JL Audio was founded in 1975 by James Birch and Lucio Proni. They used the first letter of each of their names, to form a company name, hence "JL". Their first products were home speaker systems as well as home speaker "kits."
[edit] Speaker Warehouse
In 1977, when business did not turn out as well as expected, Birch and Proni invested in a retail store in Hollywood, Florida, called Speaker Warehouse which focused mainly on speaker repair and the sale of speakers, individually or as whole speaker sets. The original company, JL Audio, was still in operation during this time. As the businesses grew, Speaker Warehouse essentially became a dealer of JL Audio products.
In the late 70s and early 80s, as the car audio revolution was starting to take place, Speaker Warehouse was a big seller of the early pioneering car audio products. Birsch and Proni used their knowledge of speakers and audio to experiment with these systems, especially with component systems with subwoofers. By the early 80's, Speaker Warehouse had become known as a place to go for high-end audio in South Florida..
[edit] Notable events
In 1975, JL Audio is formed.
In 1979, Speaker Warehouse is purchased by JL Audio.
In 1987-1988, Speaker Warehouse began to design competition cars with their audio systems.
In 1988, Speaker Warehouse/JL Audio dominates the car audio scene in South Florida.
In 1989, seven Speaker Warehouse vehicles qualified for the first annual IASCA Finals in Tempe, Arizona.
Early 1990s, JL Audio becomes known across the United States and Canada after winning several awards in car audio competitions.
[edit] Notable Products
* PowerWedges: Compact, enclosed full-range speaker systems made by JL Audio in the early 80's. One of the first enclosed speaker systems ever in the car audio market.
* 8W2: Eight-inch woofer for use in the new line of JL Audio PowerWedges. Following that design, subsequent 10 and 12 inch speaker systems were also released which were as well received as the 8.
* The W5 Series: Higher
