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Current Market Price? JR149s

R

RobJ

pfm Member
Hi all

The spare room system is coming together with the jvc deck and AX4 amp.

In shifting things around the conclusion is small speakers are a must.

I'm really liking the look of JR149s (I've got LS7s in the lounge and like the pedigree) and there's a few on the bay up for grabs.

I know fleabay prices can get silly but does anyone have a rough idea of what they should go for?

I'm just after a ballpark. There's some JR149.2s on a buy it now for £300 and I'm thinking is that about right or a bit steep?
 
All bets are off with MkIIs as they are a very different speaker that doesn’t use the Kef T27 & B110.

Hard to give any real pricing for JR149s as they seem so plagued by poor condition, so many are really tatty now. I guess being cylindrical they are more awkward to pack and can roll around if not stored properly and findng ones with good visible bits (wood and the thin alloy bases) is a real challenge. All I can say is it took me best part of four years scouring eBay to find a cosmetically near mint pair (£320 IIRC) and then something like £500 to rebuild them to genuinely close to as-new condition. I am unbelievably picky though. FWIW I do think they are great value even at that price, they are an exceptionally good little speaker when working properly.

Personally I’d duck the Mk IIs even though they are allegedly rather good. If any drivers are off-spec you are screwed. Falcon make truly superb exact T27 and B110 replacements for their wonderful if eye-wateringly expensive LS3/5A (my 149s have a full set). As such the originals can genuinely be brought back to factory spec.
 
Purely for sonic performance I'd take used mk2's over used mk1's (I've owned 3 pairs of each, FWIW), as the mk2's are more detailed/transparent/revealing to my ears and sound closer to my Tannoy MG12's than the mk1's do. I haven't heard a mk1 equipped with brand new drive units though. I do find the mk1's much more aesthetically appealing with the thicker end caps and chunky ribbed grilles.
 
I probably should know this having listened to JR149's on and off for some 30+ years - what's the difference between the gold and red logos?
 
mark121211 said:
I probably should know this having listened to JR149's on and off for some 30+ years - what's the difference between the gold and red logos?
Click to expand...

The earlier red logo variant doesn’t have a tweeter fuse, nor does it have the dead-sheet and foam around the tweeter. The former is an advantage, I recently bypassed the fuse in my gold-logo pair and they do sound even more open and a little bit more dynamic too. The latter helped damp a diffraction mainly from the overhanging lip of the wood top-cap. I’ve no idea how significant it is as I’ve never directly compared them (my first pair in the ‘70s were red logo, my current ones are gold). That is all as far as I’m aware, i.e. the crossover isn’t altered other than the additional fuse to my knowledge. I guess they were getting too many returns with blown tweeters for some reason.
 
Are you sure about the damping pad around the T27? My dad has a mint pair of red Logos that he bought new in 77. They've been on the wall ever since and i'd swear they have the pad. I'll take a look next time i'm up there.
 
I’m pretty certain, yes. My red logo pair certainly didn’t have it and I’ve not noticed it on any other pairs.

14296085611_78095377b3_b.jpg


For reference I’m talking about the two black strips of deadsheet either side of the tweeter and the yellowish foam above.

What I don’t know for sure is whether there was any transitional period, e.g. did the fuse, tweeter damping and logo all change in one ‘hit’ or not. By saying that I’m so unbelievably obsessive about these things I would know as I’ve studied the things for years and I’d have expected to have spotted any odd transitional ones as they hit the market. As I hinted above I didn’t buy about four or five years worth of eBay ones as they had a scratch or ding somewhere! I’d certainly have noticed anything odd in actual design.

PS I rather envy your dad’s mint red logo pair, what colour are they? My original ones were a really nice dark wood (the ones above are teak). How have they aged sonically? The pair above had drifted hopelessly hence my replacing all the drivers with brand new Falcon units. Panning pink noise left and right sounded like two different speakers, they were just miles out!
 
I know it’s been said before, but I’m amazed that no one’s made a modern equivalent. I’d have thought the metalwork would be cheaper than a properly made wooden box

Another speaker I thought about buying when they were released, but were just a bit too expensive.
 
They are teak (wasn't everything int he 70's?) and have lead an easy life. I don't recall them ever being driven hard. Last time I looked they were mint, the only thing that has been replaced on them is the foam when the original started to sag a few years ago.
I really can't comment on how they have aged sonically as I haven't listened to them for a few years. I do vaguely remember going with him to buy them as I was so bored (aged 6).
 
Thanks both, seems a little more complicated than I first thought.

I'm taking it then that even if I did get a pair, a recap would be in order? (Not by me, I am electronically illiterate). How easy would it be to find caps as per the originals, or is this not relevant? forgive my naivety on the subject.
 
I have a lovely pair of Gold Logo 149's here in Toronto. Bought in good nick for $1000 Canadian. Bit expensive compared to Uk but I guess there are not so many over here. Replaced the caps with the Falcon's as Tony suggests. bit of sanding and varnish and new ( usa ) made cut foam covers. Look and sound sweet on the end of a Quad 33/303 set up.
Also great with an A&R A60.
Even my wife allows them in the living room as opposed to the other four pairs of speakers.

Now can I persuade myself to buy that matching bass woofer.......
 
Operajulian said:
I have a lovely pair of Gold Logo 149's here in Toronto. Bought in good nick for $1000 Canadian. Bit expensive compared to Uk but I guess there are not so many over here. Replaced the caps with the Falcon's as Tony suggests. bit of sanding and varnish and new ( usa ) made cut foam covers. Look and sound sweet on the end of a Quad 33/303 set up.
Also great with an A&R A60.
Even my wife allows them in the living room as opposed to the other four pairs of speakers.

Now can I persuade myself to buy that matching bass woofer.......
Click to expand...

That's good to know, I'm not afraid of a bit of wood restoration if needed and I have a couple of A60s so there might be some swapping around with the AX4 if I can get my hands on some 149s.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

I didn't know the bass woofer existed until recently, my word that's a thing of beauty, I'm guessing they are rare as hens teeth!
 
The end caps are actually rather cheap veneered chipboard as far as I can tell. Too much damage would be very hard to deal with short of replacing them. I know a few people have done this with beautiful solid wood discs, but getting the old ones off is apparently not easy at all as you don’t want to damage the MDF or whatever it is ‘plug’ that seals the alloy cylinder. I deliberately held out for an age until a pair with good wood and good alloy bases turned up as whilst recapping etc is simple that degree of woodwork is way above my skillset, plus I wanted to keep them as original as possible.

PS I ended up getting a US company to cut foam covers to my spec, details on my fairly long ‘Revisiting JR149s’ thread elsewhere in the classic room.
 
Tony L said:
The end caps are actually rather cheap veneered chipboard as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...

I can vouch for that. Too much enthusiasm with the sandpaper and you can easily go through the rather thin veneer. I had a red logo pair for quite a while, a little shabby when I got them but they scrubbed up ok especially with new foam covers and they really did sound nice. For the price you can still pick them up for I think they're great value.
 
Tony L said:
The earlier red logo variant doesn’t have a tweeter fuse, nor does it have the dead-sheet and foam around the tweeter. The former is an advantage, I recently bypassed the fuse in my gold-logo pair and they do sound even more open and a little bit more dynamic too.
Click to expand...
The fuse will always be high enough resistance to reduce the tweeter level. Played loud and the fuse will get hot, increase resistance and cut the top even more. Is the JR149 crossed over a bit low or too low filter slope?
 
davidsrsb said:
The fuse will always be high enough resistance to reduce the tweeter level. Played loud and the fuse will get hot, increase resistance and cut the top even more. Is the JR149 crossed over a bit low or too low filter slope?
Click to expand...

That makes sense as I had to drop the level down just a little after bypassing (there is a pot on the crossover). IIRC the crossover frequency is 3kHz (same as the LS3/5A), which is fairly typical for the T27/B110 combo and it is beautifully done, they really are seamless. I’d have thought you’d bottom-out the little B110 before damaging the tweeter in normal music use. There were many bigger speakers using the T27 that would be capable of far, far higher volume than the 149, and even in a three-way I doubt you’d crossover much higher.
 
I think the crossover might be 3rd order, so plenty steep enough to keep mid range power out of the tweeter.
 
What will Arkless say about fuses altering the sound...?
Tony L said:
The earlier red logo variant doesn’t have a tweeter fuse, nor does it have the dead-sheet and foam around the tweeter. The former is an advantage, I recently bypassed the fuse in my gold-logo pair and they do sound even more open and a little bit more dynamic too. The latter helped damp a diffraction mainly from the overhanging lip of the wood top-cap. I’ve no idea how significant it is as I’ve never directly compared them (my first pair in the ‘70s were red logo, my current ones are gold). That is all as far as I’m aware, i.e. the crossover isn’t altered other than the additional fuse to my knowledge. I guess they were getting too many returns with blown tweeters for some reason.
Click to expand...
 
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