Over the past few years a bunch of companies have tried to take a stab at Sonos’ market share and start to peel some of the multi-room audio market into their baskets.
Some have done a better job that others but to date no company has been able to make major inroads against them. Yet.
The Harman Kardon Citation series plans to change all that. Harman has thrown the gauntlet down and are all in with their new multi-room system.
Should Sonos be worried? At this point, yes.
Owning Multi-Room Audio
It’s going to take a truly great audio company to unseat Sonos. Harman Kardon is most certainly that; they are the company that invented the home stereo receiver 65 years ago, so they know a thing or two about audio.
Couple that with a collaboration with a little company like Google (all Citation products have Google Assistant and Chomecast)…and now there is a clear and present danger to Sonos’ superiority.
But wait, you say, Sonos has Alexa by Amazon. Indeed they do. But as you will discover that partnership may ultimately be the thing that sinks them. More on that later.
Let’s look at what the new Harman Kardon Citation can do, and what makes these new speakers so powerful.
The Harman Kardon Citation Line Up
There are 8 types of speakers available with Citation, and an HD audio and video Receiver called the Adapt.
- One – $199
- 100 – $299
- 300 – $399
- 500 – $599
- Bar – $999
- Tower – $2,499
- Sub – $799
- Surround -$499
- Adapt -$399
This assortment gives users a variety of different ways to configure their homes and allows for simple expansion into the future.
The Technology
Before we dive into the specifics of each speaker, and the sound (spoiler alert: amazing) we should talk about the tech baked into each Citation.
Harman Kardon has packed these speakers full of modern day goodies, without sacrificing audio quality.
In fact they do the tech part better than the competition on a bunch of levels.
Google Assistant & Chromecast
The most obvious thing we need to call out is the fact that each of the Citation series has built-in voice control and multi-room streaming capability thanks to Google.
I don’t use Voice Assistants much (not even with my JBL Link 20) but Chromecast is a winner. Using the Google Home app you can quickly and easily add speakers to your wireless network and “cast” music to them.
What makes this better than direct Bluetooth pairing is twofold: A) you can stream high resolution audio to your speakers, B) if you get a phone call the music playback isn’t interrupted, the speaker is pulling the music down itself via WiFi.
Alexa doesn’t have multi-room streaming built in. Sure, Sonos does, but that is their proprietary thing. Also Alexa right now is very limited in the languages it can support and the countries it can be used in.
Amazon may be in the lead right now with Alexa but the tide is turning, and long-term Google will win the voice control wars.
High Definition Audio
Citation supports HD Audio formats like: HE-AAC, LC-AAC, MP3, Vorbis, WAV (LPCM),FLAC, & Opus.
The sampling rate for Citation is 24bit 96KHz as compare to Sonos 14bit 48KHz.
Modern Wifi
Sonos speakers still use 2.4G, while Citation can use 2.4 or 5G. Whats the difference? 2.4G has a little more range than 5G, but 5G has more bandwith so is faster. That’s important when you have a lot of hungry WiFi devices around the house.
Adaptive Touch Screen
One of the most “wow” moments I had when first playing with the Citation speakers was when I saw the LCD touch-screen baked in. Just like your smart phone it is software driven, so the controls can adjust and change as necessary.
You also get to see your album art up there, which is just cool as heck.
Not all models have this feature: One, 100, Sub, and Surround don’t.
Streaming Services
Unlike other companies, you are not locked into a Harman Kardon app for linking streaming services. Use whatever app you want and either cast via WiFi or use Bluetooth to link to a speaker and send the audio to the rest of the house.
Believe it or not…Sonos speakers don’t have Bluetooth. Not a single one!
This is huge. You are not waiting or hoping that your favorite boutique streaming service is integrated into the proprietary app that runs your system. Use whatever you want!
The Look
Something unique going on with the outside of the speakers: they are wrapped with a special wool fabric made by a company called Kvadrat.
It’s quite beautiful actually. Gives the speakers a warm soft feeling when you look at them up close.
The whole series comes in either black or gray. I typically am old school and stick with black when it comes to electronics, but in this case I think I preferred the gray color, at least for the smaller speakers.
Home Theater Setup
Citation Tower
We’re going to start with the flagship model of the Citation series, the Citation Tower, and work our way into the smaller pieces.
Something few companies offer consumers these days is stunning, jaw-dropping sound. Harman Kardon can, and the Citation Towers do.
They are audiophile grade speakers with a sort-of groovy modern aesthetic.
When I got a demo of them I was floored. I hadn’t expected much from them, given their odd shape and size (compared to traditional floor-standing separates) but I became a believer.
Powered by 1 x 25mm tweeter, 2 x 4” woofer, 1 x 8” sub woofer per
speaker at 200W RMS, the Tower offers crisp, body moving sound that can change your whole perspective on music.
Each Tower stands nearly 4″ tall (1160mm) and weighs a hefty 42lbs (19kg) each.
They can be paired with a Citation Sub for a 2.1 system or a Sub, Bar, and Surround to make a mind-blowing 5.1 system.
Citation Bar
If you don’t want to go for the all-out 200W x 2 Tower system, the Citation Bar will work very well as the central part of a 5.1 system.
(Citation Bar can be used as a dedicated center channel if Towers are used.)
150W of power from the Bar gives incredible full-range sound from its 3 x 20mm tweeters, and 6 x (100mm x 50mm) racetrack woofers.
It is a 3 channel bar, so has left right and center channels built-in.
A Citation Sub and Surround creates a fully voice-controlled 5.1 surround system without wires. No need to connect Sub and Surround with cable, the Bar comes with a built-in WiSA chipset for low latency multi-channel audio.
Full support for 4K TV with 3 HDMI In and HDMI ARC ports for integration with almost any TV, including the most advanced 4K televisions.
Citation Sub
Add a beautiful 10″ 200W subwoofer to the Citation system and hold onto your hat. It is WiSA enabled, so low latency wireless signal sharing from the source makes initial setup a piece of cake.
If you have the space and the dough, the sub is a worthy addition to the system. You get more “feel” with one, since they can hit the lower frequencies and move lots of air around.
Citation Surround
To take your home cinema to it’s full potential, you will need paid of Surrounds. Each Citation Surround is 50W of power with 1 tweeter and 2 woofers.
They are also wireless so the only cable you will need for them is power.
Stands will be available in 2019 that match the finish and style of the Surrounds. Wall brackets are already included.
Citation Adapt
If you are looking to make a 5.1 system using the Citation Tower, Bar, Sub, and Surround then you will need the Citation Adapt to act as your receiver.
You can also use the Citation Adapt to integrate your legacy gear into the Citation universe.
Multi-Room Audio
Moving out of the living room / home theater and into the rest of the house, the Harman Kardon Citation series has a handful of options based on your needs.
There are 4 different speakers Citation offers in this category: One, 100, 300, & 500.
Let’s start with the Citation One since it is probably going to be the most popular model in this group.
Citation One
If you are just looking for a great multi-room speaker with voice control that’s $200 or less, then the Citation One is your best choice.
The Harman Kardon One shares a few things in common with its arch-nemesis, the Sonos One. Besides the name, they are the same price, they both have one tweeter and one woofer, and are similar in size (Citation One is slightly larger.)
Both also have voice control: Sonos One uses Alexa, and the Citation One the Google Assistant.
In a side-by-side listening test there is no contest; the Citation One clearly outperforms the Sonos One. Pretty substantially in fact. For this reason alone the Citation is a better pick but there is more: the Citation One has Bluetooth, 5G WiFi, HD Audio. Sonos has none of these things.
The Citation One puts out 40W of power. Sonos does not publish the power of the Sonos One.
Citation 100
If you need a little more power, then the Citation 100 offers 50W each.
They are pretty much just beefed up versions of the Citation One. Closest direct comparison to Sonos would be the Play one, but at $299 the Citation 100 is $150 more, which puts it more in-line with the Marshall Acton.
Citation 300
There are two power-horses in the Citation line-up, the 300 and 500 and they are my favorites (maybe barring the Tower.)
The Citations are not un-similar in design to the JBL Link Series 300 & 500 but with a few really nice upgrades which makes them cost a bit more.
With 100W of power, the Citation 300 is perfect for a mid-sized kitchen, office, or bedroom.
The sound on these is incredible, I was blown away when they were demoed for me. These are the best sounding speakers I’ve ever heard in this category or size. The only better speaker I’ve heard is the…
Citation 500
WOW. Just wow. That’s really all you could say about the Citation 500. 200W of pure audio bliss. Put one in your living room, in your office, in a retail store, or any room where you need just wonderful sound.
You could legitimately fill a space up to 1000 feet with one of these speakers.
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Conclusion
In my years in the audio business I’ve seen and listened to hundreds of speakers from dozens of high-end manufacturers. That said these are some of the coolest, best looking, and best sounding speakers I’ve ever seen.
Harman Kardon has a win on their hands with the Citation series. I think these will be a game changer. Get to a local retailer and check them out if you can, you won’t be disappointed.
Thank you so much! Ever since the announcement of the citation series I have been wanting to hear the differences with the Sonos system, part. the sonos one. Since I won’t be using Alexa and am eagerly waiting for Sonos to finally support Google Assistent, I was looking for other Google Home speakers.
But so far, Sonos came out best for a multi room and wireless solution.
What has had me buggin was the ongoing statements from Sonos that Google Assistent will be added somewhere in 2018 (oktober 28th right now and still no word) and that there is only support for low res audio. No bluetooth on the Sonos is not an dealbreaker for me, since I want to use it through wifi, but it’s nice to know that the citation one has that option if needed. Also the 5G WiFi is great! And built in Chromecast is just the best!
One thing I like from Sonos thoug, is SonosNet. So all your other wifi connected stuff will not have a negative impact on the audio. I know sonos one has boost built in and a hardware sonos boost is also available if needed. Does Harman Kardon has something like that? Or should I invest in a really good wifi booster if needed?
The greatest thing to hear about in your review was that the citation one just sweeps the floor with the sonos one.
Congrats with the very first review based upon real time experience, instead of the so called reviews from a really short impression during IFA 2018. They are just announcements en spectalk. Of course, they need to be there, but I was looking for a review and you provided just that! Thanks again!
Hope you can do a video comparison between the sonos one and citation one?
Keep up the great work!
Thanks! Looks like Sonos wont have the Google Assistant this year, they are now saying 2019.
The Citation doesn’t have a SonosNet-like feature that I am aware of, although some of them do have the WiSA chip for the home theater speakers, which will take some of the load off the wifi when using them. I’ll see if i can dig into that more.
We did do a side-by-side comparison between the Sonos One and the Citation One, and myself and everyone else in the room thought that the Citation One was superior in nearly all regards. Don’t forget that the Citation can handle HD audio, and using that better source can make a HUGE difference in what is possible.
Thank you! Great that you would be willing to dig in the WiSA some more.
Yes, I read it a couple of days ago, Sonos postponing GA support. At possibly a lot later in 2019. First a couple of beta’s and “expanding to a few hundred testers in the coming months”.. The Citation One with native Google Assistant keeps feeling like a better option for me more and more. Esp. with the support of high res. audio.
Unforuntately, I have still not found a store in the neigborhood where I can listen to the Citation’s. But I assume it will be available it more shops every day now here in the Netherlands. It’s a relatively new product of course.
I’ve had some interesting correspondation with Harman Kardon about the citation series. Esp. the bar. Did you have a chance to test the bar as well?
Where as the Sonos Beam and it’s bigger brothers sound very good for TV, they don’t come out that positive for sound only. By no means bad, but not great. With the Bar, HK seems to have the primary focus on audio too. So great as a sound bar, but also great as a music speaker. Can you confirm that?
Furthermore, it seems that the built in Chromecast from HK only supports audiochannels. So you can’t talk to your citation bar and say to the Google Assistant “Show me the latest episode of “Stranger Things”. I don’t know if youtube is labled as a video service, so I don’t know if that could be played through the Google Assistent (on both the bar and citation one). Do you have any experience?
When the citation bar is connected to the tv with hdmi-cec, you can of course power your tv on and off with the Google Assistant. When audio-only is played on the bar and you turn on your tv, the assistant is “dampened” and can be “awoken” through the remote. Is that also how the beam works?
And last question. Do you think the citation one in stereo mode, could replace a traditional tuner with boxes? I’m by no means an audiophile, but I always have on the radio. More often than not I find myself streaming from Youtube.
I’m going to move shortly and have to start from scratch with tv and speakers. That is why I would like a wireless setup with streaming through the Google Assistant. (I already use GA for the lights). So I would like good speakers with GA built in and that I can expand into multiple rooms.
But the sound does have to be good. I know it prob. can’t tip on a great hifi system set, but do you think that the soundquality comparable to a mid-range tuner and speakers?
I did get to listen to the Bar: by itself, with the subwoofer, and as a center channel with the Towers and Surrounds playing. I was impressed with the sound, I think they did a nice job with it. I would say that listening to music on the Bar was very good. With the Towers it was exceptional. When we listened to music with the Bar the Sub was playing as well, did not get to hear that separated.
Right now I don’t think you can use the GA to play video, although I know there is a plan for that and product will be coming that will have that feature. Not sure if Citation will get an upgrade to support it.
You are correct about how the GA works, when in sound mode you can use voice, when multi-channel you use voice via the remote control.
Yes, you can use the Citation One as a stereo pair, or go with a single 300 or 500 which have stereo sound. And to answer your final question; i think the era of stereo tuners and speakers is mostly gone (unless you are into vintage or very high-end gear) and that you will find the audio performance of the speakers built within the last few years to be superior and take up less space / look better / be easier to use.
Thanks for your update! And I have made my decision.
Great that the bar is very good for listening to music. I will search for a store here in the city that sells the bar to hear it without the towers and sub and if possibly compare with the sonos bars.
For now I have settled on two Citation One’s in stereo thanks to your great review.
For video, I will use a Chromecast and eventually hopefully have the citation bar for tv sound.
You mentioned a sigle 300 or 500 vs two One’s. Did you have the chance to compare the one’s in stereo vs a single stereo 300 or 500?
That is the last question, I promise. LOL.
Ha ha no it’s ok, it’s why we are here 🙂
I did not get to test two ones in a stereo pair, just heard each speaker individually.
Ok, thank you!
I think I’m going to start with two one’s then and work my way up from there.
Keep us updated! Would love to hear your feedback once you’ve had some time with them.
Hi,
I want to create wireless sound system with using 2xone , 1xsub and 1xbar. But when I asked to harman kardon support. They told me that I cannot connect them to each other and can not create a surrond sound system. Maybe I explain myself wrong to them. What I need a Sonos like system that when I watching something in the room, I want to hear the detail from each of the devices and when I go to other rooms I will take one of the one and listen over there.
Is it possible?
thanks
Ah I think the issue would be your trying to use the One’s. They don’t have the WISA chips that the Bar, Sub, Surrounds, and Towers have, so they aren’t meant to be used in a surround sound situation.
Now that said, lets say you use the Bar and Sub as your home theater audio, could a One in another room also play the audio from the TV? That I’m not sure about, but that is how I would phrase it if you try calling Harman support again.