Need help identifying mystery tweeter? Jensen? mid 60's

[JK-47]

I recently acquired a pair of what I assumed to be trash Olson Speakers. Nice enclosures though, large, heavy well built walnut cabinets. Inside I discovered very nice Jensen Low and mid drivers. I can identify those. What I need help with is the high frequency drivers. Are these Jensen? If so what model? If not, what are they. As of now the set sounds pretty muddy. I'm going to rebuild the crossovers once the parts come in, and replace the speaker terminals. I understand that Olson was a catalog much like Allied... I can find the mid and woofer in the 65' Jensen catalog, but no luck with the tweeters. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[stickman]

That tweeter is not from Jensen. It is a University brand Sphericon phenolic dome tweeter from the same era as the Jensen drivers. Jensen did make their own phenolic dome tweeters called the "Sono-Dome" and top notch horn loaded dome tweeters in the RP-302 models while the lesser Jensen horn tweeters of that era are not highly regarded but considered acceptable for decent quality sound.

 

[JK-47]

That tweeter is not from Jensen. It is a University brand Sphericon phenolic dome tweeter from the same era as the Jensen drivers. Jensen did make their own phenolic dome tweeters called the "Sono-Dome" and top notch horn loaded dome tweeters in the RP-302 models while the lesser Jensen horn tweeters of that era are not highly regarded but considered acceptable for decent quality sound.

Thanks Stickman, That helps a lot. These sounded quite nice and crisp even with the 50-60 year old capacitors. The speakers seemed like DIY kit, well built, but...

 

[GordonW]

That tweeter is not from Jensen. It is a University brand Sphericon phenolic dome tweeter from the same era as the Jensen drivers. Jensen did make their own phenolic dome tweeters called the "Sono-Dome" and top notch horn loaded dome tweeters in the RP-302 models while the lesser Jensen horn tweeters of that era are not highly regarded but considered acceptable for decent quality sound.

Yep, I thought that tweeter looked like the one in the University Senior speaker systems. Decent tweeter, as long as you DON'T try to take it too low in frequency. If you're using a simple cap as a crossover (first order crossover), probably not larger than 1uf. In the Senior II speaker system to which I did a crossover revamp- I wound up using 0.68uf. Sounded quite good as a tweeter that way.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[JK-47]

Yep, I thought that tweeter looked like the one in the University Senior speaker systems. Decent tweeter, as long as you DON'T try to take it too low in frequency. If you're using a simple cap as a crossover (first order crossover), probably not larger than 1uf. In the Senior II speaker system to which I did a crossover revamp- I wound up using 0.68uf. Sounded quite good as a tweeter that way.

Regards,
Gordon.

Hi Gordon, Thanks for the recommendation. The Olson crossover had a 8uf, and a 4uf cap in it... actually 2x4uf/150v and a 4uf/25v. It looks to have been serviced a while back. and a lack of an 8uf cap. The pots seem to work well, so I may keep this set up, and try a few cap combinations.