Bargains on ebay? (Part 2)

[Barry]

I think the Nighlingale NM1 speakers were originally designed specifically for Jeffries Hi-Fi in Sussex.

They were one of the first multi-driver speakers to pay attention to the phase arrangement of the drive units. The NM1 used a KEF 139 bass unit in a transmission line enclosure, with open baffle Peerless K040 MRF mid range and Isophon KK8/8 tweeter.

[Macca]

Looks like a similar idea to the Dahlquist DQ10 but simpler.

[Barry]

Yes, Jeffries Hi-Fi were distributors of the Dahlquist DQ10, which no doubt influenced the design.

[walpurgis]

I remember the Nightingales. They were quite well liked if I recall correctly. I think the slot port was the termination of a transmission line, rather than a Hemholtz port.

[shane]

Wow! I’d forgotten all about Nightingales. Sold a few pairs around 1975. Brilliant at imaging, but not great at impressing customers’ wives.

That was a really exciting time. The top range stuff we’d been selling were the likes of Dual turntables (601 and 701), big Yamaha receivers and Gale 401s, when a customer asked us to demo this system against another system so he could decide which to go for. We agreed and pitched up to his place, set up the system and had a good listen. We then took our system down and the other dealer set up the competition; Linn LP12, Grace G707, Supex, Naim NAC somethingorother/NAP250 and DQ10s.

Say what you like now about Linn and Naim, but we put the slow moment of Shostakovich Piano Concerto no 2 (Christina Ortiz, HMV ASD3081, the impact was such that that album was engraved on my memory) and our world was never the same again. We didn’t get the agency for Linn or Naim, but it completely changed the way we listened to and judged equipment, and we did get Nightingale, Rega and A&R and similar, and I think sold better and more involving systems as a result.

i wonder where he got the replacement foam fronts and covers? The originals must have disintegrated long since!

[Macca]

Wow! I’d forgotten all about Nightingales. Sold a few pairs around 1975. Brilliant at imaging, but not great at impressing customers’ wives.

That was a really exciting time. The top range stuff we’d been selling were the likes of Dual turntables (601 and 701), big Yamaha receivers and Gale 401s, when a customer asked us to demo this system against another system so he could decide which to go for. We agreed and pitched up to his place, set up the system and had a good listen. We then took our system down and the other dealer set up the competition; Linn LP12, Grace G707, Supex, Naim NAC somethingorother/NAP250 and DQ10s.

Say what you like now about Linn and Naim, but we put the slow moment of Shostakovich Piano Concerto no 2 (Christina Ortiz, HMV ASD3081, the impact was such that that album was engraved on my memory) and our world was never the same again. We didn’t get the agency for Linn or Naim, but it completely changed the way we listened to and judged equipment, and we did get Nightingale, Rega and A&R and similar, and I think sold better and more involving systems as a result.

That's pretty funny, getting two dealers to come to their house and having a 'best system' competition. No pressure for you then!

Probably just down to the speakers really - I quite like the Gale 401 but they are a rocker's speakers. Never had a listen to the Dahlquists but seems to me from the design that they'd be a lot better with classical music and for soundstage in general.

[shane]

That's pretty funny, getting two dealers to come to their house and having a 'best system' competition. No pressure for you then!

Probably just down to the speakers really - I quite like the Gale 401 but they are a rocker's speakers. Never had a listen to the Dahlquists but seems to me from the design that they'd be a lot better with classical music and for soundstage in general.

IIRC the owner of our shop was less than enthusiastic but we (Peter Comeau and myself) had heard a lot about this new-fangled stuff so we were keen to see what the fuss was about and show how much better our system was. The other dealer was a close friend of the customer and I think he was hoping to convert us to the cause, which he did!

I think you’re probably right that a lot of it was the speakers, but I think also the cartridge had a lot to do with it. We took a Dual 701, which is no mean performer, but it was fitted with a Shure V15 which was no match for the Supex in musical terms.

The overwhelming difference between the two systems wasn’t so much the depth of soundstage, it was the way they conveyed the emotion and suspense of the performance. One system played hi-fi, the other played music.

Some time later I had a pair of DQ10s in my bedroom running off a nondescript Technics receiver and a home-made turntable (surprise surprise). It had none of the magic of the system we heard that night until I broke the bank and bought an Ortofon MC20. That made it sing, so in retrospect the Japanese receivers the we subsequently vilified were probably far better than we gave them credit for.

[Macca]

Lockwood Majors with Gold drivers. In Edinburgh:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/278353314394?

[Marco]

Defo worse ways of spending £5k... Doubt I'll ever sell mine.

Marco.

[Macca]

It's a lot of speaker for the money especially with the prices of new speakers being what they are these days. I see little diddy 2 way towers costing more than that now and the SQ of them is mostly meh at best.