JBL is an American audio electronics company currently owned by Harman International.
It was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing.
Their primary products are loudspeakers and associated electronics.
There are two independent divisions within the company — JBL Consumer and JBL Professional.
The former produces audio equipment for the consumer home market while the latter produces
professional equipment for the studio, installed sound, tour sound, portable sound, and cinema
markets.
History James B. Lansing founded JBL one year after
leaving Altec Lansing as their Vice President of Engineering in 1945.
The company was first called Lansing Sound, Inc., from 1 October 1946, and later changed
its name to James B. Lansing Sound.
The first products were the model D101 15-inch loudspeaker and the model D175 high-frequency
driver.
The D175 remained in the JBL catalog through the 1970s.
Both of these were near-copies of Altec Lansing products.
The first original product was the D130, a 15-inch transducer for which a variant would
remain in production for the next 55 years.
The D130 featured a four-inch flat ribbon wire voice coil and Alnico V magnet.
Two other products were the 12-inch D131 and the 8-inch D208 cone drivers.
The Marquardt Corporation gave the company early manufacturing space and a modest investment.
William H. Thomas, the treasurer of Marquardt Corporation, represented Marquardt on Lansing's
Board of Directors.
In 1948 Marquardt took over operation of the JBL.
In 1949 Marquardt was purchased by General Tire Company.
The new company was not interested in the loudspeaker business and severed ties with
Lansing.
Lansing reincorporated as James B. Lansing, Incorporated, and moved to his newly formed
company to its first private location on 2439 Fletcher Drive, Los Angeles.
A key to JBL's early development was Lansing's close business relationship with its primary
supplier of Alnico V magnetic material, Robert Arnold of Arnold Engineering.
Arnold Engineering extended favorable terms and deep credit to Lansing.
Robert Arnold saw JBL as an opportunity to sell Alnico V magnetic material into a new
market.
James Lansing was noted as an innovative engineer, but a poor businessman.
For the next three years Lansing struggled to pay invoices and ship product.
As a result of deteriorating business conditions and personal issues, he committed suicide
on September 4, 1949.
The company then passed into the hands of Bill Thomas, JBL's then vice-president.
Lansing had taken out a $10,000 life insurance policy, naming the company as the beneficiary,
a decision that allowed Thomas to continue the company after Lansing's death.
Soon after, Thomas purchased Mrs. Lansing's one-third interest in the company and became
the sole owner of the company.
Thomas is credited with revitalizing the company and spearheading a period of strong growth
for the two decades following the founding of JBL.
Early products included the model 375 high-frequency driver and the 075 UHF ring-radiator driver.
The ring-radiator drivers are also known as "JBL bullets" because of their distinctive
shape.
The 375 was a re-invention of the Western Electric 594 driver but with an Alnico V magnet
and a four-inch voice coil.
The 375 shared the same basic magnet structure as the D-130 woofer.
JBL engineers Ed May and Bart N. Locanthi created these designs.
Two products from that era, the Hartsfield and the Paragon, continue to be highly desired
on the collectors' market.
In 1955 the brand name JBL was introduced to resolve ongoing disputes with Altec Lansing
Corporation.
The company name "James B. Lansing Sound, Incorporated" was retained, but the logo name
was changed to JBL with its distinctive exclamation point logo.
The JBL 4320 series studio monitor was introduced through Capitol Records in Hollywood and became
the standard monitor worldwide for its parent company, EMI.
JBL's introduction to rock and roll music came via the adoption of the D130 loudspeaker
by Leo Fender's Fender Guitar company as the ideal driver for electric guitars.
In 1969, Bill Thomas sold JBL to the Jervis Corporation headed by Dr. Sidney Harman.
The 1970s saw JBL become a household brand, starting with the famous L-100, which was
the best-selling loudspeaker model of any company to that time.
The 1970s also saw a major JBL expansion in the professional audio field from their studio
monitors.
By 1977, more recording studios were using JBL monitors than all other brands combined,
according to a Billboard survey.
The JBL L-100 and 4310 control monitors were noteworthy, popular home speakers.
In the late 1970s, the new L-series designs L15, L26, L46, L56, L86, L96, L112, L150,
and later the L150A and flagship L250 were introduced with improved crossovers, ceramic
magnet woofers, updated midrange drivers, and aluminum-deposition phenolic resin tweeters.
In the mid 1980s the designs were again updated and redesigned with a new titanium-deposition
tweeter diaphragm.
The new L-series designations being the L20T, L40T, L60T, L80T, L100T, the Ti-series 18Ti,
120Ti, 240Ti, and the flagship 250Ti.
To test speaker drivers, JBL in Northridge used the roof as an outdoor equivalent to
an anechoic chamber.
Over the next two decades JBL went more mass-market with their consumer line of loudspeakers.
At the same time, they made an entry into the high-end market with their project speakers,
consisting of the Everest and K2 lines.
JBL became a prominent supplier to the tour sound industry, their loudspeakers being employed
by touring rock acts and music festivals.
JBL products were the basis for the development of THX loudspeaker standard, which resulted
in JBL becoming a popular cinema loudspeaker manufacturer.
JBL was formerly used in Ford's top-of-the-line vehicle audio systems, as competition with
Chrysler and Nissan.
Today, Toyota uses JBL systems in its product line-up.
One of the best system that jbl come up with is Jbl Creature II
Timeline 1902 – Birth of James B. Lansing in Illinois,
U.S. 1927 – Founding of Lansing Manufacturing
Company in Los Angeles 1934 – Douglas Shearer from MGM designs
the first speaker for the cinema.
Lansing builds system components.
1941 – Altec Service Company acquires Lansing Manufacturing Company
1944 – Lansing and Hilliard redefine the reference theater speaker with model A-4,
renamed " Voice of the Theatre " 1946 – Lansing leaves Altec and founds a
new company, James B. Lansing Sound Inc. 1947 – JBL has a speaker 38 cm, D-130, using
for the first time a 4" voice coil in a speaker cone
1949 – James.
B. Lansing dies; William Thomas became president of the company
1954 – The "375" compression engine is the first 4-inch engine sold; its response extends
to 9 kHz 1954 – Presentation of acoustic lenses developed
by Barth Locanthi 1955 – Leo Fender integrates the D-130 model
in their amplifiers, thus signalling the entry of JBL into professional music
1958 – Introduction of JBL Paragon stereo speaker system
1962 – JBL creates the first 2-way studio monitor, using a high frequency motor lens
1968 – JBL launches the 3-way speaker 4310 1969 – Sidney Harman acquires JBL.
1969 – L-100, a consumer version of the 4311 is launched – this would sell over
125,000 pairs in the 70s 1969 – JBL components deliver sound at Woodstock
and many other rock festivals 1973 – 4300 Series launched, including the
first 4-way speaker 1975 – 4682 Model Line Array " Strongbox
" 1979 – Technology "diamond surround " for
control of high frequency resonances in 1979 – Development of Symmetrical Field
Geometry 1980 – Pavilion Bi-Radial ® Constant dispersion
technology 1981 – The first Bi-Radial monitor, 4400
for the recording studio 1982 – Titanium is used as a material for
compression engines 1984 – JBL acquires UREI
1986 – The first models of Control series unveilled
1990 – Vented Gap Cooling technology 1991 – The first pro-audio speaker based
on neodymium with Array Series 1995 – Birth of EON system
1995 – First Neodymium Differential Drive speaker
1996 – Creation of the HLA standard with Line Array Space Frame design
1999 – JBL used in Woodstock 2000 – Creation of VerTec Line Array system
2000 – Birth of EVO, the intelligent loudspeaker controlled by DSP
2002 – VerTec is used for the Super Bowl, the Grammy Awards and the ceremony of the
2002 FIFA World Cup Examples of applications
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - AMPAS.
Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique - IRCAM.
Digital Cinema Project - GAUMONT.
References
External links Official consumer products website
Official professional products website Lansing Heritage website
JBL Forum at Vintage Audio