So it turns out the rattling I was hearing so long ago was just a bad seal on the woofer basket. After resealing it, I have been using them on my electronics bench, and I have to say I have grown to love these. They are very enjoyable to listen to, at least in this small room, and up close. They actually extend down to 45ish hz before they roll off, and play audibly down to 28(!) hz, at least in this room. That's pretty crazy for a speaker this size, this old.
I can't promise that they would please the most critical audiophiles, but I sure have taken a liking to them. I don't think I will be getting rid of them any time soon. Plus, they seem to be extremely uncommon.. There isn't another mention of them that I can find online, aside from what was posted above.