www.psneurope.com May 2013 l 47
livereport
especially in the tour sound market, says Bradley. “For example, in tour sound, we have a new product in the pipeline and we’re going to do a two- month beta test period with a couple of our customers to let them take it out for a few shows, kick the tyres and come back and say, ‘This is what we found, you should think about doing this.’ That allows us to make modifications and changes instead of just saying ‘Here’s the product, here’s what it is, now you can buy it.’” JBL Professional unveiled its new
flagship studio monitor system, the M2, at NAMM. “There are eight patents or patent-pending technologies in that product,” says Bradley. “It really is a game-changer. Not only for what it does, but for the price point it lives at.” The M2 is indicative of a larger philosophy, according to Bradley. “We’re focused on fortifying our position as the maker of the best- sounding loudspeakers in the business, from studio to cinema to installed sound,” he elaborates. From now, he says, JBL will start by designing the best possible product, before exploring ways to simplify the technology to make it more accessible at lower price points – rather than start at the budget end and adding features. It’s not unlike what sister company Soundcraft is doing with its Si platform (see story, page 41). The process, says Bradley, is “real
science. It isn’t, ‘Let’s just smack this feature on this product, do it as cheap as possible and move on.’” That philosophy spills over into each
of the vertical markets JBL serves, Bradley says. “We are quickly pushing towards getting the few remaining products needed to fill out the VTX line into the market in the next six months. Most houses that have gone with VTX have really loved it and it’s a very versatile product.”
Acclaimed producer Frank Filipetti at the NAMM launch of the JBL M2 studio monitor
But that’s just one example,
according to Bradley. “You’re going to see a lot of revamped products with some of the new technologies that are being created here. You’re going to see a very aggressive product release schedule from JBL over the next 18 months.” JBL is not isolated within the larger
corporation; Bradley cited the co-operation between the Harman Professional brands as an advantage for JBL. Along with the availability of engineering expertise in power amplification from Crown, processing from dbx and BSS, the recent acquisition of lighting company Martin
The process is
“real science. It isn’t, ‘Let’s just smack this feature on this product, do it as cheap as possible and move on’”
Bryan Bradley, Harman Pro
Professional provides a “case in point” for Harman’s commitment to providing “the best system possible to all of our customers”. “There’s a lot of opportunity for us to do some amazing things because we’ve got great partners, we’ve got great people here,” Bradley concludes. “I wasn’t hired for a turnaround. I was brought in to help make it even better. And that’s what I’m trying to do. My phrase as I see what’s going on around here is ‘My flabbers are gasted’. I’m just working on how to communicate that to the world.”n
www.harmanpro.com www.jblpro.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60