Harman Kardon is widely known for making top-notch speakers and audio products, and for integrating its technologies into desktop and notebook computer offerings. Now the company is taking its style in a whole new direction with its GLA-55 computer and multimedia speakers, which not only offer the traditional Harman Kardon audio quality, but also sport a faceted, transparent design that looks like it might have been carved from ice or knocked off some giant mineral crystal.
“From inception to final product, Harman’s design and engineering team worked in tandem to create the aesthetics for GLA-55,” said Harman International field marketing director Christopher M. Dragon, in a statement. “Our goal was to create a high-end product that not only has stunning sound and visual appeal, but versatility in its use as well. GLA-55 does just that by delivering pure Harman sound while displaying simplicity and class.”
The GLA-55 speakers are designed to be used with any device with analog output—that includes computers, audio systems, TVs, DVD players, MP3 players, phones, and more—and feature Atlas AL woofers and CMMD transducers for clear high-end response. Harman Kardon says it engineered the system to provide clean audio reproduction with a slipstream port design for clear bass, but the speakers also have integrated digital signal processing (DSP) to provide a broad, rich soundstage. The GLA-55’s also incorporate a proprietary compression technology keep sound clean at high levels. The GLA-55s can handle frequencies from 35 Hz to 20 kHz, and the company claims they’ll pump up to 56 watts on each satellite speaker with just 1 percent total harmonic distortion.
But all this doesn’t come cheap—and customers might find their computers are more of a peripheral to their speaker system rather than the other way around. Harman Kardon is offering the GLA-55s for a suggested retail price of $999.99. But for folks who live and die by the cut-glass motif, the GLA-55s are probably a no-brainer.
