Seadog Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Last Friday I was walking through a thrift shop and saw the side of a wooden enclosure. The top was covered with junk and an old chest was sitting in front. I moved all of the junk, to discover it was a speaker enclosure with a perfect condition grill. I could see no markings on it in the store, but the condition was good and I could see from the materials (3/4" plywood covered in mahogany veneer) and construction that it was a well-built speaker. I talked them down from $40 to $15 and took it home. The next day I was unloading it from my Explorer and I saw for the first time in the sunlight the faint "JIM Lancing" signature logo on the front. Then I removed the back to discover a coaxial driver, a Stephens Tru-Sonic 122AX. After a little research on the Internet (HiFiLit.com) I have identified the enclosure as a JBL Jim Lancing signature series C36, probably built between 1954 and 1956. The Stephens driver is also from this era. I disconnected my right Cornwall and replaced it with this speaker. It seemed to keep up in volume (so it must be fairly efficient). Overall the Cornwall is much better (especially the high end), but I'm sure this was considered a very good speaker in its day, and much better than a lot of stuff for sale today. I have not decided what to do with it, but it is kind of fun to listen to it on my 1954 Scott 99B. I guess I need to find some mono source material to get the full effect of the era, LOL. Does anyone know if this speaker is considered collectable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Dunno.... Check archive and recent Ebay auctions to maybe get a idea of worth. I picked up a pair of cherry JBL D-208's in some aftermarket enclosures for 50 bucks local over the summer. I didn't think I did too bad...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Seadog, might make a real nice center for your HT (or someone else's) ... Nice find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shock-Late Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 funny. A few years ago i bought a pair of old JBL speakers, also called "C36". Cornwall-sized boxes with D130 wide-band speaker and 075 tweeter. Sound was not very "hi-fi" but fun nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 David, WKRP (in Cincinnatti) has a couple variants on EBay now. He generally starts off quite high, but the figures do give you an upper ballpark. I'd wager the value is in the cabinetry and the cachet, and not so much in the sound quality - but a very good snab! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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