View Full Version : Hello from Scotland
Hi folks
New kid (who am I kidding) on the block, I seem to have found a hifi forum that appears to be inhabited by normal people, which I hope will be enjoyable. I'll put together some words and pics about me, my system, and musical tastes and post later.
Martin
Hi Martin,
Lots of us Scottish types live on here, get stuck it its a good place to be.
Enjoy.
walpurgis
22-01-2021, 07:46
Hello Martin. Welcome to AOS.
Get chatting with the members, they're all friendly.
Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.
rmcin626
22-01-2021, 10:35
Welcome to the forum Martin
yes, welcome to aos martin.. enjoy the forum...
kirstysdad
22-01-2021, 11:01
Hi Martin,
Lots of us Scottish types live on here, get stuck it its a good place to be.
Enjoy.
It's "no bad". (Translation for non-Scots: Rather fine)
Hi folks
New kid (who am I kidding) on the block, I seem to have found a hifi forum that appears to be inhabited by normal people, which I hope will be enjoyable. I'll put together some words and pics about me, my system, and musical tastes and post later.
Martin
Welcome to AoS Martin,
To quote The Bonzo Dog Band: "We are normal and we want our freedom". :D
Looking forward to reading about your system and of your tastes in music.
Enjoy the Forum
Barry
Welcome to AoS Martin,
To quote The Bonzo Dog Band: "We are normal and we want our freedom". :D
Looking forward to reading about your system and of your tastes in music.
Enjoy the Forum
Barry
Speak for yourself! :)
Thanks for the welcome, some info.
I have two systems, one in my workshop is old and consists of Quad 34/FM4/405-II driving a pair of Rogers LS3/5As. The speakers I bought in I think 1976 they really don't owe me anything, they have been used and probably abused and still sound wonderful. Considering they were designed nearly sixty years ago for a very specific application which wasn't music balancing they are remarkably good although I wouldn't buy them new today, over priced for one thing. The electronics are getting on for 30 years old, I had them sorted by Fidele audio a couple of years back and again they owe me nothing. I am kind of wedded to Quad electronics as was my father and even the IAG version of that company produces good quality equipment, which brings me to my main system,
29144
If you don't recognise what's there, top right is a Cambridge CXNv2 into, top left Quad Artera pre into, underneath Icon Audio MB90 monoblocks running in Triode mode. On top of the Quad is an Icon Audio HP8 SET headphone amp feeding Audio Technica MTH40s. I need to do something about the furniture but I am somewhat dismayed by the asking prices for glorified tables with IMHO dubious claims to improve sound quality. Anyway that lot feeds a pair of these,
29143
PMC LB1, which I first heard at a trade show 30 odd years ago and fell in love with. I could never afford them and eventually PMC stopped making them as the bass drivers became unobtainable. I was lucky to find these on Ebay and snatched them from the other 36 watchers who were too mean to pay the asking price. They have the sweet mid range of the LS3/5 but with decent top and bottom response.
Two weeks ago the power amp was the Quad Artera which I really like, but I had a hankering to try a big valve set up and by chance on my birthday the mono blocks, three years old, appeared on Fanthorpes website at more or less half price, so I had them, and since they had another nearby customer they delivered them to my front door step. Pretty good service I feel, especially at the moment.
Musically I like pretty much anything but since I am now 67 my first unaccompanied musical exposure was Radio Caroline South where Johnnie Walker introduced me to soul music which I would admit to being my first love.
Finally a personal bit, I spent 20 years in the professional audio industry, half of it with BBC Engineering and the other with a small company building radio stations in the UK and the Far East which was great fun if not particularly financially rewarding, I would do that bit of my life again in an instant mostly. Three years ago my wife organised a trip to the States for us and in one day I stood in the studio and control room at Sun Studios and the reconstruction of Stax records, both in Memphis and on that day it became clear that Hifi is just the means to the end, the music is far more important. Doesn't seem to have prevented me spending lots of money though chasing the unobtainable.
Best wishes to you all
Martin
kirstysdad
22-01-2021, 19:12
Wondering if your Quad kit came from James Kerr's formerly in Woodlands Road?
Martin,
The photos of your system deserve to be enlarged:
https://theartofsound.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=29144
https://theartofsound.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=29143
Being a bit of a Quad fanatic, I would love to see your Quad/Roger LS3/5a set up as well. :)
Sandy
No it didn't, my then employer got it for me at trade price, one of the advantages perhaps of being in the profession. I do remember Kerr's though I don't believe I ever bought anything there. I've lived here for 40 years and I sometimes wonder at how so much has changed, regrettably not all for the better.
Thanks Barry, I think it likely I haven't worked out which button to press. It's too cold and too late to venture into the workshop tonight, I'll take a pic tomorrow.
Hi folks
New kid (who am I kidding) on the block, I seem to have found a hifi forum that appears to be inhabited by normal people, which I hope will be enjoyable. I'll put together some words and pics about me, my system, and musical tastes and post later.
Martin
Hi Martin,
Welcome to AoS!:)
Where in the west are you? I have both friends and relatives in Helensburgh, Largs and Saltcoats, but you probably hail from somewhere more exotic up north, such as Skye;) I was born in sunny Glasgow (south side).
Normal? Not sure - all depends if you tune in before midnight, and stay well clear of Tabatha's dungeon:uhho: After that I can't give you any guarantees...
Anyway, enjoy and get stuck in. The biggest difference with here and some other hi-fi forums, is there's no one-upmanship, trolling or endless circular debates about 'Do cables make a difference?' - well only on Tuesdays!:D
Marco.
Thank you Marco, not exotic at all but the south side, you'll know where but I'd rather not be more specific on a public forum. Cables, hmm, there a discussion I'd rather not have. As you say it's circular and boring, and beyond the laws of physics, completely unprovable.
Martin
No problem, Martin, totally understand:)
As a big fan of (mainly vintage) BBC broadcast audio equipment, I'm intrigued by this part of your employment history:
Finally a personal bit, I spent 20 years in the professional audio industry, half of it with BBC Engineering and the other with a small company building radio stations in the UK
Could you outline what your responsibilities were, and also what sort of equipment has been through your hands, as it were, over the years?
I'm not sure how old you are, but my interests lie mainly in the analogue/vinyl replay equipment used in the likes of Radio 1 from the 60s through to the late 80s, which for me, sound wise, represented the 'golden era', and when vinyl was cleaned on Keith Monks professional record cleaners by dedicated sevice personnel, and replayed on the likes of Garrard 301s, Gates CB500s, fitted with Gray Research arms/Goldring G800 cartridges, then latterly Technics SP10s with Shure SC35Cs, fitted to bespoke BBC pickup arms, and lastly the king of kings, EMT 950s.
As an '80s boy', I have very fond memories of listening to the Top 40 chart show on Sunday nights, hosted by the likes of Tommy Vance, and the wonderful 'big punchy' sound shows like that produced, which just isn't heard now from any BBC radio broadcasts, as it's all streamed digital files, etc, which to me in comparison sound thin and tinny. and just not the same as when vinyl was used, and 'DJ' really meant a DJ, not just a glorified mouse-clicker!
Anyway, what are your thoughts on all of that? Plus, if you could shed any light on exactly what equipment was used in those shows in question, plus also which turntable arm and cartridge Tony Blackburn used when he introduced the launch of Radio 1 in 1967 (see image below), that would be most interesting, plus what sorts of speakers were used in the control rooms of the eras in question:cool:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/2GnD4k.jpg
My guess for the above would be some form of modified Garrard 301, but I've always wondered what that strange looking 'slip mat' was on the platter and what it's purpose was? Would I also be right in thinking that the cartridge used was a ceramic type, such as a Decca Deram?
Oh, and some pics of your workshop system would be great. As much as your main system is lovely (particularly your valve monoblocks), I'm more of a vintage guy at heart! Cheers.
Marco.
Hi Martin,
Have I scared you off?:wave::D
Marco.
Welcome to the Forum
we are getting quite a few from the west of Scotland
The mention of James Kerr in Woodlands Road brought back memories. They used be in Sauchiehall Street (at at time when one had to build ones own Amps) and sold an amp I used to drool over- A "Williamson". knocked my mullard 5 20 for six but was at a price I couldn't look at.
Ive never heard it mentioned since way back
Hi Marco
No, not at all, I did feel it was worth my while to read some of the threads to get a feel for the tenor of the forum. As a new boy I don't want to go stomping around with my size 12 prejudices/experience without understanding the level of upset that I may cause.
This is my workshop system in all its simplicity, currently it allows FM radio only, I could add a streaming device if I felt the need but since I'm often using one or other of the machines I don't see the point. BTW I can't see how to post pics in the body of the post at a decent size, am I missing something obvious?
29149 29150
The BBC, there's a subject for discussion, the engineering division when I joined it in London in 1979 was sub divided into various departments. By far the largest was tech ops both radio and television although there was little or no cross pollination. They were responsible for operation and maintenance of equipment, after which there were capital projects, TCPD for transmitters and SCPD (Studio) for everything else, and then all the specialisms, Research Drepartment, Designs Department, and Equipment Department which I hope are self explanantory.
I was allocated to SCPD in a section called Broadcast Systems Unit A which was broadly radio, B was television. Both units were subsequently made dual purpose. There were others, radio studios, television studios, OBs, studio lighting, television cameras, power distribution (electrics), architectural and acoustics, etc. It was I suppose about 500 people and nowadays seems totally unlikely but it should be remembered that there was virtually no external industry at the time. For personal reasons I left in May88 by which time the writing was on the wall for the engineering division, for example it no longer has a directorial representation at senior level and I have no doubt redundancy would have been too far off. I was lucky, when I joined Alasdair Milne was the DG, almost the last one to have a proper understanding of programme making, after that it was all accountants, overpromoted news journalists, and plain incompetents. It was though by far the best ten years of my working life. Because of the vagaries about how projects were allocated I spent just over half that time in Glasgow which is partly how I come to be here now, however my first project in the summer of 1979 was at Maida Vale converting EMT140 echo plates to pseudo stereo workig.
All that waffle will tell you that I didn't have much involvement with studio equipment but I can tell you that Blackburn is sitting in Con2 at BH London, the desks are type B, the last with rotary faders, the mic is an STC4038, the grams I have no clue any involvement I had with grams was EMT units. The slip mat suggests a turntable that has a slow run up, holding the mat stationery with the turntable running give an almost instant start and keeps the segues tight. Loud speaker monitor at the time would have been an inhouse unit and it was just before the LS5/5 and 6 and of course it's all mono.
I could go on, enough for a Sunday afternoon, hope I haven't bored everyone rigid.
Martin
cheers martin.. good info.:)
Thanks Ian
Looks like a Britannia, did you build it? Also I presume it's at Strathaven Park, I suspect you'll know Kenny Johnstone from Carstairs, I haven't seen him for quite some time.
Martin
Yes Martin 5" gauge Robert Burns.
Im in the Paisley club, formed from the Rolls Royce Club, picture is at Barshaw Park . I know Kenny but last I heard he wasnt keeping well. Was a few years ahead of you, not at the Beeb but with the competition at Cowcaddens. Got heavily involved in VT then Tech Fax Managment.
Hi Martin,
Many thanks for your detailed reply to my earlier post. Will reply later:)
Marco.
Welcome to the Forum
we are getting quite a few from the west of Scotland
The mention of James Kerrin Woodlands Road brought back memories. They used be in Sauchiehall Street (at at time when one had to build ones own Amps) and sold an amp I used to drool over - A "Williamson". Knocked my Mullard 5 20 for six but was at a price I couldn't look at.
I've never heard it mentioned since way back
Is that Kerr of Kerr McCosh amplifier fame?
Ian
That's very nice, I would like to see it running sometime, and especially pertinent name given today. It is a very small world, you'll remember Charlie Hunter, he may even have been your boss, after he left STV he became my boss post BBC, I rather liked him and there's few enough bosses you can say that about.
Regards
Martin
Martin, I remember Charlie he was in vision maintenance. When he left he went to Glasgow Uni TV service.
Barry, It could have been Kerr/ McCosh. They had quite a large shop in Sauchiehall street. Well stocked and knowledgeable staff. I think the Williamson amp was only sold by them- there must be one lying around somewhere gathering dust as the electrolytics dry out.
Barry, It could have been Kerr/ McCosh. They had quite a large shop in Sauchiehall street. Well stocked and knowledgeable staff. I think the Williamson amp was only sold by them- there must be one lying around somewhere gathering dust as the electrolytics dry out.
The amplifiers I had in mind were these:
https://andydoz.blogspot.com/2016/02/kerr-mcgosh-ds1-cwa-10-amplifier.html
Kerr McCosh made two power amplifiers: the CWA10, a 10W monoblock amplifier using EL84s in push-pull; and the CWA40, a 40W amplifier using EL34s in push-pull.
All Kerr McCosh gear was very well built and rivalled the likes of Radford and Beam Echo.
BTW James Kerr was also the Kerr of Wayne Kerr test equipment, again having a very high build quality and specification.
Apologies for the thread drift. (AoS is notorious for it. :D)
Likewise re thread drift but thanks for the info. Thats the amps, I didnt know about the Wayne Kerr connection
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