Will Moores, driving force at Radford Revival – interviewed by Howard Popeck
Q: Hello Will. Anyone with an iota of knowledge of Radford’s place in audio history could not fail the understand your motivation re Radford Revival. However I guess that the behind the scenes discussions, assurances re being the custodian of the heritage and related matters required considerable patience. Would you care to tell us the ‘back-story’?
My father Steve was heavily involved in repairing and restoring vintage valve equipment throughout the 1970s & 1980s, especially Radford valve amplifiers. He knew John Widgery, a Radford employee who went on to form Sondex, which later became Woodside electronics. Steve was employed in the 1980s by John to build a batch of the STA25 Mark 4 Signature edition.
During the closure of Radford in 80s, Steve was given various Radford spares from the factory by John and Arthur Radford. Most importantly, he was given the original hand drafted drawings for the Series 3 metalwork. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s these were untouched as he was running a computer graphics and design company. In early 2011 we initially had the idea to use our blueprints to provide a spares service for those with broken or incomplete Radfords, but it soon dawned on us we had the resources to manufacture entire new amplifiers. With the acquisition of the original transformer specifications we soon had everything we needed.
Q: Given the changes in component technology and the non-availability of some original parts, what were and remain the primary challenges in making say the STA25 re-issue sonically indistinguishable from it’s illustrious predecessor?
The most difficult and crucial part of the amplifiers to perfect are the output transformers. Luckily, perhaps miraculously, we were able to get hold of the original winding specifications for not only these, but for much of the other Radford and Woodside equipment that was made.
Passive component technology has improved and the amplifiers benefit from this. Not necessarily in sonic terms but due to modern tolerances and consistency between components. No exotic components are necessary, the basic design relied upon technically sound engineering to achieve a very performant amplifier. They measure well as well as being highly subjectively rated. I believe the impressive electrical performance of the Radfords has a lot to do with their good subjective reputation.
Q: Can you tell us a little – or a lot if you wish – about the re-issue you are most proud of?
I am especially proud of how we .....
Interview continues at http://www.hifianswers.com/2015/07/w...howard-popeck/
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Originally Posted by tannoy man
