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Jensen/Lafayette Home built pics


Hofy

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Here are a couple of pics of speakers my grandfather built around 1959-1962.

Jensen horn tweeter and midrange. Lafayette woofer and crossover. About the only thing I can think of doing is refinishing the wood outside and new grills. Maybe replace the batting inside? They sound excellent as is right now hooked to his old Eico ST-70.

speaker1.jpg

speaker3.jpg

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I always liked the sound of the old Jensens when they were current models. If you like the sound then by all means dont "fix" them. I suspect the sensitivity is quite high and am not suprised that they work well with his old Eico - (from what I've heard that is considered one damned fine amp BTW - treat it with TLC)
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Thanks Mike and Lynn.

My motto is "If it isn't Broken don't fix it" Or is it "If it isn't Broken fix it til it is." ?

As I said the only thing I plan to do to the speakers is refinish the cabinets, new grills, and maybe replace the batting inside. What is the material Klipsch used in early 1960s speakers?

As for the Eico I fixed that real good when I first got it around 1992. My first attempt to re wire it for 6L6 tubes ended with burned wires and 600 volts blazing through yours truly! 6.gif I have it working again but need to restore it proper. Thanks to this forum and links I can now do it right with the proper 7591 tubes.

A little background on this equipment. My grandfather built both the speakers and amp from 1959 to 1963 from the dates penciled inside the pieces. Sadly he passed away in 1971 at 57. Way too young. My grandmother gave away all his stereo and camera and darkroom equipment after his death.

Fast forward to 1992. I pay a visit to grandma and she asks me to move grandpa's old stereo cabinet to the other side of the room. I lift one end and it is pretty light. I go to move the other end, HEAVY! I ask her what is in it. She replies it is his old amp. Having been totally infected with the audiophile bug while in the army a few years before I knew this meant TUBES!9.gif Sure enough, Eico ST-70. I told her that I thought she had given away all his stuff when he passed away. She replied that she had, except his amp and speakers. Speakers? Where? Down in the basement wrapped in plastic trash bags since 1971.

I got my inheritance home that night and hooked it up to my Rotel 855 CD player. (Sorry no turntable). I never hooked up the Carver/Polk stuff I had again. I have gone through several pieces of equipment since then but still come back to the "family gear".

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----------------

On 12/31/2002 3:19:05 AM mike stehr wrote:

Hofy, you didn't happen to have 600 volts blazing through you when you took that Avatar pic?

----------------

Actually, something more powerful. Chili! The avatar pic was taken at the 2001 Wisconsin State Chili cookoff Championship where I was competing.

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Dammit, did you ever luck out...that's a true inheritance! Those loudspeakers are beautiful! I wish you the very best in restoring them.

They remind me a little of my dad's first stereo speaker pairs he bought in '62 in an Army PX while stationed at Chartres, France. Actually, there's really no comparison...my dad's are a 2-way sealed bookshelf with a 1 1/2" cone tweeter and 6" woofer in an enclosure that looks alot like yours. On the cane grill is a little plaque: BELL, with a triangle shape and the letters "TRW" in its middle. The loudspeaker's back panels read: Bell Sound Division; Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, Model S.S.1...can't find anything about them on the internet! The internal construction looks very similar to yours, including the bracing and the batting. Unfortunantly, the original woofers were discarded (no idea when) and cheap Radio Shack 6inchers with whizzer cones were put in their place (tweeters are still original). Without their original woofers, they might as well be burned. They sound heinous!

I'd love to get another tube preamp...maybe a classic from Fisher, H.H. Scott, Marantz, McIntosh, or now from EICO...see:

http://users.rcn.com/fiddler.interport/EICO.HTM

The EICO ST-70 is new to me...maybe I'll go integrated instead! You have a sweet system right now; I can understand your reluctance to go back to your Carver/Polk Audio system (I sold most of my Carver gear. The CD player will be next...never thought I would until I heard McIntosh; see my link), I hope you enjoy it for many years to come!

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THanks for the comments, jt1stcav.

I'll see what I can find out on those speakers of yours.

>>1992 Carver SD/A-450 14.gif Not even a real Carver. Bob was long gone by 1992. What do you have in mind to replace it? (The stuff I had was from the early/mid 80s when I was stationed in Germany. And grandps stuff still kicked the stuffing out of it.)

BTW do NOT go with an ST70. Only because the output tubes are 7591s. Not the easiest tube to find.

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