CEDIA 2018

Harman has its affordable JBL Stage series speakers on display at CEDIA. The new speakers, which supersede the company’s previous entry-level Arena series, has a neat, retro look, with white paper-cone mid-bass drivers reminiscent of those found in the company’s professional studio monitors from a few decades back.

The new line is comprised of the A120 and A130 bookshelf and A170, A180, and A190 tower speakers, which range in price from $200 to $900. Two center channel speakers are included in the line, the A135C and A125C ($250 each), and there’s a pair of powered subs, the A120P ($450) and A100P ($350), which use 12- and 10-inch woofers, respectively.

JBL’s Stage speakers all have 1-inch aluminum dome tweeters housed in a “high definition imaging waveguide.” The A135C also provides a slender center channel option through the use of six 3-inch mid-bass drivers instead of the pair of 5.25 drivers used on the A125C. All Stage series models are available now.

Another new JBL product on display in the Harman booth is the Android TV-powered Link Bar ($399). JBL’s slender soundbar uses Google Assistant for voice control, and, with a built-in capability to stream video and audio from Chromecast-compatible apps, eliminates any need for an external Roku, Fire TV, or Apple TV streaming box. The Link Bar will arrive in November, and there’s also matching wireless subwoofer that will follow in December or early January.