Yes! IIRC Tonbridge Audio had some in back in the day.
Mention of Rose reminds me of Royce and their turntable, which had a fluted plinth somewhat aping the style of the Sondek, and costing around half the price. When I first saw it in one of the mags I thought it looked fabulous but when I saw one in the flesh, so to speak, it seemed poorly built and finished, which was a great shame.
A couple more UK hifi obscurities from the early '80s;
Isleworth Electronics who came out with the PX5050 MOSFET integrated amp, which was similar in price to the entry level Naim pre/power at the time.
Audio Vois who came out with the V21/V210 pre/power as a direct competitor with the NC42/NAP110. Unsurprisingly one of the duo who started the company used to work as a test engineer at Naim AudioâŚ
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Did Isleworth also manufacture a MC step-up?
Yes they did - very well received too, IIRC.
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Iâm surprised no one has mentioned Royd Speaker. My Priors served me well for almost 25 years. Apparently the guy that made them (Joe I think) was well respected in the industry and they were a great match with Naim electronics.
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I had a Metrosound ST60 as my 2nd amplifier followed by a Pioneer 7700 and then the Naim NAC12/NAP160.
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I do not remember Tonbridge Audio, but I did come across Tonbridge Hi-Fi Consultants (who might have had a branch in Tunbridge Wells) and Standens who were in Tonbridge.
I spent plenty of time in Jefferies HiFi in Eastbourne when he had just opened his shop, and as he got more business opened at least one other branch in Brighton, and in the end sold out for his retirement to AudioT.
I met Joe Ackroyd a couple of times, and he was indeed well respected in the industry. At the time I was working in a dealership which specialised in Linn, Nytech, Ion systems, Rega etc. We sold a lot of Royd A7s in budget systems and Royd Edens in more expensive setups. Joe was a deeply practical individual.
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I donât think Royd would be considered obscure, they were very popular with Naim users in the 80s and 90s.
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I have never heard the Neutrons, but from my time as a member of the AVI Forum I remember them as being highly thought of.
I see a lot of similarities betwen the views expressed on this forum and those on the old AVI one - âstuck in their waysâ could be the case, but I see it more that both brands managed to generate a lot of customer loyalty which I think comes from delivering quality products on a consistent basis. Once you become a loyal customer you can become rather defensive of âyourâ brand. As a new Naim customer I am very happy with my purchase and pleased to be on board.
They were very obscure here.
They were the little Hifi shop in Tunbridge high street - I always called them âTonbridge Hifiâ or âTonbridge Audioâ but could have been Standens or Tonbridge Hifi Consultants (who then moved down towards the Pantiles in TW). They used to do some interesting kit - Dais, Helius etc⌠- I bought my Manticore Mantra from them.
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Now that was a rather âinterestingâ place with some strong owner opinions. A shame really as the Lab Series and early speakers were rather special and well regarded - superb build and engineering. The later active speakers were good too, but not quite the giant killers that the forum seemed to think they were.
Has Talk Electronics been mentioned yet ?
Often in the round robin reviews of upper end budget kit amongst Myriad, Exposure, Arcam etc in the hifi mags late 90s early 00s.
A quick look online with some upcoming products along with Cable Talk and Edwards Audio.
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I remember a shop in Norwich (this was late 70âs early 80âs so i was pretty young and fascinated with speakers) called Hughes Electrical. Domestic goods downstairs and upstairs lots of Hi-Fi. At that time we had Martinâs Hi-Fi (still there now) that stocked the more upmarket gear. A music shop, where i remember upstairs they had the Philips Black Tulip range with the Motional Feedback speakers and a shop over near St Bendicts street where they used to sell Altec Lansing and JBL speakers. Hughes used to stock Omar speakers and i remember there being a reasonable range of speakers, all from small compact bookshelf speakers to large floor standers. IIRC they were made in the Bracknell / Reading area. Iâve never seen any reviews so have always wondered how good they were. I was more fascinated taking the covers off to look at the drivers rather than how they sounded at that age !
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YES ! Thanks Richard
Richard
I think that the shop we are remembering was Standens, which was a small shop (but had a listening room at the back end of the shop so to speak, the shop was long and narrow as I remember) and the chap I dealt with was a shortish fellow who was always interested in the less well known, but good sounding equipment. He was a pleasure to deal with and very accommodating with payment arrangements, and I remember some speakers that he let me have, and the payment arrangement was that I would drop in some cash when I had some spare and I remember driving over in my lunch hour rather irregularly with a small wad of cash to reduce my debt. This would never happen these days, but I found plenty of deals around this time where I made similar arrangements with a shop - I was buying cameras as well as hifi, and had some spare earnings!!
It may be that Tonbridge Hifi Consultants were never in Tonbridge, only in Tunbridge Wells High Street near the Pantiles as you remember. I did not get on with them as well as the man at Standens.
Sorry for the long rambling reminiscences.
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Kudos.
Before being the award winning UK speaker brand we now know, werenât they only known for supplying upmarket 3rd party bookshelf speaker stands ?
Thanks.
I have looked on the wayback internet and not found much on Omar and Cura speakers (there is a little more on Cura around 1999). The Omar speakers my son had were the small bookshelf speakers, particularly for his days in university bed-sits.
I have a thought that Hughes Electrical still have an internet presence for electrical goods, but have no idea if it is the same orginsation.
I remember Alvin Gold reviewing a system in one of the mags, comprising a Royce TT and Royd A7s (the original model with the funny plastic violet / purple tweeter). I think the amp may have been a Myst TMA3. I seem to remember he liked the TT and amp but disliked the speakers.