JBL audiophile speaker systems FOUNDED 1946

1902 – Birth of James B. Lansing in Illinois, U.S. 1927 – Lansing Manufacturing Company founded in Los Angeles 1934 – Douglas Shearer of MGM heads team which designs the first practical loudspeaker for motion picture use. Lansing builds components for the Shearer horn system which becomes industry standard. 1936 – Shearer-Lansing system awarded citation by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 1937 – Lansing creates the “Iconic” two-way compact design – the first studio monitor 1941 – Lansing Manufacturing Company acquired by Altec Service Company 1943 – Lansing develops the Model 604 Duplex 15” (38cm) co-axial loudspeaker 1944 – Lansing and Hilliard redefine the reference theater speaker with the "Voice of the Theatre" 1946 – Lansing leaves Altec and founds a new company, James B. Lansing Sound Incorporated 1947 – JBL develops D130 15” (38cm) speaker with the first commercial use of 4" (100mm) voice coil 1949 – James B. Lansing dies; William Thomas becomes company president 1953 – Commercialization of Acoustic Lenses developed by Bart Locanthi 1954 – Model 375 compression driver, first 4” (100mm) diaphragm commercially available 1955 – Model 075, the first ultra-high-frequency ring-radiator transducer 1957 – Introduction of JBL Paragon stereo console speaker system 1959 – Leo Fender integrates the Model D130 into his guitar amplifiers 1962 – JBL creates the first 2-way studio monitor to utilize a high-frequency acoustic lens 1968 – JBL launches the Model 4310 three-way bookshelf studio monitor speaker, later the 4311 1969 – Sidney Harman acquires JBL, ushering in a period of accelerated international growth 1969 – L-100 consumer version of the 4311 is launched, which sells over 125,000 pairs in the 1970s 1969 – JBL speaker components deliver the sound at Woodstock and many other rock festivals 1973 – 4300 Series studio monitors launched, including the industry’s first four-way designs 1975 – Model 4682 thermoplastic " Strongbox " Line Array 1979 – Diamond surround technology for control of high-frequency resonances in diaphragms 1979 – Development of the Symmetrical Field Geometry (SFG) magnet structure 1979 – Cabaret® Series portable systems for musicians debuts 1980 – Bi-Radial® Constant-Coverage horns 1981 – The first Bi-Radial® studio monitor, the 4435, for the recording studio 1982 – Titanium is first developed as a material for high-frequency diaphragms 1982 – Model 4675 power-flat cinema system introduced, first system to be approved by THX® 1986 – The first models of Control® Series unveiled 1990 – Vented Gap Cooling technology reduces low-frequency transducer temperature 1991 – The first pro-audio speaker using a neodymium magnet in Array Series 1995 – Birth of the EON molded-enclosure integrated, powered portable loudspeakers 1995 – First neodymium Differential Drive® Dual-voice-coil/Dual-magnetic-gap cone transducers 2000 – Creation of VerTec® Line Array system with RBI – Radiation Boundary Integrator 2000 – ScreenArray® three-way cinema systems with Screen Spreading Compensation 2002 – JBL Engineers receive Scientific and Technical Awards from the Motion Picture Academy 2005 – JBL awarded a Technical Grammy® by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences 2006 – VRX Constant-Curvature Line Array introduced 2008 – CBT Series Constant Beamwidth Technology column line arrays developed 2011 – D2 Dual-Diaphragm Compression Driver developed, first used in VTX Line Array 2012 – M2 Studio Monitor with Image Control Waveguide, D2 driver and low-TCR voice-coil woofer

Added 29 May 2026