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Klingon-Hifi made in USSR during the cold war

gladiator335 said:
Thanks.
But seriously it pisses me off when after learning that I'm from USSR people usually ask "It must be a lot of snow, cold and a lot of drinking..."
Sure...if you live in Northern Siberia.
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Same thing for me... I'm from Tennessee, I've had people who will flatly state we live EXACTLY like the Beverly Hillbillies, or "Hee Haw", & get downright HATEFUL when I insist that we DON'T.. There ARE a few places around where you CAN'T get a Wi-Fi signal, but that's likely the biggest difference between here & somewhere in the Northeast..
 
Just develop a THICK SKIN, My Man... You can also drive thru Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, etc & see some of the gorgeous mansions built more or less on Damyankees laughing at us Dumb Hillbillies... Y'all come back now, ya Hear ?!? (grin)
 
gladiator335 said:
That's more or less the story behind Soviet consumer electronics.
If some Russian stereo reminds you of a nuclear sub it is not because it was designed that way. It was simply because designer behind that piece didn't know any better....

Just my 0.02c :D
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This part is most fascinating for me, the resourcefulness of using what was available.
 
Sandy G said:
Most of you guys know that one of my interests is "Military Tube Shortwave receivers", I.E. "Boatanchors." I have a pretty fair collection of the Western types, R-390s, RA-17s, EK-07, etc. I wonder if the Soviets ever had a radio that was similar to the R-390 series, that tuned from roughly 500KC, to 30 MC ? Getting a WORKING example, if such a thing exists, would be a REAL feather in my cap.. R-390 lore states that the Soviets DID manage to procure an R-390 or R-390A at some point, sent it to Moscow, where it was examined by their Top Dawgs, & subsequently junked, because it was entirely TOO complicated for them. THAT scenario would seem to likely be untrue, given the overall level of development of the items displayed in THIS thread... They WERE Classified for quite awhile, but by 1968-69, military overruns were being offered for sale in ham journals.. The Soviets could have simply BOUGHT one, & learned of its secrets by perusing the rather detailed maintenance manuals... OTOH, there were aspects of the R-3XX's development that were STILL classified into the Eighties, simply because no one had ever asked if they could be "UN-classified"...However, apparently some of the cost figures remain classified to this day, for whatever reason...
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I know they appropriated the octal tube Super Pro with changes to suit their own applications. They also had a set with a lot of German design influence that was uniquely fascinating. The Collins tuning system may have been something they didn't care to copy, dunno about the simpler but still tricky Wadley loop approach as with the Racal sets.

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It shouldn't surprise anyone that the Soviets had first class audio equipment: audio recording, reproduction and amplification have critical military applications and the Soviets did not want to fall behind in the arms race. The consumer market would have been just a sideline.

As for Soviet engineering, it does strike us as foreign: overbuilt, overweight, and alternating between fussily complicated and child-like simplicity. But there is a real genius to Soviet engineering which is not properly appreciated in the West, especially the robustness and repairability of it.
 
The commonly held USA perception of Russian commercial offerings during these times was represented by the Wendy's "Russian fashion show" television commercial, currently viewable as such on youtube. One Russian envoy supposedly found it "wery fonny", iirc.

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Pio1980 said:
The commonly held USA perception of Russian commercial offerings during these times was represented by the Wendy's "Russian fashion show" television commercial, currently viewable as such on youtube. One Russian envoy supposedly found it "wery fonny", iirc.
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Oh well....not Victoria's Secret, that's for sure.... But somewhat (sadly) true...
Though it wasn't THAT bad....
 
Trio said:
But the interesting things I noted while watching some Gadai movies, is I had to rewind and look at at some scenes again because my eye was drawn to the background, the city panorama's the interiors, etc.
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Gaidai's late '60s film "The Diamond Arm" is among the best comedy films I've ever watched.
 
Friggin' excellent thread, all. Very enjoyable reading. (How the hell did I miss this thread 'oer the last three years?)
 
That's a beautiful Russian classic! You can see Marantz inspirations (particularly fonts and knobs).
I think the longest manufactured amp in the USSR too, first presented in 1975, manufactured until 1989. Do you know what year yours is from?
 
Nice! I've had a few Soviet era Russian amps (still have two), but never a Brig and all from the late 80s/early 90s. You can see that they did not have problems with raw materials, the Romantika 15-120 S that I have has heavy lathe turned aluminum knobs, and this was a budget amp in 1990. The price was 205 rubles, to compare, Brig 001 cost 575 rubles in 1987.

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Hi. This Romantika is very interesting indeed. Even if its name does not reflect in the design at all. Its design seems more inspired by a plane's cockpit to me :)

I found my BRIG 001 in the local (french) classified ads. This model was completely unknown to me, but I was intrigued by its name and design. I searched and learned that it was form Russia, and weighing over 15 kg, so I had to get it. But it didn't work at all: no sound, not even a hiss.
I had it restored by a very able technician. I found some replacement output transistors (one channel dead) in Siberia via the bay.

And in fact, the buttons of the BRIG are also made of solid metal.

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Don't let those knobs fool you, Romantika was one of the worst "brands" back in the days, known for its bad build quality and reliability. Just to add a little perspective into the cost of these pieces, an engineer in the Soviet Union was making 120 rubles/month, so the Brig was "spensive" (and good). Prices were fixed. The typical way for most people to get their hands on this equipment was through 0-percent intetest loans, which were easy to obtain at least.
 
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gvl said:
Don't make those knobs fool you, Romantika was one of the worst "brands" back in the days, known for its bad build quality and reliability. Just to add a little perspective into the cost of these pieces, an engineer in the Soviet Union was making 120 rubles/month, so the Brig was "spensive" (and good). Prices were fixed. The typical way for most people to get their hands on this equipment was through 0-percent loans, which were easy to obtain at least.
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I remember reading many years back about the Rubin television receivers. Just awful, but the cabinets could be used as rabbit hutches.
 
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Romantika is certainly not the best amp SQ wise, but it's not bad either considering it's only 15 WPC, and my unit has only minor issues (bad cap here and there, some transformer hum), other than that it works, so I guess reliability is not that terrible. But I agree there are much better amps from the USSR, like Korvet which I also have.
 
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