Loudspeakers

JBL's hi-fi speaker lineup (not including its numerous in-wall and portable solutions) spans a truly mammoth price range across many different styles. One near-uniform element, however, is the use of a compression drive unit voiced through the brand's moulded HDI horn. You'll find these on its entry-level Stage 2 models, where the smallest £329 Stage 240B bookshelf mounts a 25mm alloy dome tweeter in an HDI horn. They also feature on the suitably named HDI series, which launched in 2020 with a pair of floorstanders and a bookshelf model, and on its Studio 2 and Studio Monitor ranges, the latter including the two-way 4349 speaker [HFN Mar '21] where the tweeter output can be tuned via passive HF and UHF (±2dB) adjustments.

Currently, the only JBL loudspeakers not to feature a horn-loaded drive unit are those in its Classic Series [HFN May '19], which resurrects models from the 1970s. The L100 Classic MKII, L82 Classic MKII and L52 Classic all mount titanium dome tweeters in relatively conventional, shallow waveguides. Of course, one difference between all these models and the remainder of JBL's vast catalogue is that they come in handed left/right pairs with the mid and treble units offset from the bass axis, a design approach that was in fashion when the original models were produced. JBL has, however, released mirror-imaged horn loudspeakers in the more recent past, most notably with its first ever Project Everest DD55000 model [HFN Apr '88].