Vintage Horn: The Paragon - Interesting all-in-one horn console

[Oside]

I thought you guys might be interested in seeing this JBL Paragon that came up in my area Craigslist (I have no interest in this sale or relation to sale-just sharing a unique speaker system I stumbled upon). First I've seen anything like it. While not Klipsch, there is some relation: it was originally intended as a center channel in a theater to go between a pair of the Klipschorn copy that JBL was making at the time. Kinda like a Heresy, sort of. I'm surprised there hasn't been more attempts at making a wider "sweet spot" like this.

 

Ad (more pics): https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/eld/d/jbl-paragon-d44000-vintage/6749406724.html

 

Info and schematics (more pics): http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/paragon.htm

 

Edit to add: Click on "Harstfield" in the sidebar menu of second link to read about PWK and the Klipschorn copy.

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Oside

[Ceptorman]

Interesting piece of history right there. I wonder what a sound engineer or PWK would think of that?

[Marvel]

It wasn't meant as a center channel. It was a standalone stereo cabinet. The cabs were complex and really built as fine furniture. They served their purpose, with excellent jbl components.

 

Bruce

[capo72]

JBL made a slightly smaller version called the Metregon also. Bruce is correct, these were stand alone stereo cabinets design for people that wanted furniture as opposed to "speakers".

[garyrc]

On 12/4/2018 at 12:25 AM, Oside said:

it was originally intended as a center channel in a theater to go between a pair of the Klipschorn copy that JBL was making at the time

 

Bruce and Capo72 are right, the Paragon was never meant as a theater speaker.   The confusion may be due to the midrange drivers (375) in the Paragon having been used in JBL's theater speakers, including those for 70mm Todd-AO, as requested by Ampex who Mike Todd & Co. (Magna Thearter Corp.) charged with designing Todd-AO 6 channel sound (IMO, the best ever in a cinema, at least above about 40 Hz).  At first, the Paragon used JBL's 15" 154 series woofers, up to 4 of which were used in each channel of JBL's theater speakers.  Later, I believe they put a pair of LE15 woofers in the Paragon.   Also, Ranger of the JBL Ranger Paragon (which it was originally called) was involved in the film industry.   He consulted on the design of the Paragon.

 

Part of the original impetus was to get rid of the "Hole in the Middle" that some stereo tapes and early stereo records had.  Improved miking reduced the need for this kind of help.  PWK introduced his "wide stage stereo" at just about the same time, which used a Klipschorn in each corner and a derived center speaker.  He eventually determined that the center speaker should also be fully horn loaded, therefore either a La Scala or a Belle Klipsch.  Thanks to our Home Theater system being the same as our music system, my wife and I still use "wide stage stereo" for music.

 

I heard the Paragon many times.  I believe the first time was when the stereo Lp was released, and a bunch of us high school students just had to hear it.  We descended in waves on the San Francisco HiFi Fair (1959 or 1960).  I'd guess that the entire science club and most of our orchestra went [young people were actually interested in (good) audio then].   Some of us went twice.  The Paragon was positioned on a riser, possibly to make the drivers at standing ear height.  A mistake, in my view, because it may have short circuited the bass.  There, and in many audio stores later, the Paragon sounded incredibly, almost unbelievably clear and analytical.  There was no distortion on peaks.  Even in the stores, with the Paragon sitting on the floor, there wasn't a lot of bass, but what there was, was clean as a whistle.  But the Paragon was only 104" wide (8.7 feet) and, incredibly, most listeners, both at the fair, and in the various stores, were farther away than that.  The 60 degree spread (the equilateral triangle, with speakers at two points, and the listener at the third) was not in vogue yet -- except in the Klipsch room, in which, thanks to "wide stage stereo" the Khorns were probably more than 100 degrees apart from the front row, and there was a center speaker (I don't remember which one it was).  The Klipsch room seemed to have a little more bass.  People said things like, "Now, that sounds like an orchestra!"  The two designs were easily the best at the fair, and were close in quality, but the Khorns had better bass, and had a bigger sound field.

 

Richard Ranger Benny Goodman? and the Paragon.

A Klipsch wide stage stereo room at a fair somewhere.

 

 

 

[Schu]

17 hours ago, Oside said:

I thought you guys might be interested in seeing this JBL Paragon that came up in my area Craigslist (I have no interest in this sale or relation to sale-just sharing a unique speaker system I stumbled upon).

 

I have no interest either...

This is a well known unit console. 

I don't think of them as really very rare because I always see them for sale... sometimes at astronomical pricing.

[pzannucci]

Piece of history but for that money, I have a lot of other things to buy.

[Oside]

20 hours ago, Marvel said:

It wasn't meant as a center channel. It was a standalone stereo cabinet. The cabs were complex and really built as fine furniture. They served their purpose, with excellent jbl components.

 

Bruce

 

[Wow, there were a few of these responses questioning its beginnings and purpose. I'm afraid you are all incorrect (and should've read the link before circle-[confirm]ing your errs), or should've read my comment closer before you "corrected" something that wasn't said.]  Of course the unit pictured is designed for living room use. That is quite obvious from its construction and finish. I mentioned its original intent when making a comparison to the Heresy , as both companies thought a center was needed between corner-horns, which is an oft-discussed topic here, and the Paragon began as JBL's center channel.  To build a center channel, JBL hired a consultant, Col. Richard Ranger, who was known for his work on Broadway stage sound systems and JBL brought him in to help compete against Klipsch. The Paragon was first thought as a center channel based on his diffusion principle. (see: link in my OP and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBL_Paragon). It was later redesigned for the living room. But, even then the living room model was not its only purpose: It was also sold for commercial and professional use. "At the same time that the home version of the Paragon was introduced, there was an industrial variant that was intended for built-in applications such as studio monitoring and stereo movie sound reproduction." (Id.):

 

 

 

10 hours ago, Schu said:

 

I have no interest either...

This is a well known unit console. 

I don't think of them as really very rare because I always see them for sale... sometimes at astronomical pricing.

 

Looks like someone thinks every post is directed to him personally and takes offense at anything he has seen before as if we are all supposed to know or care. Newsflash: you're on a multi-national conglomerate corporation's website and have no weight to throw around. I have no interest in your bitching - move on to the next post instead of crying about what you don't care about. 

 

Less than 1000 were ever built; far less exist today. They are in museums and certainly aren't "always for sale". The fact that one is sitting on craigslist for anyone to own one should be interesting to any audiophile or horn fan. 

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by Oside

[windashine]

55 minutes ago, Oside said:

... The fact that one is sitting on craigslist for anyone to own one should be interesting to any audiophile or horn fan. 

Edited 48 minutes ago by Oside

 

…. o O ( bringing up the WAF ) in relation to living in the past …. I present a thought from a 2006 post.... Kim Novak's sexy legs...

 

[Ceptorman]

2 hours ago, windashine said:

 

…. o O ( bringing up the WAF ) in relation to living in the past …. I present a thought from a 2006 post.... Kim Novak's sexy legs...

 

Who is Kim Novak 😀

[billybob]

32 minutes ago, Ceptorman said:

Who is Kim Novak 😀

A femme fatale along the lines of a Ursulla or a Raquel...

[ClaudeJ1]

4 hours ago, Oside said:

 

[Wow, there were a few of these responses questioning its beginnings and purpose. I'm afraid you are all incorrect (and should've read the link before circle-[confirm]ing your errs), or should've read my comment closer before you "corrected" something that wasn't said.]  Of course the unit pictured is designed for living room use. That is quite obvious from its construction and finish. I mentioned its original intent when making a comparison to the Heresy , as both companies thought a center was needed between corner-horns, which is an oft-discussed topic here, and the Paragon began as JBL's center channel.  To build a center channel, JBL hired a consultant, Col. Richard Ranger, who was known for his work on Broadway stage sound systems and JBL brought him in to help compete against Klipsch. The Paragon was first thought as a center channel based on his diffusion principle. (see: link in my OP and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBL_Paragon). It was later redesigned for the living room. But, even then the living room model was not its only purpose: It was also sold for commercial and professional use. "At the same time that the home version of the Paragon was introduced, there was an industrial variant that was intended for built-in applications such as studio monitoring and stereo movie sound reproduction." (Id.):

 

 

 

 

Looks like someone thinks every post is directed to him personally and takes offense at anything he has seen before as if we are all supposed to know or care. Newsflash: you're on a multi-national conglomerate corporation's website and have no weight to throw around. I have no interest in your bitching - move on to the next post instead of crying about what you don't care about. 

 

Less than 1000 were ever built; far less exist today. They are in museums and certainly aren't "always for sale". The fact that one is sitting on craigslist for anyone to own one should be interesting to any audiophile or horn fan. 

 

For the DIY guys, I bought a set of JBL plans off Ebay, which detail how to build those monsters.......not for the squeamish, but what a PROJECT that would be!!

[Khornukopia]

That one appears to be in excellent condition. I am guessing it is a Teak finish. Beautiful piece of good sounding furniture, if you have the space for it.

[Marvel]

7 hours ago, Oside said:

That is quite obvious from its construction and finish. I mentioned its original intent when making a comparison to the Heresy , as both companies thought a center was needed between corner-horns, which is an oft-discussed topic here, and the Paragon began as JBL's center channel.  To build a center channel, JBL hired a consultant, Col. Richard Ranger, who was known for his work on Broadway stage sound systems and JBL brought him in to help compete against Klipsch.

 

Don McRitchie would know, but the literature never states that the development was intended as a center channel, especially when it was a stereo cabinet all along. Enjoy your day.

[garyrc]

7 hours ago, Ceptorman said:

Who is Kim Novak 😀

 

LOL: You sound like a millennial.

 

But many of them know Vertigo, which is now on Blu-ray, hopefully the lovingly restored version which goes back to the original stereo music elements.

 

At 85, she is living in Oregon (or maybe Washington) raising ungulates (including South American varieties).

[Ceptorman]

42 minutes ago, garyrc said:

 

LOL: You sound like a millennial.

 

But many of them know Vertigo, which is now on Blu-ray, hopefully the lovingly restored version which goes back to the original stereo music elements.

 

At 85, she is living in Oregon (or maybe Washington) raising ungulates (including South American varieties).

Haha, far from a millennial. I was just yanking Billybob's chain. I did see her in Vertigo a few years ago, a very good movie. I've always been a James Stewart fan.

[garyrc]

@Oside,

Sorry we annoyed you. ☮️  You are right, we should have read all the links before commenting.  It is also true, as Bruce said, the literature of the time never mentioned that the Paragon was originally intended as a center channel in a theater  -- and I watched the literature like a hawk, having sent in a card to be on JBL's mailing list.  The company rep and a company engineer who presented the Paragon at the HiFi fair didn't drop a hint either.  

 

Also, apologies to Goodman and Ranger.  I apparently mislabeled the gentleman with the pipe in the Paragon picture.  I got that from a source that labeled him "Ranger," but you caused me to read the Lansing Heritage article and it is apparently Benny Goodman.  My old music teacher, who played with Goodman for a while, is probably spinning in his grave.

 

I can see Mr. Ranger using a very large curved diffusion panel back stage in a stage theater; might he have merely brought that idea forward in the design of the Paragon?

 

In a movie theater, with the audience sitting between about 20 to 150 feet or more away, I doubt if even the most precise placement on a 8.7 foot Paragon size, curved panel center channel would do much good.   Also, the 4 and 6 channel movie theater installations provided a "phantom" channel between each two behind the screen channels.   When I saw Ben-Hur for the third time (70mm 6 channel), during the overture, I repeatedly counted the sources, sighting down my index finger.  What people thought of this teenager pointing at various places on the curved curtain, I don't know, but nobody got up and moved.  As I remember, I counted 8 sources, which figures, plus ambience in the rear.

 

In movie theaters that used JBLs:

 

they had these for smaller theaters:

with these on top:3 behind the screen for CinemaScope, and a 4th, routable, for surround.  Note that the mid/high lens is the same one that is in the Hartsfield, and the woofer (which used 154s, originally) is a rear loaded horn.

 

For larger theaters, they had these:

Originally 5 behind the screen, + routable surround for 70mm, or large 35mm houses.

For 35mm, there were only 4 channels total, so only horns 1,3 and 5 were used + surround, but at 4 horn loaded woofers for each channel they still packed a wallop.

 

 

[billybob]

Have seen these before and now wondering why such a piece of Nouveau has not been gone over with a critical eye by modders such as we have now dealing with other well known consoles. There has been at least a couple through here(pics) in the past. As always, I am no doubt misinformed. Sure it has been resurrected times over. If not, I would question as to why...if I were to be so bold. Art...yes!

[billybob]

Have seen these before and now wondering why such a piece of Nouveau has not been gone over with a critical eye by modders such as we have now dealing with other well known consoles. There has been at least a couple through here(pics) in the past. As always, I am no doubt misinformed. Sure it has been resurrected times over. If not, I would question as to why...if I were to be so bold. Art...yes!

 

Edit: Yes Ceptorman ...although abit contorted, Kim may well have been the model.

[billybob]

Opps, sorry OP but the Klipschorn folded horn was PWK's design...no copy!