Harman Launches Four New Websites For Its High Performance A/V Brands, Adding A Higher Level Of Support And Convenience

Each new website for Harman’s Revel, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, and JBL Synthesis brands showcase elite home theater technologies and provide customers with comprehensive purchasing information, Nick Smith

In a move that brings greater organization to each of its High Performance A/V brands and provides its customers with a centralized location for gathering information on all of its products, Harman today launched four new websites for its Revel, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, and JBL Synthesis brands. Each website is designed with an easy-to-navigate, stylish format and together showcase a complete set of Harman’s high performing, aesthetically pleasing home theater technologies.

In addition to an introductory page that automatically showcases the most popular products from each brand, the websites feature six tabs that each serve a different purpose: An “About Us” tab gives a detailed history of the brand’s heritage, contact information and its presence in Harman’s mobile showroom; a “Products” tab allows the user to browse through a catalog of every available product and also provides detailed information about each, including the products features, technical specifics, photo gallery, and frequently asked questions; the “Support” tab gives phone numbers and email addresses for technical support of each brand; a “Where to Buy” tab allows visitors to find the closest U.S. dealer or international distributor to them; a “Press” section gives the most recent news and announcements from each brand; and, finally, there is a “Gear” tab that directs visitors to the online swag store, where they browse through and purchase clothing and other apparel from any one of the four brands.

“Our team has put a lot of time and effort into the development of each website to ensure that we have addressed every possible need for all of our customers and dealers,” commented Marc Kellom, Vice President of Marketing, Harman High Performance A/V. “The websites are designed to bring a greater level of support to our customers and dealers and satisfy the needs of anyone who is looking for more information about any of our industry leading products.”

Before the websites went live, finding more information on Harman’s High Performance A/V products meant calling in to the technical support or visiting multiple websites for more information. Now, that information has been consolidated to each of the four websites. Anyone who is interested in installing a new home theater display or upgrading an existing system can simply go to any one of the websites, learn about which components are best suited for their situation, find out where to purchase each product and even learn about how to optimize the installation of each.

For dealers, the websites can act as a guide for their customers. Dealers can refer their customers to the website to view product shots, read more about each product, and see each product in photos of existing home theater systems. Using the website allows dealers and their customers to discuss any purchase on a more detailed level and accomplish more in less time.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.2 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2010. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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Harman Appoints Audio Industry Veteran Jim Garrett To The New Role Of Market Manager For Its High Performance A/V Brands

Nick Smith

Harman today announced appointment of audio industry veteran Jim Garrett to the position of Market Manager for the Harman High Performance A/V brands – Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Revel, and JBL Synthesis. Garrett brings over eighteen years of industry experience in both research-and-development for audio-engineering and high-end home audio marketing, and will use this experience to continue the expansion of Harman’s Revel, Mark Levinson, JBL Synthesis, and Lexicon brands.

Before joining the Harman team, Garrett worked at CEDIA where he was the Director of Technical Training for the Education Department and the staff liaison for the Instructor Pool, Sales Representatives, and EST Content Action teams. Prior to his time at CEDIA, Garrett worked as a consultant for Velodyne Acoustics and spent nine years at Klipsch Group, Inc. where he was Director of Product Planning. While at Klipsch, Garrett led the development of numerous award-winning and industry-leading audio product lines for the Klipsch and Aragon brands, including a complete suite of THX Ultra2-certified electronics and speaker system and the Palladium and Reference Series lines of loudspeakers.

Garrett’s career started with stints in retail beginning with three years at Best Buy as an assistant store manager and four and a half years in sales and management at a CEDIA channel specialty retailer and integrator. At Harman, Garrett will be responsible for new product roadmaps, marketing strategy, and marketing communications for the High Performance A/V Brands.

“Jim’s experience as a product planning manager and his time in retail put him in the perfect position to carry out a long and successful career with Harman High Performance A/V,” said Marc Kellom, vice president of marketing for Harman High Performance A/V. “We’re all very confident that he will make an immediate and profound contribution to the team and we are excited to begin working with him.”

Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com), designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Harman International maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

New Firmware Updates Add Configuration Flexibility And Improved Playability To Harman’s Lexicon BD-30 Blu-Ray Player

Harman High Performance A/V firmware-updates improve on the functionality of their popular Lexicon BD-30 Blu-Ray player , Nick Smith

Harman High Performance A/V today announced the launch of new firmware updates that address a number of feature requests made by owners of the Lexicon BD-30 Blu-Ray Player. The updates – which will be available automatically on enabled players or off the website for manual installation - are designed to add configuration flexibility through updated system components; and dramatically improve the systems playability for several upcoming new releases.

The new firmware contains all of the characteristics of the old system with a host of new features added on. There is an updated “auto” mode that allows the HDMI-audio to use bit-stream-audio-output for formats supported by the A/V processor and also allows LPCM for formats that cannot be decoded by the A/V processor. There are updated Blu-Ray disc compatibility improvements that prepare the Blu-Ray player for several upcoming releases, and there is a new sub-title and on-screen-display shift feature for customers with 2.34:1 projection screens.

This is the first time that an internet-connected player will be able to identify, download and install updates automatically. In addition to the other features, these new updates are designed to enhance HDMI-compatibility with MC12-HD V2.0 and provide additional setup menu changes. Some of the items on the menu are now re-ordered and/or re-grouped in the menu structure to improve the ease of use.

Lexicon’s Comprehensive New BD-30 Blu-Ray Player Is Introduced To Home Theaters And Media Rooms, Delivering Pristine Playback

The BD-30 Blu-ray disc player supports every major AV format in the market today including Blu-ray, BD-Live, BonusView, DVD,upconverted DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, CD and USB.

The BD-30 incorporates Anchor Bay’s award-winning Video Reference Series technology, taking Blu-ray’s already amazingly clear 1080p picture to yet another level of clarity and brilliance.

ELKHART, Indiana — A major concern to all custom home systems integrators and their customers is the fact that technologies and formats change rapidly. Choosing the right product for home theater or media room installation is of paramount importance, and the new Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray Disc™ Player offers integrators and their clients a pristine system that would be suitable in any room. Living up to the amazing predecessor, the Lexicon RT-20 Universal Disc Player, the BD-30 supports every major AV format in the market today, including Blu-ray, DVD, upconverted DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD and Compact Disc, as well as popular niche formats such as AVCHD and Kodak® Picture CD™, and recordable formats including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R and BD-R/RE.

In addition, the Lexicon BD-30 is a next-generation Profile 2.0 Blu-ray disc player, which supports both BonusView™, Blu-ray’s picture-in-picture feature, and BD-Live™, the advanced Blu-ray feature that enables users to access content via an Internet-connected Blu-ray player and download a variety of up-to-date content such as refreshed previews and exclusive special features. It is also backwards-compatible with Blu-ray v.1.0 and v.1.1.

Furthermore, the BD-30 goes one step beyond physical media formats by incorporating a USB port, which will allow users to access audio and video from any media source compatible with the USB transfer protocol. The Lexicon BD-30 is truly a future-proof piece of technology, allowing custom home systems integrators the ability to reassure their clients that they’ll be able to watch their movies in virtually any format years into the future.

With its exceptional picture and sound quality along with fast disc loading and command response times, the BD-30 delivers an incredible, immersive home theater and multichannel audio experience. The Lexicon BD-30 has even more features that make it the single-solution choice for integrators. For video, the VD-30 incorporates Anchor Bay’s award-winning Video Reference Series™ (VRS™) video processing chips, which convert standard-definition and high-definition analog and digital video sources up to full 1080p, as well as HDMI compatibility.

For audiophiles, the Lexicon BD-30 is just as versatile. It is able to play back CD, SACD, and DVD-Audio discs, offers a Source Direct mode for audio and compatibility with Dolby® TrueHD™, HDCD, DTS-HD®, and can play back up to 7.1 surround audio. Audio output connections include a dedicated stereo output, digital optical outputs and coaxial outputs. Systems integrators will appreciate the fact that the BD-30 also includes an RS-232 port for external control systems.

“The Lexicon BD-30 is at the cutting edge of what a disc media player can be,” said Phil McPhee, Marketing Manager, Harman High Performance AV Group. “The inclusion of so many popular media formats as well as a USB connection that will enable access to future formats means that custom home systems integrators can recommend and integrate the BD-30 into their home theater and surround audio installations knowing that it will be working for years to come.”

Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com), designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Harman International maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft®and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”