Category: Antique Hi-Fi Archive

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive Connecticut Audio History

1958 Bozak Hi-Fi Speaker Catalog

Courtesy of reader T.F., download the complete 1958 Bozak speaker catalog.  BTW, I am trying the PNG graphics format for the first time, so if this post displays incorrectly please let me know in the comments section.

DOWNLOAD: 1958

Products covered include the Bozak B-400, B-300, B-305, B-310, and B-302 hi fi speaker systems, as well as the B-199A, B-209, B-200x, B-207A, and B-200xA drivers.  Bozak N-10102, N-103, and N-104 crossovers are also described.  Bozak apparently also offered all of their 1958 systems as baffle-only, intended for custom installation work…

Bozak was a CT -based operation and we’re proud to have had ’em.  Click this link for our scan of the 1970 Bozak catalog.

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Forgotten Formats: The Elcaset

Here’s the thing about experimental anything.  Experimental music, experimental writing, experimental technology: if it really, truly is experimental, that means it very well might fail.  This is a necessary condition of experimentation.  More than any other technology company, SONY is known as much for their failures as their successes.  Not failures in a technical/engineering sense, but market failures.  The fact that SONY has survived through so may famous failures is testament both to the intense brilliance of their successful experiments (Trinitron, The Walkman, the Compact Disc) as well as the depth of their commitment to innovation.  Times are not good for SONY right now; the marquee position that they once held has largely been usurped by Apple and Samsung.  But don’t believe that a comeback is impossible.

The Elcaset was a SONY-driven consumer analog tape format introduced in 1977  (TEAC, Technics, and JVC also marketed compatible decks).  Essentially, Elcaset was a large cassette tape (approx. the size of a Beta) that used 1/4″ (rather than 1/8″) tape, plus it ran at 3.5 (rather than 1.75) IPS and used VCR-like extra-shell tape handling.  The hope was to offer the performance of open-reel tape machines with the convenience of the compact cassette.  You can read a quick description of the technology at this link.  For a much more detailed account, I have scanned a three-page article from HIGH FIDELITY, 2.77, by one Larry Zide.  Zide provides detailed analysis of the technology and also offers his personal guess as to its market viability.

DOWNLOAD ZIDE’S ARTICLE: Elcaset_Feb1977

Even if you’ve never heard of Elcaset, I think you can probably guess how it fared in the marketplace: miserably.  Making this chapter in SONY history little more than a tragic harbinger of the coming Betamax fiasco.  But then what happened to all of those thousands of unsold Elcaset machines and pieces of tape stock?  Why do they rarely turn up for sale?  If you’re Finnish, you already know the answer.  Very bizarre.

If you want to learn way, way more about Elcaset, just click here…

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Visual Culture: the late 1970’s

Today on PS dot com: a quick survey of some wonderful Hi-Fi visuals circa 1977.  Above: Fuji blank cassette media.  My latest embarrassing collecting habit: dead stock unopened blank cassette tapes. Because why not.  Report to follow.

Altec Model 15 and Model 19 loudspeakers

Empire Phono Cartridge

Hitachi metal-cone speaker drivers. Who knew?

Jennings-brand Hi Fi speaker systems

Experimental binaural headphone system by JVC.  500-cycle crossover point; highs originate in front of the face, lows from above the ears.

Above: KOSS headphones, for both pop/rock and classics

NIKKO Hi-Fi components

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive Publications

Hottt Pixxx (SFW)

 

Download the twelve-page ‘guide to STEREO’ from the July 1971 issue of the International Magazine For Men:

DOWNLOAD:Penthouse_Stereo_71

Items of apparent concern to readers of this publication (see image above): Nuclear power; package size; dangerous-computers; hegemonic reproduction via linguistic conventions; sports cars; converting to Quad.

In addition, the advertising content of the magazine seems to reveal other hot-button -issues of the day:

Broadly stated, these issues could be cataloged as: ‘Too Soon’; ‘Getting Everything That You Have Coming To You’;’Being Impressive’; waterbeds, wigs, and Satan (sexy version).

I bought a beautiful NAD 7020 receiver and Optonica tape deck the other day from a home that I am pretty sure once belonged to Ron Burgundy. The receiver and tape deck were part of a very nice system, one of the better circa 1980’s hifis I have come across lately.  The house was pretty much like a circa 1975 men’s magazine exploded inside a suburban raised ranch, spraying all the walls with sexy ‘art posters,’ mahogany paneling, and Rich Leather.  Behind the bar (full bar in the enormous den, natch) was this single, solitary issue of Bob Guccis famous mag.  You’ll have to take my word for this, but as my eyes fell upon this ‘book,’ the first thing that I thought was: I bet this is the ‘stereo issue.’  And guess what.

One final note: from the ‘credit-where-credit’s-due’ dep’t: as the cover promises, no less than Charles Berlitz presents a straightforward explanation of how linguistic systems and conventions at work throughout the world serve to reproduce and reinforce male hegemony.  The ideas in this two-page article are pretty much straight out of every semiotics, women’s studies, and queer studies class taught in the past 40 years and stand in complete opposition to the smug, complacent, and generally sexist discourse evident on the other 98 pages of this publication.  Proving nothing other than the fact the 1970s were a crazy fucking decade.

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Pioneer: Complete 1977 Catalog

Pretty good one for y’all today.  Click below to download the complete 32-panel 1977 PIONEER STEREO COMPONENTS Catalog No. 13:

DOWNLOAD: Pioneer_1977_Catalog

Units covered, with specs and photographs, include: Pioneer SX-1250, SX-1050, SX-950, SX-850, SX-750, SX-650, SX-550, & SX-450 AM/FM Stereo Receivers; SPEC-1 and SPEC-2 preamp and power amp; Pioneer SA-9900, SA-9500II, SA-8500II, SA-7500II, SA-6500II, AND SA-5500II Stereo Integrated amps; Pioneer TX-9500II, TX-8500II, TX-6500II, AND TX-5500II AM/FM Stereo tuners; Pioneer SR-202W Reverberation Amp, SG-9500 graphic equalizer, RG-1 dynamic processor (expander), and SF-850 crossover; Pioneer PL-570, PL-560, PL-530, PL-510A, PL-117D, PL-115D, AND PL-112D Turntables; Pioneer QX-949-A Quad receiver and PC-Q1 quad phono cartridge; Pioneer CT-F9191, CT-F8282, CT-F7171, CT-F6262, CT-F2121, CT-5151, and CT-414A Cassette decks; Pioneer MA-62 Mixer and CM-1, CM-2S microphones; Pioneer RT-2022, RT-2044, RT-1050, RT-1020L, and RT-1011L reel-to-reel tape machines; Pioneer HPM-200, HPM-100, HPM-60, HPM-40, CS-63DX, CS-99A, CS-700G, CS-500G, CS-66G, PROJECT 100A, and Project 60A speaker systems; and finally Pioneer SE-700, SE-500, MONITOR-10, SE-4, SE-505, SE-405, SE-305, and SE-205 stereo headphones.

Nothing too exciting here, but if you have one of these units and you are curious about its specs and/or its position within the range, here’s yr chance to find out.  There is a ton of the lower end of this kit still out there; the catalog also offers many very high-end pieces that I’ve never come across.  Dig in…

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

EMPIRE High Fidelity: Complete c. 1964 Catalog

Download the complete 16pp EMPIRE “World’s most perfect high fidelity components” catalog (circa 1964 – exact year is unclear):

DOWNLOAD: Empire_HiFi_1964

Products covered, with text, specs, and images, include: Empire Grenadier model 8000, Royal Grenadier 9000, and Imperial Grenadier 8200 speakers; Empire Troubador 398 and 488 turntables; Empire 880, 880P, and 880PE cartridges; and empire 980 tonearm.

Oh yeah it’s those round speakers!  I come across these things every year or so in some un-re-decorated suburban ranch house.  Never bothered to buy a pair: just too big and not really my style, finish-wise.  Although they appear a bit chintzy in construction, they apparently handle 100 watts and the woofers have 18LB magnets!  Anyone currently using a pair of these speakers?

Now as for those ranch-houses…

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Best Shirt

Circa 1977: Pioneer Electronics promo T-Shirt.  From an era when audio consumer audio electronics were expensive, rarefied, and had actual parts inside of them (via is-there-even-anything-inside-this-ipod-?).

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Yard Sale Speaker’s Spotter’s Guide: 4: AR and Klipsch

Today: the last in our series on better-quality readily available vintage hifi speakers.  Above, AR’s AR-3A, AR-2AX, AR-6, AR-7, AR-5, AR-8, AR-4XA, and the model XB turntable.

Above: Klipsch Cornwall, Heresy, Belle, and the mighty Klipschhorn.

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Yard Sale Speakers Spotter’s Guide: 3: Dynaco

Above, the Dynaco line-up circa 1974: A10, A-25, A-35, and A-50 speaker systems; Stereo 120, Stereo 50, and Stereo 400 amps, PAT-4 Preamp, FM-5 and AF-6 tuners, SCA-80Q integrated amp.  Dynaco components were offered pre-assembled (and badged as Dynaco), and in kit form (badged Dynakit).  The speakers, AFAIK, were all pre- assembled.  Dynaco had an earlier line of tube components that are more sought-after, but you can find plenty of all types out there… the speakers are not as common but apparently not-too-bad.

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Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Yard-Sale Speaker Spotter’s Guide: 2: KLH

Today: part two of our series on the higher-end of widely available vintage hifi speakers: KLH.  Despite their very generic, un-hip look, these KLH units really surprise me with their sound.  IMHO they sound a lot better and a lot more modern than the JBLs of the same period.  Plus they have woven clothe surrounds so they are a lot less likely to need any servicing.  I have personally encountered some units that had bad crossover caps, so if you get a pair and there’s no tweeter action…  it might be the cap.  I recommend this brand of cap for replacement.  Good price/performance value.  Some of these KLH models were also available (with a different numerical designation) as part of a 3-peice-set including an amp/tuner/phono combo unit.

Above: KLH Model Five, Six, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-One, Seventeen, Thirty-Two, and Thirty-One.