Arthur Janszen's electrostatic company has been re-born by his son, and it looks as though he's off to a flying start. Remember the RTR esl, same thing.
http://www.janszenloudspeaker.com/
Cheers George
http://www.janszenloudspeaker.com/
Cheers George
Truly reborn
Hi, georgehifi.
Thank you for noticing and linking the site, and for the "flying start" appraisal. Since I'm not sure what you meant by "same thing" as RTR, I just wanted to point out for those not familiar that RTR was operated by Robert Rehorst. Although linked in a virtual sense by his approximate copies of the 1950's JansZen tweeter design, to my knowledge, RTR ran without much input from any actual Janszen, and took considerable, consequential fabrication liberties against my father's advice.
- David
Hi, georgehifi.
Thank you for noticing and linking the site, and for the "flying start" appraisal. Since I'm not sure what you meant by "same thing" as RTR, I just wanted to point out for those not familiar that RTR was operated by Robert Rehorst. Although linked in a virtual sense by his approximate copies of the 1950's JansZen tweeter design, to my knowledge, RTR ran without much input from any actual Janszen, and took considerable, consequential fabrication liberties against my father's advice.
- David
Yes David I should have said it a bit clearer, I meant that one of my favourite ESL's were what I called the 6inx6in biscuits that i had i think 12 per channel in a slightly staggered convexed arrangment, which gave a bigger sweet spot, these had for memory a 10 or 12 inch bass bin under the ESL structure, and were made by RTR, also for memory Crown, but I knew all along that the "biscuits" were a Janszen made product.
These "biscuits" had the best top end extentsion that I've ever heard from ESL's I believe because they were so small it made them extend further than what was around at the time (Acoustat. Quad,Stax, and alike).
I've started a bit of a witch hut for memory sake, for old Janszen, RTR, Crown. and I've come up with something rare I think I may get to own cheap
Can you tell me if you remember yor fathers Janszen Intercepter, yeah i know there's a car with the same name, but this guy i'm dealing with says he's got a pair of these, I have'nt seen them yet (next week) but he explains the look of them as something like a snowplough shape in the ESL biscuit depatment and a 10 or 12 inch bass unit. Do you have info or anything on these, Maybe he's got the Intercepter bit wrong, I do'nt know.
Cheers George
These "biscuits" had the best top end extentsion that I've ever heard from ESL's I believe because they were so small it made them extend further than what was around at the time (Acoustat. Quad,Stax, and alike).
I've started a bit of a witch hut for memory sake, for old Janszen, RTR, Crown. and I've come up with something rare I think I may get to own cheap
Can you tell me if you remember yor fathers Janszen Intercepter, yeah i know there's a car with the same name, but this guy i'm dealing with says he's got a pair of these, I have'nt seen them yet (next week) but he explains the look of them as something like a snowplough shape in the ESL biscuit depatment and a 10 or 12 inch bass unit. Do you have info or anything on these, Maybe he's got the Intercepter bit wrong, I do'nt know.
Cheers George
If you want genuine vintage JansZen
I should have said it more clearly: Nothing RTR did was Janszen. They made speakers using their Janszen tweeter knockoffs completely out of family control. Fabrication liberties made them loud but high distortion with a susceptibility to destruction by temperature extremes during shipping.
If you want something good, search for items made before 1975 by Neshaminy or Electronic Industries. Check http://www.audiocircuit.com and navigate their sideways menu at the top to Loudspeakers -> Electrostatic Speakers -> Brands -> Janszen. A lot of what's there is incorrectly attributed to JansZen because of brand name usage, but the items to shop for are the 130 (tweeter array) from JansZen Laboratory (1950's) or Neshaminy Electric (1960's and 1970's), the KLH Nine, and the Acoustech X (both full range). FWIW, Arthur Janszen was never associated with anything called an Interceptor.
I should have said it more clearly: Nothing RTR did was Janszen. They made speakers using their Janszen tweeter knockoffs completely out of family control. Fabrication liberties made them loud but high distortion with a susceptibility to destruction by temperature extremes during shipping.
If you want something good, search for items made before 1975 by Neshaminy or Electronic Industries. Check http://www.audiocircuit.com and navigate their sideways menu at the top to Loudspeakers -> Electrostatic Speakers -> Brands -> Janszen. A lot of what's there is incorrectly attributed to JansZen because of brand name usage, but the items to shop for are the 130 (tweeter array) from JansZen Laboratory (1950's) or Neshaminy Electric (1960's and 1970's), the KLH Nine, and the Acoustech X (both full range). FWIW, Arthur Janszen was never associated with anything called an Interceptor.
I have a few of those old Janszen tweets and yes they are still quite nice even by today’s standards.
I may be mistaken on this and if I am please correct me, but I always thought that a quick way to tell the RtR apart from the true “JansZen” was that back in the 70s RtR used a blue PVC for the stators and the JansZen’s were all either black or grey? Of course this is in addition to the original tweeters being marked as such on those early panels. Wasn’t the first series black with the cut wire stator and the later second series gray with the wound wire stator? Also, were they officially called the series two or are all of them just referred to as the JansZen tweeter regardless of the vintage?
PS: Just curious, Mr. Janszen did you ever track down the old manufacturing jigs from Lo-Z Technologies, or had they disposed of the equipment already? Any hope of offering restoration services for the early tweeters at some point in the future?
I would like to add, I wish your new company the best of success, it’s certainly great to see the original name in electrostatic loudspeakers back in the industry. In fact I always think of Janszen as the First name in electrostatic speakers.
I may be mistaken on this and if I am please correct me, but I always thought that a quick way to tell the RtR apart from the true “JansZen” was that back in the 70s RtR used a blue PVC for the stators and the JansZen’s were all either black or grey? Of course this is in addition to the original tweeters being marked as such on those early panels. Wasn’t the first series black with the cut wire stator and the later second series gray with the wound wire stator? Also, were they officially called the series two or are all of them just referred to as the JansZen tweeter regardless of the vintage?
PS: Just curious, Mr. Janszen did you ever track down the old manufacturing jigs from Lo-Z Technologies, or had they disposed of the equipment already? Any hope of offering restoration services for the early tweeters at some point in the future?
I would like to add, I wish your new company the best of success, it’s certainly great to see the original name in electrostatic loudspeakers back in the industry. In fact I always think of Janszen as the First name in electrostatic speakers.
CFB, my 6"x6" biscuits were all green! wonder who made those then.
Do you know about this snow plough shaped Janszen or whatever it is in my last post?
Cheers George
Do you know about this snow plough shaped Janszen or whatever it is in my last post?
Cheers George
That sure sounds like the RtR array from the Crown ES224 speaker. Although it could be an array from another company as there were many that used the RtR in their designs back in the late 60s up through the late 70s. Most notable of course was Infinity but their models did not use large arrays of tweeters and while the Servo Static 1 and 1A did use several of the RtR drivers they were not the square panel but the rectangular half size tweeter and not in a large array. Around that same time frame there were others of note, such as the SAE electrostatic, ESS with their Transtatic and of course later on the famous Fulton “J” Modular speakers, all using RtR tweeter arrays and were designs from the 1970s. As far as the “Interceptor”speaker goes, I really don’t know; it could have been a custom “house brand” speaker that used the separate RtR ESR24 tweeter array for the high frequency drivers. I would still guess it’s from the seventies. Any identifying marks on the transformers or crossover circuit? The woofer used might be a clue as to the company that manufactured it or at the least place the time frame in question.
Fascinating. I had no idea the Fultons used faux Janszens, I thought they were the same as the originals.
The AR-1W/130 that a friend owned was the first time I heard recorded applause played back as individual hands clapping.
I certainly wish the newly arisen Janszen the best of luck and fortune.
And, ummm, you wouldn't happen to be planning a successor to the 130???
The AR-1W/130 that a friend owned was the first time I heard recorded applause played back as individual hands clapping.
I certainly wish the newly arisen Janszen the best of luck and fortune.
And, ummm, you wouldn't happen to be planning a successor to the 130???
"Integrated power amplification: Three Class D amplifiers per side (tri-amp tweet/mid/woof)"
Please consider a bypass option.
"Price: US$32,500. per pair"
Never mind. Good luck with those.
Please consider a bypass option.
"Price: US$32,500. per pair"
Never mind. Good luck with those.
more JansZen One info?
Mr Janszen:
I certainly understand the constraints imposed by the need to protect proprietary information, but if there are any JansZen One details you'd feel comfortable sharing with a bunch of diy-ers, I for one would be most appreciative. I'm thinking of things like stator material, percent open area, diaphragm-stator spacing, tweeter width... I also read somewhere (probably on your site) about the use of a different diaphragm material and a modification to class D amplification that makes it ESL-compatible. I expect the last two items are most likely to fall under the heading of "trade secret," but anything that you'd be willing to share would, I'm sure, find an interested audience. Also, are there any measurements available? I'd be very interested to see the effects of your diffraction-reduction approach, and also to see the dispersion characteristics of the tweeter.
In any case, best wishes with your new product. I hope it's a big success for you.
Few
Mr Janszen:
I certainly understand the constraints imposed by the need to protect proprietary information, but if there are any JansZen One details you'd feel comfortable sharing with a bunch of diy-ers, I for one would be most appreciative. I'm thinking of things like stator material, percent open area, diaphragm-stator spacing, tweeter width... I also read somewhere (probably on your site) about the use of a different diaphragm material and a modification to class D amplification that makes it ESL-compatible. I expect the last two items are most likely to fall under the heading of "trade secret," but anything that you'd be willing to share would, I'm sure, find an interested audience. Also, are there any measurements available? I'd be very interested to see the effects of your diffraction-reduction approach, and also to see the dispersion characteristics of the tweeter.
In any case, best wishes with your new product. I hope it's a big success for you.
Few
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