JBL E155

Name: JBL E155
Brand: JBL

An 18-inch bass driver that JBL's own catalog files under "general purpose." From JBL, that was about as high as the praise got.

Overview

The E155 is an 18-inch low-frequency transducer from JBL's musical instrument line. Modern Recording (March 1981, p.25) noted the company's expanding line of 18-inch low-frequency loudspeakers for sound-reinforcement work. The surviving factory documentation describes the E155 in two words: "general purpose bass." That phrase appears in JBL's own component listing, where the E155-8 and E155-4 sit alongside the E110, E120, E130, E140, and E145 in the musical instrument loudspeaker section. It's a catalog family built for guitar, bass, and vocal work, not for the domestic listening room. The E155 is the biggest of that group, and the only 18-inch model in the run.

The documentation is clear about how JBL intended the E155 to be used. The 4695B-4 subwoofer and bass guitar cabinet ran a single E155-4 in a 10-cubic-foot box. The 4698B three-way used the E155-4 as its low-frequency anchor, with an E110-8 and a 2404H-1 handling the top. The 4699B did the same with a 2425H compression driver on a 2370A horn. In every one of those systems, the E155 did the heavy lifting below the midrange.

JBL built the E155 in two impedance variants, the E155-8 and the E155-4. The suffix system is spelled out in the same document: the trailing number is the voice coil impedance, so "-4" and "-8" mean the 4-ohm and 8-ohm versions. Both turn up in the reference charts, and both are listed as interchangeable at the cabinet level. The 4695B could be ordered with either the E155-8 or the E155-4, depending on which version of the box the buyer wanted.

The cone kit situation is worth a close look. JBL's interchangeability chart groups the E155-4, E155-8, 2240G/H, and 2245H together on the 18-inch frame, which means those four models share mechanically compatible cone kits. For an owner with a blown E155, recone parts designed for the 2240 and 2245 fit the E155 frame. The chart also flags that older Alnico pot structures may have been partially degaussed over the decades and can give a different response than they did when new. That's a good reason not to judge a used E155 by ear alone.