JBL 4852

Little is documented about the JBL 4852. What the record shows: it was a three-way transmission line speaker system from JBL's Professional Series, using a 12-inch woofer, a 5-inch midrange, and a 1-inch tweeter. The specs that survive are a frequency response of 40 Hz to 25 kHz, 92 dB sensitivity (1W/1m), 8-ohm impedance, 100-watt power capacity, and crossover points at 900 Hz and 4 kHz.

The 4852 was part of a small family that included the 4832 and 4842. According to the one source that documents it, the 4852 and 4842 shared the same drivers and crossover — the difference was purely the cabinet, with the 4842 being the floorstanding version and the 4852 the bookshelf-style enclosure. The 4852 appears to have been the less commonly seen of the two.

Beyond those basics, the record is essentially empty. No production years, original price, dimensions, or weight have surfaced. No period reviews, user reports, or marketplace history exist in the available documentation. The only source containing any verifiable facts is a single entry in the Classic Audio Speakers Database, and even that page shares its space with unrelated catalog data — so the specs above rest on one source, unconfirmed elsewhere.

One stray period mention: Mix (November 1992, p.105) covered a live sound setup for Buddy Guy and Etta James that used a large JBL system including Concert Series and Array Series cabinets — but the 4852 itself does not appear in that account, nor in any other review found.

Known specs: