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Don McRitchie
06-29-2007, 03:02 PM
As many of you know, Steve Schell and I were honoured with the assignment to develop a comprehensive history of JBL that was published as the core article in a commemorative edition of Stereo Sound marking JBL's 60th anniversary. I promised Stereo Sound that I would hold off on making the English language version available on our site for some time in order not to compromise Stereo Sound's sales. Stereo Sound's chief editor, Koji Onodera, has been kind enough to grant permission to publish it now, so here it is.

There are two versions. The first is a web version. Unfortunately, I am having publishing problems with our main site, so for now, it is located on our test site here:

http://test.audioheritage.org/html/history/legacy/legacy.htm

Second, there is a printable PDF version that can be downloaded by clicking on the link below. Be forewarned that this version is 14 MB in size, so I would suggest you only attempt to download it if you have broadband service.

http://test.audioheritage.org/stereosound%20article/Stereo%20Sound-5-two-side.pdf

This printable version is formatted for two sided printing so that illustrations appear on the left and the main text article on the right. Obviously, you can still print it single sided, but the postioning and photo references will be off. If you just view it within Adobe reader, there is an option to display as two sided by selecting the page display under the view menu as two-up.

I could use your help with these articles. I have proof read them as best I can, but at over 35,000 words, I have been unable catch everything. If you come across typos, spelling or grammatical errors, or factual errors, please post them into this thread so that I can update the articles to finalize them.

Zilch
06-29-2007, 06:25 PM
Olympus image mislabled as LE8T on LE Drivers page.

[Still reading....]

SEAWOLF97
06-29-2007, 06:36 PM
http://test.audioheritage.org/html/history/legacy/06_altec.htm


6900 McKinley After Alec Merger

s/b Altec ?

stpower
06-29-2007, 09:10 PM
The link Seawolf has shows an Altec A-2 system and has it labeled an A-4. The A-4 only used 2 woofers in one 210 enclosure.

stpower

boputnam
06-29-2007, 09:48 PM
...I could use your help with these articles. You, sir, are generous beyond words.

I'll stuff my head into this after tomorrow's gigs... :)

Harvey Gerst
06-30-2007, 02:54 PM
I could use your help with these articles. I have proof read them as best I can, but at over 35,000 words, I have been unable catch everything. If you come across typos, spelling or grammatical errors, or factual errors, please post them into this thread so that I can update the articles to finalize them.
On page 10, the sentence reads:

"The model D-130A was offered as a low-frequency variant of the D-130; it featured an edgewound copper voice coil and a paper center dome."

That should be "130A", not "D-130A"; the "D" was reserved to indicate an aluminum domed speaker.

Note: The "D" was also used to indicate a system instead of an empty cabinet. For example if you loaded a 001 speaker system in a C34 cabinet, it became a D34001 system.
-------------------------------------------------
On page 13, you talk about Transducers Inc., which was run by William Burton, one of the first JBL engineers, who designed the D123 and the 075. Bart Locanthi would come in on weekends to consult. (Bill and Bart actually built the polar plot recorder from scratch.)

When Ed May came on board at Casitas (as Bill Burton's replacement), Bill Burton started Transducers Inc. in La Canada, CA.
-------------------------------------------------
Small Footnote: The curved map behind William Thomas (on page 13) was made by me and Bill's secretary, Margaret Jackson, while JBL was still on Fletcher Drive (later, Margaret married Bill Thomas).
-------------------------------------------------
Page 30: "As early as the 1940s, Les Paul, the inventor of the electric guitar, had established a personal relationship with Jim Lansing, and JBL was his preferred vendor for loudspeaker components."

Les invented the "solid body electric guitar"; he didn't invent electric guitars. And it was only after the Fender solid body guitars became popular that Gibson agreed to come out with a solid body guitar.
-------------------------------------------------
Other instrument manufacturers that offered JBL speakers as options included Mosrite and Standel.

Don McRitchie
06-30-2007, 03:10 PM
Thanks for the input Harvey. It is appreciated and I will incorporate the additional information. Just to clarify, the D130A reference is correct. While the "D" was later dropped, Jim Lansing personally chose to name all of the drivers he developed with a "D" prefix for reasons that have been lost to time. For example, the 175 was originally called the D175. This is illustrated in the late 40's catalogs on the site.

Don

Harvey Gerst
06-30-2007, 04:15 PM
Ahh okay, I didn't realize that we had a D130A designation. Never saw one. The "D" might have stood for "Driver" - which would make sense. The 175 assembly during my day was called the 175DLH, which stood for "D"river, "L"ens, and "H"orn.

Harvey Gerst
06-30-2007, 04:38 PM
BTW, I have some JBL catalogs, cut sheets, and booklets that will fill in some blanks that are missing here. Who do I send them to for scanning?

Don McRitchie
06-30-2007, 10:00 PM
Thanks Harvey. We can make use of this.

I have to ask, can anyone volunteer to do the scanning? I have too many things on my plate for this and would appreciate if someone had the time to undertake this.

Don

Jan Daugaard
07-01-2007, 01:15 AM
On page 21, the infinitive marker is missing in "... made the decision to cease production in 1983".

louped garouv
07-01-2007, 01:36 AM
Thanks Harvey. We can make use of this.

I have to ask, can anyone volunteer to do the scanning? I have too many things on my plate for this and would appreciate if someone had the time to undertake this.

Don


I can scan if no one else can/wants to....

:)

Rolf
07-01-2007, 08:40 AM
On page 14 (the downloaded PDF version) it says:

"After Jim Lansing’s untimely death on September 24",

but on the stone on the gravesite it says September 29.

Rolf

Harvey Gerst
07-01-2007, 08:54 AM
I can scan if no one else can/wants to...Scanning is not a problem for me, but I don't know what sizes you want, or where to send them once they're scanned.

Don C
07-01-2007, 11:19 AM
I can do dome scanning as well. Just send a PM for my mailing address.

Robh3606
07-01-2007, 11:49 AM
Hello Harvey

The link is a page on the site that gives you the scan sizes and a place to upload them.

Thanks Rob:)

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/interact/scans.htm

mech986
07-04-2007, 12:35 PM
Hi Don,

On PDF page 11 photo caption, the gravesite marker is incorrectly located as Englewood instead of Inglewood as mentioned in the forum version of the photo. This is the Inglewood Park Cemetary, I grew up within 2 miles from there. Never realized JBL was buried there till I came upon thi9s site. Someday, we need to document exactly where that is and place a wreath or JBL Badge there on Sept. 29. Anyone up for that?

Also, the forum document text also states date of passing was Sept. 24 instead of Sept. 29.

Great Job, Don, will continue to check.

Regards,

Bart

mech986
07-04-2007, 03:19 PM
BTW, an interesting list of stars and celebrities buried at Inglewood are listed here:

http://www.seeing-stars.com/Buried2/InglewoodPark.shtml

http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=8074

Bart

mech986
07-05-2007, 10:58 PM
Pg. 34 of the pdf version, Last 3 sentences:


"The fact that the Aquarius con-cept failed was unfortunate, but it was taken in stride. In fact, the introduction of the Aquarius series coincided with the introduction of the L100. That product emerge as the most successful loudspeaker ever produced by any manufac-turer in its day."

The last sentence should read either "That product emerged..." or "That product would emerge..."

Regards,

Bart

stephane RAME
07-12-2007, 05:32 AM
STEREO SOUND Book

DavidF
07-13-2007, 09:40 AM
I enjoyed reading this article very much. I was amused at the mention of the origin of the “LE” model designation as Low Efficiency. I can imagine the marketing folks having heartburn over any reference to low efficiency on any product they are presenting in the market much less actually designating the whole product line as such. I can also imagine the engineer types equally unsatisfied with “Linear Efficiency”. "What the heck does that mean?... It references nothing related to the product or design". The LE designation stuck, after all, but I wonder how long this little debate lasted.

DavidF

jbl4ever
07-31-2007, 08:06 PM
In the 5th project speaker
motor structure and he overall structure motor structure

Mannermusic
02-19-2008, 08:29 PM
I enjoyed reading this article very much. I was amused at the mention of the origin of the “LE” model designation as Low Efficiency. I can imagine the marketing folks having heartburn over any reference to low efficiency on any product they are presenting in the market much less actually designating the whole product line as such. I can also imagine the engineer types equally unsatisfied with “Linear Efficiency”. "What the heck does that mean?... It references nothing related to the product or design". The LE designation stuck, after all, but I wonder how long this little debate lasted.

DavidF

David: from old catalog SC515 Dec. 1, 1963.

JBL LINEAR EFFICIENCY LOUDSPEAKERS AND LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEMS

JBL Linear-Efficiency transducers, the result of imaginative engineering and extensive research, are a unique combination of long linear cone travel and conversion efficiency. Lengthy cone excursion produces profound bass response in an acoustical enclosure of moderate dimensions. Relatively high efficiency for this type of speaker is the result of precision manufacture, advanced magnetic circuit design, and large voice coil diameter. The Linear-Efficiency speakers shown on the following pages are not normally interchangeable with the maximum efficiency speakers shown on the preceding pages of the catalog. Maximum efficiency speakers are designed for use in exponentially-tapered horn and bass reflex enclosures. Transducers in the Linear-Efficiency group deliver optimum performance when mounted in totally enclosed, or, at the option of the user, in some circumstances, other types of enclosures. Each group is capable of remarkably realistic music reproduction and will have its partisans among discerning listeners.

Mike Manner

MickeyFinn
11-04-2010, 08:29 PM
There are two versions. The first is a web version. Unfortunately, I am having publishing problems with our main site, so for now, it is located on our test site here:

http://test.audioheritage.org/html/history/legacy/legacy.htm

Second, there is a printable PDF version that can be downloaded by clicking on the link below. Be forewarned that this version is 14 MB in size, so I would suggest you only attempt to download it if you have broadband service.

http://test.audioheritage.org/stereosound%20article/Stereo%20Sound-5-two-side.pdf


Unfortunately, neither of these links seem to be working. Is there another link I can use?