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View Full Version : Trying to confirm history of JBL Hartsfield Speakers



goh2010
03-21-2009, 12:08 PM
Hello All,
I have just received two speakers in my shop. They came in with an interesting history. They are JBL Hartsfield. According to the history I was given these speakers are 2 of 12 built as part of a bet between Bill Thomas and Bill Hartsfield. Apparently Hartsfield said he couple build a 8" speaker system that could rival the large JBL Hartsfield sound quality. The speakers are ~33" tall by ~35" wide. I have a letter documenting the history. They were apparently purchased second hand in 1963 or 1964. I look forward to hear what everyone has to say. We are going to be offering these for sale and I want to build a file on them so we can price them accordingly.
Best,
Carl
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/678/dsc0519.jpg

farleybob
03-21-2009, 01:40 PM
Hi, very cool looking speakers. Other folks on the board can certainly tell you more, but I'll throw in my 2 cents. I don't think that they're actually Hartsfields, though. Hartsfields are a about a foot taller and have a different design. The Hartsfield was available with an adapter so that a single 8" driver provided bass via the horn and directly radiated the MF/HF, but again this doesn't look like a Hartsfield. They kind of look like a Lee catenoid corner horn I once had. It had a 12" in the bass horn section and a direct radiating 8" midrange and a Jensen tweeter in the upper section as shown. Of course these drivers look like JBLs. While they're not JBL Hartsfields, Mr. Hartsfield was an active audio hobbyist in the DC area and may have put together some other speakers after his involvement with the Hartsfield. More photos would probably help determine exactly what it is, and if there's some original documentation this would help some of the knowledgable board members determine the speakers' pedigree.

goh2010
03-21-2009, 04:51 PM
Hello,
Here are some additional pictures. I took off the front of the speakers and here are the drivers and crossover models

JBL Signature Speaker Model 16
JBL Signature Speaker Model D216
JBL Signature Sound Crossover Model N2400
Here are some additonal pictures.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/cc3de489f1.jpg

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/512b470865.jpg

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/d97598c442.jpg