JBL is one of the leading manufacturers of high-quality audio components that are just as popular at live events as they are for recording studio work. In addition to professional studio monitors such as the LSR series, JBL manufactures the well-known Control series speakers. JBL also enriches PA needs with professional products such as the EON series and the VRX/MRX and SRX series. Read more...
JBL began with J.B.L. - James Bullough Lansing. Lansing was an inventive genius who practically created everything within his imagination - such as his own company name. Lansing graduated from high school, took a few college courses, forwent the degree and began working as an auto mechanic in 1920s. Shortly afterwards he became an engineer at a radio station. However, Lansing wanted more: he founded the Lansing Manufacturing Company to produce radio speakers. At the beginning of the motion picture industry, Lansing became an expert in film sound. From 1933 to 1935, Shearer and Lansing developed a system of horn-shaped speakers to improve sound in the cinema auditorium. The Shearer-Lansing system worked so well that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave it an award for technical excellence in 1936.
After some economic reprisals, first J.B.L. then JBL formed. A few years later, in the early 1960s, JBL collaborated with Capitol Records (home of the Beatles and Beach Boys) to develop monitor speakers for recording studios. The result of this collaboration, the 4320 system, was successful in such a powerful way that the professional audio division continues to develop components for recording studios worldwide to this day. In the mid-1970s, JBL engineers developed Symmetrical Field Geometry™, a speaker arrangement that reduces sound distortion. A few years later, JBL engineers developed Bi-Radial® horn technology, which improves sound performance over a range of frequencies.