From the 'Battle of Flodden' the Hume had cried 'Home Home!'

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<<Rear look, click on image for full view.  Only 100 watts in drawn power use stresses the need for own brand high efficiency loudspeakers, buyers neglect.

SOLAVOX SR2220, (and AMSTRAD Ex.222).  Single rail powered of 1960s build in the year 1979.  G.o. style power iron screened off to reduce considerable hum, capacitor decoupled speaker output (like QUAD 303), separate boards, wiring and point-to-point soldering.

 British-styled chassis-cooled output transistors.  Sound Quality:  strange, similar to a lightweight rack type amplifier, but shining, sunny musicality, sample G.o. transformer had a lot of early life mechanical noise suggesting early failure but sets have lasted a long time with frequent use and are much appreciated by original owners.  Very good indeed with Loudness and the market-engineered matching speakers (Solavox PR.25) and phonograph cartridge ADC QLM30 Mk.III (used with Garrard SP 25 Mk.IV but) featured with special AMSTRAD skeleton turntable TP12D.

Above TM-102 MPX/PLL chip radio tuner for SA-102, sets for BSR-MacDonald turntables.  Very small physical size, look like full scale components.  Tuner needs a roof aerial.  Black front SA-10, 0.9 watts per channel in a chip or transistor version that in the Deep South of the United States, used old AlNiCo motor loudspeakers.  Silver Front SA-102 has two versions, 1.8 watts per channel and chip version 1.2 watts per channel but with no vacuum tube hum gives impressive results with old radiogram loudspeakers.  AMSTRAD aim to compete and undoubtedly do, buyers happy with either if correctly matched up.

 

>>REALISTIC SA-102, small power iron suggests using AlNiCo loudspeakers and isolating the power iron to limit hum.  The unit appears to have a chip cooled by the chassis.  Some AMSTRAD Tower Systems have two separate chips for each stereo channel and others, use a single large chip, often easily ruined by tripping over a speaker wire.  SA 10 uses two NEC UPC1213 chips, one for each channel.

<<The 'best' loudspeaker for Realistic SA-10 and SA-102 is a ferrous motor driven (not Alnico) Realistic Minimus-5, eye candy wood finish with a genuine compression driver in its sectional treble horn and matching flat black speaker grille, the TM-102 tuner below scaled up in the STA-100 copies its tuning knob's circular trim in the lower dial window frame, suggesting this Kenwood-Trio feature had Bill Kasuga co-founder of Trio-Kenwood design these, as involved with Realistic from early days besides input from Hitachi, Sansui and others.

<<Solavox PR25 (upmarket AMSTRAD EX-250) for the SOLAVOX SR2220 receiver above.  Use only these speakers and not any aftermarket or higher status models.
  These TAMON of Japan made speaker drivers (imported by Monitor Audio in Essex) are as good as you'll get and were really middle-class, fitted in outsourced cabinets assembled at Southend-On-Sea in the Stock Road factory, long before demand took off and a 133,000 sq.ft factory was bought at Shoebury catering to the lower peasantry and that not 'nice stuff' like the Executive Series that had an awesome, seductive appearance and sound.

 

 

 

 

 >>AMSTRAD TP12D based on the Rega Planet, as Radio Shack had products made of spare parts from Hitachi and Technics turntables.  AMSTRAD and Realistic versions are somewhat less accomplished when compared side by side with upmarket leading brand models.  Direct Drive Technics SL-1800 are downmarket of the SL-1200 Mk II and upmarket of the Belt-Drive SONY PS-LX350, keen buyers of the 1200 series dislike the SONY and the lower market SL-1800 but AMSTRAD or Realistic cover versions are still very capable and sought after mostly by people with small listening rooms and a particular fascination with the more affordable vintage that's very expensive in internet auctions, and so expensive that upmarket leading brand items might be available at a lower or similar price. 

 

>>AMSTRAD TP12D (based on REGA Planet) skeleton vinyl record playing turntable fitted with Shure AMC50E phonograph cartridge and matched with Executive Series and mid-1970s stereo components, fishing line anti-skate mechanism is awol and needs help.  ADC QLM 30 below is AMSTRAD country.

<<Cap trim on a harman/kardon PM655, the QLM 33 and 34 nearly 300pf, the QLM 30 and 32 not critical in the table below.  Audio cable affects cap values too, AMSTRAD could use a Radio Tech calculated capacitance rather than such a knob selector although the value wasn't critical in lower market ADC models, AT and Shure benefit greatly from its adjustment, also X-Tal.

<<ADC QLM 30 matches AMSTRAD phono R.I.A.A. stages but a very high 7.6mV input for 47K ohm, loud clear audio output quality at a low volume position giving the impression of an amplifier with lots of power in reserve, whereas a 5mV Shure or Audio Technica would need the volume control turned higher thereby bringing in hum and noise.  High gain phono cartridges won't make every AMSTRAD amplifier sing sweetly, QLM30 is mid-1970s, where AT12E below is late 1970s and these suited to cone tweeters that by the 1980s weren't found on other than... 

...vintage equipment. >>Audio Technica AT-12E as a known AMSTRAD Executive Series cartridge is some 3KHz stronger in upper treble than the AT12 and 4.2mV at 47K ohm.  Whilst many buyers just fit any phono cartridge the R.I.A.A. is engineered for specific ones, and this reflects in value judgements that such and such a product sounded 'bad' where in fact had a badly set up choice of input.  Turntables are difficult to set up and the idea at elite level is to throw money at the problem and it will all go fine but it is better to hear the factory calibrated choices before getting more adventurous.  The very expensive Audio turntables need a Dealer to do the work, but a percentage of owners could fit up their own pick-up arms and adjust for overhang, anti-skate and tracking weight, besides how level or vibration-free the record player mounting surface was.

 Below, edge-lit meters Ex.333 receiver.

AMSTRAD MODEL EX.333 receiver, Tuner Amplifier.  Single rail powered from early transistor amplifier age, atmosphere in music.  Simple Circuitry, transformer-less output, capacitor decoupled e.g. JLH (John Linsey Hood) 1969 / Leak & Armstrong 521 etc. Service: clean pots, add spark suppressor capacitors on turn-on switch suppressing loud pops when turning on receiver, add discharging resistors to remove loud pops when connecting headphones, re-adjust idle current, re-solder dry joints on PCB side, calibrate frequency scale.  Tone pots adjust Treble and Bass by +/-10dB, about 3x in sound perception level.

 

 

 

Left, TK19S for the germanium output AMSTRAD 8000 Mk.II below, with long excursion SEAS mid/woofer and SEAS mid/tweeter, these are special high quality units.  The Baffle must remain unpainted to prevent reflections.  The idea some listeners have that AMSTRAD 8000 sounded bad or certain AMSTRAD sets sound bad, probably stems from using the wrong equipment with them and just wanting to complain about something that doesn't give them instant Karma.  These need new elements, capacitors in particular, a new rectifier circuit, new lower noise resistors and they need months of running in with the SEAS TK19S gradually coming on song.
 

Above, AMSTRAD 8000 Mk.II with Scratch Filter for badly kept or secondhand vinyl records works with SEAS long excursion AlNiCo 'blackcones'.  Right, AMSTRAD Acousta 1500 work with AMSTRAD 8000 Mk III in the 1976 year a long pole brown paper voice coil former (long excursion) the Goodmans speakers from the spare parts department, very important being the roll rubber edge that has to have a suitable amplifier, in this case one engineered by AMSTRAD to give best.

Left, AMSTRAD 8000 MK.I & II and below the Mk.III gives 10 watts into 8 ohms with Acoustra 1500 by Goodmans, Philips germanium watts need AlNiCo speakers, Mk.I has a small ferrous ring motor ITT, (similar to an EMI 150) an American company based in Germany, the Mk.II uses SEAS long excursion AlNiCo, into 8 ohm (15 watts into 4 ohms not recommended, that might better cope with 6 ohms, 4 ohms just for a short term).  Owners are surprised that the speakers sound so good, the brand became downmarket later on.

 

<<AMSTRAD 8000 Mk.III with East German VER Stern Radio, Sonnberg B7151 has strong mains hum, perhaps a feature of the amplifier (as in NAIM to which they compare positively on price and sound quality) or hum may be a service issue.

Right, Live Baffle, ELAC of England speakers suitable for 10 watts into 8-ohms.  Yellow fiberglass wadding in vertical layering below suited to low Damping Factor in 1960s vintage amplifiers, simple circuitry gives magnificent performances.  Network-Free x-over,  woofer has a ferrous motor and the tweeter an AlNiCo, the devices in the later AMSTRAD 8000 MK.III have never been identified but likely hail for the 1960s era, used as surplus.  Many buyers used old hat 1960s loudspeakers with low power AMSTRAD, they'd basic switching, likely with high cross-talk but the amplifiers were popular with many and survived as long as many first time buyers.

<<The exact pattern of batting in packing an enclosure matters as do corner dowels seen.  Sides are made of double-sided ribbon plywood, the mid/woofer mounted on high density chipboard.  The amplifier for the ferrous motor vintage speaker above has to be of the low power, high quality 1960s type.  AMSTRAD may work but the ideal vintage amplifiers will be found astonishing by comparison.  Not all 1960s Output Transistors were germanium, NAD 3020 amplifier (and 7020 receiver below) have 1960s Silicon OP devices, some are germanium Output Transformer, others germanium or silicon with Output Capacitor, some direct coupled, 'Class A', 'Class B' or 'Class AB' and performance will be affected by the hooked up stereo system in use.

>>The little known and today exceptionally rare, NAD One speaker for the NAD 3020 amplifier and 7020 receiver below, that have a Damping Factor of 55 and down page the much older Goodmans XB25 that suits the silicon Output transistors in the 3020 amplifier/ 7020 receiver but may not best suit their 55 D.F.  The XB25 has an extremely good dome tweeter and foam-edge mid/woofer and AMSTRAD followers will note the Acousta, Acoustra and Acouster 1500 and 2500 models (these names in italics  taken from Lowther speakers) have Goodmans drive units for use with the AMSTRAD Executive Series.  The NAD 3020 and 7020 differ from the Executive Series Rack systems as available separately.

<<Goodmans XB25 from the days before they became known in the United States as a (Chinese owned) 'value' brand.  Goodmans had become GLL, and in the 1980s produced the remarkable, albeit molded-plastic, Arena speaker satellites and subwoofer, that were extremely impressive in all but looks.  The GLL Arena system doesn't look good but sounds truly awesome, the subwoofer not appearing to be making the low frequency sounds.  Today subwoofers are widespread, GLL among the first to offer them, one of the most rave reviewed, early 1980s sub/sat two speaker stereo sets.

>>An ELAC of England ferrous motor Audiotrine loudspeaker that gives a very big account of itself using the correct vintage amplifiers.  The main problem with these is the type of Output Stage intended.  Another problem is that vintage silicon doesn't sound like modern amplifiers.  By trying a number of vintage amplifier types the enthusiast will discover what type of Output Stage the speaker was aimed at and not all will suit every AMSTRAD.  The easy way is simply to match the correct speaker to its original amplifier.

<<1960s ELAC of England Audiotrine, above, probably the first to feature polypropylene whizzer cones, called so after sounds made if the large cone is removed.  AMSTRAD 'Executive Series' speakers of the year 1979 all feature polypropylene presence dome drivers, giving fantastic 'Live' quality sound but these ELAC are priced high in modern markets as so LOUD under 1 watt in input and 8 ohm drive units suit AMSTRAD or Realistic SA-102 .
 

 

Left, AMSTRAD I.C.2000 Mk.1 atop the 3000 series stereo tuner, of the FET I.C. type, all silicon with stereo multiplex decoder and ceramic filters at a price beating all competition.

Left, a 6 watt ferrous motor in the EMI 150 above, works with the AMSTRAD IC2000 Mk.I of a claimed 18 watts per channel into 8-ohms, 20Hz-25KHz with 0.5% Distortion.  The cabinets show one of the first lower market reflex port systems lifting low frequencies early in the 1970s with ideal amplifiers, EMI 150 claimed very loud.  Most people remember the EMI 150TC a twin cone version and lightweight motors and magnets matter for low power, or what Nelson Pass refers to as First Watt listening at a fraction of a watt.  People with high power modern speakers need an up-to-date amplifier and cannot judge relative quality using the wrong equipment.

  

 

AMSTRAD 5000 series amplifier stage>>, capacitor decoupled speaker output, single-rail powered, I.C. chips.  Below, tuner stage not flywheel-assisted, 2 x I.C. chips (AM, and FM), external revolving ferrite rod aerial.  Click on images for full views

Left, above AMSTRAD IC2000 Mk.II for SEAS long excursion AlNiCo speakers, Mk.III underneath uses Goodmans ferrous motor speakers, AMSTRAD 5000 below.

>>1975 year AMSTRAD Acousta 2500 (made by Rank-Celestion with Leak aluminum picture frame) for 5000 receiver above, 20 watt, relatively few website visitors, motor details and matching amplifier has a short pole motor, may not be a paper one and might use a different amplifier from the 1500 Acousta above, metal frame evidences a Rank Organization-Leak cabinet.  Note Peerless-style speaker clamps and likely metal voice coil former in the AMSTRAD Acousta 2500.  Baffle has a Bitumen treated border hinting at higher vibration around the edges.  No visible cemented cone terminals as in the ALTAI Minimus-7 down page.

<<AMSTRAD Acoustra 2500 rubber edge woofer with pleated edge tweeter, both of metal voice coil former with Peerless styled speaker clamps.  No cemented speaker wiring visible on the front side of cones, a fashion developed after the year 1965 in British Hi-Fi markets.  The rubber edge Goodmans woofer is suited for the EL34 vacuum tube and QUAD 405-2 simulated EL34 sound Solid State power amplifier with its 'Class A' output being by RCA devices (different to the older 405 edition).  Foam edge (similar to Peerless) bass is near 100Hz, slow rubber in Goodmans Minister and Havant models ; foam edge woofer is down page, often eschewed by enthusiasts but has superb, loud, room-filling bass, deeper in frequencies but very polished and easy on the ear.

 

<<AMSTRAD Acoustra 2500 foam edge woofer (professionally replaced by a Butyl rubber surround, faster than real rubber) lacks a baffle butress, tweeter and woofer doped in the center with corresponding differences in Autumn 1975 AMSTRAD amplifiers, enthusiasts might find they've got the wrong one, some appearing better than others.  Below, AMSTRAD 2000 Mk.III looks junk but was based on the East German Soviet Communist Bloc, VER Stern Radio, Sonnberg B7151, and the AMSTRAD is accordingly, very heavy with 15Hz-30KHz +/- 3dB, 20-20: +/- 2dB (using tone controls).  30 watts into 4 ohms.  25 watts into 8 ohms.  Distortion less than 0.1% at full volume.  Mk.I:  18 watts per channel at 8 ohms, 20Hz-25KHz, 0.5%D.  Mk II:  25 watts per channel at 8 ohms, 15Hz-30KHz, 2.5%D.

<<<AMSTRAD 3000 Mk II above and below, has a number of visual features appealing to 1970s buyers, a tongue-in-cheek single edge-lit meter, a glowing dial pointer, impressive sound quality and styling based on the East German Sonneberg and very successful at the time, much appreciated at their price but rare outside of their native London.

<<AMSTRAD Acoustra, with a foam edge 2500 woofer is faster than rubber edge Acoustra, Acouster and Acousta (named after three different Lowther loudspeakers).  Spare drivers held for repair of obsolete Goodmans loudspeakers were used in AMSTRAD versions, the Acousta 1500, 2-way speaker system has a brown paper voice coil former, their amplifier model year most suited to EMI 13 x 8 loudspeakers.  Acousta 2500 appear to have a metal voice coil former with tone similar to Peerless.  The Lowther Acouster with 16 ohm, 16 cm PM6 is $1000 more expensive in modern auction sales than the Acousta with PM7 and that is because 7 have a reputation for a higher average impedance curve and Frequency Response isn't ruler flat (it's colored). AMSTRAD buyers wanted Lowther horn loaded speakers but their listening rooms were too small, and Lowther take at least three years to run-in, many speakers quicker but as many need warmed up a few hours and used often.  Below video, the Lowther Acousta.

..

Above, (the AMSTRAD 2000 series was exported to the United States but there are so few survivors that the) Radio Shack (Panasonic clone) REALISTIC STA-75 offers a similar project and its bookshelf speaker uses a paper edge pleated surround suggesting a much lower Damping Factor, in the US at least, probably thought dated but that might be more useful with  EMI   loudspeakers.  Although a P.V.C. edge on the 319 or 350 may look faster it's only D.F. 11 compared to D.F. 5 on the paper-pleated edge and these are okay to be hooked with DF30 or lower 30 watt Solid State receivers of the late 1970s variety.

Right, motor magnet weight in the STA-75's custom manufactured Solo-3A bookshelf speaker is similar to a paper-edged EMI 150, or 450 of the 10 watt rating but perhaps more confusing is the upmarket custom-manufactured STA-75's 12 inch woofer in the Nova-8 below of rubberized cloth edge surround typical of 1960s KLH for Solid State and these will suit your 30 watt per channel receivers of D.F. 30 but probably ideal with an even lower D.F.

Left, Nova 8 of the year 1974 are the unique 12 inch woofer speaker matching the STA-75 and your listening pleasure depends on using similar speakers.  Cone tweeters in two or three clusters, a rubberized, cloth edge woofer but these being in a cast basket, you know is less important, it has appealed to buyers as higher quality but was really a mark of low volume production, the steel stamped baskets above many times more expensive to obtain and could only be justified with a mass-market product running more than a single year.  The  EMI  92390BP etc have a special thick steel basket stamping to the cheaper thin one above.  Output transistors in the STA-75 aren't F.E.T.s and SONY V-FET users will need Goodmans Mezzo below or Carbocon know-how.

 

Right, single-rail power supply in the STA-75, the smoothing can under-chassis for tonal character, this feature of the AMSTRAD Executive Series worth bearing in mind, having a special vintage sound the later, dual-rail two smoothing can types don't with the custom-engineered speaker for single rail, dual is a more efficient power supply, SONY TA-1630 and TA-2650 have a double can single capacitor, lowering supply line voltage improving sound with their own 8-ohm speakers but a driving amplifier and its custom loudspeaker work in unison.

Left, the STA-75 (Concord/ Panasonic) chassis shows relatively small Output Capacitors similar to the 20 watt RT-VC Viscount IV that has custom-made ELAC of England tweeters for  EMI  92390GK8, Viscount IV with a surplus and so high-quality, chassis-cooled bridge rectifier module where the Radio Shack has its discreet bridge diode compliment.  Below, the Sinclair Radionics 2000 system is described by a German audio tech and shares the single PCB board concept of RT-VC;  AMSTRAD and Radio Shack with separate boards, very rigid in the STA-75.  The lower photo differs with the older version in the video, the later solid dielectric speaker decoupling caps very unusual.

 

Left, speaker chassis for the Sinclair Radionics 2000 system is an 8-inch JBL Co-Motional with 11,000 Gauss magnet motor system incorporating piezo-electric concentric tweeter, overall response (F.R.) given as 30Hz (with acoustic loading) to 20KHz but Sinclair's own upper limit more accurate at 16KHz, the sensitivity is 97dB SPL, 1w/1m, note the rubberized single-pleat paper edge, EMI 350 92390BP with 11,000 Gauss in the mid/woofer and may be worth trying.

>>>Savard speaker from the deep south in the United States is seen with two piezoelectric horns shipped from the Motorola Company of Chicago in the state of Illinois.  CTS of Kentucky long had supporting information on their website to build an x-over for their tweeters that Clive Sinclair had in mind when fitting Motorola germanium output devices.  Sinclair who'd paid the EMI 350 no mind was adamant about where the future of affordable stereo lay.  To be sure piezoelectric tweeters need no x-over and likely have none in the 8130H/ 8140 JBL Co-Motional above but x-overs improve their sound no end as do sound tailored Motorola output devices.  Sinclair knew the brand from a popular mono car radio in the United Kingdom.

<<< A JBL Co-Motional sports a single-pleated rubberized paper edge, seen as a shiny surround just like the two-pleated one in the Savard above lending the larger diameter a longer excursion but these are tight and aimed at low D.F. (Damping Factor) amplifiers.  One way to lower your Damping Factor is with a longer becoming shorter length of speaker wire, until it sounds just about right and using an old, wore out garden tool cable that's still good for stereo.

<<<Canadian export market AMSTRAD 'Executive Series' rack sets use the U.S. Export H.H. Scott PS.17A record reproducer, the 7060 Cassette Deck below, is Waltham branded as a W157 model, but the U.K. turntable below by B.S.R. has a very good sound albeit not a mass produced edition.

>>> AMSTRAD EX-330 Executive Series amplifier system with below matching PR.45 and tuner inside.  Later sets lack the metal screening box on the tuning capacitor, quality may not be affected, but can be added if missing.  Amplifier needs AMSTRAD Executive Series matching 3-way speakers by TAMON of Japan, who had a temporary arrangement with Rank-Wharfedale making Laser Series 60...

...80 and 100 that work best with Japanese Yamaha 'Class A' amplifier tone.  <<<Solavox PR.45 is the top of the range and these speakers very sensitive, mean they're good with a low power input in order to deliver the simulated vacuum tube sound of these very strange AMSTRAD Executive Series components.  It's essential that certain brands of vintage High Fidelity Hi-Fi equipment have their own brand catalog match loudspeakers and amplifier.  Very few work as well with different brands of amplifier and speaker.  The PR.45 has a wood grain effect on the black baffle, this the Mk.2 version of a PR.45 with doped cloth edge mid-woofer, sharing vocal frequencies with the ribbed-cone mid/tweeter.

>>6-8 ohm Mk.2 version PR.45 has a flat black, doped-cloth mid-woofer surround, the shiny black TAMON-made Mk.1 version recommended.  Even so, owning a Mk.2 PR.45 is no mean feat and sport see through black cloth grilles of the vintage, aiding sonic dispersion performance.  Speaker builders of the after-market using AMSTRAD Executive need a squawker (middle range driver) to look as close as possible to the one in the PR.45, a paper cone with 2-pleat edge that needs a tiny ferrous motor of 97-102dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at 1 watt and 1 yard.  The Mk.2 doped-cloth mid-woofer, attempts to replicate cone behavior of the 1960s Wharfedale Super RS DD below or US, KLH exported cloth edge woofer speakers very popular in the U.K. with 1960s (and 1970s) middle-class buyers.

<<Cloth edge black dome Wharfedale Super RS.DD 8 was the Rank Organization's 6-8 ohm version of the 1960s Gilbert Briggs original blue dome of only 89dB SPL with aluminum wire and 10-15 ohms impedance, so the <<Rank cover version with its cheaper copper drive means SPL nearer 79dB at 6-8 ohms instead of increasing it to 93dB.  These were immensely well received by middle-class buyers of the 1960s and the Solavox PR.45 above, goes to great lengths (Japan) to offer a 97dB SPL cloth edge in the year 1979, using the AMSTRAD 'simulated tube sound' 'Executive Series'.  RS.DD.8 are a floor-standing, Single-Driver with small breather holes in the lower baffle when available as corner speakers or much heavier as horn-loaded boxes.

Above and below AMSTRAD EX-303 tuner.

Below, AMSTRAD EX.330 amplifier heat-sink and connections.

Below, EX-330 capacitor decoupled speaker, g.o. transformer, separate boards.

<<Solavox SA2020 amplifier stage of the Ex.222 receiver as a separate stereo component using the above tuner, simple circuitry, simulated tube sound capacitor output.  Integrated Circuit phono stage.  Simple like a kit with no complex protection devices to frustrate the tinkering owner.

 

 

>>>Solavox PR25 Mk.II loudspeaker, note the paper single-pleated edge of the mid/woofer, short excursion, low Damping Factor.  The single pleat edge may hint at cost-cutting in the driving amplifier but it's possible the AMSTRAD EX.222 has a suitably low damping factor to power it and therefore other vintage speakers of the 1960s tube era and even that the PR25 sounds good with whatever it used back in the day.  A number of Executive Series loudspeakers including the PR25 MK.II have the ribbed cone tweeter below, styled after an EMI full range driver used in the Dansette 222 radio set and intended to give more middle range tone than the average small diameter tweeter. 

 

Left, the ribbed cone full range driver from EMI, based on their tweeter sums up Britain in the 1960s compared to Japan.  There was a 'make do, win the war' style attitude long after the wars had ended and there continued a preoccupation with past British Empire global imperialism and the efforts made were very expensive for the consumer to buy and largely aimed at the aristocracy or the middle-class.  The early AMSTRAD sets were really middle-class and into the 1980s...

...began to reach the peasantry and were very good products that some people continue to denigrate as acquired secondhand and tired out.  But the Japanese product was the one AMSTRAD was competing with, there was the Buckingham Palace supplied British Dynatron and HACKER, they were three times the price of SONY and today can be bought at a third of their collector prices and they have a more distinguished sound Dealers called 'posh'.

 

<<In Canada, AMSTRAD Executive Series - both 200 and 300 series amplifiers, use the U.S. export 2-way H.H. Scott 176B speakers, front reflex port loaded, of 60Hz-18KHz Frequency Response and very rare.  The tweeter is a phenolic ring and the woofer, a high compliance aluminum dome.  In England buyers may wonder if these 6-8 ohm speakers are better or the true prototype for these amplifiers, the magnificent AMSTRAD 'Executive Series', 'simulated tube sound' amplifiers with all too authentic background hum and hiss in the power supply, whilst truly awesome reproducers, possibly 'the best', it's a 1970s characteristic of certain vintage British amplifiers and one hard for some to live with that may not be so easily 'tricked out' today, as not solved back in the day.

 

 

 

 Solavox PR-35 Mk.II long excursion suits AMSTRAD EX.333 receiver but best with Solavox Model SR3330 - a receiver, very rare indeed and sports the ribbed tweeter, because the mid/woofer has been wired to give more voice to the squawker and these speakers needed the Loudness System to really sing ... and any buyer that heard them just reached for their purses or wallets, it was a very quick sale, it was like a holiday or something, a once in a lifetime experience.  People might denigrate AMSTRAD but these were hot sellers, the Ford Capri of Stereo.  Below, the Mk.1 Capri based on America and the MK.III based on the incredible British Jensen F.F., that was so sought after that the upper peasantry drove them used.

 

 

 

 Right, AMSTRAD EX-350 Mk.I, wow, sporting the ribbed tweeter and deep front-to-back box of the rare EX-450. The ribbed tweeter is so Ford Capri and the Capri you know below, code-named 'the Allegro' before launch, a musical term and then adopted by the British for a 1970s small car with quartet steering wheel, based on the square one in the 1963 year Chrysler 300K and New Yorker.  A few of these emerged on internet Auction sites years ago just as the survivors of World Wars and soldier on, but appear less today as their original buyers have mostly all passed on and Estate Sales are mostly local.

Left, Mk.I Capri V6 designed by American, Philip T. Clark and also involved in designing the Ford Mustang with black Vinide Leather cloth or Rexine used on AMSTRAD Executive Series receivers by way of copying some American leading products, over the top, sides and service hatch cover meant to say 'no half measures' inside or out.

 

 

 

 SOLAVOX PR35 Mk.I, for SR3330 receiver, very rare but similar to an Ex.333 albeit not identical and worth looking for.  The AMSTRAD 5050 was marketed between the 2000 and 8000 systems using the speakers of either, the Acoustra 1500 or 2500, with other versions being the Acousta and Acouster, these imparting tones likely to enhance one amplifier version model year more than another and the 5050 was a style of AMSTRAD that came before the stacking system Executive Series.  5050 were for people with long surfaces capable of taking music centers, a set that incorporated a radio, cassette and record-player.  Many homes of the peasantry you know, have very small sitting rooms despite large yards or external dimensions.

<<<ASUKI brand, AR3330, ASUKI brand, Dynamic's, Goldstar (USA) and Universum (Germany) were 'scrappers' of old electronic parts cobbled-together to make a fake Hi-Fi product using original instrument cases.  They used surplus and fake parts inside that sound fantastic but many stop working using wrong mains voltage power irons, etc.  Very rarely found in wkg. order. What if 'S' was for Sugar, ASUKI for Alan Sugar UK Industries?

Right, the strange idea about ASUKI is that the AMSTRAD Executive Series was actually made by them in Korea, inside they're AMSTRADs.  Below, Alan Sugar.  Photo Times News Group

Maker of g.o. transformers seen only in AMSTRAD Executive Series brands was Keland, of the Newburn Industrial Estate of Ryton in Durham, England, a small specialist manufacturer going under the other brands of Adman and Stadium, making external corded power supplies for Xmas tree lights, telephones and portable equipment, this photo is the g.o. transformer in the 5050 receiver, virtually identical to the Ex.222, surprising products, Sowter look-a-likes copying 1960s sets from Goodmans, Armstrong, and Radford among others, a screening plate fastened to the lugs also carries a fuse element, printed circuit board tracks clearly visible, a minimum of components for clarity of audio reproduction.

 

 

 

 

Below, the AMSTRAD L.S. 101 speaker was a Monitor Audio BM100>> of days long after M.A. company founder, Mo Iqbal moved from Cambridge to Essex and began importing far eastern drivers, the speaker far superior and louder than similar Realistic Minimus-7, is lower in power, suggesting higher sensitivity.  Here the peasantry (and anybody else in a small place) had a pre/power amplifier with digital tuner but no memory presets, knob controlled tuner and no better sounding Mini-System, only problem being relatively short running lifespan, in modern times probably needing rebuilt with new components.  The center-point tuner feature of the REALISTIC STA-2300, that the owner is dreaming of.

The BM100 obviously has a different color of woofer and is likely a special edition AMSTRAD special driver but it's a quality system with its Tape input adjusters and 75-ohm FM aerial socket ... and the voices that denigrate AMSTRAD you know?  A 'Made in England' sticker back in the days of 'BUY BRITISH'.

>>ALTAI, a leading brand in the U.K. sells high quality radio electronics.  Tweeter resembles Monitor Audio BM100 above, 4 inch woofer, has distinctive fast rubber surround of a Realistic 40-4024A Mach One, and polypropylene 'presence' dome, like AMSTRAD Executive Series, note the strengthened metal cabinet corners.

<<Altai's Dammar varnish-doped tweeter version, low sensitivity like the BBC LS3/5A and B&o CX series but room filling 3D images albeit at a single high volume position, using late 1970s vintage, 'double mono' construction stereo amplifiers.  A true Near Field Broadcast Studio Monitor, but Altai's preference for gluing its drivers into the metal cabinets, means internal modifications or investigation becomes impossible.  Power used needs about 8x more current under 1 watt than most amplifiers could cope with, the claimed 30 watts RMS continuous and 50 watts peak may be nonsense, optimal sound pressure level appears to be reached well under 10 watts.

Right, the 1978 year British MERIDIAN 101 built by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd is a 'British Shoe Box amplifier' concept copied from much more pricey Californian minimalist gear so seen similar to AMSTRAD as a price beating venture that had inspired the tongue-in cheek, AMSTRAD 101.

Left, the MERIDIAN M1 was an Active speaker for the 101 system and very narrow front-to-back, so that AMSTRAD had cut in half the depth of future rack system speakers and designed them only to enhance the hybrid speaker sound producing modules they'd been sold with.  Using electronic modules dates to Mullard Unilex.  Below, AMSTRAD T.S. 41 with red digital clock, 'MERIDIAN M1 styled' space-saving speakers and cable tidy rack unit.  Power is 12 watts per channel, 35Hz-25KHz (Bandwidth Limited) with 0.5% Distortion at 1KHz and S/N Ratio of 55db.  The amplifier albeit in a frontispiece has a very good sound quality but needs the tuner and cassette to work and radio techs don't regard these as at all easy to service.

Right, AMSTRAD T.S.41 speakers were everything that many people wanted at a price compared to the tiny record player speakers similar to those found in 1960s radiograms.  So these AMSTRAD delivered real party house rocking sounds albeit in a harsh Boom Box style and many were unreliable and took ages sitting in huge repair places for months on end but some appear to have survived either because they weren't used often or better cared for or by luck.  The house of this speaker appears upmarket compared to many AMSTRAD buyers that hadn't room to swing a cat.  Here a TS.41 speaker is on some kind of table beside a staircase.

<<<Technics SU-V2 New Class A amplifier system came before Sansui's SUPERCOMPO of 1981 and dates to the older 1970s Technics era when their rack systems were most expensive in lists.  The SU-Z2 (10Hz-50KHz F.R.) system and SU-V2 (5Hz-100KHz) are wide-band amplifiers and unusually the speakers used with both were the competent SB-3050 below of 42Hz-20KHz and 89.5 S.P.L. at 1 watt and 1 meter but the idea that by adding a 99.5 S.P.L. Disco speaker we'd get 'better sound'...

...is flawed,as designed to sing with 89.5 and that ribbed mid/tweeter of the SB-3050, using Technics brand wide-band amplifiers - very good for listening at low levels when suitably rebuilt.  SB-3050 offers an affordable match but wasn't available in all markets and the Lo-D Hitachi sourced RadioShack REALISTIC Optimus X-100 is recommended, capable of a deep low frequency extension without Loudness and tone knobs at flat, it also gives a remarkable sound stage.  Below the Technics SU-V1 was a 35 watt discrete output version of the SU-V2 both made in only one model year (1980) with a hefty black anodized aluminum finned heat-sink, to the steel of the hybrid output SU-Z2 that uses the SL-D1 turntable and later, an LED tuning meter resembling the radio tuner above.

'Real' upmarket Technics SU-8088 were rack systems, factory made as a one brand system, downmarket hybrid amplifier sets left not sold separately for that reason, until Sansui SUPERCOMPO of 1981.  SU-Z Technics amplifiers work today with other speakers but in the hybrid Sansui A-710, originals sourced in auctions and tricked-out, are better than similarly specified aftermarket.  Even the Home Disco Sansui below suit their own brand speakers.

Left, powerful Sansui, a brand mostly preferred for 1970s Rock music and below the loudspeakers that were banned in many cities but used in large, middle-class studio rooms.  These people might have been aristocracy because they had time to party and enjoy listening to music.  At 100dB for 1 watt they were Disco speakers but often had very lightweight magnet motors, some were Al-Ni-Co and the x-over at 1000Hz suggests that SP-X9700 were too.  If so the amplifiers will need Al-Ni-Co motor woofers.

Right, Sansui (San-soo-ay or in Broad Scots:  San-Syou) SP-X9700 from the year 1979, Karaoke Home Disco speakers with 100dB at 1w and 1m, 22Hz-23KHz.  8 ohms, 280 watts peak.  Grille hand carved Kumiko fretwork.  4-way, seven speaker system.  432MM woofer, x-over at 1000Hz.  208MM squawker cone, x-over at 7KHz.  2 x 171 x 59MM presence horns, x-over at 15KHz.  3 x 49MM brilliance tweeters.  Size 470 x 688 x 270MM and weigh 20Kg each.  The Brahms speaker above and Home Disco speakers from Sansui had very small magnet motors that were supported by matching electronics.  Many amateurs prefer larger magnets that however demand much more from amplifiers to sound as good.

<<Sales people in England thought Japanese speakers inferior to British ones albeit actually toned to match the sets they were sold with, the curious appearance so often sounded disappointing, maybe a little harsh and when the networks or inside of the speaker boxes were investigated, hadn't been well put together begging the question were these maybe 'Live' toned boxes, meant to have vibrating panels?  The problem was partly a lot of large apertures cut in a thin baffle weakening it so that it vibrated and poor treatment inside the cabinet when compared to similar drivers in upmarket Technics or Sansui.

>>AMSTRAD 6000 has no Dolby but instead a treble cut device to reduce tape hiss as an affordable, stereo cassette deck in a time when they were prohibitively expensive and most used were mono portables.  A stereo cassette deck or tuner was a luxury few could own and the AMSTRAD ones were no exception but a dream purchase.

<<AMSTRAD 7000 adds a Dolby feature but these circuits weren't standard, Dolby quality was down to luck, tape heads were Ferrite but all different in sound quality, days of hobbyists trying to make their own, AMSTRAD closely following Home Built hobbyist kits with ready made options.

>>AMSTRAD 7050 seems to be a popular deck with high price tag but horizontal decks caused poorly wound reels and tape eating, upright cassette decks below better in that sense but not in sound quality, many enthusiasts still buying horizontal cassette decks for the sound.

<<AMSTRAD 7060 for the Ex.222 receiver and 200 series amplifiers.  Exceptionally rare, Dolby system and circuits based on British Integrated Circuit (I.C.) chips.

 

 

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