[BANDHAV]

Yesterday I was discussing these JBL HUs with somone, who is veteren of the aftermarket car accessories Industry and he outrightly told me that, these HUs have been procured locally and subsequently branded JBL. I am not sure how true is this, but I have no reason not to believe him.

[panky12345]

Who is this veteran? Let us know.

Sam.. please clarify!

[navin]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

Yesterday I was discussing these JBL HUs with somone, who is veteren of the aftermarket car accessories Industry and he outrightly told me that, these HUs have been procured locally and subsequently branded JBL. I am not sure how true is this, but I have no reason not to believe him.

Bhandav,

if the HU offers a significant cost advantage and is reliable and sounds good I for sure dont care if it was made in India, China, or Mars.

In fact if it does offer good VFM and does become a game changer I would be proud that it was made in India. I think as Indians we should be proud to make good products in our country just like the Germans, Japs, etc..talking of whom; I remember when the Japs (Honda, Yamaha, etc..) first came to India. Rahul Bajaj proudly stated "we can compete with them, we are NOT afraid, infact I believe we can beat them". That's the spirit!

Some companies are very good at manufacturing, others understand marketing better. All over the world companies that market do not nesscarily make thier products. In India too it is the same eg. Philips does not make tube lights and their fittings it only markets and brands them.

All things being equal I'd buy an Indian made product over made by any other country.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

I think it is not JBL but a JBL logo put on a aftermarket HU. I may be wrong but I think Sam Bhai will clear the doubt.

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

Yesterday I was discussing these JBL HUs with somone, who is veteren of the aftermarket car accessories Industry and he outrightly told me that, these HUs have been procured locally and subsequently branded JBL. I am not sure how true is this, but I have no reason not to believe him.

There are limited things I can say about JBL, since I am commercially involved with the brand, however I realise that no information will lead to all sorts of speculation. So here is the dope.

Last week JBL launched 2 new head units. The GT-X333 and the GT-X555. Both units have 3 pre-outs and (IMO) good sound quality. Both feature a variety of inputs (SD, USB, AUX etc) - the 555 has a CD loader, the 333 does not.

It is the 333 which will excite most people. At Rs. 4,990 it will offer 4V pre-outs X 3. I don't need to tell you what happens after that. It has NO cd player. No Navin it does not have TA.

It is not an aftermarket HU nor is it locally sourced. It is a JBL car stereo head unit that was recently launched with great fanfare at the Autocar Performance Show in India by David Slump, President of Harman Consumer. It was not shown to the public, only behind the scenes in our B2B section and we have reason to believe that it will be an industry leader in the field of VFM HUs.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I'm more curious about how panasonic would deal with them, since they are marketed by the same folks

We no longer market Panasonic. Have you not noticed? The ads are gone.

---------------------------------

I will not be answering any speculative questions about the HU, save for the fact that they are still not available for a few more days/weeks.

Thanks,
Sam

[navin]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

There are limited things I can say about JBL...So here is the dope.

Last week JBL launched 2 new head units. The GT-X333 and the GT-X555.

It is the 333 which will excite most people. At Rs. 4,990 it will offer 4V pre-outs X 3. I don't need to tell you what happens after that. It has NO cd player. No Navin it does not have TA.

It is not an aftermarket HU nor is it locally sourced. It is a JBL car stereo head unit that was recently launched with great fanfare at the Autocar Performance Show in India by David Slump, President of Harman Consumer. It was not shown to the public, only behind the scenes in our B2B section and we have reason to believe that it will be an industry leader in the field of VFM HUs.

Firstly. Thanks Sam for clearing that up. Can we ask a few more questions (let us know if you are not at liberty to divluge some of this information).

1. Are the 333 or 555 India only models? I have not seen them anywhere else (Singapore, Germany, etc..).
2. Any pricing on the 555 (with CD) option?
3. I assume there will be a 111, 222, 444, 666...once these 2 models establish themselves..are these other models developed?
4. You must have realised that my sincerest desire is for every Indian to have access to good quality audio...and in a car the bass coming from the rear is not really fun (not after someone has experiened TA). Will JBL ever have a TA model?
5. Do the 3 pairs of Preouts have LPF or HPF filters with them?
6. Does the 333 have "full ipod control"?

Sam I am sorry if any of these questions put you in the spot but frankly I am a bit mad. When it comes to audio I think only LBM is madder (some here might dispute even that) and hence I get very excited.

I know you invited me into the B2B section (the room was empty when I wandered into it) with good intention but when I saw that JBL HU I forgot everything. I thought the Indian consumer would love to know about these new HUs (I saw only one model - I assmue it was the 555).

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by navin

Firstly. Thanks Sam for clearing that up. Can we ask a few more questions (let us know if you are not at liberty to divluge some of this information).

1. Are the 333 or 555 India only models? I have not seen them anywhere else (Singapore, Germany, etc..).
2. Any pricing on the 555 (with CD) option?
3. I assume there will be a 111, 222, 444, 666...once these 2 models establish themselves..are these other models developed?
4. You must have realised that my sincerest desire is for every Indian to have access to good quality audio...and in a car the bass coming from the rear is not really fun (not after someone has experiened TA). Will JBL ever have a TA model?
5. Do the 3 pairs of Preouts have LPF or HPF filters with them?
6. Does the 333 have "full ipod control"?
(I saw only one model - I assmue it was the 555).

I have been sitting on this information for some time,lol. However it is no longer classified.

You will not find these on the internet yet. India is the first country to have these products.
So far the only one to have them. Head units is a rapidly declining market in Europe and US where the opportunities to replace or fit a standard HU are reducing or dying.

1. This HU will be available in countries that sell new cars without Head Units. India is the most prominent country world-wide to do this.

2. The 555 will be priced at Rs. 8990. Incl taxes MRP.

3. Absolutely. But these are on the drawing board.

4. Yes. But it is not yet developed.

5. 2 full range 4V pre-outs front/rear fade. 1 4V pre-out for subwoofer with level and control.

6. Neither model will feature ipod control, in order to promote quality audio at a new piece bracket (that's the USP) - ipods will be played using aux inputs.

Navin, at 4990 no head unit today has decent audio and 3 pre-outs. This has been achieved by trimming the CD mech and ipod software.

Yes you saw the 555, cosmetically and feature-wise identical, only the 333 has no CD mech.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

You will not find these on the internet yet.

Navin, at 4990 no head unit today has decent audio and 3 pre-outs. This has been achieved by trimming the CD mech and ipod software.

Sam I rarely trust the internet to give correct information - I cant even google properly.

At 5K 3 preouts is unique. I dont think there is a big brand HU anywhere in the world that has 3 pre outs under $100.

But 3 preouts also mean that the customer will be one who is looking to add amplifers for the front, rear and/or subwoofer. Hence such a customer will also have more than 1 music source aka ipod.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by Sam

at 4990 no head unit today has decent audio and 3 pre-outs. This has been achieved by trimming the CD mech and ipod software

How has the SQ been achieved?
Does this have a 24-bit DAC?

I'm gonna pick up a 333 soon to test. But, that calculator lcd display is a real bummer.

@Navin: I have a stereo like you mentioned and I've never owned an apple product.
While I agree that the ipod is an ecosystem, it is ridiculously overpriced (typical of apple) if one hasn't gotten one already.
As a music collection on the move, while a 16 GB flash drive costs around a 1000 bucks, an Ipod nano 16 GB costs 13 times that.
And the prices of memory have been tumbling while ipods keep getting dearer by the day.
So, as a standalone memory on the go, the USB flash drives ROCK!

[esteem_lover]

I like the idea of a HU without the CD system. And good pricing too. Good on JBL.

[Rehaan]

This sure has potential!

However, do people who buy HUs in the <5k Rs. price-range really care about pre-outs? Let alone 3 pre-outs! Or is this JBLs way of encouraging the possibility of tying this system up to a JBL amp and JBL subwoofer?

What kinda RMS output are we looking at here?

Its really about time people said bye bye to CD players IMO

Any plans for a A2DP / DLNA enabled HU?

cya
R

[BANDHAV]

^^Very valid point here, Customer with tight budgets are hardly concerned about such technicalities, they just need a system within their specific budget which can fulfill their generic music needs.

[pramodkumar]

Those local HU which can read thumb drives and memory cards are anyways priced about ~1k, and the quality is pathetic. Its a good step by JBL to introduce a good SQ HU for this price, cds and dvd's are anyways becoming extinct from the ICE scene.


Pramod

[bharti22shresth]

Originally Posted by thelord

Navinji, I hope Panky a.k.a desi Sherlock Holmes didn't grill you with questions of commercial involvement with JBL .
On a serious note, if JBL can come out with an aggressive pricing plan, then the game would be wide open!

I surely hope JBL comes up with something decent in a decent price line. The <10k segment has become downright disappointing off late.

P.S. And please don't compare the genius of Sherlock Holmes with some desi imitation. Sherlock Holmes character has always been the one that strives for the Unbiased truth and nothing less than that.

[greenhorn]

on one end, we have the cheap chinese maal, and the other side, we have the other side, things like the Alpine IDA-X series.
Sounds like a good compromise. Wonder whether they would have the typical JBL sound, or leave it to the speakers

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by bharti

The <10k segment has become downright disappointing off late.

Sq wise, there's nothing great in the 10+k range as well.
I can't look anything that's really built to perform except for the 50K rupee Pioneer P99-RS.