JBL 4550BKA (1980)
The JBL 4550BKA is a large-format, front-loading horn enclosure - a floor-standing cabinet built around two 38 cm (15") woofers. It came out in 1980 as an improved version of the earlier 4550. The biggest change is structural. The 4550 was a pure front-loaded horn design, and the 4550BKA was modified to a bass-reflex configuration, with the phase-inversion action compensating for response below 100 Hz. It is rated to play from 40 Hz up to 800 Hz, which puts it in low-frequency driver territory for a multi-way professional or high-end home system.
The cabinet is big. Enclosure volume is 560 liters, external dimensions are 1,524 mm wide by 914 mm high by 825 mm deep, and each unit weighs 88 kg. JBL listed the 2225, 2220, E140, and E145 as compatible woofers. The Japanese-market price was ¥185,000 per unit around 1981, rising to ¥350,000 by 1983 when it was made to order. A related domestic-market variant, the 4550BKS, was priced at ¥350,000 in the same period. One owner ran his pair with a DIY WE300B push-pull amplifier and a Mark Levinson 31L transport. He described the sound as adequate from hard rock to classical and suggested the system holds one of the top positions among JBL designs. That is an enthusiast's opinion, not a measured review.
Past those facts, the documented record is thin. No official JBL specification sheet has surfaced with impedance, sensitivity, or crossover data. The original factory driver complement beyond the woofers is not documented in the sources available, and no period magazine review of the 4550BKA has been located. The sources that do exist, a Japanese audio database and a Korean JBL enthusiast forum, agree on the core details above and offer little else.
Known Specifications
- Type: Front-load horn enclosure, bass-reflex structure (modified from 4550)
- Drivers: 2 × 38 cm woofers (compatible with 2225, 2220, E140, E145)
- Frequency range: 40 Hz – 800 Hz
- Enclosure volume: 560 L
- Dimensions (W × H × D): 1,524 × 914 × 825 mm
- Weight: 88 kg
- Released: 1980 · ¥185,000 (1981) · ¥350,000 (1983, made-to-order)
The 4550BKA is sometimes confused with the 4550BKS, its domestic Japanese-market sibling. The "KA" is the original US design, and the "KS" is the domestic type. If you run into either one, the bass-reflex ports - two openings, top and bottom, on both sides of the cabinet - distinguish the BKA from the earlier sealed 4550.
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