Category: Retro

Archive for the ‘Retro’ Category

Clean & Complete PS-F5 for sale on Craigslist

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

This looks to be a mighty fine example. I’ve seen worse go for more money on eBay. If you’re looking for a clean PS-F5 with all the trimmings (apart from a case & power supply) and have a spare 500 bucks to spend, this could well be for you.

The description reads “comes with original box,manual,rca cables,sony mdr-30t headphones,it plays record and sound good,clean battery compartment”

View the ad here

Tags: craigslist, for sale
Posted in Retro, Sony PS-F5 | No Comments »

Big Bird’s on the cut

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Think I saw one of these in a shop in Santa Cruz, California. Unfortunately it was closed.

Tags: big bird, kids, plastic, portable record player, sesame street, toy
Posted in All things vinyl, Related Devices, Retro | No Comments »

Baird Emerson Wondergram

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

First produced in London by Baird in 1960, this is probably the first portable record player to have a similar form factor to the PS-F5. Definitely a direct ancestor.

The design is truly ingenious, open the lid, pop your disc onto the spindle and gently place the needle on the end of the tone arm into the groove and it starts playing. The record is spun by a pair of wheels set into the top of the case, they are spaced so that the innermost one drives 45s, and the out one drives LPs. To stop both wheels trying to drive the disc at the same time the inner one is slightly smaller, so that when you are playing an LP it doesn’t come into contact with the record. The speaker is on the underside, and you would think that the sound will be muffled, but they have that one covered. Three spring–loaded feet raise the player off he ground, allowing the three-transistor amplifier full reign to blast your socks off. Actually it’s not that loud but it’s enough to fill a small room – providing there’s not too much background noise…

From Dusty Gizmos.

Lots of photos and info on Electric Gramophone, including a complete strip-down.

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

Mitsubishi Vertical Turntables

Monday, July 27th, 2009

This came in 2 flavours, a separate (LT 64) and a music centre (X-10)

Image courtesy of Rick via Flickr. Thanks.

Close N Play

Monday, July 27th, 2009

70s greatness from the U.S.A.

Tags: close n play, kids, portable, toy, turntable
Posted in Related Devices, Retro, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »

Back to Analog: Vinyl Holds On

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

No matter how many times people have predicted the death of vinyl over the years, it refuses to go away. Many releases by bands old and new, on small and large labels, are still pressed up as records. It’s not just the older generation that are continuing the tradition, but younger generations are discovering the joys of vinyl’s great look and feel. In a world of the virtual, it’s a reassuringly real medium.

“Analog (or analogue) recording (Greek, ana is “according to” and logos “relationship”) is a technique used to store signals of audio or video information for later playback.
Analog recording methods store audio signals as a continual wave in or on the media. The wave might be stored as a physical texture on a phonograph record, or a fluctuation in the field strength of a magnetic recording. This is different from digital recording, which converts audio signals into discrete numbers. “
Wikipedia

Fed up with the music industry’s rip-off tactics: buy it on vinyl, throw away your vinyl & rebuy it on CD, throw away your CDs & rebuy it on MiniDisc, throw away your MiniDiscs & rebuy it on Audio DVD, throw away your ADVDs & rebuy it as a digital download… People are now realising that the whole cycle is an unnecessary waste of money where the main beneficiary is the music business (rarely the musicians).
Many who dumped their old LPs wish that they hadn’t.

“Remember all that talk in the Eighties when shiny, allegedly indestructible CDs came out, about how the days of the LP were numbered? Well, just recently exactly the opposite has started to happen: it’s the CD, the experts are now saying, that will soon be obsolete. It’s vinyl that’s here to stay.”
The Daily Mail (16/7/09)

“I think it’s very possible that the CD might become obsolete in an age of download music but the vinyl record will survive.”
Alex Needham (NME) via Crave

With companies like The Vinyl Factory keeping the production going, it looks like there’ll be no shortage of great records to play on our trusty turntables.

“This may explain why the archaic LP is enjoying an odd surge of popularity among younger listeners: it’s a modest rebellion against the tyranny of instant access.”
Alex Ross, The New Yorker

“Best Buy is giving vinyl a spin.
The consumer-electronics giant, which happens also to be the third-largest music seller behind Apple’s iTunes and Wal-Mart, is considering devoting eight square feet of merchandising space in all of its 1,020 stores solely to vinyl, which would equate to just under 200 albums, after a test in 100 of its stores around the country proved successful.
Though vinyl represents less than 5 percent of Best Buy’s music sales, the format is growing while CD sales continue to shrink. “
Peter Lauria, The New York Post 27/4/09

Analogue Heaven

Monday, July 6th, 2009

From Alexander Robotnick & Ludus Pinsky’s Analog Session:

Will be looking for that when it’s released later this year, hopefully on vinyl too.

Tags: alex robotnick, analog session, analogue, house, ludus pinsky, studio, synth, synthesizer, techno
Posted in Retro, Weird & Wonderful, analogue | No Comments »