JENSEN COMPANY HISTORY

Peter Laurits Jensen dedicated his life to innovation, today’s Jensen® musical instrument speakers continue the essence of this innovation.

Peter Jensen was born in 1886 in Falster, Denmark. At the 1900 Paris Exposition he made a public demonstration of the telegraphone, in 1909 he moved to the United States, working in the laboratory of radio pioneer Valdemar Poulsen.

Two years later, working alongside Edwin Pridham in a small laboratory of Napa – California, Peter Jensen experimented with Poulsen’s arc radio transmitter, adding thicker wires connected to a diaphragm and putting a coil of copper wire between magnets, thus making a working model of what they called the “electro-dynamic principle” for voice reproduction. Jensen applied this principle at a Christmas celebration, surprising the townspeople who heard the spoken voice amplified throughout their township.

In 1915, Peter Jensen and Edwin Pridham developed the “Magnavox”, the first loudspeaker. On December the 10th Jensen made the first public demonstration at the Golden Gate Park, on the 25th he played music in front of the San Francisco City Hall.

Magnavox speakers were predominantly used for public address systems, famously used in 1919 to amplify President Woodrow Wilson’s speech in San Diego.

1927

Peter Jensen began producing speakers for both military and radio use, founding the Jensen Radio Manufacturing Company in Chicago. Later the company began to produce commercial loudspeakers for public use.

1930-40

Peter Jensen pioneered high fidelity by developing and producing the first multiple speaker system.

1936

Peter Jensen introduced the bass reflex enclosed speaker.

1942

Peter Jensen introduced the first commercial coaxial two-way loudspeaker.

1961

On October 25th, 1961Peter Laurits Jensen died of lung cancer at his home in Western Springs, Illinois at the age of 75.

1929

the Jensen Company manufactured 60% of all the speakers being made for independent radio producers.

1930

Peter Jensen introduced the first permanent magnet, dynamic loudspeaker and the first commercial compression-driven horn tweeter.

1940

In the mid-1940s, Leo Fender developed one of the first guitar amplifier, choosing Jensen® speakers for their excellent tone.

1960

Throughout the 1940s, 1950s and most of the 1960s, Fender®, Ampeg®, Gibson® and all the other major amplifier companies used Jensen® musical instrument speakers, until Jensen® ceased their production in the late 1960s.

JENSEN TODAY

In 1996 SICA welcomed the challenge to reintroduce the legendary Jensen loudspeakers into the market.

1996

The commitment began with the meticulous search for the original models, the analysis of their characteristics and the tracing of the original suppliers, looking for the equipment used to produce the seamed and felted cones. After three years of persistent, hard work, SICA introduced an ideal reproduction, both in sound and in appearance, of the P10R, the most famous Jensen guitar loudspeaker with an AlNiCo magnet.

2000

In 2000 the Vintage Ceramic series was presented, also reproduced in line with the original loudspeakers of the Sixties.

The Jensen® reissues, after intensive research and analysis, are made to the same specifications as the original Jensen® speakers used by Leo Fender and the others.

2008

In 2008 a series dedicated to modern music was introduced, the Jet series, including loudspeakers with AlNiCo, ceramic and neodymium magnets. The neodymium model is assembled with an “inside voice coil” configuration just like the AlNiCo loudspeakers. All the models share the same characteristics of extreme flexibility of use and excellent definition of sound. These loudspeakers mark Jensen’s new approach to the reproduction of guitar sound.

2017

Jensen debuted the Tornado Stealth series, the first Neodymium powered guitar speaker family, featuring three distinct voicings, for three different playing styles, covering all grounds from vintage to contemporary music genres, and adding a stylish, sleek visual element with the bell cover over the magnet assembly.

2020

Jensen presented the Blackbird 40, an extraordinary guitar speaker that blends an unmistakable vintage character with a modern bass response, powerful, and firmly controlled, thanks to its exclusive “Reinforced AlNiCo” magnet. This design delivers a significantly increased magnetic flux, that is the core of the Blackbird 40 tone, and the key element for a new breed of classic sounding yet contemporary performing guitar speakers in the Jensen offering.

1998

The success obtained at the 1998 Winter NAMM Show spurred the engineers and musicians involved in the project to continue with unaltered passion. The same year additional models with AlNiCo magnets were presented, including the P12N, known as the Blue Bell, which continues to stand out for its amazing sound qualities.

2001-2007

From 2000 to 2007 the Jensen speaker designers dedicated their attention to understand how the guitar market evolved over the years and what technical characteristics and tone players wish.

2015

The Jensen Jet Falcon, Electric Lightning, Raptor, Tornado, and Blackbird speakers, already famous amongst the most meticulous musicians, have set the stage for the celebration of Jensen speakers’ 100^th anniversary in 2015.

2018

The development of the Jensen N12K set a milestone in the development of Neodymium speakers for guitar, successfully cloning not only the tone, but also the feel and the dynamic response of the best selling Jensen C12K speaker, in half the weight.