Greetings from the Cynon Valley, Wales

[Trickie_Dickie]

Hi, I joined in November and was certain I'd posted here but I can't find anything so it must be true. I'm losing my mind. (They're coming to take me away, ha ha, to the funny farm.) I'm hoping to learn something from all you guys about the Art of Sound and maybe fill in a gaps in my technical knowledge, too. My avatar is a picture of a BBC AM8/6 monoblock which I nicked off Ebay. (Just the picture) Its something I've wanted to own for many years (a pair, that is) but couldn't afford so I'm hoping to build my own. I hoping to pay for them by selling all my junk (wife's name for it) on Ebay. If they are successful, I hope to build more for sale. I'm hoping to follow in my Uncle's footsteps. He builds turntables in Bristol. One or two of you may have come across them. His first (RC1) was sold for £500 many years ago and was featured in a HiFi mag having changed hands for £10,000 about 10 - 12 years ago. He's currently selling a copy of a £22,500 SME turntable for £750. I'll get pictures soon and post them here.

[MartinT]

Welcome to AoS, Richard. That BBC amp looks fascinating - do you have just the one monoblock or a stereo pair? When you say a 'copy' of an SME turntable, what do you mean exactly? Looking forward to the pictures.

[chris@panteg]

Hi Richard and welcome .

I know a guy over on the VE , John Tiltman, he bought an SME turntable copy from a guy in Bristol ! could it be the same one ?

[chris@panteg]

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/chrispanteg30/Johnsdeck.jpg?t=1295520752

Pretty impressive looking deck .

[MartinT]

I see, it has the SME o-ring suspension. Hell of a deck for the money if it sounds as good as it looks.

[chris@panteg]

Hi Martin

John tells me it gives incredible performance , and has tried just about every TT known to man ! he has a 401 as a spare .

I'm thinking it must be the deck Richard is talking about , either that or an amazing coincidence .

PS the platter is made up of 2 Lenco platter's bonded together .

[Trickie_Dickie]

Welcome to AoS, Richard. That BBC amp looks fascinating - do you have just the one monoblock or a stereo pair? When you say a 'copy' of an SME turntable, what do you mean exactly? Looking forward to the pictures.

I don't own a BBC amp at all, so I thought I'd build something myself. I haven't found the exact circuit so, knowing they were based upon the Mullard 5-20 I'll build two of them instead.

My Uncle has had this talent for building things.
He built a car back in the 50s. Looked a bit like a Morgan.
(I was 4 at the time)
He built his first HiFi late 50s using Quad gear. (The Full Monty) He's played around with stuff like that a lot. He was never happy with the turntables so decided to make his own. God knows how many he's made but he never makes any money, sells them at cost.
His latest is a copy of the SME 30/2. I think. His looks better.
Did I mention the Pianola he repaired from scratch, no drawings.
(He used to lend the paper rolls to the BBC)
Sold it to Michael Parkinson.
He's 80 this year and still has good hearing.:cool:

[Trickie_Dickie]

Hi Richard and welcome .

I know a guy over on the VE , John Tiltman, he bought an SME turntable copy from a guy in Bristol ! could it be the same one ?

Probably. If he paid £750 for it. :cool:

The pic that Chris posted isn't it. My Uncle's is black with White Marble under the platter. I'll try to get the pictures next week.

[chris@panteg]

Hi Richard

Sorry about that , is it similar in construction though ?

[Trickie_Dickie]

Its got me wondering now. I wonder if he made more than one. I'll phone him to find out. :cool: