409-371 History

[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

[TLF799R]

Blimey, I thought I was argumentative but I've never scrapped over what I
assume, under the mass of jargon, is ONLY a record player!!!

Philippa

[Ashley James]

Philippa

If you try an audiophile forum, you'll see that it's worse than a third world war might be! Scientist like us get loads of stick from characters who can hear the difference between mains cables and all sorts of other things. Hopefully Markus and I can declare a truce and leave an arena for less controversial matters Bristol.

It's probably twenty years since I played a record, everything is from computers by wireless now and controlled by iPods or iPhones.

Ash

[pasini s]

Dear Ashley

(you can answer me privately if you wish) what components are you manufacturing? I am always interested in new audio stuff designed by real enthusiasts, and you seem one (as Markus surely is, of course.)

A little audio-based point of interest for Bristol enthusiasts:

Bristol 409: the dashboard

Under the dashboard of my 409 you might see the small, delightful Tannoy-branded fader control for the 3 main speakers. As my custom-built Hug corner speakers use huge Tannoy Gold Monitor speakers, I feel like this switch helps me feel some of the ambience of my home hi-fi systems (with its Quad IIs, McIntosh 275, McIntosh 2205, Telefunken ELAs etc) in my classic Bristol. I love this switch.

Thank you again and sorry for boring non-hi-fi-listeners with this discussion, but Britain is one of the cradles of real hi-fi reproduction and tube Quads, full-range Tannoys and idler-wheel Garrards have always been favourites of classic audiophiles with the same type of raffish appeal that Bristol have on classic car enthusiasts.

Cheers

Stefano

(P.S.: sorry for the very poor English,.... I hope that you will catch my drift anyway.)

[Ashley James]

Stefano

Details sent privately to avoid the wrath of Kevin!

I have Radiomobile Model 100s in my Bentley and my 400 and have restored both, but the programs are dire, so I haven't bothered with an FM conversion.

I recommend Radio Dismuke for fun and Spotify for music lovers who don't mind parting with a tenner a month. Some people chuck their CDs etc and just use it for all their listening. It works on an iPhone too.

I have Apple TV so that when I'm listening to music a mosaic of Bristol and Bentley pictures scroll across the screen to keep my interest. Here are some of them Flickr: Bristols and Bentleys' Photostream

Ash