Janszen

In yesterday's post, I reminisced about my first experience with a subwoofer. And boy, not just any subwoofer. Lucky for me, I got a taste of the mighty Cerwin-Vega 18s, then the biggest, baddest subwoofer yet made. In fact, even today there aren't many that can match what those beasts were capable of producing. What I failed to mention that was sitting directly atop those woofer boxes was another breakthrough product, the world's first "full-range" electrostatic loudspeakers, double stacked JansZen 1-30 4-panel arrays. Here's a picture of those bad boys sitting atop a pair of ARs. Arthur Janszen founded Janszen in the mid 1950s and I don't know much about him other than to relay what my former partner and founder of Infinity, Arnie Nudell, told me. That Art was a physicist (as was Arnie) that had to stoop to the level of engineer to get his work done. Indeed, it was said somewhat tongue in cheek but I suspect deep down Arnie had just a wee bit of contempt for anyone not studied in the arts of physics. What an amazing experience I had that first day of being exposed to a true high-end audio system. I suppose it had on me a lifelong impact that to this day has set the course of my life. It's perhaps good to remember that every time we have the privilege of showing for the first time our systems to newbies, it may be an event that sparks their passion for a lifetime yet to come.