Wednesday, December 2nd 2009

Harman Kardon Unveils the Coolest Speakers Ever Made

Harman Kardon's breathtakingly beautiful new GLA-55 high-end speaker system is now available to purchase in the UK. After much hype and expectation, the ice-cool speaker system has finally arrived, just in time to provide the ultimate gift for Christmas.

This eagerly-anticipated two-piece speaker system provides the perfect mix of cutting-edge style and impeccable sonic performance. Whilst boasting striking good looks in the form of a stylised clear glass design, the GLA-55 also packs a high-impact audio punch. Crisp soundscapes are delivered through the system's powerful Atlas woofers and crystal-clear CMMD tweeters. The GLA-55 speaker system combines art and science to deliver the ultimate audio solution for desktop computers, laptops and portable media players.
The GLA-55 is arguably now the best 2.0 speaker system available and excitement has been mounting since the concept was first unveiled at IFA. The design and sonic performance of the speakers have been tweaked to perfection to deliver the ultimate audio experience.

The GLA-55 system has a retail price of £749.99 and can be purchased from Apple in the UK.

The GLA-55 features many proprietary technologies to provide the highest quality sound possible; including:
  • Atlas AL and CMMD Transducers - The CMMD drivers provide accurate high frequencies, but are capable of low-frequency extension to four octaves; the Atlas AL drivers are capable of nearly 2,5 cm peak-to-peak travel for tight, accurate bass reproduction. Their pairing provides a full, rich frequency response, from the lowest bass to highest highs.
  • Slipstream Port Design - The GLA-55 port minimizes boundary layer separation, providing high-output bass with low distortion.
  • COE (Computer-Optimized Equalization) - The system equalization is computer-optimized to provide a rich, complete soundstage over a wide range of listening positions.
  • OCT (Optimized Compression Topology) - The GLA-55 system utilizes a proprietary compression technology to ensure clean, accurate sound at high output levels.
  • The Harman Kardon GLA-55 system is compatible with desktop computers (all platforms), laptops and MP3 and portable media players. In clear with chrome accents.
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41 Comments on Harman Kardon Unveils the Coolest Speakers Ever Made

#27
r1rhyder
My JBL 250 Ti's would shatter those things. :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#28
MKmods
Case Mod Guru
pantherx12Have you seen Harman Kardon sound sticks people?

Costs £86 for a 2.1 sound system with horrible sound quality and more silly see-throughness : /

I just don't understand why people buy from this brand.
quite a while ago I had HK head unit and amps for my car (were lower power but EXCELLENT) .

However these are just too ugly (un conventional) for me
Posted on Reply
#29
pantherx12
It could be the only stuff I've seen from them tends to be this fancy clear stuff.

Not come across any normal things in the UK thus far.
Posted on Reply
#30
Wile E
Power User
PP MguireI wish their sister brand JBL would make PC speakers like they do PA gear =( I absolutely love JBL PA gear and would drop any kind of coin for that same kinda quality in PC speakers with say, 5.1 flavor?
Yep, JBL has a killer bang-for-buck ratio going on in PA gear. I ran a mix of JBL and Carvin for live shows.

Harmon Kardon used to be a spectacular brand, but they have become less focused on quality over the years, and more focused on design, and have become vastly overpriced.
Posted on Reply
#31
erocker
*
What size are these speakers?
Posted on Reply
#32
Wile E
Power User
They look to be about 2" woofers from the pictures. Can't really tell for sure tho, without some point of reference.
Posted on Reply
#33
erocker
*
Ugh. Indeed they are a ripoff. I would love to hear them, but anything coming out of a 2" speaker isn't going to be work $1000 bucks.
Posted on Reply
#34
suraswami
"£749.99" :roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

I am going to post a pic of these speakers and the price next to it on the wall and roll on the floor and laugh all day long. :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::roll::roll::roll:
Posted on Reply
#35
pantherx12
Thing is I bet it costs them very very little to produce these speakers.
Posted on Reply
#36
PP Mguire
r1rhyderMy JBL 250 Ti's would shatter those things. :laugh:
I used to have a set of TR 225's for my PCs "2.1" :roll:

*sigh* I love JBL.

Wile E
Me and my dad use JBL tops and Cerwin Vega bottoms for live PA. Our Cerwins are custom made with solid pine (Only way you can get to speaker is a small port to install in...no other holes for solid bottom) and carry 3200w 18" Peavey Low Riders. Our tops are either his old 70's Kustom cabs (small shows) or JBL SRX's dual driver and 1" horn.


I hate to admit but i love the Kustom cabs better than the SRXs.
Posted on Reply
#37
PCpraiser100
LOL the model number makes me think of how clever their inventory system is with these speakers in stock: GLA55.
Posted on Reply
#39
niko084
Being an audiophile I can vouch for these speakers being a giant waste of money on some trashy sounding crap with outrageous distortion levels.

The longer the xmax on a driver the worse.
These tiny little drivers, sorry the old rules of physics still stand, big driver = low output, there is no such thing as a driver that small that does 60hz, maybe at -18db.

Next the power rating is completely ridiculous.

I hope HK goes out of business with all this CRAP they have been releasing lately and calling it "high end"

Want a 2.0 computer set look at KRK, they will rock these things silly sideways for less than half the price.

Want a 2.0 set here.
www.zzounds.com/item--KRKRP6G2

Sorry if I got emotional I can't stand when normally decent companies market such trash as "high end"

Personally I hate the way they look too.
Posted on Reply
#40
Roph
What rubbish. And I wasn't surprised to see apple's name crop up in the PR.

When Harman Kardon have their heads out of their asses, they make some quite nice integrated laptop speakers. My father's laptop has Kardon speakers and I'm very impressed by their performance (given their size / confinement).

These things are just rubbish though.
Posted on Reply
#41
demonbrawn
Wow. I think you would have to live in a space ship for these to not look so out of place. These have to be the most pointless speakers I've ever seen. I would never drop that kind of money on these speakers.
Posted on Reply
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