New Products

JBL, one of the crown jewels of Harman’s portfolio of audio brands, has announced a retro-styled bookshelf speaker that draws on decades of experience building professional monitors for recording studios.

Due out in June, the new 4309 Studio Monitor ($2,000/pair) is modeled after — and looks almost identical to — the high-end 4349 monitor JBL rolled out last summer with a steep price tag of $7,500/pair. Both models are two-way horn designs but the 4309 mates a 1-inch compression driver with a 6.5-inch pulp-cone woofer in a smaller bookshelf-friendly enclosure. By comparison, the 4349 pairs a 1.5-inch compression driver with a 12-inch woofer in a cabinet 29 inches tall.

“Our Studio Monitor series of high-performance loudspeakers are some of our most popular models globally as there simply isn’t anything else like them,” said Jim Garrett, senior director of product strategy and planning for Haman’s Luxury Audio Group. “The combination of the 4309’s powerful woofer, compression driver, and horn harmoniously combine to render music with authority and accuracy; performance impossible with a traditional loudspeaker design. We expect these to be desirable to music lovers who want the performance of the JBL 4349 in a more compact size.”

Designed at Harman’s world-famous acoustic engineering facility in Northridge, California, the 4309 incorporates many of the same patented technologies used in the larger 4349, including JBL’s High-Definition Imaging (HDI) horn and compression driver technology.

The 4309 Studio Monitor sports JBL’s iconic blue baffle and is equipped with dual gold-plated binding posts to accommodate a single-ended or bi-wire/bi-amplified connection. Two furniture-grade satin wood-veneer finishes will be offered: walnut with a blue cloth grille or black walnut with a black grille.

In announcing the 4309, JBL noted that the speaker has received a “Red Dot” for outstanding product design under Germany’s prestigious Red Dot Design Award program.

For more information, visit jblsynthesis.com.