H2X is the cryptic name of the door. It’s a solid door reinforced with a thick metal plate. And with good reason.
Behind the door we find the world’s largest curated collection of loudspeakers from JBL and the other companies in the Harmans Group.
We are in the small town of Kvistgaard in Denmark, North of Copenhagen. And in the building is the Harman Audio Engineering Lab, which specialises in headphone research.
We had the opportunity to visit the place where JBL was born. And where the company's loudspeakers are still being created at Harman's acoustic development centre.
But it is also home to H2X, which stands for Harman Historical Xperience. Our tour guide is Søren Majlund, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at HARMAN International. But Søren also has a hobby, and that’s loudspeakers.
The room we enter is packed with speakers. Mostly JBL, but Infinity, which is also a Harman company, is also represented. Speakers of all sizes, and most of them classics in their own right.
JBL Paragon was the ultimate speaker to impress the neighbours in Beverly Hills in the 1950s and 60s. And it was in stereo!
The collection in Kvistgaard is probably the largest collection of historic JBL speakers in the world. The Northridge Audio Lab outside Los Angeles doesn’t have nearly as many speakers, and they’re not displayed in one place like here, but scattered around the hallways of the lab. And they don’t have the single most iconic JBL speaker.
You have a Paragon too?
While the H2X Museum itself is impressive, the most remarkable speaker is elsewhere in the building. Rumour has it that Søren Majlund had something very special in his office.
You have a Paragon?!
The JBL D44000 Paragon is not your typical speaker for a bit of background music in the office, but it serves quite well. Søren Majlund found it in Christianshavn in Copenhagen and has since had it refurbished. The entire top plate had to be replaced (and of course the veneer on the two halves has to be mirrored and the right shade of colour).
