Download an eleven-page article from IST, September 1953, on the subject of “Your High Fidelity Music system!”
DOWNLOAD: IST-1953-09-Jensen-Your_High_Fidelity_Music_System
Glorious, glorious mono. And so much assembly/work to be done by the user! I was at a yard sale this past weekend… do I even need to mention this point… lured there by the promise of “Audio equipment.” This equipment turned out to be a bunch of radio shack garbage circa 1980 and a pair of overpriced BOSE speakers (btw have you seen the T+E bit where they mock BOSE? Amazing…). As I was leaving I noticed a pair of circa 1955 full-range DIY’d corner speakers in the 30-yard container outside. Trash, apparently. I was invited to pull them out and turns out that they had GE full-range 1201A 12″ broadcast drivers in them.
Above, from the GE “Audio Data Book” circa 1955
The cabinets are ever so slightly different in construction, which led to me to believe that this enterprising man built one, and then the 2nd, once the Stereo Age was upon him. I salute you, sir… Anyhow, brought ’em home and the speakers sound good, INSANELY loud with minimal wattage. Put on some Thomas F Browne and it was fantastic. Strange thing is: there must have been an installer or shop in this area that was really pushing these 1201As back in the day as these are the 3rd and 4th that I have turned up in this county in just the past two years.
Above, maybe poor apparel choice for soldering-times. What is that outfit even? Was that swim-wear? Enjoy the article.
2 replies on “Jensen Explains Your High Fidelity Music System! (1953)”
Before about 1958-59 or thereabouts it was very common to have custom installers selling stuff as opposed to buying “components” (sic) retail and having them out in the open, and each region had strong preferences based on who the installers were. Very often you will find a whole bunch of similar stuff in one subdivision, so if really valuable items start turning up a direct postcard mailing to every address in the hood might yield a pile of them.
Keep in mind that certain items bring four and five figure sums to oriental collectors even in this down market. Anything WE, but you don’t see that in houses. Brook triode amps, you do. JBL and Altec horns, compression drivers and Duplex speakers. Quad 22 series in some places. Klipsch. Bozak. Jensen coax and triax drivers.
Fairchild turntables were popular for built-ins and have some value, especially the one with the three phase electronic motor drive.
Don’t forget Youngstown Kitchens cabinets and vintage appliances, which tend to stay here and go to trendies and mid-century-modern architecture buffs.
Heathkit used to test its kits by sending one home with a female employee with no electronics background and having her build one. After a couple of design or assembly manual iterations she would do so without calling the plant for help and they put it into production.
The problem is that women follow instructions and men, who were 95% of potential buyers , do not. A certain percentage of the price of Heathkits was for the inevitable rework the factory did and usually didn’t charge for. Unless someone used acid core solder, the factory would fix about anything.