Although differing in performance details and physical attributes, all of the Project loudspeakers have shared a common objective ­ to elevate sound reproduction to levels defined only by the limitations of existing materials and technology. The fact that all Project loudspeakers have many common features, despite a spread of nearly sixty years, is a testimony to the excellence of the technology and manufacturing techniques upon which JBL was built. Defining the Project Concept The Hartsfield began a tradition at JBL that continues today. First, engineer a product as close to perfection as possible. When it reaches that level, make it better. In 1954, the Hartsfield was significant in that it represented not new technology, but rather a new level of technical manufacturing, in the spirit of the approach pioneered by James B. Lansing some twenty years before. Like its Project series successors, it was a high-efficiency system incorporating compression driver technology and combining the qualities of high-output, low-distortion, 7 exceptional stereo imaging and fatigue-free listening. Most important, it was the first loudspeaker system available to consumers to do all this. Project Everest DD66000, the most advanced and sophisticated loudspeaker in the world today, is the latest expression in technology that is deeply rooted in more than 60 years of tradition. JBL's president in 1954, William Thomas, described the Hartsfield as the "speaker system we have always wanted to build [with] the finest components ever made available to serious listeners. " He went on to describe the process behind the creation of the Hartsfield: "Most people who own and appreciate fine sound reproduction equipment look forward to the day when they will be able to assemble a system without limitation in just exactly the way they think it should be done. Periodically a manufacturer gets this same feeling...