Why British ?

[twiiii]

With British tradition and availability of live concerts in many venues, Brits have been raised with a long tradition of knowing what acoustic instruments and the human voice should sound like from their Hifi systems. The few I have met don't seem to get hung up on specs and big power like the Americans. They want a natural sound. They also have a tradition of brass bands the Americans don't have either. Weird to us, the bag pipe, has a tradition we don't tolerate very well on the west side of the Atlantic. These and other native instruments demand more from the Brits systems than good old American and British Rock and roll. I only hope your traditions aren't polluted and you continue to carry on enjoying great sound and allowing some of your cousins to west to enjoy faithfully reproduced music and native sounds produced by products designed and manufactured in Great Britain and its former colonies. .

 

[CKDC]

Does anyone really LISTEN to bag pipe music?

I thought it was made just to make people run away in fright.

But then, I did like Rufus Harley (just a little.)

 

[kl122002]

Bag pipe music isn't easy to be reproduced, it just like the organ from church/music hall. Some Brits military band plays it well and has it recorded. Sadly the recordings are not as good as the one I have heard in live performance.

 

[Bubbamike]

When I was young I was in love with TR 3 and MGA. When I decided to buy a sports car I bought a Miata. I wanted to drive the damn thing not work on it constantly. I'm very happy with that purchase as I am with my Harbeth SHL 5s and my Naim Nait XS.
I'm a believer that any company that offshores their product should have to pay a 100% tariff on any goods brought into their country. Except for greed their is no reason to move jobs from the UK or the US to China or anywhere else. The rich get richer and the workers get screwed.

 

[lemsteraak]

Maybe what we are talking about is spill over from research labs. My old 70's B&O 5700 monitor speakers are certainly helped by the BBC research labs, they have Celestion drivers. The TR7 sports car had a Recardo designed engine, I understand the same engine that Saab kept developing. Ricardo is a design firm but is something of a research lab, like Cosworth. Continuing on the same topic, just going to the state of the art. Look at British design for racing cars, they own it. Back to audio, I listened to a system with older style Tannoys, big as houses, best I ever heard. Why is it that much of this technology goes to other countries? I would like to think it is because it is admired so much. Someone said earlier that the English create because they enjoy, there is passion there, understated, of course.

 

[Splatter Pak]

I felt like I should say something audio related...

Here are a couple of pictures of my Arcam Delta 60. I bought it for £4 as it had been fully submerged in a flood. I dried it out and tried it, it worked but sounded bad. Recapped it and changed some resistors and now it sounds really great. I think that qualifies as robust construction.

View attachment 718472 View attachment 718473

By the way I've not been able to find out all that much info about this particular model. I heard a rumour it was an upgraded A&R Cambridge A60. Any insight appreciated.

I also own a Delta 60, and it's one of my better amps, but I must leave it on 24/7 or the volume pots get wonky. I have seen photos of the A60's innards, and it looks very similar to the Delta 60.

 

[Splatter Pak]

Ah, those Brits! I had a little 1957 TR-3 roadster and loved it. Bought a service manual that could give you a hernia, and Worked on it myself. It had a delightful Lucas (AKA Prince of Darkness) electrical system that used screw connections that would separate and kill the headlights, usually when I would hit a bump coming down a winding mountain road at night! Taught me how to get in touch with God, but I did love it. I had a pair of English Goodmans speakers in the early 60's and my turntable was a Garrard AT-6.

Those were the days!

Time for some jokes about Lucas Industries (darkly humourous)

> The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."
>
> Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness"
>
> Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
>
> Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
>
> The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF.
>
> The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.
>
> Lucas dip-switch positions: LOW and BLOW (Bruce Miller, www.hermit.cc)
>
> The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.
>
> "I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob...
>
> If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.
>
> Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.
>
> It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.
>
> Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"
>
> Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.
>
> Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Lucas engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.
>
> Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.
>
> Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone. Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.
>
> Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times sunwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."
>
> Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.
>
> How to make AIDS disappear? Give it a Lucas part number.
>
> Recently, Lucas won out over Bosch to supply the electrical for the new Volkswagens. So, now the cars from the Black Forest will come with electrics supplied by the Lord of Darkness -- how appropriate!
>
> "Lucas" is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices.

 

[NoTransistors]

Funny. I stopped having issues with my Lucas alternator only after replacing it with an A.C.Delco alternator.

 

[NoTransistors]

In spite of everything said, I have always believed that their hearts have been in the right place. Who invented and perfected the jet engine?
oWhe invented radar? Who perfected and produced the first locomotives? Who invented [actually sorted things out] penicillin?
There is a large list with many wonderful inventions and innovations.
And the British speak English, just like us [more or less]. Actually, they invented it.

Before I forget, they also invented some really bad food. I do like Irish-style cooking, though.

 

[dcreek]

I'm kind of enjoying both themes....
One friend of mine owns Mission bookshelf speakers (715/716? ), and I am always impressed by the quality of the sound into his relatively large living room...
Another friend once owned a Triumph Spitfire and the front wheels fell off the first time he drove it home!

 

[Rob Burns]

No mention Of Mordaunt-Short here. Great speaker company. For many years I had a pair of Celestion DL8's that served me very well for 20 years. Sold them and replaced them with the B&W's. In fact, other than a pair of Canadian made Soma speakers in the early 80's, I have never had a speaker made anywhere but in England. American speakers have always sounded to bass heavy and booming, Japanese speakers washed out and empty (just plain bad). If I had to go to another country, Canadian made. Did hear a pair of Totem's that really gave a nice accurate detail.
I also own a Triumph Spitfire. Love it. But that is another story!!

 

[Splatter Pak]

Ok we get it. British cars not so good. Too bad this threads been so hijacked no one could absolutely get a sense of how good British speakers are.

As one of the thread hijackers, I must say that I've owned about half a dozen British speakers, and loved all of them. Asian speakers, not so much.

 

[CKDC]

Ok we get it. British cars not so good. Too bad this threads been so hijacked no one could absolutely get a sense of how good British speakers are.

I think this thread highlights the success of British speakers in comparison to British cars. Both have passionate followings.

 

[StuartB]

Without any real idea of what British sound was all about, I got hooked by a pair of Monitor Audio MA700 Gold speakers many years ago. Little 6.5" two ways with a metal dome tweeter. They sounded fantastic and finally one woofer failed after about a million hours of playing, I tried many well-respected speakers, bigger, better specs...etc. but could just never recapture the magic of those little two ways. I finally just sold everything and started from scratch. I found some Harbeth C7-ES3 speakers and an Exposure 3010 integrated. I am more than thrilled, and just can't see ever looking for speakers or amplification again.

It is such a non-fatiguing, realistic, organic sound. Hard to explain, but there is a sense of magic in the system. The speakers also seem to be very easy to drive and fit into a difficult room with out significant problems or shortcomings.

Just my experience, but I am hooked on the quality and understated design of British audio.

 

[CKDC]

You "found" an Exposure 3010 and Harbeth c7 Es 3 speakers.

They are not something on normally "finds."

 

[StuartB]

You "found" an Exposure 3010 and Harbeth c7 Es 3 speakers.

They are not something on normally "finds."

Well, find may not be the best word. I limited my search for speakers down to a few lines (Harbeth, Spendor, Monitor Audio and Dynaudio). I definitely was going with a stand mounted speaker. Did a bunch of reading and research, and made up my mind to be patient. I tried to find them somewhat local but with no luck. I found a pair of the C7-ES 3 with correct Sound Anchor stands in AGon. Immediately made an offer, he immediately accepted and literally 10 minutes later they were purchased and paid for.

I did the same thing on the integrated. Read up like crazy. I had always admired the Exposure stuff. I pretty much limited my search to Exposure and Naim although I kept an eye out for LFD, Creek...etc. I finally decided on the Exposure 3010 S2D and bought a new one because I got restless and wanted to pair it up with the Harbeths.

 

[CKDC]

Good for you. I hope they keep you happy for a long time!

While I am not buying anything soon, that gear has made it to my "medium" list, should a pile of money "find" me.

 

[StuartB]

Well, cancer sort of changes your perspective. I wanted to put together a system that I could really enjoy, even if it was more money than I wanted to spend.

 

[chicks]

Just curious, why there are so many like British hifi equipment?
What exactly makes you like them?

Peter J. Walker. He made the "trust your ears" rhetoric of the popular hi-fi press sound as absurd as it was. The magazines knew well that they couldn't remotely match his knowledge, and that he wouldn't stoop to the sad levels of nonsense so common in "high end" marketing today.

He advanced the technology of speaker and amplifier design with solid, innovative engineering, not nonsensical slogans such as, "Do our amplifiers sound better? We think so". He didn't "voice" his amplifier designs, or even listen to them, as he understood that the math doesn't lie.

His company was as well known for great industrial design as for technical advancements. They set a standard of performance and great design at sensible prices, without the excesses of so many "high end" companies. Alan Shaw of Harbeth is the closest current British hifi company executive I can think of as educated, sensible and principled as Walker was, but he doesn't have near the influence Walker had in his prime.

 

[benjamin]

This was recently posted on Sugden's FB page:

The ‘British Sound’
Exporting our products to different countries around the world, we often hear the term ‘British Sound’. So what does it mean? We think it all began in the 60’s and early 70’s when the UK had an abundance of companies manufacturing high quality hi-fi separates. The #BBC was mainly responsible for the #British sound, designing classic loudspeakers to monitor broadcasts and such like. These loudspeakers provided a natural sound that was especially good in the mid-range and on speech. This philosophy was embraced by other UK companies such as #Sugden,#Quad, #Rogers and #Spendor. Sugden still has the British sound and it remains popular around the world.