Old J&R? What the...? Anyone?

[Moth R. Superior]

Out gettin' my thrift on and I found a set of speakers that I can not identify. They have badges, that say J&R, the logo is quite different than the current J&R, (every time I try a search on J&R, all I get is newer).
They're about 4 ft. tall, and have grill covers on all four sides.
Inside, there's what looks to be an 8", or maybe a 6" cone pointed directly at the floor, into a vented box, with bracing inside.
Above that, a smaller driver pointed directly skyward right into the wood (well, close to it)
There's a dial on the crossover, on the topside of the bottom box.
No model no., just two screw posts on the very bottom.
I've googled just about every possible description and I can find NOTHING.
They've been sitting at the store for nearly a month, I keep puttin' them off because I can't i.d. them, and have no clue if they're even worth the thrift price. (which BTW, is slightly elevated) Goofy but interesting....
Anybody? Anything?

 

[Inscrutable]

Never heard of J&R speakers. You mean like the J&R retail/mail-order place in NYC? Blast from my past ... bought some of my first audio pieces from them in the mid 70's.
Maybe pics will help ... maybe ...

 

[Moth R. Superior]

Never heard of J&R speakers. You mean like the J&R retail/mail-order place in NYC? Blast from my past ... bought some of my first audio pieces from them in the mid 70's.
Maybe pics will help ... maybe ...

I'll try to snap a few when I go back to the store (they kinda keep bringin' me back...)

 

[EddyR]

Look here http://www.mcmullon.com/icollect/hi_fi/jim_rogers/jr_review.htm

 

[Moth R. Superior]

Look here http://www.mcmullon.com/icollect/hi_fi/jim_rogers/jr_review.htm

Nope. Not even close. First off, the ones I speak of are square (well, rectangle, really, like towers) with one the cones facing the floor, the other (smaller) facing straight up. With 4 rectangle grill covers. One on every side.

 

[jadesix]

Over at that Unique in New Hope by any chance? Lol, it has to be. Did the same thing, googled it from the store to figure out wtf they were and found his threqd. I'm fascinated by that design, super curious about the brand too.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Why would there be grilles on 4 sides? Are there other drivers behind them? Similar to the EPI towers?

 

[jadesix]

It's like they're made to be omnidirectional. The (very oddly configured) woofer fires down into a vented enclosure, with slotted vents on two sides, and the tweeter was mounted above the woofer, also firing down, but open on all sides above and below the deck it was mounted on. There was also a volume control knob for the tweeter mounted in the top of the woofer enclosure. Man, I wish I'd taken a pic, it's such an odd design. Maybe I'll try to sketch something..

Edit: here's a sketch
http://imgur.com/xsOPqO4

 

[toxcrusadr]

That is definitely weird. You have to buy them and find out how they sound. Are the drivers and cabinet built well? If they were cheap looking I'd skip em but if not...

 

[nj pheonix]

Was working downtown last summer . B&M J&R no longer exists. Used to be my favorite record store half a lifetime ago.
I don't remember them making speakers. I'm certainly no expert.

 

[jadesix]

From what I could tell, the cabs were solid and seemed well constructed. One of the tweeters sounded a bit off until I matched the volumes. Couldn't tell you much about the quality of the drivers, they looked old, that's about all I'd know to say about them besides the unique configuration. They were hooked up and running in the store when I saw them. I cranked it up for a bit and walked around the set, and to be fair they sounded pretty reasonable. Even bass response, rich but not boomy at all. Tweeters were a little tinny, but that could also have been the EQ on the receiver they were running on. The wifey was in a hurry so I didn't have a ton of time to play with them.

 

[Moth R. Superior]

Over at that Unique in New Hope by any chance? Lol, it has to be. Did the same thing, googled it from the store to figure out wtf they were and found his threqd. I'm fascinated by that design, super curious about the brand too.

Yep, that would be them!

 

[Moth R. Superior]

I'm borderline obsessed with these goofy things.... a bit pricey for my curiosity though.

 

[bakes]

How many lunches would you need to pack vs. go out to eat to make up for the amount over what you think they are worth? How many weeks would you need to stop having a Furious and drink a Saga instead? Or in other words, will you kick yourself if they go to someone else?

They would intrigue the hell out of me.

 

[Moth R. Superior]

How many lunches would you need to pack vs. go out to eat to make up for the amount over what you think they are worth? How many weeks would you need to stop having a Furious and drink a Saga instead? Or in other words, will you kick yourself if they go to someone else?

They would intrigue the hell out of me.

Don't know that I would kick myself that hard. I've no doubt it's the price that's kept them there so long. In a nutshell, I don't think there would be any monetary profit from them, only the satisfaction of my curiosity. And actually, it's been a while since I've been through there. When I do make it to that area, rest assured I'm stopping just to snap some photos. (hard to convince the lady that's my only motive for the trip though)