Why choose JBL Professional speakers over consumer speakers for schools, churches and wedding or sports venues?

When a school, church or venue is investing in sound, it’s tempting to compare professional speakers with what looks similar in a retail store. They may look alike, but they are designed for very different jobs.

Here’s why JBL Professional speakers are the best choice for education and performance spaces.

Built to last – and backed to do so

JBL Professional speakers are designed for daily use in real venues — assemblies, performances, sports events and presentations. They are built with stronger components, better heat management and robust cabinets that can handle years of use.

Just as importantly, JBL Professional systems come with a professional 7 year manufacturer warranty, designed for commercial and educational environments. Consumer speakers are typically warrantied for home use only, which can leave schools exposed if something fails.

Sound that reaches the back of the room

One of the biggest differences is throw distance — how far the sound travels clearly.

Consumer speakers are designed for living rooms. They sound fine up close, but quickly lose clarity as distance increases. JBL Professional speakers are engineered to project sound evenly across large spaces, so students at the back of the hall hear the same clear speech as those in the front.

This means:

• Clearer assemblies/meetings/ceremonies
• Better speech intelligibility
• More consistent sound across the room

No need to turn the system up uncomfortably loud just to reach the back row.

Fit for Purpose

The design philosophy is very different.

Consumer speakers are made for short listening distances and casual use. JBL Professional systems are designed for rooms full of people, where clear speech, audio coverage of the whole area and reliability matter more than flashy features.

Professional systems focus on:

• Clear voice reproduction for announcements and teaching
• Even coverage so everyone hears the same message
• Reliable operation for staff who just need it to work

A smarter long-term investment

While consumer speakers can appear cheaper upfront, they are rarely designed to meet the demands of a school or venue. Professional systems last longer, perform better in larger spaces, and are supported properly if something goes wrong.

At JPRO, we help schools choose systems that are fit for purpose — not over-engineered, not underpowered, just right for the space and the people using it.

Would you like to find the best speaker for your needs?

Contact our friendly team for advice.

Or check out the JBL brochure below which features easy to understand comparison charts, how to pick your perfect speaker info and more in-depth information on each range.

HARMAN Professional Solutions, a global leader in audio, video, control, and lighting systems, has announced the release of its new AKG C-Series professional condenser microphones – designed to deliver elevated sound performance for today’s generation of content creators.

Drawing on decades of acoustic innovation, the C-Series offers exceptional clarity and captures every detail, whether recording vocals, speech, instruments or other sound sources.

Developed for musicians, podcasters, YouTubers, and streamers, the C104, C114, and C151 models provide the signature detail and clarity AKG is known for, helping turn performances and interviews into engaging, polished productions. A wide frequency response ensures the full richness of every sonic element is accurately reproduced.

“When we set out to create the new AKG C-Series microphones, our goal was simple: let’s design a mic that creators would reach for every day – not just because it sounds incredible, but because it makes the process easier, smoother, and more inspiring,” said Philip Feinman, Product Manager, Recording and Broadcast, HARMAN Professional Solutions. “By listening closely to the needs of musicians and content creators, we’ve delivered a microphone range that naturally supports the creative process.”

“AKG has a rich legacy of design innovation for microphones, headphones, and audio solutions,” added Chris Hansen, Director, Recording and Broadcast, HARMAN Professional Solutions. “Our passion to lead helps the creation of world-class products for our customers, partners, and the global creative community.”

Whether upgrading an existing setup or building a new creative space, the AKG C-Series microphones combine professional performance with user-friendly operation, setting a new standard for cost-effective, professional-grade audio capture that enhances every stage of the creative journey.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS:

PROFESSIONAL SOUND QUALITY
The new AKG C-Series microphones deliver wide dynamic range and ultra-low noise performance for audio clarity and definition. You can count on world-class audio fidelity, based on AKG’s legacy of innovative designs for microphones and audio products.

SIMPLIFIED OPERATION
Designed for instant creativity, the new AKG C-Series microphones are extremely easy to set up and use – simply plug in and start capturing. The user-friendly design makes these microphones perfect for content creators who demand ease-of-use without sacrificing professional-grade sound.

FLEXIBLE RECORDING OPTIONS
Featuring cardioid and multi-pattern designs, the new AKG C-Series microphones are easily adaptable to any audio environment. This flexible functionality supports professional grade audio capture of vocals, speech, instruments and other sound sources.

SUSTAINABILITY
The new AKG C-Series microphones are thoughtfully designed and engineered to enhance sustainability. The microphone bodies are made from 100% recycled PIR metal, and the accessories are designed with sustainability as a key priority. The packaging is engineered for minimal environmental impact and is fully recyclable.

C-SERIES MODELS AND SPECIFICATIONS:

• AKG C104 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
• AKG C114 Multi-Pattern Condenser Microphone
• AKG C151 Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
• AKG Professional Microphone Portfolio

AKG C-Series is now available in New Zealand!
The new AKG C-Series is now available locally for purchase or demo. Please contact JPRO to arrange a demonstration.

Located in the scenic Waiuku countryside, Otaua Primary School is a vibrant rural institution providing a unique learning environment by integrating the natural landscape into their educational programs. The school hall plays an important role in hosting a range of activities for the school and community, from assemblies and performances to movie nights; however, its existing audio visual system had become unreliable and difficult for staff to manage.

Principal Anna Voyce recognised an opportunity to invest in a modern, seamless AV solution that would not only improve the sound and video quality but provide a professional, user-friendly experience for everyone involved.

The school contacted JPRO for advice and worked with Anna to design a system that ticked all the boxes for the teachers and importantly gave the kids that “wow” experience. JPRO then engaged the services of Dan Larsen owner of Alpha Sound to install and commission the system. With the AMX Jetpack AV switching and control kit as the core of the system, Jetpack delivered exactly what the school needed, providing simplified video transport and auto-switching between HDMI and USB-C, straightforward AV system controls and handy remote management features in a single kit that required no custom programming.

The Jetpack bundle includes a three-input wall plate transmitter installed at the technical desk in the hall, connected to the multi-function receiver tucked neatly away. The six-button keypad with volume control offered staff a simple interface to manage audio and video without needing a manual. No need to find the projector remote and figure out what input to use – the AMX Jetpack automatically does that for you.

To deliver clear and even sound throughout the hall, Dan installed JBL Control 25-1 loudspeakers along the walls. A JBL Control SB2210 subwoofer was discreetly positioned to deliver impactful bass, significantly enhancing musical performances and particularly appreciated during movie nights. Amplification is handled by Crown CDi2300 amplifiers, providing robust and reliable power with seamless integration into the PA system via built-in JBL presets.

But perhaps the biggest win? Jetpack’s built-in scheduling capability, which automatically powers down the system when not in use – increasing the life of the projector, saving energy and sparing calls that the projector is still on during holiday periods or weekends.

“You guys make dreams come true; I no longer have anxiety about trying to get the system to work for an assembly or hitting ‘go’ on the laptop and sound system at the same time to try to get the video and audio to sync for the kid’s movie nights!” laughs Anna. “The AMX Jetpack system has simplified and enhanced our audio visual experience, it’s amazing.”

From install to operation, the project ticked every box.

“The AMX Jetpack gives you high-end performance without the high price,” says Dan. “It was straightforward to install and has really made things simpler for the school. The response from everyone has been fantastic.”

The result is a future-ready hall that meets the school’s needs today and leaves room to grow tomorrow. For Otaua Primary, it’s simplified AV that just works the way it should.

Established in 1959, Onehunga High School has long been a cornerstone of its community. Nestled in Onehunga overlooking the picturesque Manukau Harbour in Auckland, the school’s deep roots are reflected in its strong sense of tradition and continuity, with many second and third-generation students passing through its halls. A legacy highlighting Onehunga High School’s commitment to providing lifelong learning opportunities for the local community.

Recognising the need to modernise its facilities to better equip students for the future, the school recently completed a major redevelopment, introducing several advanced facilities. Two new teaching blocks were built – one with a dual-basketball-court gymnasium, exercise room, locker rooms and teaching spaces, and the other dedicated to science and technology.

The school develops culture, character and interpersonal skills through encouragement, commitment, discipline and personal responsibility. This is done by actively engaging students in a diverse range of activities, including sports and performing arts. It was decided that the new gymnasium would be used as a multipurpose venue to cater for its various events and a key requirement to achieve its objectives would be a flexible, high-quality audio system that ensures clear, powerful sound and excellent coverage throughout the space.

The Solution

Trusted technology partner Connect NZ was called upon to design and install a high-definition LED wall and a high-performance audio system capable of meeting the multipurpose audio requirements for the school.

With the range of activities including sports, cultural events, music and performing arts, system designers selected JBL Professional CBT 1000 high-powered line array column loudspeakers with CBT 1000E low frequency extensions for the gymnasium.

JBL CBT 1000 is a high performance adjustable coverage line array column that is engineered to distribute more sound to the far area of a room allowing for optimal sound distribution and delivering consistent powerful audio throughout the space, ensuring even coverage from front to back.

With limited room for traditional subwoofers, system designers specified JBL CBT 1000E low-frequency extensions for their extended bass response down to 38Hz, providing enhanced sound control and increased output levels that allow the school to achieve a full, dynamic audio experience without compromising on space or performance.

The loudspeakers are powered by a Crown DriveCore CDi21200 amplifier. Designed to make installations easier, Crown CDi DriveCore amplifiers are equipped with speaker presets to fully maximise the capabilities of the CBT 1000 speakers. CDi amplifiers streamline ongoing maintenance and control with robust network management, advanced digital signal processing and a user-friendly front-panel interface with colour display. Energy efficiency is a cornerstone of the CDi range, thanks to GreenEdge Technology, which incorporates power-saving features and an auto-standby mode to reduce environmental impact and operational costs.

Because the multipurpose gymnasium would also be used for school assemblies and live music performances, reliable AKG wireless microphones were chosen along with an external RF Venue DFIN ‘diversity fin’ antenna for reliable RF reception throughout the space. The Diversity Series of antennas eliminate dropouts compared to traditional whip or paddle antennas by combining two antenna paddles into one (with two RF inputs), simplifying RF setup and reducing coax cable clutter.

System Features

• CBT-1000 High Performance Adjustable Coverage Line Array Column that sends more sound toward the far area of a room to make front-to-back sound levels more consistent.
• CBT-1000E Extension for CBT1000 provides extended bass response and pattern control and increased sound output levels for superior audio performance.
• RF Venue Diversity Fin Distro4 Package includes Diversity Fin Antenna (DFIN) for Wireless Microphones, DISTRO4 Antenna Distribution System and relevant coaxial cables
• AKG C555L wireless condenser headset mic
• AKG DMS800 Dante enabled wireless microphone system
• Bluetooth wallplate with Dante
• Crown CDI21200 best performance-for-value amplifier with pre-loaded JBL speaker tunings to help make installations quicker and easier.

The Impact

“We needed a high-performance audio solution that is reliable and could cover long distances. The JPRO design along with the JBL CBT1000 line array column loudspeakers have enhanced the Onehunga High School gymnasium,” says Rakesh Choudhary, Business Development Manager at Connect NZ.

“What truly stands out is the speaker’s consistent tone quality, whether at soft or loud levels and its ability to deliver clear audio in various performance settings in a large open space. Its IP55 marine-rated capabilities provide added peace of mind against humidity and dust, keeping the system reliable for all occasions. It’s been the perfect solution for the multipurpose requirements of the venue and we’re delighted with the results.”

Situated in the picturesque New Zealand town of Queenstown and near to its famous outdoor sporting and tourist locations, the newly built Wakatipu High School has breathtaking views of the Remarkables mountain range and Southern Alps.

Wakatipu High is one of several Kiwi schools that are embracing OECD Innovative Learning Environment principles, with flexible learning spaces and open plan learning environments, all of which encourage collaborative educational methods. The way teachers and learners engage with each other has changed significantly, which has led to changes in the way schools are designed. As a result, many new school building projects are designed with this method in mind, while older schools are being renovated to accomplish the same philosophy.

Built in a public-private partnership, the relocated state-of-the-art school was built to designing quality learning spaces (DQLS) guidelines, ensuring good lighting, acoustics and ventilation, and to meet a high standard of technology. Wakatipu has a strong focus on arts, indoor and outdoor sports and boasts facilities like a performing arts theatre, gymnasium, a café, aerobics room, dance and music recording studio.

The high technology requirement meant partnering with experts in audio and visual system integration. Leading AV integration company Strawberry Sound provided a HARMAN Professional school integration solution. JPRO NZ, one of New Zealand’s foremost specialists in Sound System design and supplier of HARMAN Professional audio equipment, was called upon because of their audio and product knowledge base, extensive support and ability to provide a unique approach to AV solutions.
The school’s intercom paging system and the sound systems for the gymnasium and auditorium run over fibre ties with Dante distribution between zones, providing a Layer 3 backbone. Audio processing is done with the open architecture platform BSS Soundweb Audio Architect. This design element creates a completely customisable platform for the end-client with an audio and paging system tailored specifically for their needs.

Future proofing was taken into consideration with the paging and PABX system that has been programmed to offer an all-page or individual-page zones. “Due to the open architecture platform, we can add customised panel settings via iPad for the paging system if required” adds Reuben Pearce of Strawberry. “The PABX has the ability to dial into the BSS BLU-103 if needed, and page school-wide through the headset.”

Audio processing and distribution is done primarily with BSS BLU-103 and BLU-100 signal processors and audio distributed throughout the school with JBL Control series and JBL CSS8006BM commercial series speakers.

“We encountered a challenge ensuring the Dante clocks synced over Layer 3,” comments JPRO NZ’s technical specialists when talking about the audio distribution via Dante. “This was ultimately achieved with the BSS BLU-DAN that adds Dante to the BSS network and has proven to be extremely solid and reliable.”

The music, dance and drama suites are purposeful, with three soundproof rooms available. A music recording studio and dance studio overlook the impressive cultural and performing arts auditorium that features a solid sound reinforcement system with JBL SRX812P powered 12” loudspeakers flown in a left-centre-right configuration. JBL SRX818SP subwoofers are flown using a customised rigging frame and take care of the lower bass frequencies.

“We are extremely satisfied with the way the SRX series is able to handle varying content, providing consistent and even distribution in the room,” adds Ryan Dougherty from Strawberry Sound. Audio is kept within the digital domain with a Soundcraft Si Impact Digital Mixer at FOH, MSB-16i Digital Stage Box with time-alignment and processing via BSS BLU-100.

With school’s embracing technology from an educational perspective, the importance of using good quality audio visual equipment and loudspeakers is critical. “Good quality speakers mean better coverage at a lower volume, often with less speakers due to the efficiency of its coverage in a professional audio design” says JPRO’s audio experts. “This in turn has a positive impact on teachers and pupils as they are not mentally fatigued due to poor sound and acoustics.”

Building project manager Blair Grier says that Wakatipu High has the best acoustic system he has installed in his 28 years in the industry.

When asked what some of his favourite features of the school were, principal Steve Hall says “The Arts Department with its new dance rehearsal rooms and a recording studio – and the Arts Theatre that can seat up to 600 people, which would be used ‘heaps’!”

The Opportunity

With nearly 2,000 employees, the Ministry of Education is one of New Zealand’s largest government agencies, overseeing the nation’s education system. To accommodate their large staff with a professional and modern work environment, the Ministry of Education recently moved their headquarters to Mātauranga House, a previously occupied 12-story office building located at 33 Bowen Street. In order to distribute a wide range of audio and video sources to various destinations throughout the building, officials hired Futureworks to install a premium corporate AV control solution. Futureworks selected an array of AMX networked AV solutions to facilitate intuitive control over the sophisticated AV system.

“We required an AV system that could be integrated with our existing meeting room technologies,” said a spokesperson at New Zealand Ministry of Education. “The AMX networked AV system provided by Futureworks satisfied all our requirements, and its centralised platform makes it very easy for us to access, maintain and upgrade the system from anywhere in the building.”

The Ministry of Education’s AV platform is based on the centralised architecture of AMX’s Enova DGX 100 Series, which is deployed on the building’s existing network and integrated directly with the room booking system. Futureworks installed Enova DGX3200 and DGX6400 digital media switchers to manage and distribute a wide range of video and audio signals in analogue and digital formats. A comprehensive set of Enova DGX hot-swappable boards are utilised in conjunction with DGX transmitters and receivers to provide an end-to-end distribution network over shielded cable.

“The Ministry of Education asked us to supply a sophisticated AV solution to support their meeting room technologies,” said a spokesperson, Futureworks. “We chose AMX systems because they are end-to-end solutions that support a wide range of distribution formats, regardless of the application or distance between sources and destinations.”

Futureworks also included a NetLinx NX Integrated Controller to enable management of all sources and displays throughout the building. Modero MSD-701L and MST-701 touch panels offer intuitive local control of numerous analogue and digital inputs in conference rooms, meeting rooms and other spaces.

Additionally, Futureworks outfitted the meeting rooms with NMX-VCC-1000 cameras and MET-6NE Control Keypad to support high-quality video conferencing applications. Finally, the new AV system can be controlled from a single interface utilizing AMX Resource Management Suite Enterprise software, which improves the efficiency of meeting spaces and technology by allowing users to schedule meeting spaces and pre-configure room technologies for upcoming meetings.

“It’s an honour to be associated with the New Zealand Ministry of Education and for delivering technology that facilitates ideal meeting spaces,” said Ramesh Jayaraman, VP & GM, HARMAN Professional Solutions, APAC. “We would like to thank Futureworks and our New Zealand partners for trusting AMX to create seamlessly integrated workspaces, inspiring people to come together and collaborate with efficiency.”