Archive for July, 2009

Baird Emerson Wondergram

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

First produced in London by Baird in 1960, this is probably the first portable record player to have a similar form factor to the PS-F5. Definitely a direct ancestor.

Emerson Ph1

The design is truly ingenious, open the lid, pop your disc onto the spindle and gently place the needle on the end of the tone arm into the groove and it starts playing. The record is spun by a pair of wheels set into the top of the case, they are spaced so that the innermost one drives 45s, and the out one drives LPs. To stop both wheels trying to drive the disc at the same time the inner one is slightly smaller, so that when you are playing an LP it doesn’t come into contact with the record. The speaker is on the underside, and you would think that the sound will be muffled, but they have that one covered. Three spring–loaded feet raise the player off he ground, allowing the three-transistor amplifier full reign to blast your socks off. Actually it’s not that loud but it’s enough to fill a small room – providing there’s not too much background noise…

From Dusty Gizmos.

BE024461

Lots of photos and info on Electric Gramophone, including a complete strip-down.

wondergram-2

wondergram-3

wondergram-4

Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices, Retro | 3 Comments »


Mitsubishi Vertical Turntables

Monday, July 27th, 2009

mitsubishi-lt-640-vertical-turntable

This came in 2 flavours, a separate (LT 64) and a music centre (X-10)

X-10
Image courtesy of Rick via Flickr. Thanks.

Read more at Retro Thing.

Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices, Retro | 7 Comments »


Close N Play

Monday, July 27th, 2009

70s greatness from the U.S.A.

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Posted in Related Devices, Retro, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »


PS-F5 For Sale on eBay

Friday, July 24th, 2009

ebay-July09

Looks in reasonable condition. Strange to see one without the “It’s a Sony” sticker on the front.

Located in Germany.

Here’s the link.

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Posted in Sony PS-F5 | 2 Comments »


Back to Analog: Vinyl Holds On

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

No matter how many times people have predicted the death of vinyl over the years, it refuses to go away. Many releases by bands old and new, on small and large labels, are still pressed up as records. It’s not just the older generation that are continuing the tradition, but younger generations are discovering the joys of vinyl’s great look and feel. In a world of the virtual, it’s a reassuringly real medium.

“Analog (or analogue) recording (Greek, ana is “according to” and logos “relationship”) is a technique used to store signals of audio or video information for later playback.
Analog recording methods store audio signals as a continual wave in or on the media. The wave might be stored as a physical texture on a phonograph record, or a fluctuation in the field strength of a magnetic recording. This is different from digital recording, which converts audio signals into discrete numbers. “

Wikipedia

Fed up with the music industry’s rip-off tactics: buy it on vinyl, throw away your vinyl & rebuy it on CD, throw away your CDs & rebuy it on MiniDisc, throw away your MiniDiscs & rebuy it on Audio DVD, throw away your ADVDs & rebuy it as a digital download… People are now realising that the whole cycle is an unnecessary waste of money where the main beneficiary is the music business (rarely the musicians).
Many who dumped their old LPs wish that they hadn’t.

“Remember all that talk in the Eighties when shiny, allegedly indestructible CDs came out, about how the days of the LP were numbered? Well, just recently exactly the opposite has started to happen: it’s the CD, the experts are now saying, that will soon be obsolete. It’s vinyl that’s here to stay.”
The Daily Mail (16/7/09)
“I think it’s very possible that the CD might become obsolete in an age of download music but the vinyl record will survive.”
Alex Needham (NME) via Crave

With companies like The Vinyl Factory keeping the production going, it looks like there’ll be no shortage of great records to play on our trusty turntables.

“This may explain why the archaic LP is enjoying an odd surge of popularity among younger listeners: it’s a modest rebellion against the tyranny of instant access.”
Alex Ross, The New Yorker
“Best Buy is giving vinyl a spin.
The consumer-electronics giant, which happens also to be the third-largest music seller behind Apple’s iTunes and Wal-Mart, is considering devoting eight square feet of merchandising space in all of its 1,020 stores solely to vinyl, which would equate to just under 200 albums, after a test in 100 of its stores around the country proved successful.
Though vinyl represents less than 5 percent of Best Buy’s music sales, the format is growing while CD sales continue to shrink. “

Peter Lauria, The New York Post 27/4/09

Further Reading

A Canadian scientist recently discovered that teens prefer vinyl to CDs.

Rock dinosaurs keep plodding along.

Time: Vinyl gets its groove back

The Guardian (UK) about the increase in UK vinyl sales in 2007.

BBC Blog: Vinyl Hope.

BBC: Oxfam cashing in on record collectors.

BBC: Vinyl production back in fashion.

CNET’s The Audiophiliac Vinyl: Not just for audiophiles?

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Posted in All things vinyl, Retro | 1 Comment »


The Vinyl Factory

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

The Vinyl Factory Manufacture from thevinylfactory on Vimeo.

Vinyl manufacturing in the UK.

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Posted in All things vinyl, analogue | 1 Comment »


PS-F5 Changes Clothes

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

This must’ve taken a while to put together: a shoot of the Sony PS-F5 with a gazillion different records playing…

Posted in All things vinyl, Sony PS-F5, Weird & Wonderful | 3 Comments »


How Vinyl is Made

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

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Posted in All things vinyl, analogue | No Comments »


Want To Buy a New, NOS PS-F5? Feeling Flush?

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Ruten, eBay’s Taiwanese branch, currently has a barely used PS-F5 up for auction here.$30,000 in Taiwanese money today is over £560 (US$900)! As I type there’s just over 2 days left to run and perhaps unsurprisingly, there are no bids.For sale in taiwan for $30000
More than 20 years ago immigrate to overseas time the father buys, but played probably less than several times receives, therefore the box looked like the new company to guarantee against damage the card instruction booklet likely in attached what the small brush has not broken a seal was a pity was only the 6V power line cannot find heard that might buy to (, but was not SONY) but might use the battery to expend (three alkaline battery 4) to look like me after selling because the LP same good shape immigrated my father only played one year to receive – in the illusion collector had the senior who played LP saying that Taiwan should not surpass 5 moreover to be this condition is best (, because has not used several times) – 1983 time dollar probably was US$1.00 says this same year probably quick US$850 to the dollar compared to 40 my father. Babelfish translation
Translated by Google

Translated by Google

Update 11/7/09: It didn’t sell and has been relisted at the same price.

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Novel Way To Clean Records

Monday, July 6th, 2009

There have been times when I’ve bought records which could do with a really good clean. In future I might use this approach: to spread a thin layer of PVA wood glue over the record with a credit card, let it dry and peel it off. More information at Audio Karma.Via HiFi Tubes.

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Posted in All things vinyl, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »