Equipment file · Large-format compression driver

375 compression driver

JBL · 1954

Evidence status · documented

Identity and core specifications are documented; some historical fields remain unavailable.

The JBL 375 is a compression driver with a 4-inch aluminium diaphragm and ribbon-wire voice coil on a heavy Alnico V magnet. It was JBL's flagship large-format driver for cinema and monitor systems for about two decades.

Introduced
1954
Category
Large-format compression driver
Intended use
Horn driver for cinema, monitor and sound-reinforcement systems
Production
JBL, 1954 into the 1980s

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    It gave JBL a high-output driver comparable to Western Electric and Altec theatre drivers.

  2. 02

    It formed the HF section of JBL professional systems through the 1970s.

Engineering record

Diaphragm
4-inch aluminium diaphragm, ribbon-wire voice coil[1]
Magnet
Alnico V, about 10.8 kg, about 20,500 gauss[1]
Range
About 500 Hz–10 kHz, 108 dB sensitivity on horn[1]

Original pricing

No reliable period price located

2026 equivalent

Not calculated without a reliable original price.

Public price evidence was not sufficient to publish a defensible original figure.

Use in the field

No named deployment could be tied to this exact item by a checked source yet. Know of one? Suggest it on the contribute page.

Manuals & original documents

No authoritative manual or original document has been located for this profile.

Sources

  1. 1JBL 375 Specificationsaudio-database.com · reference
  2. 2435BEAudio Heritage · archive

Contribute to the record

Know more about 375 compression driver?

Corrections, firsthand information, original documents, and credited photograph sources are welcome.

Your email is private and will not appear in the archive. Contributions are not published automatically.

Help build the archive

A missing piece? A correction?

Contribute to Resonant

Support the archive

Resonant is built one verified record at a time: research hours, archival image rights, and the hosting that keeps every era, equipment file, and citation free to read. If this archive is useful to you, a donation of any size keeps the next entry moving.

How donations are used

Payments go directly to the archive’s editor through Venmo and Cash App. Resonant is an independent project rather than a registered charity, so donations are not tax-deductible and nothing is sold or subscribed to in return.