HARMAN Luxury Audio Group announced the JBL DA Series of amplifiers, including the 8-channel DA850 and 16-channel DA1650 that provide four and eight zones of audio, respectively, in a compact 1U design, while offering bridgeable outputs to meet high power requirements. Both the DA850 and DA1650 offer 50W for each of their Class D channels into 8ohm loads, and 110W into 4ohm loads. By bridging their outputs, rated power increases to 185W into 8-ohm loads. For additional flexibility, each audio zone can feature an independent source, or a single source can be shared across all zones using the global audio input. In addition, zones sharing an audio source can be expanded across multiple amplifiers using the global audio output. Both models are now available.
In addition, HARMAN launched a new version of the flagship JBL Synthesis SDP-75 AV preamplifier including HDMI 2.0 input board and new audio DACs, plus an updated power supply and motherboard to enable faster switching capabilities. The new HDMI board offers additional input and eARC capabilities. The updated SDP-75 will be available beginning in February. The company says customers who purchase the newly updated model will have the ability to upgrade to HDMI 2.1 when a board becomes available later this year.