Trusonic JR-200M?

[Soundthought]

Hello all,

I just picked up a pair of old Trusonic JR-200Ms for $20.

They have a 12" woofer,

a 4 inch mid,

and a 1" cone horn.

Has anyone heard of these speakers?

They're a mystery to me.

I think they may be old JBLs.

I dunno, i'm mystified.

Could any of you fine people help me gather some info on them?

Thanks.

[Jim Cornell]

Audio reality

I slightly remember that brand, but thats about it, sorry! Can you post a picture, these were made by a familiar compay, i just caint remember who it was!

Jim

[Soundthought]

Hi Jim,

Sorry, no photos till I get a real computer.

Currently, i'm using a RCA internet receiver.

I don't think it supports photos.

I need to get off the fence and go buy a computer. LOL. now which one?

Anyway, back to the speaker.

I believe the original company name is Stevens Trusonic.

Stevens was a young audio engineer who worked with Lansing back in the day.

How he founded the company or it's history are a mystery, to me.

-The speakers' dimensions are:

15.25"x12"x24"

-They are roughly 50Lbs apeice.

-A nice 3 peice walnut veener compliments the exterior.

-It has a 3 way binding post with an adjustment for both mid and treble on the cup.

-The adress underneath the name is.

1100 E. Franklin St.

Huntington, Indiana.

-The woofer has a very deep cone with a ribbed treated surround.

-The mid share the same type of surround.

-The horn tweeter has a light bronze colored lens.

That's about all I can say about these.

I'm going to hook them up right now for a quicky.

I'll tear 'em apart later.

[lynnm]

The trusonic line was manufactured by Steven's who were the woofer suopplier for the Khorns in the early years.

[Jim Cornell]

Thank you Lynnm

I knew i heard of them somewhere, Audio reality, there worth keeping, keep them around and let me know how they sound!

Jim

[CaptnBob]

Stephens Trusonic was one of the most respected names in hi-fi in the 1950s. Their drivers - in particular the big co-axes - were able to compete on equal or better than equal terms with Electro-Voice and Altec. Even today, there are those who feel the Stephens-Trusonic 15" is the unit of choice for the Klipschorn. Trusonic even went as far as having industrial designer Charles Eames develop a line of speaker cabinets for them. (My particular favorite has the midrange horn on tracks so you can run it out of the cabinet for serious listening, and back inside for mood music - kind of like the cannon on Captain Blood's pirate ship - but I digress.)

The bad news is, as a business man, Bob Stephens was evidently a heck of a speaker designer. Paul Klipsch, in his biography, states that Stephens was "always a step or two behind" the other manufacturers. It appears that sometime in the middle sixties (my guess) the Utah speaker company (of Huntington, Indiana - and no, I don't know why an outfit called "Utah" is in Indiana) bought out the company and sold speakers under the "Trusonic" name. They also evidently got unsold speaker parts in the deal. I have a 15" driver with "Trusonic" cast into the frame and "Trusonic by Utah" on a paper label stuck to the back.

I work with someone who had a pair of Trusonic speakers which (as I recall) were similar to yours. He says he got his in the middle seventies.

I hope this rambling discourse has been some help. It sounds like you got a pretty good deal for your $20!

Capt'n Bob

[edwardre]

Audio - I have not heard of the JR-200M, but I do have Stephens Trusonic 103LX2's in all 6 heritage speakers comprising my HT setup. I can tell you that the Trusonics have a sound quality that is very hard to put into words. The bass is deep, solid and almost 'airy' at the same time. I don't know how else to describe them. I have heard and tested several woofer types in my Khorns, Belles and CW's including JBL's, Altecs, EV's and iterations of K33's. To me, the Stephens sound better by a comfortable margin. The bass output is simply tremendous.

[Jim Cornell]

YES YES YES YES

I had Utah speakers, i gave them to my freind, on the hornloaded tweeter, it said Stevens, this is all fitting together quite well!

Maybe thats where i saw stevens, these were old, hes been using them for HT, and their holding up very well!

Maybe i should get them back?

LOL Jim

[Soundthought]

Gentlemen, thank you for the replies.

Lot's of great info.

Using some that info you guys gave me, I was able to further my research on these.

Although, I wasn't able to find much about my specific model.

I did learn alot about the Stevens/Utah buy-out.

I think my model falls somewhere in that transitional period.

On the label of the speakers, it simply says:

JR-200M 12-inch 3-way Speaker Systems

Trusonic's "Total Performance" speaker systems are designed to reproduce music with the greatest possible accuracy. The clean natural sound, uncolored and with full definition reflects Trusonic's superiority in speaker design.

Power: 50 Watts Program

100 Watts Peak

Impedance: 8 Ohms

Listen....You'll always hear more from TRUSONIC.

1100E.Franklin St.

Huntington, Indiana.

Thats it.

Well, last night I cleaned the 10 layers of dirt off the boxes.

Wow, they clean up well.

Nice deep walnut finish.

They glow!

Yummmm.

I decided to hook them up to my B&K using my Denon as a pre-amp.

I cued up some "Breakfast in America"

Turned the volume up a bit and was Wow'd again.

They sound pretty darn good.

Plentiful bass, and great mids.

Not bad for detail.

Then again,

How can I rightly compare their detail when I listen to Klipsch day in and day out.

I can't really.

But, they did hold their own.

Put it this way.

Not only did I listen to the entirety of B.I.A, but I continued listening to my favorite jams for another 3 hours. LOL

Not bad!

I do have one problem with these.

The vol.pots(?) for the Mids and the Highs are cuasing the drivers to break up.

If I leave them in one spot and give them a little tap, they work fine.

When I turn them to adjust vol output, they crackle and break up.

I'm assuming their either corroded or in need of replacement.

I have'nt ventured inside them yet.

Planning on it this afternoon.

Gonna take some time and break them both down, right.

See what they're made off, you know.

I just love this part.

Again, I appreciate all the help.

[Soundthought]

Well, the verdict is in.

I know nothing about these speakers.

LOL.

Pulled them apart this evening.

Very interesting.

-All the drivers have serial numbers on the inside of the cones, no names.

-Both drivers have brass(?) pole pieces and treated (fabric) surrounds with paper cones.

-The horn has a semi-circular styrofoam cup encapsulating the motor stucture, about the size of a tennis ball cut in half.

-The midrange driver has it's own enclosed space in the cabinet.

The crossover is another story.

The woofer is run straight from input terminals to the driver.

The mid is run to a 8 MFD cap then to a vol pot and then up to the driver.

The horn is run from the input terminals to a 4uF cap then to a vol pot and then up to the horn.

Both vol pots are wired in series with 2 iron core inducers.

At least I think that's what they are.

LOL

I'm not the sharpest when it comes to identifying old crossover components

I've never seen a set up quite like this before.

This is proving to be a fruitful learning experience.