JBL Bel Aire
The JBL Bel Aire raises more questions than it answers. It shows up in JBL's "Reference Pickup Systems" section, a listing that also includes the C53 through C59, and nearly everything known about it comes from that one source.
Here is what the record shows. The Bel Aire was an 8-ohm speaker system built around a folded horn enclosure, with an N-1200 crossover network set at 1200 Hz. The driver list is where it gets murky. The catalog lists four transducers under the Bel Aire row: an LE10C 10" free-air cone, an LE20 2" direct radiator, an 075 2" direct radiator, and a 2402 2" direct radiator. The source doesn't say how many of those drivers were actually in the system. The list sits under a column referencing the Bel Aire, but the ambiguity is real. A four-driver folded horn with a 10" woofer would have been a substantial piece, and the documentation doesn't confirm it.
The catalog does give one performance figure. The Bel Aire was "capable of handling 10 watts RMS of continuous program material." That's modest by today's standards, but typical of the era's home systems.
A period ad in HiFI-Stereo (January 1959, p.9) pitched the Bel Aire as a compact system "proportioned for bookshelf or table top," and suggested a pair in mirror-image arrangement for stereo. That description sits a little oddly next to a folded horn enclosure.
Beyond that, the record is thin. No production years, no original price, no dimensions, no frequency response, no sensitivity figure, and no reviews or owner opinions have surfaced. The Bel Aire clearly existed and was marketed, but the surviving documentation doesn't tell the rest.
Known specs:
- Impedance: 8 ohms
- Crossover: N-1200 network at 1200 Hz
- Enclosure: folded horn
- Power handling: 10 watts RMS continuous program material
- Listed drivers (count unconfirmed): LE10C (10" free-air cone), LE20 (2" direct radiator), 075 (2" direct radiator), 2402 (2" direct radiator)
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