High-Definition Sound
WHEN I FIRST ran across JBL’s HDI series loudspeakers at the 2019 CEDIA Expo, I was struck by the line’s upscale looks and substantial build quality. The brand’s new speakers seemed more akin to the Revel models also being shown in parentcompany Harman’s sprawling booth than the budget-priced JBL Stage series towers Sound & Vision had reviewed earlier that year. The similarity is hardly an accident: The HDI series was designed at the same state-of-the-art engineering facility in Northridge, California that Revel products emerge from, and in such an environment, inter-brand synergy is bound to happen. No matter what the backstory, JBL’s latest speakers were radiating serious high-end mojo, and I was eager to get my hands on a set for listening.
The speaker JBL sent
