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Equipment file · Large-format compression driver

375 compression driver

JBL · 1954

Evidence status · documented

Identity and core specifications are documented; some historical fields remain unavailable.

The JBL 375 is a compression driver with a 4-inch aluminium diaphragm and ribbon-wire voice coil on a heavy Alnico V magnet. It was JBL's flagship large-format driver for cinema and monitor systems for about two decades.

Introduced
1954
Category
Large-format compression driver
Intended use
Horn driver for cinema, monitor and sound-reinforcement systems
Production
JBL, 1954 into the 1980s

Period advertising · 3

Scanned period catalogue page naming and illustrating the JBL 375.

1 / 3 · JBL 375 original catalogue page — JBL loudspeaker catalogue, 1957 (archive catalogue dating; no date printed on selected page)

JBL 375 original catalogue page — JBL loudspeaker catalogue, 1957 (archive catalogue dating; no date printed on selected page)·JBL / James B. Lansing Sound, Inc. (JBL loudspeaker catalogue, 1957 (archive catalogue dating; no date printed on selected page))·Period advertising/catalogue material; copyright retained by the original rights holder; reproduced for identification and historical commentary (fair use).

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    It gave JBL a high-output driver comparable to Western Electric and Altec theatre drivers.

  2. 02

    It formed the HF section of JBL professional systems through the 1970s.

Engineering record

Diaphragm
4-inch aluminium diaphragm, ribbon-wire voice coil[1]
Magnet
Alnico V, about 10.8 kg, about 20,500 gauss[1]
Range
About 500 Hz–10 kHz, 108 dB sensitivity on horn[1]

Original pricing

No reliable period price located

2026 equivalent

Not calculated without a reliable original price.

Public price evidence was not sufficient to publish a defensible original figure.

Use in the field

No named deployment could be tied to this exact item by a checked source yet. Know of one? Suggest it on the contribute page.

Manuals & original documents

No authoritative manual or original document has been located for this profile.

Sources

  1. 1JBL 375 Specificationsaudio-database.com · reference
  2. 2435BEAudio Heritage · archive

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