Originally Posted by
Steve Schell
Great thread, Glen. As to your D1002 system, I would say that it is old and rare enough to justify restoration, or at least saving in its current condition. Jim Lansing began building these in 1946, and they continued in production until the 175DLH replaced the early 175 and H-1000 assembly in the early 1950s. I would have to see your driver and cabinet to opine as to whether they started life together. In any case the 175 would be gray with solder terminals, and have either a "Jim Lansing Signature Speaker" paper label or a cut corners rectangular decal that might say Venice, Van Nuys or Los Angeles. The labels on cabinet back, crossover, woofer and compression driver are usually the same style and marked with the same location, but I did see one pristine looking system where they were mismatched. Anyway, JBL was a tiny company in those years and probably not more than a few hundred D1000 series cabinets (at most) were produced. If you ever decide to unload it, let me know.
The D1002 falls into the same catagory as some of the LMCo. pieces, of being so rare that most folks have no idea what it is. Several Iconics have been sold piecemeal on ebay, and usually the seller removed the components from the cabinet which was then tossed. Yikes! I have paid as much as $600 for an empty original Iconic box, and was happy to do so. To me these things are like Precolumbian figurines. Nearly all of the early, significant, low production speakers have been lost already, so I'm inclined to try and save the remaining few if at all possible.
Will the bulk of the JBL consumer systems ever attain rare collectible, high dollar status? It is hard to say. These days the high prices are paid for Paragons (and other 'gons), Hartsfields, the big monitors and a few beauties like the Olympus. With each passing year more and more of the more common speakers disappear, so the rarity of the remaining ones increases. It seems to take rarity combined with a pool of collectors actively seeking them to make the price shoot up, just the ol' supply / demand equation at work.
I have a 1980 Mercedes 450SL, a beater that I obtained for next to nothing but have enjoyed greatly. These can be fantastic cars if in good shape, yet they sell quite cheaply in relation to their quality. Problem is that this series was a huge hit for Mercedes, and they built them in large numbers from 1972 to 1989. Owners will have to wait a loooong time to see these appreciate to rare collectible status.