- JL Audio, owned by Garmin, unveils new hi-fi products
- Two speakers: T6 and S3, each with high prices
- Also unveils CS Stereo Centerpiece preamp and streamer
Everyone’s favorite smartwatch brand Garmin has taken a break from wearables, such as the recent Tactix 8, to release a series of home audio gadgets with bank-breaking prices.
This is JL Audio’s Primacy range, and this is one of Garmin’s sub-brands. You’d be forgiven for not having heard of them, as their chief areas are car and maritime audio, and this jump into luxe hi-fi is sure to raise some eyebrows.
Don’t expect these gadgets to price similarly to the best Garmin watches, though. They’re seriously expensive pieces of hi-fi gear — priced to match the elite stuff from the likes of Bowers & Wilkins and Wilson Audio — that you can only pick up from specialist audio dealers.
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Meet the Primacy pals
Let’s talk about the Garmin JL Audio Primacy T6 first (just above). This is the priciest of the bunch, retailing for around $90,000 per pair.
These floorstanding active speakers have six drivers each: a 1-inch carbon tweeter, a 5.5-inch mid-range driver, and four 5.5-inch woofers. These are three amps per unit, totaling 1000W of output, and each amp has its own DSP and DAC, with support for 32-bit/192kHz audio.
The JL Audio Primacy S3, selling for $35,000 per pair, drops the specs a little. They’re active speakers again, with the same 1-inch dome tweeter as the bigger model, plus a 5.5-inch woofer, and two amplifiers per unit.
Both speakers have various refinements such shaped enclosures and audio filters to offer tuned sound. They connect via XLR, RCA or Cat 6
Rounding out the trio, ostensibly to control the others, is the $15,000 CS Stereo Centerpiece. This is both a streamer — with compatibility for various audio services — and a preamp. It has all the trappings you’d hope at the price, such as room correction, user profiles, Bluetooth compatibility, and a built-in screen.
None of Garmin’s new devices are available from its website. Instead, the listings guides you to your local retailer, who you can pick them up from.
The best stereo speakers all budgets
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tom.bedford@hotmail.co.uk (Tom Bedford)
