Jensen Model 4 photos.

These speakers are in the middle (not the front) of the New England pack: very pleasant and musical, but a bit too polite for my (Mission/JBL) taste. This thread on Audiokarma shows that it's well thought of by some.

The design is awesome: fabulous grills, excellent proportions, quality cabinetry and beautiful walnut veneer.

Jensen Model 4

This shot was taken with the cabinets refinished, but the woofers on my table waiting to be refoamed. I just had to show you how nicely the cabinets turned out, and how cool the grills are.

The Model 4s are sealed 3 way, 10 inch acoustic suspension systems. I will post grill off pictures tomorrow, but the tweeters are fabric domes that appear very sophisticated for their vintage, and the mids have funny plush blue covers and sealed backs (I could feel with the woofers removed). The woofers appear to be well made, with stamped baskets (like KLH, Advent, EPI, Genesis, and most other New England manufacturers) and heavy magnets. They will be easy to refoam.

Update: I have refoamed them and am just starting to listen. They are very nice New England sounding speakers. More to come.

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Nothing But the Blues.

Another pair of JBL L26s!

UPDATED: These are fantastic! That Ry Cooder/Ali Farka Toure album is sounding gorgeous. I will try to never be without a pair of vintage JBLs again.
I got these somewhere that ordinarily sells bicycles. I couldn't listen to them. The drivers looked ok, the refoam on the woofers looked very good. When I listened, I was mortified. One woofer distorted horribly, and one tweeter was dead.

The woofers had not been refoamed well. One (the distorted sounding one) was refoamed with heavy voice coil rubbing. I redid both, and they sound like they should.

I replaced the blown LE25-2 tweeter with an LE25-1. Other than the orange surround on the LE25-1, they are for all intents and purposes identical: in fact the LE25-2 is the JBL recommended replacement for an LE25-1. Both tweeters are dimpled, the sound is unaffected.

These speakers are sounding great with the Marantz 1150D.

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Original British Mission 700s Refinished.

Update: The person who bought them needs to have them on a shelf on their sides, so I just refinished the bottoms too.

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Friday Update.

The Burhoe Blues and Mission 770 Freedom 4s are gone, both to excellent homes, connected to fine and appropriate amplification.

Marantz 1150D Photo

I listened late into the night, driving the Genesis Model Threes with real authority.

Marantz 1150D

D is for Dolby®. The Marantz 1150 is an all time favorite. This is a rare variant that sounds just as good as I remember.

In January 2009 I said:
The Marantz 1150 (75 watts/channel) is my current all around favourite amplifier, smooth, warm and authoritative.

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Not Seventies in Manufacture, But In Concept.

Precision german engineering in a Braun/Canton style, same big sound. Eats Minimus 7s for snacks.

From the Visonik website:
The DAVID speakers from VISONIK is a true and exceptional original.
Designed as a sophisticated and high quality miniature loudspeaker it quickly evolved into a semi-professional miniature monitor used in studios around the world due to its unique and superior sound quality. Whether it be the BBC, ZDF in Germany or JazzRadio Berlin - wherever a high-quality miniature monitor is needed the VISONIK DAVID is being used. In fact, the DAVID 50 was the first German loudspeaker to receive the prestigious Japanese Export Product Prize in 1977 during the 6th Japanese Audio Grand Prix for innovative technologies.

In the production of miniature loudspeakers, cabinet design has a decisive major impact on sound quality and accuracy. Often easy-to-bend plastics are used in cabinet construction. Not so at VISONIK. The DAVID 5001 is robust and neutral in sound due to its stiff aluminum cabinets.

The unique efficiency (SPL) of the DAVID also makes it possible to reach impressive levels in volume with less amplifying power. Built on 25 years of experience in the fields of miniature louspeakers and subwoofers, the DAVID 5001i is truly special. Professionals from all over the world have put faith in DAVID miniature monitors.

Snell Type K

This is another speaker renovation project for a friend of the blog.

The Snell Type K is a beautifully made 2 way 8 inch system, using Vifa drivers.

The owner had purchased a refoam kit on Ebay for $30 plus shipping. The 'kit' consisted of 2 generic foam rings (the kind available at SAYAL for $3/each) and a tube of contact cement, the worst adhesive I can think of for this purpose. TBC

Surprising Speakers

A good friend of this blog found this pair of Patterson Industries Phase 4 speakers on the curb waiting for garbage collection. Neither of us had heard of the brand (though I'm sure I've seen the logo before!), and had no idea what might be inside. One sounded promising, the other sounded awful. After battling to move the spiked in place grills, we discovered surprising drivers. The woofer is labeled HECO, which I know is german. It has a relatively small magnet, but has the same distinctive asterisk shaped contact solders on the cone as Braun. The tweeter also looks very similar to Braun, distinguished by the exposed leads on either side of the dome.

I refoamed both 8 inch woofers, stripped and sanded the cabinets, and redid the grill cloths.

These speakers deserve the attention! They sound beautiful, with a beautiful top, stunning midrange and detailed, but not very extended bass response. They remind me of a nice pair of ADS speakers. This is a pair I wish I could keep!



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First Post In Over A Week

I apologize.

Things have been static. Many speakers have been here for months.
I have refoamed a couple of pairs of woofers for customers, and am hoping to aquire a couple of new systems soon.

I have a pair of Tannoy C-8s, canadian made (under license) 8 inch 2 way double rear ported systems that are very similar in construction and driver compliment to Energy ESMs and Image by Sound Dynamics. I'm sure they were made in the same factory. They sound very nice, though not particularly british.




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