Home Theater Speaker System Brochure
1940’s
NYLON 
STOCKINGS, 
FILM NOIR, 
THE DAWN OF 
AUDIO. James B. Lansing, 
who led the team that first 
brought sound to movies, strikes 
out on his own, founding JBL. 
Among the company’s first 
products is a high-frequency 
transducer that’s still being  
used by audio professionals 
today, unchanged after more 
than 60 years.
1950’s
BLUE SUEDE 
SHOES, 
MCCARTHY, 
THE ELECTRIC 
GUITAR. The JBL brand 
becomes the clear choice in studio 
and theater sound. Leo Fender 
chooses the JBL D130 transducer 
to amplify his electric guitar. The 
pioneering JBL Hartsfield speaker 
introduces true high fidelity to 
homes everywhere.
1960’s
MUSCLE CARS, 
WOODSTOCK,
®
SPACE. The legendary 
4320 speaker is introduced, and 
becomes the definitive studio 
monitor of its day. After the 
Woodstock
®
 festival in 1969, JBL 
equipment becomes standard at 
rock concerts around the world.
1970’s 
POLYESTER, 
WATERGATE, 
SATURDAY 
NIGHT FEVER.
®
JBL studio monitors are ranked 
Number One by Billboard 
magazine. And the L100, a 
consumer version of the 4320, 
is introduced, bringing JBL Pro 
technology home for the first time. 
The L100 becomes one of the best-
selling speakers of the decade.
1980’s
MIAMI VICE,
®
MASTERS OF THE 
UNIVERSE,
®
 MTV.
®
The Academy of Motion Picture 
Arts and Sciences chooses JBL 
components to introduce 70mm 
Dolby
®
 stereo in showcase 
theaters. JBL titanium diaphragms 
and Bi-Radial horns are introduced 
in professional studio monitors; 
these technologies will soon 
appear on the home front.
1990’s
GEN X, 
DOTCOMS, DVD. 
THX
®
 theater installations are 
dominated by JBL speakers, while 
near-field studio monitors take 
the lead in 5.1 and 7.1 sound 
mixing and mastering. And the 
JBL Simply Cinema
®
 system, the 
original “one box” home theater 
solution, is introduced.
TODAY
THE FIRST NEW 
PRODUCT SERIES 
CREATED IN 
CELEBRATION 
OF THE JBL 60TH 
ANNIVERSARY. 
JBL LS Series loudspeakers put 
classic high-end JBL technologies 
to work, bringing breathtaking 
new life and depth to home 
entertainment in all its forms. 
A 60
-
YEAR LOVE AFFAIR WITH 
MOVIES AND MUSIC.
Woodstock, Saturday Night Fever, Miami Vice, Masters of the Universe and MTV are trademarks of their respective companies in the U.S. and other countries 
and are not associated or affiliated with Harman International Industries, Incorporated.
THE ARCHITECTS.
The LS Series is the work of a team of talented engineers and designers led by Charles Sprinkle, JBL systems engineer, and 
Daniel Ashcraft, chief creative officer of Ashcraft Design. 
A lifelong audio enthusiast with a particular interest in compression transducers and horns, Sprinkle worked as an engineering intern 
at Harman International prior to receiving his degree in 2003. And although he’s a relative JBL newcomer, he already has a number of 
innovative systems to his credit, including JBL Cinema Vision
™
, Venue
®
, JBL Cinema Sound and JBL Control NOW
™
. For the LS Series, 
Sprinkle developed an improved horn design and new low-frequency transducers to achieve his goal of acoustical integration. 
Sprinkle worked closely with Daniel Ashcraft, who as head of his own design firm has played a key role in JBL industrial-design 
efforts for more than 20 years. A graduate of the Art Center College of Design, Ashcraft co-developed the legendary JBL Project 
Everest DD55000 system in 1986 and the original Project K2 S9500 in 1988, as well as their successors, the K2 S9800 in 2000 
and the Everest DD66000 in 2006.
With the LS Series, Sprinkle and Ashcraft have succeeded in creating a visually stunning loudspeaker system with exceptionally lifelike, 
effortless sound. 
Brochure - JBL LS English.indd 8 21.05.2008 10:33:38 Uhr








