Categories
Pro Audio Archive

UPDATED: Fostex “Laboratory Series” Pro Audio Monitors c.1980

Fostex_LabDownload the 4-page catalog for the Fostex “Laboratory Series” studio monitors of 1980:

DOWNLOAD: Fostex_Lab_1980

Featuring the Fostex LS/2, LS/3, and the massive LS/4: 458lbs each, with response down to 19hz.  Good lord. BTW  I have come across several period FOSTEX speaker pieces; expect more in the next few days…

Fostex_Laboratory_Monitors_1980 Fostex_Lab_line*************

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Update 12.10.13:

Michael Gillespie, designer of the Fostex Laboratory Series, got in touch with PS dot com regarding these speakers.  Here’s what he had to say:

“I designed these speakers in the late seventies. This was the inaugural Fostex product to launch in North America, setting the stage for huge success. At the time we did this, Fostex had 18 employees in Japan; today they have 67,000 worldwide.”

Click here for a better copy of the main brochure.

SAMSUNG DIGITAL CAMERA LS3V

“Above are images of the “V” series; these were the same systems re-tuned for free-standing (full-space 4π) operation as opposed to the main brochure which shows soffit-mounted (half-space 2π) models.”

Fostex Team“Above is the the original development team, reunited in 2012: (L-R) Ted Telesky, Michael Gillespie, Bob Oliver.“

Gillespie-LS4“And above is an – LS/4 is one of my personal pair  – which I have owned for almost 35 years.”

Fostex LS3 Advert

Categories
Antique Hi-Fi Archive

Speaker Week(s) Begins with Jordan Watts

Jordan_Watts_GT_Jodrell_JupiterHow y’all doing.  Sitting here on the (what feels like) first day of fall, listening to a pile of weirdo 70’s UK punk LPs: The 999, Steve Harley, The Stranglers, and The Doctors Of Madness.  What better match than some musty old paper describing some oddball British speakers of the era: Jordan Watts.  This is the first of what will be many uploads of late-70s speaker ephemera, both HiFi and pro-audio.  I have 100s of pieces of this stuff to go thru, and finally a free minute to do it.  So get ready… and remember to check if Orange County Speakers has re-edge kits available for any foam-edged 35 year-old-speaker yr thinking of buying.   Anyhow, download a complete late-1970s JORDAN WATTS hi-fi speaker catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Jordan_Watts_spkrs

On offer: the Jordan Watts models Juno, Juliet, Jumbo, GT, Jodrell, Jupiter, TLS, Jericho, Centurion, Qubique, and Flagon.Jordan_Watts_juno_juliet_Jumbo_JanetThe Jordan-Watts speakers used a very unusual 4″ metal-coned driver unit that came in its own integral mini-enclosure.  Even stranger tho are their Arabesque and Romanesque “Qubiqe” and “Flagon” models:

Jordan_watts_QubiqeJordan_Watts_Flagon

 

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Live DJ Set / Tonight Wed 9.18 / FIREHOUSE 12 New Haven CT

Firehouse12_091813Sway + Sanchez return tonight to Firehouse 12, 45 Crown ST, New Haven CT, for 4 hours of lost LP gems… it’s been a great summer for crate digging and I’ve excited to be able to deliver some all-new sets.

Above: last week’s finds (thanks DS): The Electric Prunes 2nd LP “Underground”; Twarz, Poland’s Janis c. 1970; Cherry People, obscure Shondells-styled pop rock; Earth Opera, which was Dave Grisman’s psych band before he found fame as a roots performer; FUSION, an early Ry Cooder project, v v Beefheart psych weirdo blues; Barrabas, spanish rock band c. 1970; Black Pearl, a v cool MC5-type Dopers-Play-James-Brown RnB freakout music; and two LPs from The Equals (Israeli pressings ?!?!), utterly fantastic band fronted by a young Eddy Grant.

Come on down to CT’s best bar and hear all the non-hits.

Categories
Pro Audio Archive

Gotham Audio NYC – Complete 1979 Catalog Download

Gotham_1979_logoDownload the complete 16pp 1979-1980 Gotham Audio catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Gotham_Audio_1979

Products mentioned, with text + photos, include: Telefunken M 12A, M 15A, and M15A Multitrack (32 tracks!) tape machines; Telcom C4 noise reduction system, TTM universal noise reduction frame, Neumann microphones including U89, KMR 82, USM 69; Neuman VMS 80 Disc mastering system, SP 79C Disk Cutting Console, MT 80 preview  playback tape deck, SAL 74 Cutter Drive Logic (600 watts per channel!!!!), and SX 74 cutter head; EMT 240, 250, 140, and 244 reverbs; EMT 424 and 422 flutter analyzer, and EMT 950 turntable; K+H 0-92 and Model OY speaker; the EFP Phonograph plating plant (!!!!), NTP console modules 179-120 compressor, 177-520 oscilloscope, and a range of meters; plus a bunch of other related bits+bobs from the end-of-the-line of crazy-hi-end analog studio infrastructure.   Just be glad you didn’t buy a new Swedish-built LP plating plant in 1980, ‘aight?  Re: bits+ bytes are just ’round the corner….

NTP_Modules Telefunken_M15a_32_track EFP_Plating_plant K+H_Model_0-92_Speaker Neumann_VMS80_Mastering*************

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For our earlier scan of the 1972 Gotham Audio catalog, click here.  Astute commentators are encouraged to reflect on what had changed significantly between ’72 and ’78.  And sage speculation on what might change between today and 2019 is equally encouraged.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Studer 169 Portable Audio Mixer c. 1980

Studer_169_mixer_1Got a pretty good one for y’all today… download the complete 12pp catalog for the Studer 169 Portable Audio Mixer:

DOWNLOAD:Studer_169

Oh Studer 169.  How long you have taunted me on eBay.  How little use I would probably find for you.   Available in configurations varying from 8 to 11 inputs, 1 to 4 masters (each with integral limiter), the 169 was a 19″ rackmoutable mixer.   Anyone using of these?  Weigh in!

Studer_169_1 Studer_169_MB Studer_169_studio

Categories
Pro Audio Archive

Harrison MR2 and Post Prod’ Series Consoles C. 197*

Harrison_MR2Download 10pp of period promo materials for the Harrison MR-2 and “Post Production Series” mixing consoles:

DOWNLOAD: Harrison_consoles

I have several other pieces of Harrison documentation; if there is enough demand + attention to this post, I’ll post those as well.

Harrison_console_2 Harrison_Console_3

Categories
Technical

Mullard “Made For Music” c.1960 Catalog / Datasheets

Mullard_1Download the complete 6pp Mullard “Made for Music  / Valves For Audio Equipment” c. 1960 catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Mullard_Made_For_Music

Products covered, with text, specs, and photos, include: Mullard EF86 (6267) pentode, Mullard ECC83, ECC81, and ECC81 twin triodes (12AX7, 12AT7, 12AU7), EL84 (6BQ5), EL34 (6CA7), and EL37 (6L6) power tubes, and EZ80, EZ81, and GZ34 rectifier tubes (6V4, 6CA4, 5AR4).

There’s plenty of info here, operating points, some basic schematics, etc…  good for any tube audio-maker to keep on hand. I stopped by the shop briefly today and was pleasantly surprised that to see that E.Lyon had found this for me…   Thanks again!  Enjoy…

Mullard_EL37 Mullard_ECC83 Mullard_Circuit

Categories
Pro Audio Archive Uncategorized

The Quad/Eight Model 248 Mixing Console c. 1980

QuadEightMini248Download ten pages of literature regarding the Quad/Eight model 248 mixing system:

DOWNLOAD:QuadEight_248

Anyone?

QuadEight_InputModules Quad_Eight_illustration

Categories
Videos

New Video : “Build A Variable H-Pad”

FirefoxScreenSnapz002How are y’all doing today…  we have a new video ready: “Build A Variable H-Pad.”  If you’ve ever wanted an easy, controllable way of reducing level in the studio without losing signal balance or creating wild impedance variations (which can have undesirable consequences frequency-wise), this project is for you.  I have a couple of these little boxes at Gold Coast Recorders and they get used pretty often; the most common use would be if I want to crank up a tube mic preamp to get some break-up on a drum kit or vocal mic.  If this results in an excessive output level, I can just patch in one of these variable pads and dial in a safe level for the A/D convertors.

Check out the video, and here’s the schematic for anyone who wants to build one of these lil fellas.  You’ll need two balanced jacks of your choosing, four 1% 1-watt 160-ohm resistors, one 200-ohm 1-watt resistor,  a 1-watt 1-K linear taper pot, a terminal strip, and a small enclosure.

StaLevel_Output-1024x537*************

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For my original article which describes the development of this device, click here.

Categories
Pro Audio Archive

The EMT 250 and 244 Digital Reverbs

EMT_250Download the original product-sheets for the EMT 250 Digital Reverb and its baby bro the 244:

DOWNLOAD: EMT_244_250_reverb

That giant 99-lb star-wars-lookin thing above is an EMT 250.  Ten years ago I was working on a session at Ocean Way Nashville and they still had one of these things right next to the console.  Anyone out there still using a 250 in the studio?  The 250 uses 12-bit, 24k convertors, which means that both input and output are low-passed at 11Khz.

EMT_250_flowThis brings up a good point about reverb in general: you don’t need a lot of hi-end to create good-sounding reverb for most applications…  I always keep some sort of low-pass filter active in my reverb returns to trim off anything that’s not contributing in a meaningful way.  Luckily, even the most basic reverb plug-ins tend to have a low-pass adjustment built in.  My $0.02: use it!

250_reverb_diaVery interesting to read this: so apparently the 250 uses 19 different taps, with feedback only on some of them.

EMT_244The lesser-known 244 (i’ve personally never seen one, FWIW) uses 13 bit convertors; no sampling rate is specified, but given that the frequency response is stated between 30hz and 8khz, it’s likely around 20k.

To you veteran engineers out there: was the 250 the first high-quality digital reverb? Were there any earlier units that you have used?  Let us know,,,