HARMAN Luxury Audio introduced the JBL Summit Everest and Summit K2 floor-standing loudspeakers at HIGH END Vienna, completing a five-model Summit Series that marks JBL's 80th anniversary, per HARMAN.
The two models occupy the top of what HARMAN calls the fifth "Project" loudspeaker family in JBL's history, a designation used only four times before, beginning with Project Hartsfield in 1954. The JBL Summit Everest, named for the world's highest peak and the successor to four generations of Project Everest going back over 40 years, carries an MSRP of $159,990 per pair. The Summit K2, successor to the Project K2 lineage that began in 1989, is priced at $99,990 per pair.
Both models share a newly developed mid/high-frequency system built around a patent-pending 3-into-1 expansion manifold, a single horn-loading component that combines the output of multiple compression drivers before routing to a large-format Sonoglass High-Definition Imaging horn. The JBL Summit Everest uses three large-format dual-diaphragm, dual-motor compression drivers; the K2 uses three smaller-format units in the same configuration. Low-frequency anchoring in both comes from cast-frame Differential Drive woofers using JBL's triple-layer Hybrid Carbon Cellulose Composite Cone material, chosen for stiffness, low distortion, and sustained power handling at the limits of acoustic output. Both speakers extend response from 20 Hz to beyond 23 kHz.
Additional engineering shared across the Summit Series includes an advanced MultiCap crossover network that replaces traditional large capacitors with arrays of smaller units to reduce electrostatic resistance, and custom JBL/IsoAcoustics isolation feet that mechanically decouple the enclosure from the floor. Both are available in high-gloss black with platinum accents or Macassar Ebony veneer with gold detailing, and feature rhodium-plated binding posts and OCC silver-plated internal wiring. The JBL Summit Everest and Summit K2 are expected to reach authorized retailers globally at a date HARMAN has not yet specified.
