RICHARD METCALFE

One of the most iconic of Harman Kardon's multimedia products started out as an iPod dock, with various evolutions including support for iPhone and most recently the move to a fully wireless Bluetooth speaker system.  Still one of the best sounding Bluetooth speakers out there, this icon is still generating top and bottom line growth 10 years on.  I was happy to bring the original to the market for the European regions where it still remains an icon today...

Although I can't take credit for the original, this is another icon from Harman Kardon. Developed in conjunction with Apple, the original iSub, and then Soundsticks have been selling more and more since launch.  The most difficult aspect of managing this product line has been as much about what not to add as opposed to what should be added.  Good product management is as much about what to leave out of a product as it is what features to add.  This product is the classic example...  We took the original, replaced USB audio for the more universal 3.5mm headphone jack on gen 2, then changed the materials slightly for gen 3, and finally added wireless (Bluetooth) for the 4th gen.  These incremental changes have preserved the classic original.

One of the most difficult projects from a manufacturing perspective, the GLA55 presented major tooling and transducer challenges.  The facets in the enclosure design resulted in different material densities at each point so the two halves of the enclosure would warp during the cooling process.  The team eventually pulled it off with a special staged cooling process to minimise warp and ensure no air leaks in the acoustic enlosure.  This product is the abolsute embodiment of beautiful sound and a project which will haunt me forever...

Iconic design, surprising audio performance, authentic materials and versatile connectivity make this one of my favourite products.  It was hard to acheive but the final product exceeded the team's expectations and as a result won a coveted EISA award. This flagship product also inspired the successful Onyx Studio series which brought the Harman Kardon brand to millions of users around the globe.

Another one of my favourites.  Combining JBL classic speaker design with modern connectivity, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (AirPlay and DLNA), digital optical input, Qi charging and finally a phono preamp for turntable input, all in an iconic JBL design (inspired by the classic L100).

CES innovation award winner, SoundFly is a speaker you plug into the wall.  Very discrete and wireless it is a very unique concept.

JBL's flagship iPod/iPad dock with rotating cradle.  It sounded pretty amazing too, winnning a What Hi-Fi 5 star review.  RF remote control, rotating dock, iPhone/iPad app for remote control and wireless Bluetooth connection rounded off the product.  One of my first projects to be completed since the move to Shenzhen with a pretty amazing project and engineering team!

One of my high volume players, On Beat was one of the fastest development cycles we have managed, for such a complex project.  Mechanically challenging due to the iPad dock on a compact footprint and rotating iPhone dock too!

The first Lightning enabled iPad dock on the market.  Developed in conjunction with Apple, this product was the result of many trips between Shenzhen and Cupertino in a very short development schedule!

The first iPhone Lightning dock in the market.  Again challenging from a technical and schedule perspective but worth it.  

Another industry first.  A speaker with Qi wireless charging built in and Bluetooth.  Finally we figured out how to cut the final cable - power!

Developed in conjunction with Nokia - a very cool portable Bluetooth speaker with battery power and long battery life.

The product which started the pocketable, clipable speaker business?

JBL iPod clock dock with a unique ID.  Who would have thought it would take so long to perfect the screen brightness?

The evolution of the portable iPhone dock.

Computer speakers with an edge.  Creature has been a JBL icon and the 3rd generation has been just as alien and the original...

A very interest co-development with Nokia.  Tolerances on this project were insane from a fit and finish perspective.  We learnt a lot from the physical interface perspective.

Another JBL iPod docking icon...

Evolution of the classic iPhone dock.

The world's first Bluetooth speaker to support the A2DP Bluetooth profile for high quality music playback (the one that you find in every Bluetooth speaker today).  Developed in conjunction with Nokia and their N series of multimedia phones, the On Tour XTB paved the way for the Bluetooth speaker market.

A $99 iPod dock never sounded this good back in 2006!