JBL Baron C38 (1960s)
The JBL Baron C38 is a mid-century design: walnut cabinets on slender aluminum legs, a brown metallic grille cloth, and the hand of designer Alvin Lustig. Released in the 1960s, it was one of JBL's representative household models of the era. It paired the company's professional driver heritage with furniture that belonged in a modern living room.
The configuration paired a JBL woofer with the ring-radiator 075 tweeter and an N2400 crossover. Sources disagree on the woofer. Some list a 12" driver, others the 15" D-130 (a driver JBL had been making since 1948), and at least one parts listing shows a D131. Given the D-130's wide-range capabilities, the 15" D-130 is the more commonly cited configuration, but the record isn't clean enough to state it as certain. One YouTube listing shows a 16Ω version.
The cabinets were the selling point as much as the sound. Each speaker sat on four brushed aluminum legs with flat glides - George Nelson-style turned feet - and the back panel hardware bore the JBL name. Dimensions were roughly 61.6 cm high by 60 cm wide by 40.64 cm deep.
One documented example was built by a friend of a hififreaks.nl forum poster in 1968. By Dutch standards at the time, these were very special transducers. Audiophiles came from far and wide to listen, and at one point a whole crew of Americans stationed at Soesterberg came to visit. The woofer, ring radiator, and crossover cost f 1,000 per side, exclusive of the enclosure. The system was driven by a self-built OTL tube amplifier and a Thorens TD-124/II with SME 3012 arm and Ortofon MC cartridge. The Dutch forum poster noted the speakers were designed by Peter van Doornum, founder of Gustavson Audio.
Forum discussion on audioheritage.org suggests the C38's bass extension is modest. One commenter noted that with 1.5 cu ft tuned for 80 Hz, an extra cubic foot won't get you another octave, and recommended running a subwoofer above 50 Hz if you want deep bass. The 075 driver itself, while impressive, isn't always well regarded among JBL purists. The look, in one collector's words "gorgeous walnut combined with the soothing angles of mid-century modernism," has kept these in demand. Asking prices in recent listings have ranged around $2,300 for a pair.
Known Specs
- Type: 2-way loudspeaker system
- Drivers: JBL D-130 15" woofer (per hififreaks.nl) + JBL 075 ring radiator tweeter
- Crossover: JBL N 2400
- Impedance: 16Ω (per YouTube listing)
- Dimensions: 61.6 cm H × 60 cm W × 40.64 cm D
- Enclosure: Walnut, four brushed aluminum legs with flat glides
- Grille: Brown metallic cloth
- Designer: Alvin Lustig
No original list price, frequency response, sensitivity, or weight figures have surfaced in the available documentation. Production years are generally given as "1960s" without more precision.
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