409-371 History

[Markus Berzborn]

I assume you are the Stefano Pasini who wrote a book about EMT and is well known in the audiophile community?
Very interesting to notice that your good taste obviously also extends to the world of cars.

Kind regards,
Markus

[Ashley James]

I thought EMT was one of the companies that lost out to Panasonic
(in service with no less than 5000 broadcasters worldwide) in the
Broadcast market. I didn't know audiophiles bough them as well Markus.

I'm afraid that my Thorens went in the bin the day I could buy a CD
player and now I use an Apple TV for all my music, photos and movies
as well as Youtube where I periodically play either Stefan's 400
climbing Prescott or the BRM V16. Both are excellent through proper
modern hi fi with 325 wpc. Real life SPLs too!

PS. The six cylinder Honda 250 cc bike makes a good noise too!

[Markus Berzborn]

Mainly in Asia there is a kind of cult following for EMT turntables. They sometimes pay almost insane prices.
I like them as well, but I'm not a fan, it is not really my cup of tea so to speak. I prefer other record players.
Although for sound recording, I'm very much into (more or less) vintage equipment such as Telefunken M5, M10, M20, Studer A80 and so on.
Sure I also have a CD player and a computer (to write this posting, for example), but do not really need them for music.
The CD player is only used when I cannot get a specific recording on LP.

Kind regards,
Markus

[pasini s]

Hello Markus,

thank you for your flattering words. Yes, I wrote a book about EMTs and own a small collection of those machines, which I use to listen to my collection of 6.000+ vinyl records. Of course I try to use them all in turns; now I'm listening to a 1978 BBC-version 950. Prices of classic EMTs are high nowadays: I could sell this BBC 950 today for almost the same money that I spent to purchase my 409. Please remember that they are high-quality machines with excellent sonic qualities (IMHO of course) and a comparable new TT may be much more expensive.

EMT Site Map

I also like to collect Studers (6 of them now, 2 A80s being now parked in my garage beside the 409), Telefunkens (both broadcast turntables and tape decks) and of course Nagras.

Dear Ashley, I don't think that EMT ever 'lost' to Panasonic, they were simply in a different price league. (Please remember that in 1976 a new 'standard', no-frills EMT 950 would cost in Germany almost as much as a VW Golf.) Whenever the budget allowed it, radio/TV corporations always bought EMTs because they have always been extremely good, sturdy, easy to use, nearly impossible to abuse and they needed little adjustment, so they worked flawlessly in the surgically clean audio rooms of the Italian RAI or in the studios of the Addis Abeba radio station. For the same reasons RAI, ORF, ZDF etc always preferred Nagras, Studers, Neumann to cheaper Japanese alternatives (RAI bought hundreds of EMTs and still use them), until digital music and CDs changed it all.

Nowadays the 409 is absorbing all my spare time so I do not listen much to records. Maybe I'll have some more time in my hands during winter when #7355 will be stripped in the body shop for a complete respray.

It's good to know that there are some serious audiophiles amongst Bristol collectors....

Ciao to you all,

Stefano

[Ashley James]

We're actually manufacturers! And very controversial amongst audiophiles because we've done a better job for a fraction of the price.

I understand and respect a love of and enthusiasm for old equipment and have a 400 to prove it, but I have to admit that I can't and never could understand why anyone might believe it's better than decent modern. If Music is the hobby, then why make it less accessible and more distorted. Audiophiles are a law unto themselves and most music is made on Apple Computers using Apple software and recordings have never sounded closer to the real thing in my view.

Old cars represent the art, the passion and the eccentricities of their creators as well as the skill of the craftsmen who built them and that I love. I see it in the old audio equipment you collect Stefano, but IMO it isn't in most audiophile gear because the companies aren't big enough to afford real talent, only egos.


Ashley

[Markus Berzborn]

Originally Posted by Ashley James

We're actually manufacturers! And very controversial amongst audiophiles because we've done a better job for a fraction of the price.

I respect all manufacturers, but think they should leave it to their current and prospective customers to decide who did the better job and why.

Kind regards,
Markus

[pasini s]

but IMO it isn't in most audiophile gear because the companies aren't big enough to afford real talent, only egos.

Dear Ashley, I fully agree with you! But now I think that we are going a little bit OT for a Bristol Cars Forum....

Thanks anyway

Stefano

[Ashley James]

Markus

We can show a reduction in distortion by a factor of one thousand over the sort of system that you might have and far more if you're using a turntable.

All the parts we use are sold on performance proven with measurement because that is how everything is judged and improvements shown by every manufacturer designing anything electronic. Only audiophiles think differently and we usually refer them to experiments done at Cambridge University that show how easily our ears are fooled. You need proof.

I'm not going to explain the benefits of my system on here, only point out that audiophiles are a small, rather marginalised group with beliefs and prejudices that haven't been taken seriously by professionals (where we sell some of our stuff) or the public at large for years. I'll happily give a list of forums where these people exchange views if anyone thinks I'm exaggerating and would like to judge for themselves, but as an engineering company we don't do things unless we can prove they work.
The hi fi industry is nearing it's end and it's not at all surprising in my view.

So that this post qualifies as "on Topic" and in addition to apologising for standing up for science as above, I'll own up to deserting work this afternoon to replace a rear wheel bearing and oil seal in my 400. The old one was Russian, so I'm not sure where that came from. I must say that I don't know how people enjoy old cars without totally rebuilding them. Anything I didn't do, I've subsequently had to do.

Ash