The Leak Trough-Line Tuner a History.

[Barry]

Hi Barry, The internet is a funny thing, when we can't explain any more than our typing ability...

The "Sound quality" of tuners wasn't taken into serious consideration in the mid seventies, any more than the perceived sound quality of vinyl sources. When I say "radio" performance, I mean the usual measured parameters such as sensitivity, selectivity etc.. The likes of the Yamaha CT7000, Sansui 7700 and 9900 (I think that's the model numbers) and Accuphase 101 (?) were far more interesting technically and visually - they happened to sound great too, but that was a bonus back then).

In the company of all these relatively huge and lavishly finished Japanese tuners, the mid seventies UK efforts from Quad, Rogers, EAD (?) and Sugden looked crude and "quaint" by comparison, despite actually sounding good.

I hope that answers your question. It's not my habit to contradict myself or cause confusion in my posts. I didn't realise how basically "truthful" the FM3 could be until some years later, when listening to a proms concert actually sounded like a good facsimile of a proms I'd attended earlier that week (I worked in the West End then and regularly attended concerts at the RFH, RAH and rock gigs at the Hammersmith Odeon (Apollo), the BBC's Paris Theatre and Virgin's "The Venue").

I must say though, that in the late seventies, many reviewers used to feed a high quality music source into an FM modulator, fed into the tuner's aerial input and then the sound output of the tuner was level matched and compared with the source. All very clinical and objective, but this did give a fair hearing to these items.

Hi Dave,

Relax, I thought that was what you meant!

I'm afraid I don't go to nearly as many concerts as I used to. RFH, RAH, the Barbican (not as bad as people say - you basically get what you pay for when it comes to the seating) and good old Hammersmith Odeon; happy memories. I became fed up of only being able to obtain postal tickets for the cheaper seats for the Proms, so whilst forgoing atmosphere and presence, I am now content to let the BBC take me there. Their mikeing is so good that it offers a pretty good facsimile of being in the best seats at the Albert Hall (the stalls, not the boxes). One of the down-sides of attending live concerts is the feeling that whilst we have come a long way with the technology, we still have an awfully long way to go. There is nothing like listening to live music to make you realise how difficult it is to simultaneously obtain presence, atmosphere, detail, dynamics and sheer 'wallop' (when required). Can be quite depressing at times!

Regarding the use of an FM modulator for tuner comparison, I was thinking of doing the same, as it overcomes the ephemeral nature of broadcasting. However I dismissed the idea as I couldn't find a stereo modulator and really the important thing is, as you say, to assess the 'off-air' performance of a tuner.

Regards
Barry

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Barry, Spendorman and Dsjr


I moved all your speaker discussion, as I felt there was now enough material off-topic to have a nice thread about vintage speakers. Hope you don't mind.

Please continue your discussion in Vintage speaker ramblings..... Thanks


Regards D S D L

[Barry]

Hi Barry, Spendorman and Dsjr


I moved all your speaker discussion, as I felt there was now enough material off-topic to have a nice thread about vintage speakers. Hope you don't mind.

Please continue your discussion in Vintage speaker ramblings..... Thanks


Regards D S D L

Makes sense. I think Spendorman has answered all my questions, and was going to suggest that we were going 'off thread' (or whatever the expression is).

Regards
Barry

[Adrian B]

Great article on the Troughline. I found one in a junk shop in Hackney, E London for £15 about 15 years ago. I could tell that it had promise but I never felt settled enough to invest in a decent aerial. Now that I am settled I face a quandary - do I spend on a service (from One Thing etc), which I imagine is needed by now, and an aerial or do I use my freeview box to listen to digital broadcasts? Given that I mainly listen to human voice (BBC R4) I'm tending towards the latter and selling the Leak. Please tell me why I'm wrong

Adrian

[DSJR]

I'd find out how much London Sound would charge to set up and service your Leak and use that for a while longer..

Just my view and I suggest this as a service from LS may cost rather less than a full blown jobbie from OTA if you're not sure...

[Spectral Morn]

Great article on the Troughline. I found one in a junk shop in Hackney, E London for £15 about 15 years ago. I could tell that it had promise but I never felt settled enough to invest in a decent aerial. Now that I am settled I face a quandary - do I spend on a service (from One Thing etc), which I imagine is needed by now, and an aerial or do I use my freeview box to listen to digital broadcasts? Given that I mainly listen to human voice (BBC R4) I'm tending towards the latter and selling the Leak. Please tell me why I'm wrong

Adrian

Hi Adrian

I am glad you enjoyed my write up on the Leak Trough-Line FM tuner history.

To answer your question, I would get the Trough-Line serviced but it may not need it. Which Trough-Line is it ?

The one thing service is going to be less expensive than the GT audio, and maybe not as good...I don't know. However what I do know is that the quality of sound from a good Trough-Line is much better than a free-view box on its own or the same using its digital output to feed any quality or even high-end dac(I have tried that its better but not as good as FM IMHO)

Sky digital feeds about 192 k-bites and even that is poor..though better than free view.

2015 maybe the switch of date though digital Britain is a report and not a cast in stone policy(yet), however even if it is the case that 2015 is it I would and will for the next 6 years enjoy the excellent sound quality that can be had from the Leak Trough-Line.

Go get it sorted if it needs it..if not enjoy it as is, but in fairness it will be much better with a good service or modification such as Rodney Hanna did for me.

I have also written a sound quality item as well. You have read the history now read about why you should use your LTL (Link)http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2883 There is also a companion piece from Barry D Hunt that is also very much worth reading(Link)http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3007

Regards D S D L

[Adrian B]

Thanks chaps

I'm swayed. I've had work done by London Sounds before, which came in quite cheap if I recall. Still need a decent aerial though. Any recommendations? Are loft-aerials acceptable.

Thaks for the links - will read later

Adrian

[Spectral Morn]

Thanks chaps

I'm swayed. I've had work done by London Sounds before, which came in quite cheap if I recall. Still need a decent aerial though. Any recommendations? Are loft-aerials acceptable.

Thaks for the links - will read later

Adrian

I live close to the transmitter...so loft is okay for me all though it is a 5 element Yagi based design from Antiference (link)http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2942. This write up is about me fitting such an aerial and the results. If you don't live close to the transmitter then I am afraid outside mounting is needed. By putting the aerial in the roof-space you reduce its abilities and thus the signal strength drops off.


Regards D S D L

[Adrian B]

Thaks DSDL

I live in N London not far from Ally Pally - does that still transmit?

It's a LTL Stereo by the way. My new listening room (also known as a study as far as my wife-to-be is concerned) is just below the loft space so that looks like a good solution.

Adrian

[Spectral Morn]

Thaks DSDL

I live in N London not far from Ally Pally - does that still transmit?

I am sorry I don't know.

It's a LTL Stereo by the way. My new listening room (also known as a study as far as my wife-to-be is concerned) is just below the loft space so that looks like a good solution.

Adrian

Yes that sounds ideal...


Regards D S D L