02-20-2013, 08:03 PM
Okay, so I have this Masterpiece VI sitting here.
The original Jensen Super-Giant is long gone and quite possibly sitting in the home of some audiophool in Japan or Hong Kong.
Not long ago, a Super-Giant sold at Estes for $9000, a new record:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopi...9#p1810749
Then last week, I caught an auction on eBay for a very similar 18 inch Jensen with pedestal, not a McMurdo Silver speaker but nearly identical. It sold for $6,700!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330874469013?nma..._cvip=true
I had an opportunity to buy an original some months back from a private collector for less than the going rate, but still in four figures. My first reaction was to go for it, but after thinking it over, I passed - and bought my 2000 Ford Excursion instead.
I would really like to have an 18 inch speaker in my MP VI, but it doesn't have to be a Jensen Super-Giant. And I am seriously considering building my own coaxial speaker (much like the Scott 800B speaker) using a modern 18 inch woofer with a frequency range of 20 to 6000 Hz, and using metal strips to mount a small tweeter in the center with a frequency range of 2000 to 15000 Hz; connecting them to a suitable 2-way crossover; and driving them with a high fidelity Edcor audio output transformer.
This would require power resistors to replace the original field coils, of course.
Yes, I know that doing this would reduce the value of my set, but it will not be seen unless I show off the back of the set; and it would be a completely (and easily) reversible mod.
I could do all of this for around $150-200 - much easier on the old wallet than spending thousand$$$$ on the proper original Jensen.
What are your thoughts? Is this heresy? Am I crazy?
(Actually, I think spending four figures - getting close to five figures - for a speaker is crazy.)
The original Jensen Super-Giant is long gone and quite possibly sitting in the home of some audiophool in Japan or Hong Kong.
Not long ago, a Super-Giant sold at Estes for $9000, a new record:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopi...9#p1810749
Then last week, I caught an auction on eBay for a very similar 18 inch Jensen with pedestal, not a McMurdo Silver speaker but nearly identical. It sold for $6,700!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330874469013?nma..._cvip=true
I had an opportunity to buy an original some months back from a private collector for less than the going rate, but still in four figures. My first reaction was to go for it, but after thinking it over, I passed - and bought my 2000 Ford Excursion instead.
I would really like to have an 18 inch speaker in my MP VI, but it doesn't have to be a Jensen Super-Giant. And I am seriously considering building my own coaxial speaker (much like the Scott 800B speaker) using a modern 18 inch woofer with a frequency range of 20 to 6000 Hz, and using metal strips to mount a small tweeter in the center with a frequency range of 2000 to 15000 Hz; connecting them to a suitable 2-way crossover; and driving them with a high fidelity Edcor audio output transformer.
This would require power resistors to replace the original field coils, of course.
Yes, I know that doing this would reduce the value of my set, but it will not be seen unless I show off the back of the set; and it would be a completely (and easily) reversible mod.
I could do all of this for around $150-200 - much easier on the old wallet than spending thousand$$$$ on the proper original Jensen.
What are your thoughts? Is this heresy? Am I crazy?
(Actually, I think spending four figures - getting close to five figures - for a speaker is crazy.)
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
