End of an Era. 43 years with JBL is Over

[mixsit]

Colleagues,

It certainly appears, after reading several posts, that some lower echelon dimwit who apparently had enough power to do something really stupid did so. What was he the bosses' nephew? I wonder if someone above this chap could turn around and correct this situation, if that is what Mr. Timbers would want. It happened at a Seattle broadcasting company of all places. It makes me angry and dumbfounded at the same time. Too bad we can't outlaw stupidity.

I, like many here, came up with a fondness of JBL, from using pieces in my music from the get go some 40 years ago. This thread's brought a certain tinge of sadness.
I've followed most of it but may have missed.. Was there something to suggest this someone was acting, how to put it.. Independent of management in some way?

[JBLGUY]

Yup, pretty stupid to drag your Icon out to the curb on garbage day.
I was standing in a Staples the other day getting my dose of low fidelity. I was pushing the buttons on the Bluetooth speakers on display. Each one has it own built in program to demo the pop can speakers they are selling. The JBL display didn't even have the best sound. How sad is that ? They were touting the mighty Orange JBL logo and I could have cried.
To think my JBL system and cherished drivers share the same logo is almost unthinkable.

Someday all the kids are gonna think I'm a wizard with my real sound system.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Have you seen the new Harman Luxury website?

Looking at The Truth pod casts one can only assume none of the patents and the walk down history corridor at Northridge apply to the mass consumer Buds and other lifestyle stuff.

[Fitero]

So it raises the question; what were the last designs that Mr. Timbers was involved in designing?

I wonder if the new 4367 is a brain child of his. It would make it's purchase even more special to many I would think.



Oh, and usual disclaimer; long time lurker, first time poster. Greetings and gratitude expressed...

[JeffW]

Form here

The 4367 was G.T.'s last system design for JBL and one of the delays in production was due to his sudden unexpected unwarranted departure.

[Fitero]

Thank you for the info. JeffW.

[Elac310]

I was unceremoniously separated from employment by Harman following a 90 second explanation. My position was eliminated! Following an explanation of benefits, I was escorted out. The timing came as a surprise and as such, I haven't thought about my future plans. While I don't need to work financially, I need to be active and challenged so I must figure out what makes sense for me going forward. To be clear, this is not what I wanted or deserved, but I will not comment further on details until a much later date. My decision, not theirs.It was a good run and I am very pleased that I have brought so many people enjoyment with the products I have developed over the last 4 decades. Once things settle down, I hope to be more available on the forum, but I need some time to adjust.My best wishes to all you JBL fans. Treat your products well and enjoy them while you can.Best Regards,Greg Timbers

OK I come from a country with another social and labour culture (which is actually often laughed at). Even if one goes for total labour market flexibility, still people should not be treated like that. It's a question of respect for the human being, his/her experience and profession (top engineering), image, overall contribution etc. Especially where such people have contributed so much to the repute, image and success of a business to the extent that the name of the business or its top products were often associated to that of the engineer(s).

All my best wishes accompany you in your future endeavours. And a big thank you for having contributed so much and so brilliantly to the development of audio transducers and the science of sound reproduction. If this is what you desire, I hope you will be able to continue on that path through a consultancy bureau or otherwise.

[rdgrimes]

FWIW, www.jblsynthesis.com/ is back online. But it doesn't actually list any products.

[4313B]

FWIW, www.jblsynthesis.com/ is back online. But it doesn't actually list any products.

Maybe they are synthesizing new products...

[LowPhreak]

Maybe they are synthesizing new products...

Just what the world needs..."lifestyle" junk of Chinese plastic with the 'Synthesis' label on them...

[hjames]

Just what the world needs..."lifestyle" junk of Chinese plastic with the 'Synthesis' label on them...

Yes, the new Synthesis line consists of iPhone boomboxes and wireless headphones/earbudz ...

NOTE: Dealers are NOT permitted to sell Harman Luxury Audio products online.

http://www.jblsynthesis.com/syn-purchase-policy.html

[SEAWOLF97]

.
" Sitting in the cafeteria at Sennheiser's Wedemark headquarter's campus, Axel and a few other engineers in the headphone group began to chat about the original Orpheus and whether or not they could improve on it. Over the course of many lunchtime chats they came to the conclusion they could. They brought their conclusions to upper-management.

"So, we think we can build the world's best headphones, again. Do you think this is something we can/should do?"

Now, most publicly owned companies would throw out the idea as monetarily unprofitable. It would be tossed out the window with the engineers told to go make something the broad consuming public would desire. But not Sennheiser—a privately held company—they're passionate about making great products. Profit, for them, is surely found on the financial bottom line, but it's also found in the hearts and minds of others who share their passion for great audio reproduction. Brand equity, it's called. "

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content...-he1060hev1060

[carolax]

After 40 years of owning and working with JBL Professional products, it's gut-wrenching to see what happens when a corporation can't see further than their next quarterly profit report. But life goes on. I just built a new home studio using ATC monitors, ATC being a small, privately-owned company who believe proper transducer design and careful manufacturing are what matters. I'm listening to their smallest studio monitors right now, which have 6" woofer with a 3" voice coil and a 20lb magnet assembly. They're not JBLs, of course--they sound neutral and require more power than Donald Trump's blow dryer--and the ATC logo may be the ugliest ever. But it's good to know there are products out there which reflect the values that once made JBL a special company.

[BMWCCA]

I'm listening to their smallest studio monitors right now, which have 6" woofer with a 3" voice coil and a 20lb magnet assembly. They're not JBLs, of course--they sound neutral and require more power than Donald Trump's blow dryer--and the ATC logo may be the ugliest ever. But it's good to know there are products out there which reflect the values that once made JBL a special company.

I suppose a logical comparison of those values could be made in an A-B comparison of the ATC SCM20ASL to the JBL LSR305 or LSR308.

The smallest ATC at a street value of $5000 per pair versus the smallest of the Timbers JBL M2-legacy monitors currently offered at $200/pair, shipping included. Specs show the baby JBLs go deeper and my ears tell me they image as well as anything I've heard. The price point the JBLs hit might not have been possible if JBL's parent hadn't been looking for cheaper off-shore manufacturing, or leveraged the development of the M2 to create smaller versions with the same heart. They may not be hand-made in Britain, but the result is really the Timbers legacy as much or more than it is JBL's.

And I mention it in this thread only to help remember what Greg accomplished and how his legacy extends to such affordable examples of what we (once) loved about JBL.

[frank23]

I only read this now, I'm sorry for Greg Timbers to be treated this way. It's incredible to see how American companies mistreat their employees, their biggest assets. I'm glad to be living in Europe.

Now what if Greg Timbers and Siegfried Linkwitz (http://www.linkwitzlab.com/15_years_of_LL.htm) would team up? I'm not sure they could get along, but it might as well produce a really nice system!