jbl professional type subsidiary industry audio headquarters northridge california u.s. key people james bullough lansing founder products amplifiers loudspeakers number of employees 12000 parent harman international website www.jbl.com jbl is an american audio electronics company 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 production and dj and cinema markets . contents 1 history 2 timeline 3 examples of applications 4 references 5 external links history edit 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 the 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 . 1 early products included the model 375 high frequency driver and the 075 uhf ultra high frequency 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 . 2 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 . 3 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 later renamed harman international 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 . 4 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 glendale and northridge used the roof as an outdoor equivalent to an anechoic chamber . 5 over the next two decades jbl went more mass market with their consumer northridge 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 whose cars used infinity and nissan who used bose . today toyota uses jbl systems in its product line up . timeline edit 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 4 100 mm 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 sfg 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 introduced 1990 vented gap cooling technology reduces low frequencies transducer temperature 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 at woodstock 1999 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 seoul korea examples of applications edit academy of motion picture arts and sciences ampas 6 samuel goldwyn theater hollywood united states . institut de recherche et de coordination acoustique musique ircam 7 pierre boulez paris france 1974 1991 . digital cinema project gaumont 8 philippe binant paris france 2000 2008 . references edit 1 founding jbl lansing heritage website 2 jbl to 1981 lansing heritage website 3 jbl signature logo lansing heritage website arnold wolf president of jbl 1969 1979 4 inside the studio monitor 5 jbl cinema loudspeaker systems p. 1 . 6 ircam rapport p. 17 . 7 jbl three way screen channel system pp. 1 2 . external links edit official consumer products website v t e harman international industries subsidiaries akg acoustics c1000 amx crown international dbx professional products digitech digitech whammy harman kardon infinity systems jbl jbl paragon lexicon mark levinson audio systems martin professional soundcraft studer symphony teleca people david e. blackmer graham blyth phil dudderidge sidney harman james bullough lansing francis f. lee mark levinson authority control worldcat identities viaf 139544535 lccn n79105086 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title jbl & oldid 736321829 categories jblaudio amplifier manufacturersharman international 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