Equipment file · One-piece stereo loudspeaker

Paragon system

JBL · 1957

Evidence status · documented

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

The JBL D44000 Paragon was a single-cabinet stereo loudspeaker about 9 feet wide, based on Richard Ranger's diffusion principle: horn-loaded drivers at each end fired at a large curved wooden panel to create a unified stereo image. Arnold Wolf refined it for production.

Introduced
1957
Category
One-piece stereo loudspeaker
Intended use
High-end home stereo
Production
JBL, 1957–1983

Equipment photographs · 1

JBL Paragon

1 / 1 · JBL Paragon

JBL Paragon·-[SOTN]-Magnum5150·CC BY-SA 2.0

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    One of the earliest production loudspeakers designed to widen the stereo listening area.

  2. 02

    A hi-fi crossover that reused JBL's professional horn technology.

Engineering record

Imaging design
Horn-loaded drivers at each end fire at a curved wooden diffusion panel[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. 1ParagonAudio Heritage · archive

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