JBL Multi-Zone Amplifiers

American speaker maker founded in 1946 by James B. Lansing. Dominates cinema and touring sound, and its L100 is one of the most recognisable speakers ever made.

Founded: 1946 (founded as Lansing Sound Incorporated, renamed James B. Lansing Sound)
Founder: James Bullough Lansing
Headquarters: Northridge, California, United States
Manufacturing: Flagship models built in the United States; most ranges built in Asia
Parent company: Harman International (Samsung)
How to buy: Sold through specialist hi-fi dealers, online retailers, custom installers and pro-audio dealers
Known for: Compression drivers and horns, high sensitivity, cinema and touring sound, the L100 with its orange foam grille

Currently, we have 2 JBL amplifiers in our database. Below you can find the list with their main specs and links to their review pages.

JBL Multi-Zone Amplifier

	Model	Watts RMS (8Ω)	Amp Class	DAC	Phono
	JBL DA1650	50 watts	Class D	No	No
	JBL DA850	50 watts	Class D	No	No

About JBL

James Bullough Lansing founded the company in 1946 after leaving the firm that became Altec Lansing, and died in 1949 - so the brand carrying his initials was shaped mostly by the people who came after him. JBL became the default in American cinemas and on touring rigs, supplied the sound at Woodstock in 1969, and its 4300-series studio monitors were in a large share of American control rooms through the 1970s. The consumer L100, a home version of the 4310 monitor, sold in enormous numbers.

Lansing had already co-founded Lansing Manufacturing, whose name lives on in Altec Lansing. He died in 1949, three years after starting JBL; the company survived him and took his initials.

The L100 quilted orange foam grille is one of the few pieces of hi-fi that reads instantly as an era, and JBL reissued it as the L100 Classic decades later on that recognition alone. Between the cinema business, the touring business and the studio monitors, JBL has probably been in the signal path of more recorded and performed music than any other loudspeaker brand.

Harman bought JBL in 1969. Samsung bought Harman in 2017.

Notable models: Paragon, L100 Century, 4300 studio monitors, Everest, Charge portable speakers.

Official JBL website

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