Audio advice and discussions with audiophiles and professionals. Free discussion forums, open to all and frequented by industry experts. Ask questions and get advice on stereos, speakers, hi-end amplifiers, pre-amps, home theater, tube hi-fi, turntables, vinyl, tweaks, music, films, video, DVDs and more.
A friend of mine is moving into a smaller house. He presented me with a pair of speakers he's had in storage for years. Asked if I could use them and they just followed me home... I'm going to hook them up tonight to see what they sound like. They look just like AR 3a's but they are not. The front badge is marked JZ-800 and the manufacturer is Neshaminy Electronics. A google search only lists a few obituaries of Neshaminy employees and nothing about the company or its products. The audio business was full of knockoff speakers back in the day. You'd find a name brand turntable and reciever matched with a pair of speakers that looked like they were name brand goods. These systems went for a lot less than the ones with the name brand speakers since the speaker knockoffs were usually pretty cheap. Anybody heard of Neshaminy or know the sorted history of AR knockoffs?
Turns out the speakers were made by Neshaminy Electronics for the JansZen company. Art Janszen was noted for his electrostatic tweeters that he designed and licensed. Evidently the KLH 9 was an Art Jaszen design (he licensed the design to KLH because KLH had deep pockets). He couldn't afford to make/market them on his own. Neshaminy Electronics went under in the late 60's or early 70's and Mr. Janszen tried to manufacture the speakers on his own. Evidently the company ran out of money in the mid 1970's. Sadly, the model in my basement was one of the few speakers by Janszen that didn't have the electrostatic tweeter. They are better sounding than I expected, though. Very pleasant sounding and enough bass to do justice to an upright bass.
Wow, interesting. Thanks for the update! Any chance you can post a photo of those?
Unfortunately I don't have access to a digital camera. Think AR3a and you'll be pretty close. Here is another tidbit. Turns out Art Janszen's son is trying his hand at the speaker business. http://www.stereophile.com/news/050905janszen/ It is a pretty good article and it sounds like the speakers will be top notch. But I sure won't be buying a pair ... they start at 18 grand! JansZen Returns