mystery Jensens

[DurhamSud]

Can anybody identify this Jensen speaker? Any information welcome, including how it sounds.

Thanks.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Never seen one like that. Looks very old - late 50s or 60s.

So no labels on the back? Or is this a photo from a seller and you can't see the back?

What's the black thing/things sticking out of the bottom?

 

[DurhamSud]

The black thing is a stool! I just looked under the baffle, OPC 23 written on it.

 

[mhardy6647]

It looks quite familiar but I haven't placed it yet. Not at hifilit; checking Pete Millett's site now (slow D/L of the Jensen brochure there, which I think is too old). Did you look at mid to late 1950s/early 1960s catalogs at www.radioshackcatalogs.com ?

 

[toxcrusadr]

There's your answer. Suggest you google "Jensen OPC-23". Made about 1976, so my age estimate was way off.

 

[DurhamSud]

Thanks, that was easy! I just downloaded the catalog. I just got them but will have to wait till tomorrow to hear what they sound like. I keep you posted.

 

[cgutz]

I have the OPC24, the next model up, which appear to be the most common in this series. The green and tan grills are also rarer than the brown and tan grills.

Except for the tweeter, the OPC23 (dome tweeter), or OPC22 (cone tweeter) look the same. I only saw an OPC23 once, in a dorm room I was walking past when visiting another college in 1978. I talked to the owner who said he liked them, but did not hear them in action. I had just purchased my OPC24 at the time.

I have had my 24's since 1977 and really like them, still in use on my tube system. I had the woofer and mids(you won't have these) refoamed about 15 years ago. Let us know how these sound. The 24's like a smooth, neutral sounding amp or they can be very forward to the point of being fatiguing. They sound as nice as can be on my recently acquired tube integrated. Even my 12 WPC tubes drive them to respectable levels with deep, but not flabby bass.

I just posted a brochure about these on hifiengine in January: http://www.hifiengine.com/library/jensen/opc-speaker-systems.shtml

 

[DurhamSud]

Thanks for posting the brochure. They are the OPC23's with the dome tweeter. I guess they're supposed to be above the cone tweeter, but I don't know much about these things.

 

[cgutz]

Thanks for posting the brochure. They are the OPC23's with the dome tweeter. I guess they're supposed to be above the cone tweeter, but I don't know much about these things.

Dome tweeters are better.

The OPC23's appear to be rare, even more so in Green/Tan cover.


I imagine after all these years the pot to control the tweeter probably needs cleaning. The tweeter will probably cut in and out as you turn it. Just make sure the tweeters are getting the signal through the pot.

Is the foam surrounding the woofers still good?

Give us a report on the sound.

 

[mhardy6647]

heh - I've never seen them with their original grilles before.

 

[toxcrusadr]

At that age they are going to need new capacitors in the crossovers to sound like they did when new.

 

[cgutz]

I recapped my Jensen 24's about 3 years ago. It did improve the sound clarity. Based on my 3 way 24's, I'm guessing the crossover isn't anything more than 1 capacitor, and maybe a coil.