JBL Control LA (1985)
Documentation on the JBL Control LA is thin, and what survives partly contradicts itself. The most reliable record is a hifiengine.com database entry, which places the Control LA in 1985 as part of JBL's professional lineup. That entry lists a 10 cm polypropylene-coated paper woofer, a 2.5 cm polycarbonate tweeter, and a bass reflex enclosure. A forum thread on mbeazzmusic.com describes the same speaker as a sealed box, and another post in that thread claims a titanium tweeter instead of polycarbonate. The database entry is the more authoritative of the two, so the woofer and tweeter materials and the reflex loading above are the ones to trust.
What the sources do agree on: the Control LA was a compact bookshelf speaker with an 8-ohm impedance, 88 dB sensitivity, a 70 Hz–20 kHz frequency response, and a 2.5 kHz crossover. Recommended amplifier power was 60 watts. It measured 283 mm high, 185 mm wide, and 152 mm deep, and weighed 3.2 kg — genuinely small, and light enough to mount on a wall or sit unobtrusively on a desk. A forum poster who used them nearfield in a studio described them as "open and punchy" with excellent transparency for the price, while another owner noted they were "very balanced" and great with voices, if a bit light on deep bass — expected at this size. The same owner mentioned that replacement drivers may be scarce, and one poster reported blowing a tweeter after a long session at high volume.
No original price, no official JBL brochure text and no period magazine review have surfaced. The production year is uncertain too. A forum post claims 1982, while the database says 1985. The known specs are consistent enough to identify a pair, but the conflicting details above are still unresolved.
- Type: Compact bookshelf loudspeaker, bass reflex (per database; forum claims sealed)
- Drivers: 10 cm polypropylene-coated paper woofer, 2.5 cm polycarbonate tweeter
- Frequency response: 70 Hz – 20 kHz
- Sensitivity: 88 dB · Impedance: 8 ohms · Power handling: 60 W
- Crossover: 2.5 kHz
- Dimensions: 283 × 185 × 152 mm (H×W×D) · Weight: 3.2 kg
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