Is anybody here familiar with the Jensen M-1 Tower Loudspeaker? They
are large 3-way speakers, with what looks to be about a 15" Woofer, 5"
Midrange, and 1" horn tweeter, over 3 feet high, weighing around 70-80
lbs apiece. I am considering purchasing a pair from a local seller,
but he has no documentation or specifications on them. I also can't
find ANY info online regarding them. He tells me they retailed for
over $1000 in the late 90's. Any information would be a godsend.

Thanks

bent

(bent) wrote in message ...
Is anybody here familiar with the Jensen M-1 Tower Loudspeaker? They
are large 3-way speakers, with what looks to be about a 15" Woofer, 5"
Midrange, and 1" horn tweeter, over 3 feet high, weighing around 70-80
lbs apiece. I am considering purchasing a pair from a local seller,
but he has no documentation or specifications on them. I also can't
find ANY info online regarding them. He tells me they retailed for
over $1000 in the late 90's. Any information would be a godsend.

Thanks

bent

Yes I am very familiar with them, they were built by Jensen from Bob
Carver's "Sunfire Audio Group" plans. They were put out to commemorate
the Harley Davidson something or other in 1999 or 2000- when they had
the whole "Jensen Rocks" tagline. I owned four M1's, two M2's, one
M-center (one available at the local pawnshop- watch out the center
channel speaker is designed for projection screens & not shielded!)
The 1" "horn" tweeter in the M1 is really an Aysemmetrical Troat Apex
Relief mounted tweeter with diamond fleck coated mica dome. They do
weigh 72 lbs, I have the specs on them in Buyers Guide 2000 from
Stereo Review. Very high sensitivity @98dB they are more of a pro
audio speaker. They retailed for exactly $999.00 for a pair MSRP. They
had a M1-P which adds a 6 1/2" semi-horn midrange. Yep, I even have a
spec sheet on them. They are GREAT for HUGE rooms or venues, they can
be good home speakers but due to size and low end sensitivity can be
too boomy. They also have horrible plastic grilles that can be fixed
with 3M spray adhesive and some black grille cloth at your local
RadioShack... you can spray the edges and wrap around as the grilles
need to be pinched to remove. If your local dealer is asking for more
than $500 tell him to bite it... I sold two M-subs to my neighbor (has
kept me up for three years since)... now THOSE M-SUBS are worth some
$$$, they have Sunfire(tm) amps in them. Oh, ya, the Jensen M1's are 6
ohm speakers too, contrary to the Jensen specs. They are very nice, I
received over 15 violations in having them for one year... found out
they were so loud that my receiver on volume setting "1" was loud
enough to wake my daughter two rooms away. BEWARE- the M1's are VERY
LOUD. I stuffed 10 lbs of polyfill and had the M1's at 24Hz@ -1db...
not too shabby for a pair of speakers. I bought mine and sold them for
$250 a piece.

Pros: BIG FULL SOUND. ROCK SOLID CONSTRUCTION. MONSTER HANDLING at
1000 watts peak! LOUD, loud, loud 98dB sens, full spectrum of audio
24Hz to 21kHz, great conversation pieces, tweeter mounting looks nicer
than B&W nautilus series, gold plated 5 way binding posts for banana
plugs or bare wire, **excellent** midrange, they are shielded, 6 ohm,
built as large pro studio reference monitors "M" is for "monitor
series", no one was willing to pay $1000 for them no matter who
designed them (Carver/Sunfire) since it said "jensen" and NO ONE
spends $1000 for anything Jensen... so you could get a great deal.
(they are worth it)

Cons: High and low SPL dips from crossover points on sweeps, must use
EQ for proper balance, cheap internal insulation, made HEAVY... (I
moved twice with them and still grab my back), not for small rooms-
too boomy, crappy grilles (but look great with black grille cloth on
them), did I mention they are HEAVY?grabbing back. No seriously, I
will have back issues FOREVER from these speakers... I loved them like
a father, I cleaned them everyday... I had them inverted and stacked
on the matching M-sub for all four corner channels, was kicked out of
my apartment for causing cracks through the ceiling and broken items
FOUR units down when I tried to "turn them up a little"... moving them
out after that day injured my back... that is a "con" for sure... did
I mention they are big & ugly already?

If you need any of the speakers let me know- I still know everyone
that I sold my speakers to. BEWARE freight may be more than some of
the speakers are worth! I also have spec sheets if desired.

If this review seems overly poor, it shouldn't, these are fine
speakers when hooked up correctly... but they are big, heavy and ugly
(till you take off the grilles!)

Jared