Thrift Store Find: Kenwood JL-775 Speakers

Written 2024-08-10

Yesterday, I took a trip to Value Village and lucked out. I found two late-80s Kenwood JL-775 3-way floor speakers.

One of the speakers, shown with and without the grille

I snagged them for $15 each. It rained all yesterday and most of today, so I left them in my car until the rain let up this afternoon, and just took them inside and wiped them down to remove the 30+ years of dirt and dust.

The speakers in the back of my Mazda3 outside Value Village

Physically they're in good shape except for some bubbling veneer on the front of one of them, and some staining on both of the grilles. I haven't had a chance to test them yet, since my stereo receiver (see here) is at my parents' house, but I'm going to retrieve it as soon as possible and see how these sound. If for whatever reason they don't work, I don't mind repairing them, since I paid so little for them. They're your standard 8Ω impedance, with a maximum input power of 140W. My 40W 2-way Sears speakers back home can fill a room easily, so I'm excited to see how these perform. I plan to take a video of them in action when I get a chance.