The Project Everest was a loudspeaker designed to inherit the legacy of the great speakers from JBL. In this respect, it was a remarkable success. It was a visual and sonic statement that defined the art of JBL in the 1980's. It was described as JBL's third "Project" speaker, with the first and second being the Hartsfield and Paragon. These project speakers were meant to be the "absolute peak of every technological, material and engineering innovation available to the art and science of audio at that time."
The Everest was the brainchild of Bruce Scrogin, the then President of JBL International. Bruce recognized that there remained demand for a "statement" speaker after the Paragon ended production in 1983. This demand was almost exclusively from Japan, so it was decided that a follow-on to the Paragon should be targeted at that market. Development was undertaken from a team approach with Bruce providing the concept and leadership, Greg Timbers the engineering, and Dan Ashcraft the industrial design. To provide input on the unique requirements of the Japanese market, Keizo Yamanaka, a preeminent Japanese audio reviewer, was hired by JBL on retainer to consult on both acoustic and visual issues.
The design went through a fairly extensive evolution before arriving at the final configuration. Originally, the concept was to develop a "super L300" with a similar sonic character. It was given the working designation of the L400. However, that designation had a notorious past and was soon dropped (see sidebar below). The system would be designed around a new acoustic concept referred to as "Defined Directivity" (the DD in DD55000). This concept had been pioneered by Don Keele in the professional 4660 ceiling speaker. That speaker was intended to provide rectangular coverage with constant volume from front to back. Bruce Scrogin realized that mounting this horn sideways in a home system could provide constant horizontal coverage. The asymmetric design would force more sound to the distant axis compared to the near axis so that someone walking a horizontal line between the speakers would be exposed to a constant sound level.
The first prototype was developed in 1984 and consisted a four-way configuration. The Japanese press toured Northridge at that time and sketched this original prototype. It was later included in a cartoon on the development of the Everest. It is the only illustration that remains of this system. Numerous problems existed in this prototype related to the integration of the four drivers. It was decided to simplify the design to result in what was fundamentally a two-way concept. A super tweeter would later be added to provide extension to the highest octaves. Therefore, the final configuration became a three-way system.
The bass driver selected for the Everest was the professional E145. It was chosen because it was the "fastest" bass driver in JBL's inventory. While initially intended as a guitar speaker, its remarkably flat given an underhung voice coil topology and maintains pistonic action throughout its range due to a deep, straight-sided cone. The magnetic motor is oversized compared to other JBL 15" drivers and was based on LE15H. It resulted in a very efficient bass response that would match the target system sensitivity of 100db/w/m. The deep cone was accommodated by an extension ring added to the rim of the speaker basket that was very similar to the 150-4C of the 1950's. Therefore, it was not a complete stretch to label it a 150-4H as was done in the Everest product literature.
Normally, the bass extension of the E145 is considered somewhat limited, but given a large enough box, it could provide real, deep bass. This was the reason for the huge enclosure. The bass section was designed for an internal volume of 8 cu ft. Initially, it was planned that the volume behind the midrange horn could be used as part of the bass enclosure. However, the fiberglass horn was not sufficiently rigid to prevent resonances from the back pressure. Ultimately, this part of the enclosure was partitioned off and compounded the need for a huge cabinet.
The Everest used a one inch throat compression driver (pro model number 2425) attached to the previously mentioned asymmetric horn (model number 2346) for the midrange. A one inch driver was selected since the original 4660 horn was designed around such a driver. A two inch driver could have provided superior response, but the larger throat would have presented problems in pattern control. A 2405 slot tweeter was added for extreme high frequency response.
The overall system was designed for a specific sonic character that appealed to the Japanese market. In general, it is marked by an overdamped bass response with the lowest octave gently rolled off. The bass is expected to extend to the deepest octave but not at the same volume level as the upper bass. This is not meant to be a euphonic characteristic, but rather a reflection of typical Japanese listening rooms. Their smaller rooms, compared to North America, tend to equalize the in-room response to result in a bass response that is relatively flat.
The industrial design was primarily the responsibility of Dan Ashcraft of Ashcraft Designs, with input from Bruce Scrogin and Keizo Yamanaka. This was Dan's first commission from JBL. It was somewhat of a trial by fire at which he succeeded admirably. It was a very complicated design since a goal was to make this massive system visually less imposing. The inventive use of angled faces deliberately concealed the depth of this system. .The woofer was angled a bit to "cheat" the low frequency directionality and the super tweeter was purposely angled to aim at the center listening position due to its directionality.
The Everest was an immediate success. It was named "Product of the Year" in 1985 by Japan's Stereo Sound magazine. There was no predetermined production run, but it is thought that around 500 pairs were produced. It continued in regular production until the introduction of the K2 in 1989. However, it was still possible to special order the Everest for the next couple of years. They were never marketed outside of the International Division and were almost exclusively sold in Japan. However, some made it into Canada and Europe as they were territories within the International Division.
© 2001 Don McRitchie