The end of an Era - JBL USA closing

[Markd51]

More jobs lost to mexico, or china. The way I feel about JBL now, I'll never give them another cent of my money. Forty years of dedication, and love is now going,,,,going.....GONE!

[W9TR]

The thread states that the Northridge production facility is moving to another established JBL production facility in Mexico. The products will continue to be available. Engineering will be combined with the other high end brands. I wonder how the high end customers in China and Japan will view this move? Will the high end cache' of the brand be diminished?

[Formerly YB-2]

Sad, indeed............... Am looking at some Klipsch speakers. Now will have to do some research on where they are made. Including the individual drivers. "Assembled in the USA" simply is not enough these days.

[K2 "Dude"]

I've been to the Northridge facility several times this year for different reasons. Each time the morale was lower than the time before.

The last three JBL systems I bought, Performance Series, Synthesis® One Array, and K2 S9900 were all products of Northridge, but that's all gone now. I love each of these systems, but it's hard to say if I'll find the enthusiasm to buy anything else.

[Markd51]

This perhaps has been mentioned before, and the thought no doubt runs through many heads, is that now with production south of the border, how will JBL then be viewed?

JBL has of course enjoyed numerous decades of success with their products in both the USA, and also in Asia. The Asian market, and I think more specifically, Japan has a large following of the JBL heritage products. The wonderment is, what happens now?

It's a common known fact, the Japanese have always highly regarded-admired many products that are american made. Musical Instruments are one, Autos, Motorcycles as just a few, and in many cases, it has been Japan that has driven the market, and the value of such items.

So then, now what? will Japan still admire-rever a speaker product made south of the border? I'm getting the impression no.

I can remember many concerns years ago, when McIntosh was sold to the Clarion Corp, that the product would no longer be of any value. I strongly doubt the new products coming from Mexico will enjoy the held value such as JBL's heritage fleet have.

This doesn't necessarily mean a poor product. Take a mexican made Fender Stratocaster for example. Sure, a fine guitar, but what will one be worth in 20 years? Basically, nada.

Just as large a concern, is then what might happen for parts, and support of JBL's heritage products. What happens when driver rebuild kits-parts become no longer available? Will those products then become worthless? Sort of like an old victrola?

I worry that such a move will "kill" JBL on not only one, but two fronts. It's hard to tell at this point, but the allure, and love of JBL may very well become nothing more than a distant memory a few years from now.

[rykkard]

This is sad, I had many speakers from fancy brands but only got to have a nice pair of Studio Monitor 4315 recently.

Despite the fact they are more than 30 years old, the magic still works...

Rich.

[bradleyc]

rykkard...Welcome to AA

[5 DG]

Greetings Gents,

I am new here, but not to JBL products. In fact, my first introduction to a 'stereo' was my Dad's system that he purchased new in 1969: Kenwood KR5150 receiver, Dual turntable/Shure and a pair of JBL L99's - the ones with the perforated teak grilles. Was awestruck then and throughout all these years of 'upgrading', buying, selling, trading, etc., I still come back to the 'sound' of a JBL loudspeaker.

My first purchase of a JBL product was 10 years later, in 1979 with a pair of L220's. After that, and perhaps both my greatest loudspeaker purchase ever, and my worst audio hobby decision ever (selling them a year later, as a result of 'upgrade-itis'), was the purchase in 1986 of a brand new pair of 4355's.

Will never forget that. Likely one of the most anticipated and fun times of my life, was bringing those things home, setting them up, listening and basically admiring them every night before retire. Purchased through Guitar Showcase' professional dept., there were only (2) pairs left in the Northridge whse., and both were slated for the European market. I was lucky enough to snag perhaps one of the last production runs of that loudspeaker. I kick myself to this day for selling them, having no idea what a treasure they would be to own today, in more ways than one...

In any event, back to the story at hand: I caught this by accident, just doing some surfing around for information/reviews on the new 4365. As a former JBL 4355 owner, you can probably guess that I am interested/excited about the 4365 - not so much the transducer itself, but the anticipation of what might be coming next in terms of large-format 're-introductions' from Harman Japan. If one looks at the preceding products in this line of monitors, one can definitely see they are creeping up on the holy grail of a 'revised' 4350 type monitor - or at least I am hoping for that...

This story came as both a shock, but not a surprise if that makes sense. What one thought of as an 'institution' that would never go away, has. At the same time, it seems to be our (overall U.S. manufacturing base) destiny, to come to such a low point that we finally figure out that a real economy actually can't survive built upon financial services and real estate alone...

We'll get there.

In the back of my mind, I think - perhaps like Harley Davidson or some other iconic name brand, JBL will enjoy a renaissance in the future. Who knows, perhaps Harman will ultimately spin-off JBL and an individual - or group of loyalists or somebody with a vision, will take the reigns and rebuild this brand, back in the states where it belongs.

Like many here, I agree that there are some things that need to be made here - i.e., R & D'd, engineered, built and marketed on our soil, inside our own manufacturing plants - kinda like the way we used to do things here, before we were all sold on the 'new' economy.

My take on that? What was once considered 'Old' will become New again. My hope is that JBL will be one of those brands.

[Vintage Pete]

First of all, welcome to AA, 5 DG! You will love it here.

I read your post with considerable interest, as an avid JBL lover myelf. You and I have some things in common. First, I too was mesmerized way back in the 70's by a pair of Lancer 99's, with the LE14A woofer and the beautuiful grille you mentioned. I couldn't sleep for the next few years, until I got my very own pair of JBL's, a pair of L100A's. That was in about 1978. I owned them for four years, when I bought my pair of L220A's in 1982. At that time I was running them with a Crown IC150A/DC300 combo. I still have my L220's to this day, still giving me great service in my main system, which is built around a McIntosh C40/MC501 team. I've also augmented them with a B460 subwoofer, also powered by an MC501 amp. I've simply cared for my L220's well over the years, rebuilding the drivers when needed. They are as close to "mint" as I think would be fair to expect today. Here's a couple of shots showing my L220's and B460:








Like you, I always go back to the sound of JBL. (actually, I never left it!) In addition to my L220/B460 team, I have a pair of 4313B's in my Florida room, with a JBL 2241-based sub, and a pair of 4401 monitors in my office, powered by my old Crown IC150A/DC300 combo. If I had room, I'd build still more systems using the legendary JBL models from "back in the day".

JBL today does have a number of "dream" systems, such as the Everest, and the K2 S9900. I remember well the large monitors you mentioned, such as the 4350. Simply awesome.

Like you, I cling to the hope that one day JBL will be "reborn" as you say, to show itself once again as they once were, and as they should be. Long live JBL!


You will find that there are a good number of longtime JBL fans here. Ivan, " MasterLu", our great friend who founded this site, and Dan "jdandy" to name just a couple.


Welcome again to AA!


Pete

[jdandy]

5 DG.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado.

Good first post. I am pleased to see another JBL fan join our ranks. I have been a huge JBL fan for more years than I care to count, and before that an Altec Lansing man, too. My very first decent system included a pair of the A7 Altec Voice of the Theater speakers. After that came Altec Valencia's, then JBL's including the famous L100's. I still own and use a pair of JBL 4312A monitors in a vintage McIntosh system.

Just last week I had the pleasure of hearing Pete's system in the photos above. His JBL L220A's and that monster 18" JBL B460 subwoofer produces the authentic JBL sound, full bodied, wide spectrum, awesome dynamics, and thunderous bass. I can tell you, Pete knows JBL. It sounds like you do, too.