Well, here's an update (after 7 years).
In 2018 the place where Mountain1 and I worked went out of business. A few months before they closed the doors Mountain1 and I were talking. He had moved and had to tear down his shop and cnc table. If I remember correctly, he had finished the speakers and gave them a listen. He thought they were a little flat in the bass response. I asked him if he had an equalizer in his system. He didn't. He pulled the drivers out again to paint some trim pieces that surrounded the mid-range and bass drivers. Before he could assemble them again, he had to move. He carefully packed the drivers in boxes and stored it all. While we were talking he said he didn't have room to keep them and had lost interest in the project. He generously offered them back to me (I'm the one who sold them to him for $25). I knew I couldn't afford them especially after seeing this thread and all that he had put into them. He said I could have them, I'd just have to install the drivers and trim rings in the cabinets. He did warn me to be careful with the large trim rings because they easily crack. So in 2018 he brought them to work and we transferred all the pieces into my car. I put the pieces in my basement and there they sat for 3 years.
Why did i let them sit for so long?
I didn't have anything to hook them up to. I had given my Scott 385R receiver away (it didn't work anymore) to another guy at work. I had sold my turntable (Pioneer PL400) to yet another co-worker. Myself, Mountain1, the guy I gave my receiver to and the guy who bought my turntable all worked at the place that went out of business. The only thing I had kept was my Audio Source EQ 1 equalizer.
Fast forward to a few months ago (early 2021):
I mentioned to the guy who bought my turntable (he and I work together at a new place) that I had cleaned the back of my basement out and was setting up a "man cave". I wanted to set up the speakers Mountain1 had given back to me but I didn't have an amp. Turntable guy happened to have an older (I wouldn't call it vintage) ONKYO receiver. I bought it from him for $60 (same price he paid me for the turntable a few years back) and I set it all up in the man cave.
I had lost one of the big trim rings, and sadly, broke the other one. Mountain1 was right. They were easy to crack. The only thing I didn't have was the screws to mount the drivers back in the cabinets, so I grabbed some black wood screws (they may actually be drywall screws) and I put them back together.
They sound GREAT! Maybe only slightly less bass response than I remember but they seem to be getting better as I play them more. Not sure if that's really happening or if it's just because I want it to be true. It could be that my hearing has lost some bass response.
I think they may have sounded even more flat to Mountain1 for 2 reasons. First he didn't have an eq to boost the bass. Second, when I set the piece of the broken trim ring on the woofer to take the picture below, i noticed the foam surround was rubbing against the inner surface of the ring. That may have been affecting the movement of the woofer when Mountain1 had tested them.
Here's a picture of the trim ring that is supposed to be surrounding the woofer:
Here's why it's not installed (plus I lost the other one):
This shows half of the trim ring in place to give a glimpse of what it's supposed to look like. This is when I noticed the inner surface of the trim ring is rubbing on the foam surround. Perhaps the surround is slightly larger than the originals? Doesn't matter since the rings aren't installed. Mountain1 did a fantastic job re-foaming these:
Here's a picture of the front of one of the System B's. You can see the smaller plastic trim ring that Mountain1 repainted on the mid-range speaker above the woofer:
Yes, that is a Harbor Freight Dolly under the speaker. I wanted to get them off the floor in case my sump pump fails and floods the basement again. Plus these speakers are 80 pounds and the dollies make them easy to move.
My current setup:
EQ and Receiver:
A final look at the front and back of my old Jensen Sysetm B's.
More importantly, the finished work of master craftsman Mountain1:
This brings this re-build thread to an almost full circle. Especially since the speakers ended up back in the hands of the original owner (me) who purchased them brand new (as floor demos) back in the 80's.
Big shout out to Mountain1 for bringing back the sounds and memories of my younger days. I am in heaven listening to my 70's and 80's music just as I used to hear it...and the rattle the speakers developed as they aged is all gone!
The true end to this circle is missing one thing. I haven't been in contact with Mountain1 in a few years. Mike if you still pop in on this forum and see this, you need to come to the mancave to HEAR what these sound like with an equalizer feeding them. There's beer in the fridge, a tattered (but playable) pool table and a lot of 70's and 80's music playing in the background to enjoy. Maybe we can get Matt (turntable guy) and Terry (receiver guy) to join us.
