Mark Henninger

PRICE $4800/pair

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Powerful yet refined sound
Classic design
Adjustable midrange and treble

Minus
Need stands
Take up more floor space than tower speakers

THE VERDICT
The JBL L100 Classic MkII delivers a seamless blend of vintage aesthetics and modern acoustic performance, offering punchy, refined sound whether in stereo or home theater setups.

It’s hard to dispute the legendary status of the original JBL L100 when it comes to iconic speaker designs. Those retro Quadrex foam grilles have become as much a calling card for JBL as the crisp, punchy sound signature itself. After all, they are the descendants of the L100 Century speakers featured in the famous "Blown Away Guy" Maxell cassette tape ad.

With the L100 Classic MkII, JBL has updated the beloved 12-inch three-way design with modern acoustic engineering, resulting in a speaker that seamlessly blends vintage aesthetics with contemporary fidelity. I recently paired a set of L100 Classic MkIIs with a Denon AVR-A1H receiver in both 2.0 (stereo) and 4.1 configurations to see if the new L100s lived up to their near-mythical predecessors. Spoiler alert: They do—spectacularly.

TCL’s push to challenge the top TV brands appears to be gathering momentum. The company, which cites data placing it among the world’s second best-selling TV makers for the past six years, now says it’s doubling down on premium technologies to hold onto that spot—and perhaps narrow the gap with Samsung. TCL’s rise, in fierce competition with fellow Chinese manufacturer Hisense, has made it a contender in the U.S. market once dominated by a select group of established brands.

Hisense is introducing its first consumer-ready MicroLED display, dubbed the 136MX. According to the company, this 136-inch screen is designed to deliver the benefits of self-emissive technology—where each pixel handles its own light—to sidestep the pitfalls of traditional backlights. Hisense says that approach yields near-infinite contrast and color performance intended to stay consistent over time.

Samsung Electronics has introduced what it calls “Vision AI,” along with several new displays, at its CES First Look 2025 event. According to Samsung, this AI-powered technology is meant to move TVs beyond passive viewing devices and into the realm of “interactive, intelligent partners.”