Category: Related Devices

Archive for the ‘Related Devices’ Category

Super Midget

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Not seen one of these before. I like the design, but the build quality looks pretty crumby.

Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices, Retro | No Comments »

New Purchase – Sony APM 090 Speakers

Monday, August 8th, 2011

I recently bought a pair of these portable speakers from eBay. They’re a bit rough, but they work OK. Was just doing a bit of digging around online and found this image on AudioIdiots from the German 1984 Sony brochure:

They sound pretty good for their size. Powered by a 6 V AC adapter or 4 x C cells in the left hand speaker which houses the amplifying circuitry. I was initially a bit stumped as to why the right hand speaker also had a battery cover, space for 4 cells and the metal contacts for the speakers until I noticed a sticker stating “Put the spare batteries here”! So it’s both a way for Sony to save production costs by only having one moulding they used for both speakers and a way to carry a spare set of cells should you wish. I guess the metal springs & contacts are to stop the cells rattling around in there. The leads are both integral (main signal in and lead from right speaker which plugs into the left speaker with a mono 3.5mm jack. There’s room for them to stow away under the battery doors so they’re neat when not being used. They’ve also got wall hanging points, so I could mount them either side of my wall hung PS-F5 if I was so inclined…

Sadly I didn’t receive the carry handle, but happily both have their original “It’s a Sony” sticker.

Posted in analogue, ebay, Related Devices, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »

Thorens Excelda Portable Gramophone

Monday, March 7th, 2011

This week I visited the Ardingly Antiques Fair. While I left empty handed, I did spot one of these Thorens portable turntables:

View a 3D rotating image from the British Museum here

It looked like it was complete, but wasn’t in great condition. Originally made in Switzerland in the 1920s, surely this has to be one of the earliest small portable turntables made. It was known as a CameraPhone due to the fact that it looked like a folding camera when folded up. So it was the first Camera Phone too

Thorens Exelda “CameraPhone” Portable Phonograph ~ Switzerland c1920 What a cool little device this is: a hand cranked motorized portable phonograph that stores in a case that masquerades as a folding camera. Made in Switzerland by Thorens of St. Croix, this is the Exelda 78 rpm portable gramophone often referred to as the CameraPhone. Measuring only 28 x 12 x 6 cm (11 x 4.5 x 2.3 inch,) the turntable tone arm, head, and crank all store neatly inside the ornately painted metal case. The turntable has a nut that holds the record in place and it also acts as a closing lock for the case. There is an on/off speed lever on the inside and it comes with a packet of extra needles. It is in excellent condition and plays perfectly and is actually quite loud for such a little thing. Taken from Victor Phonogrpahs

While trying to find what it was online, I also found this portable Thorens, which is the best looking suitcase turntable that I’ve seen:

View more images of this suitcase turntable on Flickr

Posted in Related Devices, Retro | 1 Comment »

Columbia’s Portable Mixing Rig

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Recently spotted a Columbia GMX-3 mixer on eBay. A portable mixer from Japan which is designed to be used with a pair of GP-3 portable turntables. Interesting piece of kit, but from what I can find online the turntables are only mono although they do have pitch control and built in speaker. Each device runs on either 100/110VAC (with built in tranformer) or batteries.

Going on recent eBay prices it would cost over £350 (US$560) to buy a pair of turntables and a mixer.

Tags: columbia, diggin, gmx-3, gp-3, japanese, portable, record player, turntable
Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices, Retro, video, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »

A More Vintage Portable Turntable?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

(Thanks to Bill B for the image)

Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices, Retro, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »

Crosley Revolution- Still Coming Soon

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Crosley announced that their Revolution was imminent back in January. They had a nifty animation on their homepage, but that was about it. Now it’s mid May and they finally have a product page for it with some further information and a price, but it’s still not available for purchase.

Points of note

Costs US$149.95
Belt driven
Black
Manual (you have to lift the arm off the record when it gets to the end of a record)
Auto shut off (it stops when it gets to the end of a record)
Body is made of ABS (plastic)
Plays 7s & 12s @ 45 & 33
Output is through 2 x 3.5mm audio jacks (like the PS-F5) with the addition of an internal ADC providing USB output
FM Transmitter, so you can tune any FM radio into the turntable for use as an amplifier (much like the PS-F9 does)
Software provided for ripping vinyl to PC/Mac
Powered by 6 AA batteries (no mention of an AC adapter socket)
Included carry case

Thoughts

Initially I thought it looked like it was made from painted pressed steel, which would have been good for durability, but sadly that’s not the case (did you know that both halves of the PS-F5′s chassis are pressed steel, with the outer plastic shell covering them?). Be interesting to read the reviews and real life reports once this has been used in the wild for a while.

Surprising Exclusions

Considering the market for these is likely to be largely made of second-hand-record-shopping-collectors and thrift-store-diggers, many of whom DJ, I’m surprised they didn’t include a pitch control for portable party action. The Vestax Handy Trax sported one and can be used to great effect:

It’s not like these are ever going to replace a pair of Technics, but a pitch control is a cheap and easy addition missed out on. It may well have an AC adapter socket, but there’s no mention in the current spec. Another cheap addition which it would be strange to exclude.

It’s good to see that there are people who think there’s still a market for a wide range of turntables. The market for vinyl is certainly refusing to roll over and die. Some are even hoping to take cues from the mighty PS-F5 and create something similar. I think that coming close would be a tall order in today’s “make it as cheap as possible” throwaway world, but you never know. Who would have predicted 20 years ago that there would be a Soundburger II released in 2010?

Update (2/6/10): Crosley have now added that the Revolution has a built in FM transmitter (just like the Sony PS-F9. Added the info to the bullet points above.

Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices | 1 Comment »

Sony PS-F9 for sale on US eBay

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Doesn’t seem to be working, but seems a reasonable price if you’ve got the skills and want to take the chance that you can get it going.

Sony PS-F9 Linear Tracking Portable Turntable Vintage – eBay (item 270529575845 end time Mar-12-10 13:15:07 PST).

Posted in analogue, Related Devices, Sony PS-F9 | 4 Comments »

Soundburger Emulator: Crosley Revolution

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Crosley, a company which knocks out some fairly ugly, cheesy retro type nastiness have apparently created a revolution. The only thing is that their revolution is a copy of a reasonably well known 80s Japanese portable turntable: Audio Technica’s Soundburger. Look forward to some direct comparisons of build and sound quality once the product’s out.

Their homepage has an animation which was saying that it’s coming on early January 2010, but they’ve now removed the date and the product’s still not on their product page.

Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices | 3 Comments »