Where are they now?

[Floyddroid]

Many many years ago i had the pleasure of being a rep for Beard Audio up in the North East. Bill Beard came all the way from the smoke with a car full of amplifiers for me to demonstrate for him. Having spent a great evening with him and his lovely lady (Rosemary) he disappeared from my life as quick as he had come into it. He remains to this day one of my biggest influances with regard to valve amplifiers as does John Farlowe who foundered Exposure Electronics with solid state. Both of them hifi legends in my view.
Where are they now? I know that Bill retired quite a few years ago and lived most of the year on his catamoran. I haven't heard from Bill or of him for many years and John Farlowe either. can anyone in hifi land cure my curiosity?:scratch:

[istari_knight]

No idea on Bill Beard I'm afraid but John Farlowe joined the PFM forum last year to sell some amplifiers of his... IIRC he's in Thailand or thereabouts but the amps were in the UK, he was chased away as an imposter but it later turned out it probably was the man himself :(

[trio leo]

I used to sell Beard amplifiers at Bespoke Audio, they were superb and very popular, heavy though.

I got on really well with Bill Beard, he is a gentleman with a great sense of humour.

I hope he is well and healthy.

enjoy your music

regards Al

[Haselsh1]

I hate losing track of distinctive people from one's past as it makes me very sad that these people who have clearly made such a massive impact are nowhere to be seen anymore. One of life's true mysteries how you can see someone who can clearly call your attention and then they vanish and you never see them again.

:(

[anthonyTD]

I still repair Bill's amps from time to time,
Last i heard he retired, and moved abroad.
A...

[nat8808]

That's what I heard or had worked out - retired abroad with a boat of some kind. Chris Found worked with him later on and takes care of some "official" Beard repairs whist Mr Beard retired (although do remember some fuss on diyaudio.com where a repair didn't return for a while and he couldn't be contacted - only guess he still does it).

Another thread reminded me of a project I picked up from ebay a year or two ago, still awaiting me to get funds together to get it repaired and sorted..

Do any of you who dealt with Bill Beard rememeber a P1000 monster stereo amp that only reached prototype stage? It is mentioned in a couple of Ken Kesler reviews of the late 80s in passing (part of his review gear)?

As I say, it found its way to a semi-famous in his field, 70s/80s Dub Reggae artist who collected valve receivers and radios via the closing down of a hifi repair shop (something stuck in the back of a cupboard) and then via ebay to me! Needs a power transformer on one side and probably a check through and modifications for cooling..

[nat8808]

Here's a post about J Farlowe from over on PFM:



John retired 10 years ago, approx’. Colin Hammerton, the German distributor for Exposure at the time informed us that he’d unplugged his soldering iron for good and moved over to Thailand where (as well as other things) the climate was kinder to his lungs. Tony Brady, with the introduction of the very good intergrated 2010, took over from JF. Tony lives between Malaysia and England, and I think France too, but mainly Malaysia. Exposure, based in Hove, still service and repair the older electronics.
When I used to dem Exposure vs Naim people almost always preferred the sound of Exposure and admitted that it was better than Naim. Pound for pound, (or in my case: € for €). But most customers opted for the Naim gear partly because of the upgrade path potential and mainly because of cosmetics. FWIW I personally think that the Exposure Electronics was up there with the very best.
Where ever you are, John, all the best mate.

Perhaps the stress and low pay of running a business in the hifi industry means you a) need to escape to the sun and quiet life, b) go somewhere cheap where your money has a chance of holding out!

[anthonyTD]

Bill's products were very successful, and rightly so,they were very well made, and apart from a few quirky faults, ie; bias systems on some amplifiers, they seemed to be very reliable. So, i would think Bill earn t enough to justifiably retire, however, i can well relate to the quote below, being in the Audio business these days is a labor of love, and at times, a very stressful industry to be in full stop.




Perhaps the stress and low pay of running a business in the hifi industry means you a) need to escape to the sun and quiet life, b) go somewhere cheap where your money has a chance of holding out!
[/QUOTE]

[chris@panteg]

There is a John Farlowe on Facebook, it does look like him and living in Thailand.

[Floyddroid]

I'll sound that out Chris.
There is a John Farlowe on Facebook, it does look like him and living in Thailand.

[dowser]

...being in the Audio business these days is a labor of love, and at times, a very stressful industry to be in full stop.




[/QUOTE]

I absolutely agree - I left the business in 1995 for exactly this reason - I still enjoy DIY, but designing/building/modifying audio equipment now is not the most effective way to earn a living I think - a real shame.

Richard