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UNIQUE AUDIO - a list of ?

A

anden

Active Member
Looking for examples of unique audio, items that stood out and may never have been equaled by other makers in terms of concept or performance. Prototypes don't really count, it should have had a production run, even if the product was not successful - Radios, tuntables, tape players, speakers, etc.,

I'll lead with my choice - The KLH model Eight. I think it qualifies because I know of no other tubed receiver designed for and sold with an acoustic suspension speaker. It's also unique being a sub-shoe box sized hifi receiver being fully transformered, having a tuned RF stage, 3 IF stages and push-pull audio. The vernier dial is not seen on many receivers from the early 1960's.
The model Eight was fairly successful wth 12,000 produced and was even sold through Radio Shack.

Other unusual audio ?
 
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CD Changer

How about adding a component not known to be exceptional by any means in the audio community, a CD Changer to the list.

Up for your consideration is the Nakamichi Dragon-CD/DAC Limited (1995) CD Player. Probably the only audiophile worthy 6+1 CD Changer that was ever produced. The only thing that was even close happened to be its predecessor the Nakamichi 1000MB (1991) MusicBank CD Player. Both are engineering marvels that were never duplicated and I would assume never to be attempted again.

Here is a photo of the two.

NakamichiDragonCD-DAC1000MB.jpg


Regards,
TB
 
Let us see some more pictures of those bad boys. Is that the protective film I'm seeing still on the bezel of that Vizio flat screen ?
 
You cant argue with MBL speakers and hey the flagship model are under $200,000 per pair......a steal at twice the price!:banana:
 
marantz 10b tuner
thorens changer turntable that picks up the records and restacks them
altec voice of the theaters, electric guitar never sounded so good
 
AltecDarpa said:
damn! is that gear yours tower boss?
Click to expand...

Hello AltecDarpa,

Yes, I’m fortunate to have both of these Nakamichi CDP’s. I’ve been into Nakamichi gear ever since I got my first cassette deck by them in the early 80’s.

Glen B said:
Let us see some more pictures of those bad boys. Is that the protective film I'm seeing still on the bezel of that Vizio flat screen ?
Click to expand...

Hey Glen B,

Here is a link to some more shots of the Nakamichi DRAGON-CD/DAC Limited set here at AK. I will get some individual photos taken of the 1000mb and post up later in my gallery later.

Yes, that is the protective film still on the LCD, actually there are two on the wall there. I have been finishing plumbing the wall for power and interconnects and have left the film on both until I was finished.

Regards,
TB
 
There are plenty of great ideas that never went anywhere -- the Ionovac tweeter and the Elcaset tape deck are two -- but the one that really seems a loss to me follows right in the footsteps of this thread -- its a Nakamichi. Specifically, the Dragon turntable, which automatically centers the record, regardless of whether the hole is in the right place, which very frequently it isn't. Eccentricity in rotation creates wow, and screws up the tracking of the stylus, making the imaging blurred. Great idea, but doomed -- neccessarily expensive and requiring patience, and there aren't any specs that are relevant, so no appeal to the objectivists, and came out about the time CDs did.
 
Agreed that the Nak idea of a self-centering TT was an idea that should have become more widespread.

The HEIL AMT tweeter is another "unique" thing that should have become more widespread and mainstream, but didn't for all the wrong reasons (sticking to ESS as the sole seller, and ESS's failure to make the most of them by sticking to inferior designs).

Yamaha's Beryllium drivers are probably also up there, despite Focal reviving the Be tweeter recently. Not a new design (basic domes), just a better material that lifts the design to another level of performance.

Tannoy's co-axial drivers with the tweeter-horn sound coming out through the middle of the woofer cone, using the cone as part of the horn, belongs up there. An innovative design with an almost uniquely coherent sound to it. [I wonder what it would sound like if you put a Beryllium dome's output coming out through the middle of a Beryllium-coned woofer, using a similar construction? Probably something close to audio nirvana?!]

Whoever made the first line arrays had one of those breakthrough products, too. The best example I know of this approach would be the IRS Vs, closely followed by the Pipe Dreams. The line-array McIntosh speakers are somewhere up there, too.

I'd venture to put the Gradient open-baffle subwoofers on the list, too. AFAIK, the only open-baffle subs that actually work to create good bass, except probably Mr. Linkowitz's design.

Quad's original electrostatics were another one.

Betamax?
Minidisc?
DCC?

Uh, I think I'd better quit... a couple lines ago! :D
 
I think some of the open baffle Hartley subwoofers predate the Gradient, don't they? And with a 24 inch woofer, the woofer itself is a pretty decent baffle.
 
Hill Plasmatronics loudspeakers. Any speaker that needs its own helium supply ought to be on anyone's short list.
 
But isn't the Plasmatronic basically an expansion on the Ionovac? A enormous expansion, but still...
 
That wasn't steel -- that was a styrofoam/aluminum foil sandwich (hence the name of the speaker line). The concept lives on (or did) in the KEF B139.

But it does remind of the Stan White/Nelson Reed Shot Glass driver, which was, I think, made of glass (I hope it doesn't turn out to be boring old fiberglass). That's got to be pretty rare, though I understand they were popular (relative term) in Germany.

While we are being European, how about the ERA 'virtual pivot' arm, with opposed leaf springs that simulated a point bearing, or the Cabbasse or JM eyeball speaker, with the concentric dome tweeter, concentric dome section midrange and woofer sections, or the cool Ferranti pickup (tonearm/cartridge) that rose out of a spherical bearing in the plinth?
 
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Oops -- forgot. Another reason that the Leaks (at least the original model) were unique was that the (open backed) tweeter was attached to the grill, and nestled in a padded cavity in the enclosure. Weird and cool.
 
Nat said:
But isn't the Plasmatronic basically an expansion on the Ionovac? A enormous expansion, but still...
Click to expand...

Sort of, but moreso :-) And it used helium instead of air for the plasma, so there was none (or at least a lot less) of that pesky ozone.

Had the Ionovac been mentioned already? If so I hadn't seen it when I hit the post button.
 
Well if you are going to bring up the decanter speaker, what about the various lamp speakers that have been made? The vase part is the enclosure (with the driver firing through the bottom or side) and the lamp part is the lamp. That should clarify it...
 
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