers that retail for about $100. If you can get past the tangle of wires sprouting from the back, they're a solid option for your office, den, or dorm room listening needs.
Just what is that thing?
(Credit: Modu)On the second day of the GSMA World Congress, Modu added to the gallery of jackets it released last week by unveiling a new music jacket with JBL. Called the Modu Music Jacket (the company really has a way with clever names), it's designed to turn the tiny Modu phone into a pretty snappy music device.
On one side of the jacket are two JBL Odyssey speakers and dedicated music controls, while the opposite side resembles a regular cell phone with a 2.2-inch display, a full navigation array, and a standard alphanumeric keypad. Admittedly, it's a little odd-looking, but we like the concept.
Other features include USB connectivity, a 3-megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a digital sound meter. The jacket will be available later this year for an undisclosed price.
Did you know that Louis Vuitton, French manufacturer of leather "luxury" goods, will make you a special one-off case for anything you ask for if you can throw down the cash to pay for the work? Apparently this isn't a new service, but I'd never heard of it until today, when I stumbled upon the most ridiculous tech accessory I've ever seen. It's an iPod carrying trunk made of black Taiga leather with brass embellishments and a red microfiber interior made to spec for Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld. Don't believe me? Peep old boy's red initials engraved on top of the lid.
The majestic travel case houses a smaller drawer inside that can hold 20 iPods at once along with chargers, headphones, Maltese Falcons, and other accessories in Karl's mysterious cache. KL also instructed LV to cut him a compartment specifically for his precious JBL Creature iPod speakers and subwoofer combo. Wait, back up...why does he have 20 iPods? And JBL Creature speakers? Are you kidding me? Is there a spot in there for his Apple Newton and spare floppy disks, too? Someone should probably escort Mr. Lagerfeld to the nearest external hard drive, it'll blow his mind. After that, maybe a crash course on the progressive history of laptops and the current state of high fidelity speakers. Actually, forget it; maybe he can just pay Louis Vuitton to build him a leather-wrapped time machine to transport him back to 2004.
A new firmware update to the Zune allows you to indulge in two-player games by linking two Zunes over Wi-Fi.
Donald and Jasmine discuss the latest Zune firmware, as well as their opinions on the current state of Bluetooth technology.
Also this week, an iPod concept that takes fashion gadgetry to another level, cute and tiny travel speakers from Sony, and thoughts on HD radio. Plus, the winners of our Burton prize giveaway are announced.
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