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Radford … finally! I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of the name. I thought Oxford maybe?
An old acquaintance of mine hade a Radford tube preamp which he thought sounded a little dark, but it was cool.
Thanks.
Connoisseur … my first decent sounding turntable, with an ADC XLM MkII cartridge.
It came in kit form which had to be built/assembled.
I had it connected to McIntosh tube pre + SS amp.
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Nytech stuff looks better than ever. I’ve wanted an excuse to hear the new stuff but I doubt they’d build me a 100v version anyway.
Shoebox is such a good form factor.
I remember them from when they made power amp modules for the DIY market, before they started building complete amps.
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They may be near unknown now, but at one time they were certainly not obscure. Although famed for their valve (tube) amps they also did transistor (I had one, the HD250 integrated), and were one of the pioneers in transmission line speaker design.
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Talking about British turntables, another spectacular looking one was the Transcriptors Skeleton. Seems like they are still making tonearms and turntables.
edit.; they provide only parts to service old models of tt’s and tonearms.
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Hmm … I don’t know that one. But I bet someone else will shortly.
I’m not so sure about that. Phil is very accommodating. Drop him a line.
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We use a Temple Audio Bantam Stealth mini power amplifier in my son’s bedroom. Fed directly by a Tibo Bond Mini (with its own in-app volume control) it works brilliantly and has very clear yet natural sound.
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Syrinx Precision Instruments / Scott Strachan (Edinburgh) … obscure? maybe not but certainly deserving of mention. I had PU1 (silver), PU2 (a black one) and PU2 Gold (gold plated bearings) … on LP12. Simple elegant design, still my favourite to look at.
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If anyone is in the market for a British-made valve amplifier, there are models by English Acoustics.
Also Robson Acoustics make turntables, amplifiers and speakers, some of which use British-made Volt drivers. They also make a Roon ready Tidal music server apparently.
Inspire HiFi produce turntables, one of which is based on the Goldring Lenco GL75, though it is clearly much modified!
GB Tools, somewhere in London.
Produced a few tonearms in the 90’s, such as Mission’s 774SM & Mechanic, and of course, the mighty Zeta.
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Along with Nytech, there was the partnership with ARC loudspeakers, Acoustic Reproducing Company from Manchester, the little ARC 1 in active mode was quite something.
Radford amplifiers were a Bristol company, possibly Ashton Gate area?
I always remember the school “hifi” a Pye Black Box record player, a Cambridge company. The walnut cabinet was ruined by a crudely fixed padlock and hasp to stop it but used outside lessons.
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I agree. I had a Syrinx PU2 fitted to my Linn. Sounded good, looked good but the brand seemed to disappear without trace. I believe that Scott Strachan was very seriously injured in a riding accident, but I don’t know if this affected development of the product in any way.
Actually I see on their site (I hadn’t checked in 2 years) they already do a Japanese export version!
My greedy mind it spinning.
They look a bit like the Leak Stereo 20 valve amps, made in the 1950’s…
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This is testing my memory a fair bit, but i remember an integrated, i think, from the 90s called Finestra. It was a black amp, fins on the side, with a part acrylic top cover where you could see the components inside.