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BTH K10A
02-02-2011, 20:22
Thought I would share a pic of one of the less common Leak components.

Yes they are both Leak Mk 2 Tonearms but spot the difference.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/emttsd15/109-0927_IMG-1.jpg

tommy6206
02-02-2011, 20:31
one has a cart for 78's the other for lp's

Reid Malenfant
02-02-2011, 20:36
One is longer than the other, that much is patently obvious ;) Other than that i have no input to offer, i never knew Leak made pickup arms though...

BTH K10A
02-02-2011, 20:38
one has a cart for 78's the other for lp's

Yes, but wrong answer :)

tommy6206
02-02-2011, 20:41
There from around 1956 vintage I think

BTH K10A
02-02-2011, 20:45
One is longer than the other, that much is patently obvious ;) Other than that i have no input to offer, i never knew Leak made pickup arms though...

Leak made an earlier tonearm than these two, the Mk1.

The Mk 2 appears in lots of Leak advertising and period articles but only in 9" form. The Longer arm is 11" effective length and although I have seen one other I can find no reference to a longer arm anywhere.

Supposedly the RIAA measured one of these in period and concluded it gave the flattest response they had ever measured.

tommy6206
02-02-2011, 20:48
The length as mark said and the shorter LP one has a screw on the foot but not on the 78 one but that might just be the angle the picture was taken at..

BTH K10A
02-02-2011, 21:04
The length as mark said and the shorter LP one has a screw on the foot but not on the 78 one but that might just be the angle the picture was taken at..

They both have three fixing holes on the collar/foot. The answer is the length.

The LP and 78 cartridges have different weights so that when changing from one to the other the correct tracking pressure is acheived.

As you said the probably date from circa 1956 and were contemporary with the early Garrard grease bearing turntables. I used to have a 301 from the first year of manufacture. It was one of the Westrex versions with 1/4 inch steel plate plinth and grey hammerite steel case. It also had a built in Westrex equaliser. I always meant to use these with the Garrard but the sort of EMT's took over so I sold it.

Barry
04-02-2011, 18:27
It is not clear as to why the Leak arm for a 78 head is longer than that for the ‘microgroove’ head, but Leak must have had good reasons; they had been producing record playing cartridges and arms since 1927.

Taken from "A Summary of Leak Pickups and Arms" (Kiewa Valley Audio)

Leak "Dynamic Pickup and Arm" (prior to 1950) Advertised in December 1949 Wireless World.
http://www.44bx.com/leak/Leak/LeakPickup1_lit2.gif
Frequency response: +/- 1dB 40 Hz to 14kHz on Decca test record. Ruby or diamond stylus. A unit examined in Australia had an associated transformer with the arm - this is most likely a moving coil unit. No counterweight, but a spring-loaded ball attached to the rear gimbel determines the tracking weight. Any further information appreciated.

Leak "Dynamic Pickup and Arm" (early 1950's)
http://www.44bx.com/leak/Leak/LeakPickup2.jpg
A moving coil unit, with resistance of 6 Ohms and frequency response: +/- 1dB 40 Hz to 20kHz. Various options for LP and 78rpm styli. On LP, 2-3 grams tracking weight is recommended, with the diamond stylus. 8mV output after the transformer. Counterweighted straight-arm, with plug-in heads (in contrast to the first Leak Dynamic pickup above).

Leak "Stereo Pickup" (early 1960's)
http://www.44bx.com/leak/Leak/LeakPickup3.jpg
1mg tip mass, elliptical stylus, variable reluctance, 2 grams playing weight, 1.2mv/cm/sec output. An unusual feature of the arm is that the pivot is at the same height as the playing surface to reduce the effect of warped records. To achieve this the arm is curved in the vertical direction.


Here’s one for Marco (taken from rewindmuseum.com): The EMI/Angel pickup arm

Angel 17A Unipivot Transcription Pickup Arm. 1955.
http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17a.jpg

http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17apickuparm.jpg

http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17ahead.jpg http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17aheadboxed.jpg

This pick up arm from 1955 was 16-inches long. (The complete kit shown with original boxes have stamps to a value of 3 shillings and 3 old pence which is about 16p in today’s money to post this item to the customer in 1955). This Angel arm was used by the BBC.

It must have been supplied direct from the manufacturer, as there is an EMI post label
on the box. EMI owned The Gramophone Company and Angel Records.

The owner’s manual:
http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17amanualfront.jpg http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17amanualspec.jpg
http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17amanualinfo.jpg

It was manufactured and sold in the UK but also it was sold in the USA for $89.50 in 1955 (The average monthly wage in the USA in 1955 was about $350)
The Model 17A Arm was manufactured by Angel Records which was part of The Gramophone Co. Ltd.

I can remember seeing some for sale in an electronic’s ‘junk shop’ in Manchester in the late ‘60s early ‘70s; I had by that time already bought an SME.

Regards

BTH K10A
04-02-2011, 20:09
It is not clear as to why the Leak arm for a 78 head is longer than that for the ‘microgroove’ head, but leak must have had good reasons; they had been producing record playing cartridges and arms since 1927.
Regards

Hi Barry,

I just happened to put the 78 head on the longer arm, it is not specifically for that head.

I have the original receipts and it was originally purchased with both 78 & LP heads as they are interchangable.

I have only ever seen one other 11" version and assume they were to special order and may have been a "transcription" version.

Leak did not even supply a larger box for it they just cut a slot so the end of the arm pokes outside the box :eek:

The Angel is very nice, reminds me of US tonearms of the period like GE, Gray etc.

Andy

Barry
04-02-2011, 20:58
In that case then, I can only assume that the 11" version was to play 16" diameter discs.

Regards

Marco
04-02-2011, 23:23
Hi Barry,


Here’s one for Marco (taken from rewindmuseum.com): The EMI/Angel pickup arm

Angel 17A Unipivot Transcription Pickup Arm. 1955.
http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17a.jpg

http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17apickuparm.jpg

http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17ahead.jpg http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17aheadboxed.jpg

This pick up arm from 1955 was 16-inches long. (The complete kit shown with original boxes have stamps to a value of 3 shillings and 3 old pence which is about 16p in today’s money to post this item to the customer in 1955). This Angel arm was used by the BBC.

It must have been supplied direct from the manufacturer, as there is an EMI post label
on the box. EMI owned The Gramophone Company and Angel Records.

The owner’s manual:
http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17amanualfront.jpg http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17amanualspec.jpg
http://www.rewindmuseum.com/images3/Angel17amanualinfo.jpg

It was manufactured and sold in the UK but also it was sold in the USA for $89.50 in 1955 (The average monthly wage in the USA in 1955 was about $350)
The Model 17A Arm was manufactured by Angel Records which was part of The Gramophone Co. Ltd.

I can remember seeing some for sale in an electronic’s ‘junk shop’ in Manchester in the late ‘60s early ‘70s; I had by that time already bought an SME.


Bloody superb and right up my street - I lurves it! :)

Would love to hear one on an SP10 or a TD124 :cool:

Marco.

BTH K10A
05-02-2011, 10:26
The pics are for new member Jazz'as who has requested some data for his 9" Leak Mk 2 but may be of interest to others.


http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/emttsd15/sc0009247a.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/emttsd15/sc0008856f.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/emttsd15/sc0009604a.jpg

I have a pdf of the template to scale but I can't work out how to upload or link to this page or it may not be possible

Andy

fusionkid
30-07-2013, 05:46
Hi all,
I have a LEAK tonearm from the 50's (According to previous posts) but the headshell is missing.
Trawling ebay hasn't found me one, i will try and post a pic later, but can anyone advise on the type i need, will it only be a LEAK headshell, or do others fit aswell?
If anyone has one i would be very interested in buying it, so that i can complete my bit of vintage kit, or any further data would be awesome!
Thankyou!
R.