JBL

James B. Lansing, who had been vice-president of engineering at Altec Lansing, set up Lansing Sound in Los Angeles in 1946. Its first product was the D101 15-inch woofer, and the D130 followed in 1948. Altec objected to the Lansing name, so the company became James B. Lansing Sound, and later simply JBL.

After Lansing. Lansing died in 1949, and William H. Thomas took the company over and cleared its debts. JBL drivers went into Fender guitar amplifiers, the Paragon stereo cabinet of the late 1950s and, through Capitol Records, recording studios.

Harman. In 1969 Sidney Harman’s Jervis Corporation bought JBL, and the L100 bookshelf speaker followed in 1970. Harman calls it the best-selling speaker system of the decade. Harman sold JBL to Beatrice Foods in 1977 and bought it back in 1980.

Today. JBL is part of HARMAN, which Samsung Electronics has owned since 2017, and it marked its 80th anniversary in 2026. Harman’s acoustic research was long led by Floyd Toole, who came to Harman from Canada’s National Research Council here in Ottawa.

Classic L series (1970s to 1980s): the L100 of 1970 and its successors, and two-ways such as the L46 of 1982, with its 8-inch 117H woofer.

Studio monitors: the 4310 of 1968, and the 4311 and 4312.

HLS series (late 1990s): such as the HLS610 and the HLS Center, with polycarbonate dome tweeters on horns.

Northridge N series (about 1999 to 2003): the N24, N26, N28 and N38, the N Center and their II versions, with titanium-laminate tweeters.

Northridge E series (2003 to 2005): from the E10 to the E100, the EC25 and EC35 centres and the E150P and E250P powered subwoofers. JBL’s support pages say the E30, EC25 and E150P were made in Mexico.

Portables and today’s ranges: the Link 10 and other Link speakers of 2017, the Stage series, and the L100 Classic of 2018.

Foam surrounds. A factory-authorized service centre says older JBL foam surrounds dry-rot, faster in humid climates, causing weak bass and buzzing. Repair shops add that JBL woofers have a tight voice-coil gap, so re-foaming needs care.

Tweeters. Play every tweeter. Owners report dead tweeters on 2000s Northridge models, and some original replacement tweeters are no longer available.

Crossovers. On older models, ageing crossover capacitors can dull the treble.

Link portables. Run a Link 10 on its battery to see how much capacity is left. JBL rated it at about five hours when new.

Fakes. JBL warns about counterfeit portables. A genuine one has a flush power button and an embedded grille logo.

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.