John
HARMAN’s Luxury Audio Group has today added a new standmount loudspeaker to its JBL Synthesis line-up. The new 4309 Studio Monitor takes the 4349’s template – compression driver, waveguided HDI horn, cast-framed, pure pulp cone mid/bass driver, UHF trim pot – and puts it in a smaller cabinet (42 cm x 26cm x 23cm) ready to sit on a 60cm stand.
The result is a more compact loudspeaker – not easy to judge from the supplied photos – that puts JBL’s ‘2410H-2′ 1″ tweeter, 6.5″ mid-bass unit and twin-firing reflex ports upfront and two sets of gold-plated binding posts ’round back.
The 4349’s retro-styling has also been carried over to the new, smaller model and has already earned the 4309 a Red Dot Design Award for 2021: JBL’s ‘iconic’ blue baffle with a choice of walnut or black “furniture-grade satin wood veneers”. Like Zu Audio, HARMAN/JBL understands that loudspeakers are pieces of audio furniture.
Not that it’s the new model is all show and no tell. The 4309 was designed by HARMAN engineers at their world-renowned facility in Northridge, CA. From the press release: “JBL’s revolutionary High-Definition Imaging (HDI) horn and compression driver technology is the culmination of 75 years of ongoing research and innovation”.
Impedance and efficiency are rated by JBL at 4 Ohms nominal and 87dB (@ 2.83V/1m) respectively. Low-frequency handling is rated as 6dB down at 42Hz.
Pricing on the 4309 Studio Monitor comes in at £1799 or US$2000. That’s per pair.
Further information: JBL Synthesis
