JBL 2226H/2226J (1990)
The JBL 2226H and 2226J are 38 cm (15") cone woofers from JBL's VGC (Vented Gap Cooling) series, released in 1990. The two model numbers are just impedance variants of the same driver. The 2226H is the 8 Ω version and the 2226J is the 16 Ω version. Everything else is shared: the 380 mm frame, the 100 mm edge-wound aluminum ribbon voice coil, the 600W AES power handling, the 97 dB sensitivity. JBL's own published specs list the pair together, and most period documentation does the same.
The big idea here is Vented Gap Cooling. JBL introduced air directly into the voice coil gap, which improved heat dissipation and kept power compression down to 4.6 dB even at the full 600W input. That was the point of the VGC series: high output without the usual thermal sag. The driver also used JBL's Symmetrical Field Geometry (SFG) magnetic circuit, a computer-optimized magnet structure that reduced distortion while shaving weight. The published harmonic distortion figures back this up - second harmonic no more than 1.0%, third harmonic 1.0% or less.
As a transducer, the 2226 is straightforwardly capable. Free-air resonance is 40 Hz, Qts is 0.31, Vas is 175 liters, and Xmax is 7.6 mm. JBL recommends enclosure volumes from 85 to 285 liters and suggests keeping the crossover at or below 1.2 kHz. It was listed at ¥56,700 per unit (tax included) in Japan around 2007. The driver weighs 8.7 kg (per audio-database.com; Thomann lists 9.8 kg) and displaces 6 liters within the enclosure.
The 2226 has outlived its original catalog listing. It remains a familiar sight in pro audio and DIY circles, and recone kits and voice coils are still available. Enthusiast discussion over the years has generally treated it as a refined, usable workhorse. One forum commenter called it "a classic design refined," noting its lineage back through the 2205 and 2225 series.
Known Specifications
- Type: 38 cm cone woofer, VGC series
- Impedance: 2226H — 8 Ω / 2226J — 16 Ω (Re: 5.0 Ω / 10.0 Ω)
- Power handling (AES): 600W (50 Hz – 500 Hz)
- Sensitivity: 97 dB SPL (1W/1m, 100 Hz – 500 Hz)
- Frequency range (−10 dB): 30 Hz – 2.5 kHz
- Voice coil: Φ100 mm edge-wound aluminum ribbon
- Fs: 40 Hz · Qts: 0.31 · Vas: 175 L · Xmax: 7.6 mm
- Dimensions: 388 mm diameter × 139 mm depth
- Weight: 8.7 kg (audio-database.com) / 9.8 kg (Thomann)
Not much else is well documented. There's no confirmed production end date, no definitive list of which factory VGC enclosures used this driver, and no professional review archive to draw from. The record is the spec sheet plus decades of user experience. That's thin for a driver this widely used, but the specs that do survive are unusually complete.
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