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Vintage Janszen Electrostatic Speakers

Duffinator

Duffinator

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These look pretty cool. I'm not interested in buying them but does anyone have any info on them and do they sound good?

From the Ad:

An Ultra Rare Pair of Janszen Model Z-824 Electrostatic Hybrid Loudspeakers!! I have never seen another pair of these for sale and most likely neither will you. These speakers are circa 1975 and created by the pioneer of Electrostatic speaker design, Arthur Janszen.

Each speaker has eight Janszen Electrostatic Arrays and two 12” woofer in a sealed cabinet. The speaker cabinets are hand finished in rare pecan and measure approx. 29” long, 31” high, 19” deep and weigh approx 100 lbs each.

The sound is BIG and Dynamic. Four 12” woofers take these speakers low. The woofers crossover at 800Hz were the Electrostatics take over the mids and highs.

I am the second owner of these precious speakers. The first owner was torn letting these go (he paid $3500 in 1975) and so am I. If you appreciate unique design and the beauty of these speakers, these are for you. If you want something to rock that kegger house party, get some Cerwin Vega’s. These belong in an audio museum.

Cabinets are in great shape. Original grills are MDF covered in foam and need to be redone.
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I have a pair of smaller Janszen speakers and they are very good. I don't know anything about those except that I would like to have them. There are Janszen experts here who will likely chime in.
The price seems reasonable as I think they are highly collectable.
Just my $.02 worth.
 
Nice score there, Duff. :thmbsp:

I was in a pawn-type store about two years ago,just looking over the crap that they had there,and an older(mid 70s?)lady was also looking.We got into a conversation and one thing she said always stuck with me.
Her husband has died,and a few years later she somehow had bought an item of equipment which was being set-up in her home by a technician.The tech spied the pair of Janszen Electrostatics that her husband had bought and badgered her until she sold them to him.Something which she had regretted ever since.
I told her that she had sold a great pair of speakers.She didn't need me to tell her that.She knew it. :tears:
I always think what an arsehole the guy was,to keep pushing the old girl until she gave-up her speakers.
Let's hope he got his Audio Karma.:whip:
 
Duffinator said:
Thanks but I didn't buy them. I'm just curious if they are in deed good sounding speakers like the seller claims. Maybe they are.
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Duff,
I went-back and re-read your post.
Sorry.I didn't realise that the vast majority of that post was the seller's advertisement for them.
I wish I could tell you about them.Have you been able to find any info on the 'net? :scratch2:
 
They were my main speakers for many years, and they are the bomb! Solid tight bass to die for and the electrostatic screens are very open and clean. Where are they located? I have always wanted to find a pair. These are very serious speakers that can present any kind of music with ease. The woofers have been re-foamed, the originals had a ribbed surround to accommodate the long throw of the 12" woofers which are acoustically suspended. The mounting pod that holds the electrostatic screens is closed in the back. These are non ported speakers that will take lots of power. I powered them in the 70's with 2 Mac 2100's bridged, and they amazed everyone that heard them.
Regards,
Jim
 
They are a lot of speaker for the asking price. I believe the actual retail price was $1795 a pair in 1975. I got mine for half price as a Janszen Dealer. The silver control in the lower right is to adjust the screen volume, and of course they have to be pluged into AC. If they were near me I would be buying them.
Regards,
Jim
 
EH is right, the woofers don't look original. On mine, the woofer cones are ribbed and the woofers have pleated red treated cloth surrounds.
 
I will say this before proceeding - GO GET THEM OR SOMEONE ELSE GRAB THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are the holy grail of JansZen speaker, the rarest and most expensive. They are a double pair of what was the totl Z412HP and were only out for a very short time. The original price mentioned is about right. The woofers are correct. He should have shown a back shot to so the bi-wire setup, the first of its kind. When it was invented by the company they did not think of patenting it. If they had the company would never have had to close down. I discovered this when involved in working with a consortium of UK companies defending a suite against them in Japan for violation of a Japanese patent on the design.

As for sound, when set up right in a proper room using 2 amps per speaker, and the e'stat levels set correctly, they are to almost die for. Mc amps or ARC really make them sing. I was a dealer when they came out and already had a set of 412HPs but after listening to them even owning 4 pair of KLH Nines, I ordered a pair for myself. I had them and did not sell them, my ex-wife got them in the divorce settlement.

I have a pair of 412HPs needed rebuild and have been wanting another set of the 824s since losing my set in 1980. Don Kleiwer who was rebuilding JansZens until his death and did a rebulid on my 412s had a standing offer for any and all 824s as he had a waitng list for them and at the time we spoke only was able to get them from esattes as owners would not give them up but would sent them to him for complete rebuilds and upgrades.

The PS and x-over usually only needs caps. Don had a cap board he used in lieu of the original to accomodate the newer form factor caps. The boards are not difficult to rebuild, only a might more so than a dynamic driver cross-over.

I have a thermal spec sheet in the files on them. Hope it has not become too dim to read if you want more information. I may also have a review on them that Don faxed at the same time.

I'm amazed the foam grills are intact. They fell apart in only a couple of years and the company offered replacement cloth covered grills.

Oh, how rare. This is maybe the 3rd pair I've seen available since lost my set in 1980. Don was wiling to pay up to $800 for a nonworking set provided the cabinets were not butchered and could be stripped and refinished and the e'stat elements were in decent shape. He did have replacement woofers at the time so was less concerned about them.
 
Ok, you guys have peaked my interest. But I don't need any speakers since building my JBL ZD 007's. Carl those are about as close to you as they are to me so go get them. Oh and I like your new avatar.
 
It's an old avatar recycled. Unfortunately there is no room or money for more speakers here.

Carl
 
The red pleated woofers are the Neshaminy built JansZens and are infinite baffle designs using the type I e'stat panel. The Z210, Z410, Z412, Z412HP and Z824HP and the later tower designs with the plastic lenses are after Neshaminy stopped producing JansZen speakers and JansZen started producing speakers that are acoustic suspension and use the later type II e'stat panel.
 
I have a pair of Z-600's in great shape, that are waiting to have the power supplies and crossovers rebuilt. I picked them up at the Sally for $20.
 
Brian said:
I will say this before proceeding - GO GET THEM OR SOMEONE ELSE GRAB THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are the holy grail of JansZen speaker, the rarest and most expensive. They are a double pair of what was the totl Z412HP and were only out for a very short time. The original price mentioned is about right. The woofers are correct.
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Alright you guys are killing me with this info. I just sent off an email requesting a photo of the back. So you say the woofs are correct? Just new surrounds or are the surrounds correct? I'll post a picture of the back if I get one.
 
Yes, the woofers and surrounds are correct. The sorrounds look about right. Only would know for sure with measurements. The woofers are not really long throw so look about right for the throw. If you get the back side photos, there will be the AC cord and 4 terminals for the bi-wiring. If still there, there will be a black glass board jumping the 2 red and 2 black terminals via aluminum traces on the the board. This board made a believer out of me that even a short lenght of wire can make a sonic difference. GET RID OF IT and sub in a decent short set of copper or silver wires if running a single amp. The aluminum traces really degrade the sound.
 
Thanks for the info B. I gave the seller my phone number but have not heard anything yet. I'm probably not going to buy them but I've been known to be impulsive ever once in a while. :D
 
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