Download the original catalogs for the Technics SP-15, SP-10 mk2, SL-1015, and SL-1400 turntables:
DOWNLOAD: TechnicsTTs_1980
I’m listening to some obscure 70s vinyl on an old 1200 as I type this, and I have a very similar heavy-duty vintage JVC unit upstairs; oh the 70s and its direct-drive mania. Pretty cool to see the 1400; I had a 1700 recently that I gave to a friend; the 1400 seems to be sorta a more pro 1700? Anyone?
Download the original sales fliers for the BGW 103 and 203 hi-fi preamps:
DOWNLOAD 103:BGW_103
DOWNLOAD 203:BGW_203
BGW was best known for their range of pro-audio power amps, which sold in pretty good numbers if the quantity of still-surviving units is any indication. I had not been aware they also made hi-fi kit. Anyone?
Download the original sales flier for Yamaha’s MC-1X and MX-1S phono cartridges c. 1979:
DOWNLOAD: YamahaMC1x
As I’ve noted before on these pages, it’s pretty absurd how many types of products Yamaha has made over the years. One of my students did a project on the company a few years back and as he reported these dudes have tried it all. For example: at present moment: I have : two Yamaha pianos, a Yamaha analog monosynth, a Yamaha receiver, three pairs of Yamaha studio monitors, and a set of Yamaha electronic drums. But I had not been aware they ever made a foray into audiophile cartridges. Anyone?
Download the original 6pp catalog for the Sony TC-K88B cassette deck c. 1979:
DOWNLOAD: Sony_TC_K88B
Man this is a beautiful piece of engineering. Sony used to kill it. Get back in the game dudes!
Download the 6pp catalog for the Eumig FL-1000 cassette deck:
DOWNLOAD: EumigFL1000
Eumig was apparently primarily a film-camera/projector maker, ok, but that doesn’t explain why the FL1000 was designed to be controlled by a Commodore Pet or Apple 2. Actually, you could apparently control 3 of the goddamn things at once. I wonder if there is a single one of these things left working on the planet today.
Download the complete 36pp 1980 Studer REVOX catalog (presented in three parts due to file size):
DOWNLOAD PART 1: Revox_80_part1
DOWNLOAD PART 2: Revox_80_part2
DOWNLOAD PART 3: Revox_80_part3
Products covered, with intensely detailed text, specs, and photos, include: Revox B790 and B795 turntables; B750 integrated amp, B760 FM tuner, B780 receiver, B77 tape deck, BX4100, BX350, BR530, BR530, BR430, and BR320 speakers; the REVOX Triton sub/satellite speaker system; and a whole range of accessories.
REVOX was the consumer-products brand of the Swiss firm Studer; Studer being most noteable as maker of the finest multi-track analog audio tape machines in the world, machines that are still used in studios around the world everyday to make records for top artists. OVER THIRTY YEARS after they were manufactured. Think you’ll still be using those Lynx Convertors in thirty years? NEways… yeah so this is pretty solid kit.
Most audio-folk are familiar with the B77 tape deck, so it’s interesting to see that there was a whole line of amps, tuners and speakers arranged around it. It’s interesting to note how the products are numbered sequentially across their ‘product-types,’ which certainly seems to encourage one to conceptualize them in unity rather than as tokens of a certain ‘kind’ of audio-hardware.
But let’s talk about this catalog. Without a doubt, this is one of the most lavish and neatly designed pieces of audio ephemera I have ever come across, and y’all know I’ve seen a lot of this crap.
Well I guess that explains it. Let’s buy this one.
What does this all mean? What can we take from this layout, lighting, design, mise-en-scene… how does it all work together to create the overwhelming sense that I will never, ever, EVER be able to afford shit like this?
There’s a concept in semiotics called discourse. Discourse can be understood as a social boundary that is learned through lived experience. Discursive boundaries are established by all sorts of things, from spoken language to dress, gestures, the kind of food that one consumes, and the objects that one associates with their person. Consider the King and his throne (above). What does the throne say about the person who sits on it? How do we conceptualize that relationship? How do we describe that relationship? I would suggest that the Revox hi-fi is a discursive marker of an extreme kind of wealth and privilege. The way that this document reinforces this discourse through its various design and art-direction elements is fkkn masterful. Well done, unnamed Swiss ad agency of old. You would def get an A+ in my graphic design class (visual narratives assignment).
Alright let’s get back to some pictures of old stereos.
Got a pretty good one for y’all today… download the 8pp B.I.C. audio catalog circa 1955:
DOWNLOAD: BIC_Audio_195X
Products covered, with text, specs, and photos, include: Garrard RC88, RC98, RC121, 301, model T Crest phonographs; LEAK TL/10, TL12, and TL/25 amplifiers; Genalex KT-66 and Z729 tubes; Wharfdale W15/CS, W12/CS, Super 12 CS, W10/CSB, Super 8/CS/AL, and Super 3 treble speakers; the Wharfdale Briggs corner enclosure; plus a range of enclosures from R-J and River Edge.
K
Download the original catalogs for the Kenwood KH-71, KH-51, KH-31; the Sansui SS-35; the Pioneer SEQ-4 quad headphone; the Superex Pro-B VI; and the entire Koss line, including the ESP-9, ESP-6, K 2+2, Pro 4AA, KO-747, KO-727B, K-6LC, K-6, SP-3XC.
DOWNLOAD: Headphones
I have not owned any of these other than the Superex (which were fkkn terrible), but damn these things had style… which is interesting when one considers that this was all pre-walkman, IE., these were not fashion items; no one other than yr S.O. would have seen you wearing them. Any opinions, L U K…
Several weeks ago I ran an article on Emory Cook, binaural recording pioneer and Connecticut entrepreneur. Click here to read that piece. T.F. contributed the wonderful and very-hard-to-find resources for that article, and we follow up today with some scans of a notable early Cook Labs product: the LP10 test-record. You can download several of these resources here:
Emery Cook – Test Records brochure
Emery Cook – Series 10LP test record sleeve
Emery Cook – Series 10LP data sheet
Emery Cook – Series 10 Test Record Technical Bulletin
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I have a small collection of Test LPs myself, but I know nothing about the history and development of this type of product. T.F. graciously provided some background in the comments section, and I have reproduced that text here to facilitate easier reading:
“The way I understand the history (of test records), both RCA and Columbia produced microgroove test records when they developed their microgroove formats (45RPM 7″ disk for RCA, 12″ and 10” 33 RPM disks for Columbia). But these test disks were for professional mastering places, playback equipment designers and manufacturers, etc.
The Cook record seems to have been aimed at both professionals and serious hobbyists who were building and/or setting up phono playback equipment. Cook was also clever with marketing, this record proved the quality of his cutting equipment. In the early days of the microgroove, I don’t think there were very many other options for the hobbyist beyond the Cook record.
In 1954, when the industry adopted the RIAA curve, a bunch of semi-professional “test and demo” records came along, sometimes including calibrated test tones and sometimes just including “tracking challenge” music and sound effects. There was another bevvy of “test record” releases when the stereo LP debuted in 1958. In the 70s, we had more.
From the early days of the stereo LP, the CBS Labs test records were the standard device for designing and building playback equipment. The Command Stereo Test Record was made at Fine Recording. It includes calibrated tones to set level and check frequency response, as well as a phase test and a silent groove to test for rumble. Side two is a narrated tour of some Command pop tunes pointing out what to listen for, to determine if the cartridge is tracking correctly.
The most recent calibrated test record is from Analogue Productions. Its levels test out to be accurately described and it is well calibrated to the RIAA curve, so it’s quite useful for setting levels, balance and testing the frequency response of a cartridge. It’s also got a useful test for wow and flutter and a speed-check tone (which shows that many of the modern lower-priced belt-drive turntables don’t hold 33.3RPM due to cheap motors and cheap platter bearings). The Analogue Productions record is very well manufactured, on quite and pretty much tick-free vinyl.
One big thing that test records have shown me is how many cartridges have uneven channel-to-channel levels and sometimes uneven frequency response. In the lower priced world, you can’t beat the Denon DL-110, it’s super-flat and nearly identical channel-to-channel (3 different units tested, manufactured over a 10-year period).“
From Radio-Electronics March 1950 comes this piece. Download a PDF with high-res scans by clicking the link below: