Comments on: Jensen Explains Your High Fidelity Music System! (1953) https://www.preservationsound.com/jensen-explains-your-high-fidelity-music-system-1953/ information and ideas about audio history Thu, 26 Jul 2012 01:04:10 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Gary https://www.preservationsound.com/jensen-explains-your-high-fidelity-music-system-1953/#comment-25978 Thu, 26 Jul 2012 01:04:10 +0000 http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=5105#comment-25978 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.

]]> By: Bafflegab https://www.preservationsound.com/jensen-explains-your-high-fidelity-music-system-1953/#comment-25382 Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:39:43 +0000 http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=5105#comment-25382 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.

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