JBL HL88 (1975)
The JBL HL88 is a horn lens - an acoustical lens that mounts to a compression driver to control dispersion. It was released in 1975 at ¥135,000 per unit. People nicknamed it the "bee's nest" for its looks: 14 layers of porous, ring-shaped perforated metal with differing inner diameters, stacked in front of an exponential horn. The stack acts as a lens and produces a uniform, conical 70° directivity pattern. It was designed for the 375 compression driver (5 cm throat), and the attached stand was used for installation. It is the horn element of a system. Pair it with a driver like the 375 and it covers midrange duty at 500 Hz and up.
Documentation on the HL88 is thin. Its working principle was the subject of a diploma thesis inquiry on the audioheritage.org forum, which suggests detailed technical write-ups aren't easy to find. What the record does show: the lens measures 343 mm in diameter, the overall horn length including lens depth is 400 mm, and the packed weight is 15.9 kg. Japanese market pricing had risen to ¥200,000 by around 1984. The Italian hi-fi forum (hifi-forumlibero.it) described it as a rare horn. Listings for HL88s paired with 375 drivers have appeared in the used market for over $3,000, though current market pricing is otherwise undocumented.
Known specs:
- Type: Horn lens (perforated plate lens)
- Directivity: 70° conical pattern
- Throat diameter: 5 cm (for use with driver 375)
- Crossover frequency: 500 Hz or more
- Diameter: 343 mm; overall horn length: 400 mm (incl. lens)
- Packed weight: 15.9 kg
- Original price: ¥135,000 (1975); ¥200,000 (c. 1984)
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