JAMES B. LANSING BORN IN ILLINOIS Born James Martini, Lansing was the ninth of thirteen children of Henry Martini and wife Grace Erbs. In his late teens, James briefly lived with the Bullough family in Litchfield, Illinois, and eventually took their surname of Lansing.
JBLáis an Americanáaudio equipmentámanufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing, an American audio engineer and loudspeaker designer. JBL currently serves the home and professional audio markets. Their professional products includeálive PA systems,ástudio monitors, andáloudspeakersáfor cinema. Their home products include home audio speakers, waterproofáBluetooth speakers, and high-end audio. JBL is owned by Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics
James Bullough Lansing and his business partner Ken Decker started a company in 1927 in Los Angeles, manufacturing six-and-eight-inch (150 and 200ámm)áspeaker driversáfor radio consoles and radio sets. The firm was namedá
Lansing Manufacturing Company from March 1, 1927.
In 1933, head of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) sound department,Douglas Shearer, dissatisfied with the loudspeakers of Western Electric and RCA, decided to develop his own.áJohn Hilliard, Robert Stephens, and John F. Blackburn were part of the team that developed the Shearer Horn, with Lansing Manufacturing producing the 285 compression driver and the 15XS bass driver. The Shearer Horn gave the desired improvements and Western Electric and RCA received the contracts to each build 75 units. Western Electric named themáDiaphonics, and RCA used them in theiráRCA Photophones. Lansing Manufacturing was the only firm selling them as Shearer Horns. In 1936, the Shearer Horn received theáAcademy Scientific and Technical Awardáfrom the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.JBL TI 5000, a 3-way system with a 30 cm bass driver and aátitaniumámembrane tweeter, built from about 1992 to 1999. Based on the experience developed with the Shearer Horn, Lansing produced the Iconic System loudspeaker for cinemas. The Iconic was aátwo-way speakeráusing a 15-inch (380mm)woofer for the low frequencies and a compression driver for the highs. In 1939, Decker was killed in an airplane crash. The company soon began having financial troubles. In 1941, Lansing Manufacturing Company was bought by Altec Service Corporation, after which the name changed to
In 1946, JBL produced their first products, the model D101 15-inch loudspeaker and the model D175 high-frequency driver. The D175 remained in the JBL catalog through the 1970s. Both of these were near-copies of Altec Lansing products. The first original product was the D130, a 15-inch transducer for which a variant remained in production for the next 55 years. The D130 featured a 4-inch (100ámm) flat ribbon wireávoice coiláandáAlnicoáV magnet. Two other products were the 12-inch (300ámm) D131 and the 8-inch (200ámm) D208 cone drivers.
TheáMarquardt Corporationágave the company early manufacturing space and a modest investment. William H. Thomas, the treasurer of Marquardt Corporation, represented Marquardt on Lansing's board of directors. In 1948, Marquardt took over the operation of JBL. In 1949, Marquardt was purchased by General Tire Company. The new company, not interested in the loudspeaker business, severed ties with Lansing. Lansing was reincorporated as James B. Lansing and moved the newly formed company to its first private location, on 2439 Fletcher Drive, Los Angeles.
A key to JBL's early development was Lansing's close business relationship with its primary supplier of Alnico V magnetic material, Robert Arnold of Arnold Engineering. Arnold saw JBL as an opportunity to sell Alnico V magnetic materials into a new market.
Lansing was noted as an innovative engineer but a poor businessman. Decker, his business partner, had died in 1939 in an airplane crash. In the late 1940s, Lansing struggled to pay invoices and ship products. Possibly as a result of deteriorating business conditions and personal issues, he committed suicide on September 4, 1949. The company then passed into the hands of Bill Thomas, JBL's vice president. Lansing had taken out aáUS$10,000álife insurance policy, naming the company as the beneficiary, a decision that allowed Thomas to continue the company after Lansing's death. Soon after, Thomas purchased Mrs. Lansing's one-third interest in the company and became the sole owner. Thomas is credited with revitalizing the company and spearheading a period of strong growth for the two decades following the founding of JBL.[3]
Early products included the model 375 high-frequency driver and the 075 ultra-high frequency (UHF) ring-radiator driver. The ring-radiator drivers are also known as because of their distinctive shape. The 375 was a re-invention of the Western Electric 594 driver but with an Alnico V magnet and a four-inch voice coil. The 375 shared the same basic magnet structure as the D-130 woofer. JBL engineers Ed May andáBart N. Locanthiácreated these designs.
Two products from that era, the Hartsfield and theáParagon, continue to be highly desired on the collectors' market.
The JBL 4320 series studio monitor was introduced through Capitol Records in Hollywood and became the standard monitor worldwide for its parent company, EMI. JBL's introduction to rock and roll music came via the adoption of the D130 loudspeaker
