JBL Summit Makalu

3-Way, 12-inch (300mm) floor-standing Reference Loudspeaker

The JBL Summit Makalu is a floor-standing reference loudspeaker built for the discerning music enthusiast. Summit Makalu is the flagship of the Summit Series for the 12-inch (300mm) woofer category.

MAKALU (maa-kuh-loo)
The world’s 5th highest mountain at 8,481m (27,825’) and located 19km (12 miles) from Mount Everest. Makalu has an almost perfect pyramid shape with four sharp ridges climbing up to its summit. The first climb attempts were in 1954, with the first successful ascent in May of 1955 by a French team. Makalu is an isolated peak whose shape is a four-sided pyramid.

Newly Designed Complement of Speaker Drivers

Summit Makalu features JBL's patented D2830K 3-inch (75mm) dual-diaphragm, dual-motor compression driver mated to a large format Sonoglass® High-Definition Imaging (HDI™) horn.

Anchoring the sound foundation of Summit Makalu are an 8-inch (200mm) cast-frame mid-bass driver and a 12-inch (300mm) cast-frame woofer. Both drivers utilize a triple-layer Hybrid Carbon Cellulose Composite Cone (HC4), a design made from a proprietary formula of carbon-fiber and pure-pulp front and rear surfaces, sandwiched with an internal core of closed-cell foam. This hybrid cone design provides the proper stiffness, overall mass, and structure to deliver high-output, low distortion, and high-power handling.

JBL MultiCap™ Crossover

Controlling how the signal is distributed to each of the drivers in Summit Makalu is a MultiCap™ crossover network with single-wire and bi-amp/bi-wire connectivity.

By replacing traditional large capacitors with an increased number of smaller capacitors, this design results in lower ESR (Electrostatic Resistance) and less energy lost in mechanical movement. All of which results in greater signal throughput to the drivers, increased power handling, enhanced dynamics, ultra-low distortion, and exceptional clarity.

Crafted from Luxurious Materials

All drivers and crossover components are housed in a beautifully engineered cabinet featuring internally offset multi-braced and damped curved-wall construction to minimize internal cabinet standing waves. Enclosures are offered in a choice of a high-gloss painted black finish with Summit platinum accents or high-gloss ebony wood veneer finish with Summit gold accents.

Anchoring Summit Makalu to the ground are a set of custom designed JBL | IsoAcoustic® isolation feet that resist the vibrational forces caused by a speaker’s drivers effectively decoupling the loudspeaker from the surface on which it resides. This isolation delivers tighter bass, an improved soundstage, and imaging with greater clarity and sense of space.