The phenomenon responsible for this
complete turn around was the rise of high power rock music. This became the
most popular music genre in the 70's. Many artists and engineers began
monitoring playback at ridiculous levels. For example, when The Who built
their first studio in the mid 70's, they installed twelve 4350 monitors in
their control room. These were the highest output monitors JBL produced,
with each one capable of a sustained output of over 125db. The Altec 604 was
no match for this power onslaught. Its bass and tweeter coils used 3" and 2"
voice coils respectively. Compare this to the 4350 with two 4" coil bass
drivers, a 4" coil midbass driver, a 4" coil midrange driver and an ultra
high frequency tweeter. Power handling and output of the 604 was a fraction
of the 4350.
JBL filled out the 4300 line with new
medium sized 3 and 4-way monitors to cover any studio application. From the
smallest nearfield, to the largest main monitor,
JBL had a product. In addition to product range, JBL's 4300 series
represented a significant step up in performance. In particular, the 4-way
monitors achieved new levels of accuracy. The narrower bandwidth
requirements for individual drivers made it easier to design them for
maximum linearity. Market acceptance was immediate and worldwide. JBL's
monitor sales to Europe and Asia were almost as great as domestic sales.
The 70's saw the emergence of a another
new market that JBL would grow to dominate - tour sound. Again, it was not a
market that JBL initially pursued. However, when the market potential became
apparent, JBL was quick to capitalize.
Tour sound had its genesis in the 1960's
with the rise of Rock and Roll. Initially, there were no dedicated
loudspeakers for touring. Tour operators began setting up systems with small
column speakers. When it was apparent that higher output loudspeakers were
needed, they turned to the one industry that had such product - the cinema
market. Initially, Altec was the supplier of choice due to their premier
position in the cinema field. The first system to gain acceptance was
the 604 Duplex. Given the known power restrictions of this driver, it wasn't long before Altec A2's and A4's were
being dragged across the country for tour sound systems. The limitations in
using such massive systems for mobile installations became quickly apparent.
Independent contractors began designing their own boxes that had reduced
size and weight, but continued to use drivers from the cinema industry.
Altec decided that this was a market that
they did not want to pursue. Servicing that industry was proving very
expensive. Tour operators continued to push power and output levels beyond
the capabilities of the drivers. The repair of drivers grew to be more
significant than initial sales, and given the low margins of the former, was
of little interest to Altec.
JBL was ready to address this opportunity
with two product advantages - the 375 and the Musical Instrument (MI) drivers. The 375, with its
4" coil had significantly better power handling than the competing Altec
288. The MI drivers, again with 4" coils, were even more suited than the
competition since they also had ruggedized suspensions and cones. In 1971,
JBL updated their "F" series MI drivers with the "K" series. This series
introduced high strength epoxy adhesives and Kapton coil formers. They
raised the output and power handling to levels well beyond anything the
competition could handle. Very quickly JBL became the dominant supplier of
tour sound companies, a position that they hold to this day.
The decade ended with JBL preeminent in
three of the largest segments of the professional sound market - MI, studio
and tour sound. One seemingly impenetrable barrier remained - Altec's near
monopoly of the cinema industry. However, the seeds had been sown for the
final assault that would ultimately breach that barrier.