strathearn story (Howard)
Lothar
I think it was you who offered the "strathearn story!" Whenever you
are ready for that, I certainly am ! Years ago a German Hifi dealer
purchased just about all that was left of strathearn (so he told me),
and I was lucky to get some thick folders from him, probably just
about the only ones left, filled with hundreds of pages of repair
instructions, manuals, lists of spare parts, loads of "corporate
identity" stuff etc. etc.
I could also get my hands at some good-looking strathearn turntables,
fully working AND in the right direction!
So of course any information of strathearn is very welcome! Of course
I am sure you have lots of more important things to see to, so no
hurry!
Regards,
Lothar
Logical
The 'Stathearn story' in this context exists in 2 forms. The first is
the printed story with that specific title, which needs to be scanned
by me and then posted. This requires the service of my eldest son to
hook up the scanner. In short, I know how to operate it, but not how
(in my complex computer systems) how to hook it up. Anyway, I'll be
seeing him next week. I have a whole pile of stuff to add to the site.
Part 2 is my own experiences as a retailer for that brand. I was quite
close to the maker and, usually with a Hadcock arm, I achieved a
decent sound. The lid was of a very high quality and was impressive
and overall the whole thing had a decent 'feel' to it. Mine were
generally well finished and bits didn't fall off.
I did have a number though that changed speed and went far beyond 78
rpm. I never had any going backwards. The rapid increase in speed,
which you might have thought would cause the arm/cartridge to hover
above the vinyl always occurred when the user reached to lift or lower
the arm. The distributor told me that certain batches of the control
panel were susceptible to the static charge on a person and/or on
their clothing and send the mechanism haywire.
As far as I can recall, all the defective panels were replaced for me.
Also, as far as I can recall, the sonic aspect which stood out most
for me and my customers was the very fast, tight and lean bass when
compared to the (then) flabby bass of a Linn Lp12.
Hope this helps.
HP
Lothar
Of course ANY bit of info and experience someone had is always very
welcome!
I think strathearn and Lecson both had a problem (maybe more than one,
including production problems...) in common:
They would have sold a lot more, if their DESIGN had not been so much
ahead in time (in my opinion) and it certainly was NOT mainstream at
the time!
Turntable platters had to weigh at least a ton to be taken seriously,
and most Hifi was only considered good Hifi when it was SILVER and
made in Japan!
And red dots were absolutely out, although I still think strathearn is
a perfect optical match for Lecson!
Scanner: Take your time Howard! I know only too well what some nasty
piece of equipment, not perfectly hooked up, can do to your PC system,
and NOT only to your PC system! ;)))
Thanks again!
Lothar
John Mayberry
opportunity arises...
Which model would you recommend?
Lothar
SMA2 or SMA2000 (slight modifications) ! Just the looks of it....!
The black one, as seen in the pics I uploaded, is extremely rare, in
silver it turns up once or twice a year, but condition is often not
too good.
BUT: I infected Russell with strathearn, and he was quite lucky and
got what he wanted quickly, so.....
I'll upload some pics of the silver one, if I can find them, okay ?
Lothar
Found them....will take a minute
John Mayberry
Factor) in the meantime.
Lothar
(Is there also a HAF ?)
John Mayberry
There is no such thing as a Husband Acceptance Factor.
If the boys would like to chime in at their own peril, so be it.
Those married (we're at 20 years now) will have the good sense to let it go
unexplained.
Lothar
Learning by doing.....I guess?
organstan
employment in Northern Ireland so it was only an assembly and test
facility. All the sales and marketing was done from an office in
England and all the design work was done by PA Consultants in
Cambridge, England.
The electronics was really clever but they never got it fully sorted
and into production. There was another turntable and arm in the
pipeline, the arm in particular being very sophisticated but again it
never saw production. Indeed all they had was the slightly "toy-town"
turntable under discussion. They struggled to get this into
production and once again the money ran out. At the time there was
talk of some people having done extremely well out of the project
whilst the workers were left jobless.
There was no real attempt to sell the business as a going concern; the
government just wanted to draw a line. I went to the factory auction
where I bought a ton of really good test equipment for about 5% of its
worth. I also bought an £80,000 anechoic chamber (maybe £500k in
today's money) for £2k. By the end of the day I'd sold it to Mo Iqbal
of Monitor Audio at a handsome profit and he sold it to Mission who
installed it in their Huntingdon loudspeaker factory.
One of my better days !!!
Stan
Lothar
million....? :)))
Thanks for the details on strathearn, I didn't know of course!
Logical
John Mayberry
http://www.vinylengine.com/library_model.php?make=Strathearn&selected_model=
SMA2
Lothar
of course I have downloaded it, although I have several of the
original manuals. I even uploaded some parts weeks ago, see sma2-1.jpg
+ sma2-2.jpg !
Had a look at the sma2000 pics I uploaded?
Very hard to decide whether one prefers the black or silver model!
I always loved the silver one, but now prefer the black one.....I
think.... So only solution: Get them both !
Lothar
On 17 Okt., 18:06, "John Mayberry" <emm...@emmaco.com> wrote:
> You can download a Strathearn SMA2 brochure on the Vinyl Engine at:
>
> http://www.vinylengine.com/library_model.php?make=Strathearn&selected...
> SMA2