It’s been ten years since Harmon Kardon unveiled their iSub 2000 jellyfish-like subwoofer and Soundsticks speakers, and so any update to the venerable line has to be of interest. After a minor upgrade – the Soundsticks II – in 2008, Harmon Kardon has tweaked them again in the shape of the Soundsticks III, freshly announced in Japan.
It’s another relatively minor tweak, however, with the Soundsticks III getting the same 20W subwoofer amplifier (driving a 150mm cone) and 10W per satellite speaker (each with four 25mm cones). Harmon Kardon has changed the rear ports, though; rather than flush-fitting inputs, the Soundsticks III get more flexible cables leading to a 3.5mm input.
There are also a couple of aesthetic changes, with new black speaker stands, and the touch-sensitive volume controls are still in place. To be honest we’d prefer to see a more significant update on Harmon Kardon’s part, but maybe they don’t want to mess with what’s arguably by now a design classic. The Harmon Kardon Soundsticks III will arrive in Japan later this month, priced at around 22,000 yen ($250).