Welcome to Walrus's Golden Oldies.

This section is just for fun and will hopefully be updated regularly. The title is a bit misleading because we hope to post all manner of hi fi related bits and pieces here - some of them most definitely not "Golden" (tarnished brass, perhaps?) - but all interesting in their own way. Some went on to become famous, some were highly respected in their time and some ... well, no comment! In fact, Walrus finds the "no comment" ones the most interesting and fun! We would love you to contribute to this section, so if you own something you want to describe and maybe have the manuals and/or pictures for and you have a scanner, please send them in for inclusion. Old magazine adverts and articles are also welcome.

Lets kick off with the Burne-Jones parallel tracking arm (click on image for full size picture).

We haven't found many people who've heard of the B.J., but since it must be nearly 40 years old, I suppose that's not surprising! The nearest (slightly) more modern equivalent we can think of was the Garrard Zero 100 turntable from the '70s, which featured a parallel tracking arm using a similar arrangement of linkages to provide the variable geometry. When you consider the precision of modern tonearm bearings, you wonder how this amazing structure with it's many bearings (of 1950's quality) ever tracked at all - but I suppose with typical tracking weights of the time (1 Ounce +), this was a fairly unimportant factor. Although we didn't intend to feature it, the add-on "omni-directional" treble loudspeaker underneath also looks fascinating - shades of the Sonab, perhaps?

What about the perfect tweeter, with no moving mass ...(click image for full advert)

The Ionophone tweeter is far better known; in fact there was an article in a recent hifi magazine about it. The story behind it is fascinating, with the idea preceding the required technology needed for successful manufacture. In essence, the audio signal is superimposed onto a continuous high frequency / high voltage "spark" (Ionic discharge) and hence becomes audible. Most of the initial difficulties were due to the extreme temperatures involved and the slight but audible hiss from the corona discharge, the latter being solved by using a very high frequency to generate the discharge. The first UK built version was shown at the 1965 Audio Fair, and some details of the specification were as follows. Single EL360 oscillator valve, working at 27 MHz with 15 W anode dissipation. The speaker was reckoned to match a bass/mid unit fed with 20 W maximum. The crossover point was set at 3.5 KHz and the response extended to beyond 50 KHz! A small quantity of Ozone was released as a by-product of the discharge and was deemed harmless, producing a slight smell near the horn mouth! Hmm, wonder what they would say about that these days?!

Or a true digital amplifier from 1964? ...(click image for full advert)

Sir Clive Sinclair has always been innovative, and this product was genuinely years ahead of it's time (technologically speaking, not sonically - although to be fair, we've never heard it!). The principle was P.W.M., enabling a wide frequency response, good transient response and especially, no neccessity for a heatsink and therefore very compact size. The advertised power output was exaggerated due to various misunderstandings between the design team, Sinclair personnel and the advertising agency! Well, when have advertised power ratings ever reflected reality - nothing new here!

Please send any comments, or your own contribution to Walrus Systems:

E-mail: oldies@walsys.demon.co.uk
Phone: 0171 724 7224 (+44 171 ... from outside UK)
Fax: 0171 724 4347 (+44 171 ... from outside UK)
Mail: 11 New Quebec St, London W1H 7DD.

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