James B. Lansing
1902–1949 · Loudspeaker engineer and founder, Lansing Manufacturing / JBL
Major contribution
Lansing developed efficient loudspeaker components and horn systems whose theater origins fed the equipment vocabulary of live reinforcement.
Lansing’s company supplied loudspeaker components and participated in the collaborative development of the Shearer Horn with MGM engineers. The project joined improved drivers and horns in a system intended to overcome the deficiencies of contemporary cinema reproduction.
Lansing later worked with John Hilliard on Altec’s Voice of the Theatre, launched in 1945, before establishing his own new company in 1946. His career connects cinema sound to the professional loudspeaker manufacturers that became central to reinforced music.
Key work
- Iconic two-way loudspeaker (1937)
- Altec Lansing formation (1941)
- Voice of the Theatre (1945)
- Lansing Sound company (1946)
In the chronology
Selected sources
- The Lansing Sound · Foundation for Economic Education
- Shearer Horn · Lansing Heritage
- John Hilliard · Lansing Heritage