End of an Era. 43 years with JBL is Over

[RedCoat23]

What saddens me more than anything else is when the contribution that someone of your stature provides to the foundation of a company ends with such disrespectful treatment. Is this how you close 43 years of excellence..?
It is sad that those who came after have no memory or appreciation for the contribution of those who came before.

Be glad of this, you've now stepped outside of - IMHO - the greatest tragedy in our modern world - a toxic corporate environment.

Lynn Stout has a great book on one of the main problems of current corporate culture - The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public

I thank you for the pleasure the products you've designed have brought into our lives and I look forward to reading more of your posts on here in the future

Best Regards

Jason

[grumpy]

After 43 -days- I'd expect better.
After 43 years, this is family.
I'm sure many of them (still there and otherwise) are equally ... displeased.

I -am- pleased to have had the opportunity to meet you and other
industy guru/talent/leaders over at Doug's,
and wish you many interesting activities and projects
... if profitable, that's cool too, but mostly hope you have fun

best regards and wishes,

Dave (grumpy) Stowers.

[gmarascortt]

So sorry to hear this Greg.
Long live the 250 Ti and all of your accomplishments in your storied career at JBL!

[duaneage]

Work for Bose and really get even.
When they hustle you out the door it's really personal
One minute you are a part of something then your an outcast
i went through that 7 years ago and today make twice as much.
Success is the best revenge

[DynaMax]

Well .. Very sad news.
Greg Timbers became a star on my sky decades ago for the speaker designs he did.
Thanks to that I went into Harman 2006 but was dumped by a Harman decission in Europe years later - despite I had put HUGE efforts into JBL.
I was driven by passion but wiped out like a dog who had dirt on its feet.
That left me with a feeling that the biggest assholes are the ones who wears the nicest suits.
There are MANY MANY VERY NICE suites in Harman management.
Obviously they all don't know - or have forgotten - what Greg Timbers did for JBL.
If relations must be stopped for some reasons or other, at least do it nice.
Shame on them assholes.

Take good care Mr. Timbers, Thank you SO much for all the good advise I got from you regarding fine tuning my DD66000 as we corresponded in 2012.
I am sure your phone will call very soon from the many out there who really admires you for your skills in speaker designs.

Very best regards
Hans-Henrik Sannerúd
dynamax.dk

[Garry Margolis]

When I started at JBL in 1974, Greg patiently taught me how loudspeakers really worked. Over the next 17 years, I had the privilege of working with him on many projects, including some of the revered systems written about in this forum.

Greg's remarkable combination of engineering brilliance, great hearing, and impeccable taste, coupled with the talented fellow engineers who designed transducers alongside him and the manufacturing resources that could realize those designs, resulted in systems that were the best of their breed in their price ranges. When I left JBL, nearly 25 years ago, one of my major regrets was not being able to work with him any longer.

But I frequently think about Greg: how he'd tweak network designs to achieve subtle, almost infinitesimal improvements; how the 4315 was adopted by Polygram (Philips/Deutsche Grammophon) for their pressing plant QA -- they were VERY fussy; how the 4313 was a design success but a commercial flop -- the classical engineers loved it, but they were a tiny fraction of the market; how we built the Everest prototypes in separate enclosures for each transducer so we could get the angles properly set (although Greg's predicted angles turned out to be correct); how we listened to and decided to incorporate the first commercial use of bypass caps in passive networks; how he compressed the 12 cubic foot volume of his original 2245H subwoofer design into the ~ 5 cubic feet of the B460 by using a QB5 acoustical tuning and a BX22 external crossover/equalizer to get a 6th-order Butterworth response -- it's still the finest consumer subwoofer I've ever heard; how he used a Chebychev alignment for the woofers in the K2 to achieve the "faster" bass preferred by Japanese consumers; etc. etc. etc.

One of Greg's best designs never saw the light of day. Shortly before I left JBL, I heard his prototype XPL250s, which used a 3" titanium dome midrange instead of an LE5 cone variant. I wanted to steal them! -- they were incredible! -- but Greg insisted he was far from finished. He continued to improve the XPL250, but it was never released. However, Greg switched gears from four-way direct-radiator systems and, after the success of the K2, he went on to design HF compression driver systems that I've never had the opportunity to hear, but I'm certain they continued to demonstrate his brilliance.

I don't know any of the upper-level management people at Harman now, so I can't speak to their reasons for unceremoniously dumping Greg out the door. But I'm appalled, and I expect that every person who had the honor of working with him feels similarly. Harman didn't even allow his co-workers to give him a worthy sendoff. For shame!

I know that Greg continued at Harman well after he could have comfortably retired because of his love for his work. Whatever he decides to do now, I expect that it will be at least as brilliantly realized as his previous work, and I look forward to the results!

[audiomagnate]

Wow. Nothing shocks me anymore, but this did. I'm turning my badges upside down. As stunned as you must feel right now, I'm sure this will turn out to be a positive life event for you. I eagerly look forward to your first non-corporate greed-hindered project. I consider all of your designs, and the 1400 Array in particular, true works of art. Best wishes.

[LowPhreak]

It takes some gall, and sociopathic tendencies, to terminate then escort someone like G.T. immediately out of the building like that after what he's done for JBL and Harman, and the audio world generally. How vacuous can you be? It seems to be only getting worse in the Orwellian U.S. Maybe it's past the time for decent people to GTHO.

I must say though, Harman's handling of a customer service issue was enough to permanently turn me against the brand for future purchases. This gutless act towards G.T. just seals it for me.

I wish you the best, Greg, and by the way - thanks for your effort on the Studio 500 series, among many others.

[spkrman57]

Unfortunately this the way of business nowdays.

It is because of individuals such as yourself that I had great ideas to come to life.

Thank you for all your contributions past and I hope for some time to continue!

Regards, Ron

[DavidF]

Ouch! No class. No dignity. All sense of belonging and holding a mission suddenly stripped off. I guess the next bummer will be not having shelves of drivers, parts and tools at hand with all sorts of folks to run tests for you. On the other hand, no month end reports, fighting over budgets, dealing with petty politics.

One thing all here share, even those holding on to a faint fond hope about Harman, is a total sour taste with the corporation behind some really fine audio equipment. From now on I have Timbers Arrays. Not JBL Arrays.

[dr_gallup]

First let me say I'm very sorry Mr. Timbers for what happened, I'm sure you loved your job and took great pride in your accomplishments.

Second, it never ceases to amaze me how we can go from valued employee with the run of the office/lab/computer systems/etc., staying late, working weekends to persona non grata in the blink of an eye. Here is a box, empty your desk, turn in your badge, vacate the premises, don't come back. I know it is a shocking experience, I hope you are taking it well. The last time it happened to me I knew it was coming and didn't take it personally, they laid off the entire 50 person engineering department. I went home and opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the future. Good luck in what ever direction you take.

[dn92]

What about organizing an international petition to ask Harman's CEO to address official excuses to Greg Timbers. May be, if this is really anoying, he will thank the guilty guy under him in less than 90 seconds.

It is not a matter of age, there are plenty of talentuous senior employees for whom the employer has to say that it is time from now to stop working together. It is the way how this was handled (I know it is a usual procedure in USA to fire people in some seconds) for an employee who brought probably billions to this company, at least a small ceremony would have been more appropriate.

dn92

[Titanium Dome]

I was unceremoniously separated from employment by Harman following a 90 second explanation. My position was eliminated! Following an explanation of benefits, I was escorted out. The timing came as a surprise and as such, I haven't thought about my future plans. While I don't need to work financially, I need to be active and challenged so I must figure out what makes sense for me going forward. To be clear, this is not what I wanted or deserved, but I will not comment further on details until a much later date. My decision, not theirs.It was a good run and I am very pleased that I have brought so many people enjoyment with the products I have developed over the last 4 decades. Once things settle down, I hope to be more available on the forum, but I need some time to adjust.My best wishes to all you JBL fans. Treat your products well and enjoy them while you can.Best Regards,Greg Timbers

^^THIS^^ compels me to take the time to post.

Buddha once commented that "A candle's light is not diminished by lighting another candle." In fact, it produces twice the light. The candle of your brilliance has ignited countless other candles. Even when Harman tries to snuff the candle and throw it out, it's still burning brightly. You are the original light for a lot of music lovers who learned to love music better and in more intimate ways through the speakers that you and your colleagues developed. Certainly, I was enlightened by your work, as were hundreds and thousands of others, including many right here.

Some of us were especially blessed to spend three wonderful evenings with you over three years at the Lansing Heritage Awards, and we got to meet, see, and honor many of the other wonderful folks who worked with you to produce such satisfying products for us. We got to see the smart, funny, warm man behind the products who was generous with his time and talent all the time, not just on one SoCal evening a year.

Harman can never extinguish your light, and there are many more unlit candles waiting for your next move.

Peace, Love, and Rock 'n'Roll!

[1audiohack]

Buddha once commented that "A candle's light is not diminished by lighting another candle." In fact, it produces twice the light....

Sorry, it's only a 3dB increase.

Barry.

[focalguy]

Greg, very sorry how JBL has treated you but we all look forward to having you post here on the forum. You are our leader. I have fallen in love with the blue baffle in 2011 and it has changed me.. I now reproduce your speakers and enjoy them immensely. Hope you have time to enjoy what this life offers as it does end at some point. You should be proud of all that you have accomplished and the great joy you have brought us all. Spend time with loved ones and savour the precious years to come.
Best,
John Kang, Vancouver BC Canada.