JBL C34 (1946–1948)

Name: JBL C34
Brand: JBL

The C34 is one of the earliest JBL speaker systems. It was introduced in 1946 and produced for about two years. It was a large console speaker, described in period material as a "full-size console" and "huge," and it sat at the top of JBL's early lineup. The cabinet was walnut. The system had a built-in crossover and a variable high-frequency level control, and it was designed to run with a power amplifier of 15 to 30 watts. The design is credited to James B. Lansing himself.

The record is conflicted about what was inside the C34. One source (the MMM record) lists an Altec 604 (15-inch) plus a WE 713A tweeter. Another description cites two JBL D-130 speakers plus a JBL 075 tweeter. A third mentions an Altec 604B Duplex with a JBL 075. These can't all be right, and the Altec 604 is a competitor's product. So the driver complement may have changed over the short production run, or the sources may simply be unreliable. None of the three can be presented as fact. What seems safe to say is that the C34 was a console system with a 15-inch-class woofer and a separate tweeter, with a built-in crossover and a tweeter level control on the cabinet.

The original sale price was about $250. Period reception was positive. The sound was described as "big and clean," and the system was reportedly well received and sold well. A 1959 review in High-Fidelity (February 1959, p.131) noted that JBL components could be used to build an ideal stereo system. There's also a claim that the C34 saw use in early magnetic-film sound installations in theaters, though the attribution on that one is thin.

Beyond that, the documentation runs out. No frequency response, impedance, sensitivity, dimensions, or weight figures have survived in the research. Given the conflicting records, the driver configuration of any surviving example is worth documenting.