About three months ago, I stumbled upon a single Linear concord valve amplifier in the back of a charity shop, I purchased it and brought it home, and in the back of my mind, knew that I had seen another one knocking about recently... was it in a friends house? or was it in a collection that i had seen recently?... then it dawned on me, my friend Cyril from Sussex had one in his garage, that he had had for ages, so i struck a deal and ended up with two of them, even though different colours, they were the same Mullard 520 based amps. I knew what i wanted to do with them, so it was time to plan the fate of the rather old, but potentially wonderful sounding valve amps. The first step was to get our resident valve guru, Mike Pointer to check them over and make sure they were worthy of a restoration, with a full new set of valves, which included new Sovtek Slim Jims, pair of NOS RCA rectifiers, and the majority of resistors and capacitors changed, new for old, they were singing away in the workshop, and they measured identical on the 'scope.... I knew I had to get them looking the business, so i hand painted them with hammertite and sprayed the cages with Satin Back acrylic paint. the next step was the plinths, to cover up the rather tatty, drilled out chassis. A call to my master carpenter Colin 'the Antique' resulted in him making these simply stunning Mahogany plinths, using part of a sideboard from dated from around 1860... the veneers remain a mystery, as he's never seen anything like it, it is 'holographic' when you walk round it, the prettiest wood finish we have ever seen. I have to say, that i am very please, as they have come out better than i imagined...
and the sound.... well, They have more grunt then any el34 amp of this type i have ever heard, they are fluid with vocal and as sweet as my 300b amp, needless to say, they have taken pride of place in the main room, driving the shop's Snell E and Harbeth speakers. If any one is interested, please give me a call ASAP, as they will be put up for auction on Ebay soon...
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Had a very interesting visit to artist Martin Fuller's studio last night.... He recently sold us his old Quad electrostatics and Technics SL110, and was after some floorstanders. I mentioned to him, that we had some KEF 104/2 speakers in, and he was up for having a listen. We took a drive to Brixton and installed them with his Quad 707/Yamaha C2 and the results were very good. Needless to say, he bought the KEFs, but instead of cash, he gave us the option of a Painting... we chose one, and are very happy with it! Martin is a celebrated surrealist/abstract painter, incorporating bold colour and figures.... His work is showcased at the Dorchester, with an entire floor dedicated to his work. Damien Hurst also has a floor at the Dorchester. He plays mainly Classical and Jazz... VERY LOUD!! his studio is quite big and the KEFs do a sterling job of filling this rather madcap space. The painting we chose was a 'in your face' explosion of earthy colours and with array of faces and a healthy dollop of madness... we like it... a lot. Click here to go to Martins website at www.martinfuller.net Live Acoustic Gig - 7th December 2013
Our next live event here at The Hifi Hangar, come and join us for a festive acoustic gig from 4pm. FREE ENTRY. More info about the acts to follow. Click on the video below and check out the latest stock we have in the Hifi Hangar. We have some nice stuff in the at the moment including Michell Orb turntable, Proac Repsonse 3.5 speakers, Musical Fidelity F18 power amplifier, Audio Research LS3B Preamp and more. Things 'are a changin' here at the Hangar. We have just (nearly) finished our new work shop/repairs centre, thanks to help from my mates boney and Kevin. Boney showed me how to lay the floor and Kevin did a sterling job with the electrics, fitting complete new mains boards, 3 banks of bench switches and strip lighting. Also, the wood working shop's electrics has been sorted by Kev too.. pictures to follow... We would also like to welcome Mike Pointer, the well known south coast valve wizard... when it comes to vintage hifi knowledge, Mike is at the top of the tree, having owned his own hifi shop 'Station Sounds' in Worthing (situated on the Worthing's train station platform!) Mike will be taking on our repairs and modifications, as he has a vast knowledge of vintage British gear and is as passionate as we are. We have a number of Mike's personal collection of restored amplifiers in the shop, which we regularly use, and we are always happy to show off Mikes handy work, which is among the best in his field. COOL STUFF IN THIS WEEK posted by SteveThis week is a bit of a treat for vintage valve amp collectors, as we have aquired a large number of classic and sought after amplifiers. The ones in the video are not all we have, and will keep you posted when others are ready for the shop. We have for sale... the following little beauties: Rogers Cadet 2 pre/power Rogers Cadet 3 pre/power Rogers Junior mono blocks with passive and active pres. Archon 101 pre/power and tuner. Mullard 10 10 Stereo integrated Mullard 10 10 stereo pre/power Armstrong 226 receiver Pioneer valve receiver There are also a few others that we need to sort out......they are all serviced and working and can be demonstrated at the shop. There are 2 more videos further down in blog, showing both the Cadet 2 and the Archon in action.... The Arhcon 101 power amplifierThis is one of the coolest little amps we have had in... wonderful, functional looks, with sounds to match! Here is a little video of it in all it's glory! Rogers Cadet 2 valve pre and power amplifierI've got a soft spot for the Rogers valve amps.. I lived with a Cadet in my main system for a couple of years and loved every minute of it... we are lucky to have a few of the early examples in this week, including this cracking example of the stunning cadet 2 pre and power. Fully serviced and working like a dream... Here is a quick video demonstrating it in our main listening room.
With the outer 'Socks' removed.
We purchased the speakers in original, working condition, with the outer socks fitted, but with a couple of holes and scuffs, so the socks were removed by taking off the top and bottom solid wood end caps, to reveal the inner cloth and nasty rotten foam covering. We cleaned off the old foam with a stiff yard brush, and re-sprayed the entire enclosure in black satin paint, this is because we were only going to use one sock, and do away with the inner cloth, so we needed a black finish, otherwise the light wood would show through the new grill cloth. Rotten foam removed ready for painting. The end caps were sanded down, to remove the old varnish, we then gave them two coats of button polish, which gave a very pleasing satin finish and really brought the grain out. All the drivers were straightened in the baffles, as they were installed quite badly in the factory, the mid and tweeter in one, actually overlapped! this mistake was covered up, by simply filling the hole with sealant.. not good enough in our books. The black wire grills on the Vifa tweeter were also all wonky, so we removed them and re-sprayed them, and stapled them back straight, we also hand painted each staple, so it would not show through the new 'socks'. undercoat on and drying. The bass units' glue had failed, so the surrounds were lifted and re-glued, giving them many more years life, they are rubber, unlike some of the other DCM models, so re-foaming is not necessary. The speakers are now all back together and sounding superb, all we have to do now, is make the new 'socks' on the sewing machine, by simply copying the original, but using cloth of the highest quality. A set of spikes will then be fitted, and they will be for sale....when we have made the outer socks we will share the result. |
Author - Steve Ansell" This page, is to share what we feel may be of some interest to our fellow hifi junkies, It will cover articles and restoration projects from both us and our friends, please feel free to contact us, if you would like to contribute to this page.." Categories
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