JBL Launches SA750 Integrated Amplifier
Everything old is new again, or at least that's the case with the iconic styling of JBL's 75th Anniversary SA750 Integrated Amplifier.
The retro-inspired SA750 combines today's cutting-edge tech with a tip of the hat to the accolades of JBL's 75 years of pioneering acoustic, transducer and electronic design.
The SA750 starts with a milled aluminium face panel with luxurious volume, balance and input dials and hefty switches for power, mute, direct, MC/MM phono, and Dirac Live room calibration. The face panel includes a 3.5mm Aux input and 3.5mm Headphones output, plus a 2-line orange display screen. Classic teak-wood veneer side panels complete the look to match the newly announced anniversary edition JBL L100 Classic 75 loudspeakers.
Leaning on fellow Harman stablemate, Arcam, at the core of the SA750 is a high-performance Class G amplifier that the UK-based company has made famous. It's said to deliver 120W of power per channel into 8Ω and 220W per channel into 4Ω. According to JBL, “this Class G design provides impeccable sound quality and efficiency operating as a Class A amplifier for low level signals and switching in an additional power supply for large transients and dynamic waveforms.” The result, according to JBL, “is incredible detail and accuracy at low levels, low crossover distortion, and high-current capability for extreme power demands.”
Built-in streaming protocols include Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay 2. The SA750 also features a high-resolution DAC, switchable MM/MC phono input, support for UPnP wireless, full MQA file decoding, is Roon Ready, plus “a host of additional premium audio features”. However, the most notable inclusion is Dirac Live, and it's highly versatile room calibration for optimised performance in any listening room.
Completing the inputs and outputs is Ethernet and WiFi with UPnP for connecting to a home network, USB for playing files from removable memory drives; Ethernet and RS-232 serial control for third-party control systems; two optical and two coaxial digital inputs, and six pairs of analog RCA inputs. The JBL SA750 features two pairs of binding-post speaker connectors, a front-panel 3.5mm auxiliary input, a 3.5mm headphone output, and one stereo RCA preamp output.
Jim Garrett, Senior Director, Product Strategy & Planning, HARMAN Luxury Audio, told StereoNET:
The SA750 combines the appeal of retro design with the most current room optimization and streaming technologies in the market. It's the best of both worlds — past and present — and is already generating considerable excitement among audiophiles and enthusiasts to whom we've previewed it.
The JBL SA750 will be available from mid-2021 and will sell in Australia for $4999 RRP.
For more information visit JBL
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Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After a few years writing for audio magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET, known at the time as Planet Audio, in 1999.
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