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Does anyone remember Pete's Electronics on Arkwright street?

Got my first stereo there in 1967. I was going to buy one of those stereograms, but Pete got me into some seperate stuff. Amp,

turntable, speakers etc. Better sound and no more money.

Last I heard he had moved to Bobber's Mill and become more upscale, "Peter Anson Electronics." Anyway he was a great guy and gave a fair deal and lots of free advice.

BTW I'm not related to him. :-)

It became a never ending pursuit of a more powerful amp, needing better speakers, which would mean a better tone arm and moving to a detached house so the neighbors wouldn't complain about my choice of music.

Still into that stuff to this day. Maybe I'd hear it better with a hearing aid though? :-)

Dave

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That's strange I remain almost totally un-shocked, perhaps I've developed an immunity to persistent moaning!    

Good point K j.  I've said before if one of us dies, no one else knows unless their relatives can access NS.  The rest of us just wonder why they quit posting.  Mrs. L has my password and instructions

Yes I think he was into B & O in later years. Is the store still running? I would imagine if it is it would be run by another family member or something. I'm sure Pete would be getting about li

Interesting, I remember that small electronics shop, Arky left hand side going out of town.

Never knew he became 'Peter Anson' The B&O dealer I presume?

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Yes I think he was into B & O in later years.

Is the store still running?

I would imagine if it is it would be run by another family member or something. I'm sure Pete would be getting about like all of us in these days.

Dave

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No, the shop is something else now.

And, I never knew the Pete on Arkwright st was Peter Anson, where incidentally, I also got my very first amp, a Tripletone "convertable" thus called because although it was a mono 8watt amp, you could join 2 together, with some metal controller things, that made the 2 amps work as one, bridging the volume, bass treble controls etc, although I never did do that, being happy as I was, until the hifi upgrade bug bit me, and has been biting ever since!

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No, the shop is something else now.

And, I never knew the Pete on Arkwright st was Peter Anson, where incidentally, I also got my very first amp, a Tripletone "convertable" thus called because although it was a mono 8watt amp, you could join 2 together, with some metal controller things, that made the 2 amps work as one, bridging the volume, bass treble controls etc, although I never did do that, being happy as I was, until the hifi upgrade bug bit me, and has been biting ever since!

Still Biting eh Craig?

I still have those old Wharfedales. They still sound as good as the day I bought e'm to me. Still have the Thorens TD 150 too with a Shure V15 III. Those old LPs still sound a lot better than these brittle CD's to me anyway.

I currently have a Rotel amp that can run in stereo or bridged mono to double the output. I am currently using it in bridged mono to drive a subwoofer. Very satisfying floor shaking bass.

Guess I'm stuck in a timewarp. no2

My late wife never could quite understand the desire to constantly upgrade. Said it sounded fine to her when I still had the old Garrard with a ceramic cartridge but you could never get the bass sounds out of those old ceramics. Then when I put a magnetic cartridge in the Garrard you could hear the turntable rumble, thus the Thorens. A never ending cycle but lots of fun anyway.

Dave

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A V15 111...on a standard Thorens tone arm???? My God man, what are you doing???? I was told it was blasphemous to use a V15 111 on anything less than a 9" SME!! !faint! Now, remortgage the cat and go check how much the current SME arms are!

Joking apart, which Wharfedales do you have, I had a set of Super Lintons which I thought were great........until I got the B & W's....and then, apart from a few years gap...swop.....swop......swop...swop..................At the moment im awaiting a Theta dac to add into the system.

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When you think about it Vinyl and its playing equipment was crap, and not an ideal forma for Hi Fidelity reproduction.

We spent hundreds of pounds trying to reduce the problems caused by a a flawed format.

Why the hell I don't know, the pops crackles and rumbles, gave the format its attraction.

I still have the Pioneer SX636 tuner/amp & PL12d Deck.

I was in the old Canterbury Record store in Pasadena Ca. last night, and picked up

a rare James Taylor LP for 99c, Mint condition, and a 1960's Platters LP for $2.99.

Must get the old stuff working again.

canterb.jpg

www.canterburyrecords.com

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I don't know much about all this V15 111 malarkey ,I just used to go with the snap crackle and pop of the good old Dansette (I can still smell it now) Eventually buying a stacking system (All in one) in the early 80's (Still in my loft now) I inherited an AIWA system a couple of years ago (It wouldn't be a cheap one as it was my father in laws and he never does things by halves) and this is brilliant, I can play my old Beatles L.P.s on it and the snap crackle and pop is gone just like it was digitally remastered

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A V15 111...on a standard Thorens tone arm???? My God man, what are you doing???? I was told it was blasphemous to use a V15 111 on anything less than a 9" SME!! !faint! Now, remortgage the cat and go check how much the current SME arms are!

Joking apart, which Wharfedales do you have, I had a set of Super Lintons which I thought were great........until I got the B & W's....and then, apart from a few years gap...swop.....swop......swop...swop..................At the moment im awaiting a Theta dac to add into the system.

Works great Craig! Still use the thing! Could very well be blasphemous but nobody told me. !jumping!

I still have the Super Lintons. Poor old ears probably wouldn't notice a lot of difference if I mortgaged the dog for a new pair of speakers. My kids will probably give them away after I have gone or more likely get a few bucks for 'em on Ebay.

Now will somebody please tell me what the heck is a Theta Dac?????

Dave

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When you think about it Vinyl and its playing equipment was crap, and not an ideal forma for Hi Fidelity reproduction.

We spent hundreds of pounds trying to reduce the problems caused by a a flawed format.

Why the hell I don't know, the pops crackles and rumbles, gave the format its attraction.

I still have the Pioneer SX636 tuner/amp & PL12d Deck.

I was in the old Canterbury Record store in Pasadena Ca. last night, and picked up

a rare James Taylor LP for 99c, Mint condition, and a 1960's Platters LP for $2.99.

Must get the old stuff working again.

canterb.jpg

www.canterburyrecords.com

That was all part of the attraction of the hobby to me Mick.

Coaxing the last ounce of sound out of those stubborn grooves. Each audio fix bringing nirvana until the next innovation came down the pipe.

CDs sound good and I have bought many over the years but there is just something sterile about sticking the shiny plastic disc into a slot and pushing the buttons for whatever track you want. Convenient, yes. Satisfying, to me, somehow no.

I guess us dinosaurs never change that's why we are going extinct. !inthebin!

Dave

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Dave, on the contrary to the dinosaur bit, well, about turntables that is, there has been a huge upturn in manufactureres knocking them out, especially in the higher end, £1000 plus. In fact I still use a Thorens TD 160 super, complete with mandatory 9" SME, and a V15 ! Actually, it is relegated to the bedroom system, as the ferkin cats liked to sit on its cover.

As for the Aiwa system not reproducing the snap crackle and pops, its probably because of its limited frequency range! !rotfl! Sorry, im not a fan of al in one, or indeed "stacking systems" Im a hifi purist (read fool for that ! )

Now, the Theta dac, is an American piece of high end kit, basically, any cd player contains a transport, to spin the cd, and a digital to analogue converter (dac) and its widely agreed that the best way to ring that extra ounce of fidelity out of your kit, is to have a seperate dac, and either use a standard (2 in 1) cd player as the transport, or use a stand alone transporter, that needs a seperate dac, otherwise you wouldnt hear anything!.................All clear now?

And Micks final Dolby comment, I used to like to listen to dolpy processed tapes without the dolby switch in, giving the music an added top end boost!

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As for the Aiwa system not reproducing the snap crackle and pops, its probably because of its limited frequency range! !rotfl! Sorry, im not a fan of al in one, or indeed "stacking systems" Im a hifi purist (read fool for that ! )

Believe me this ain't no cheap stacking system, it's in six seperate parts ,turntable,6 stack C.D. changer, double cassette deck (With Dolby), radio, yer actual graffic equaliser, and something called a D.S.P. Digital Sound Processor, which is the magic piece of kit that gets rid of the "Snap, Crackle and Pop"

Along with 5 speaker suround sound it's a rather juicy toy .Unfortunately all it gets used for at the moment is for our Charlottes Barbie Ballerina C.D.s and when Adam is in the mood for mischief and manages to turn the radio on full blast (No station just white noise) and scares the living poo out of every body

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logo.gif

http://www.dolby.com

Yes Craig, Dolby Labs in Burbank Ca, is near to where I am staying this week, developed the boost for the recording of high

frequencies on tape. Probably working with the film industry here. They are next to Warner Bros studios.

It was a great system, but surely if you dont use the Dolby decode cycle, you could get the same effect from any source by turning up the treble?

I'm a Bass man myself.

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Hi everyone, glad to be here. I remember Pete's shop and his move to Bobbers Mill. What about the surplus shop on Arkwright street? Used to buy stuff from there too. In 69/70 I built a sinclair Z50 audio amp and the

preamp specified in the booklet. I liked it anyway! I us3ed a couple of 12 inch speakers out of some old valve radios and stuffed them in plywood cabs - all sadly lost now. I loved the look of the Sinclair Neoteric. Frequented the Slipper in WB most weeks at that time also. Other similar shops of the period were bozzeyes (Universal Electronics) and Damon Electronics.

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Dave, on the contrary to the dinosaur bit, well, about turntables that is, there has been a huge upturn in manufactureres knocking them out, especially in the higher end, £1000 plus. In fact I still use a Thorens TD 160 super, complete with mandatory 9" SME, and a V15 ! Actually, it is relegated to the bedroom system, as the ferkin cats liked to sit on its cover.

As for the Aiwa system not reproducing the snap crackle and pops, its probably because of its limited frequency range! !rotfl! Sorry, im not a fan of al in one, or indeed "stacking systems" Im a hifi purist (read fool for that ! )

Now, the Theta dac, is an American piece of high end kit, basically, any cd player contains a transport, to spin the cd, and a digital to analogue converter (dac) and its widely agreed that the best way to ring that extra ounce of fidelity out of your kit, is to have a seperate dac, and either use a standard (2 in 1) cd player as the transport, or use a stand alone transporter, that needs a seperate dac, otherwise you wouldnt hear anything!.................All clear now?

And Micks final Dolby comment, I used to like to listen to dolpy processed tapes without the dolby switch in, giving the music an added top end boost!

Thanks Craig.

It sounded like the name for a space alien or a social disease!!!

I guess when we approach these levels we are starting to hit the law of diminishing returns. I'm not sure at my age that I would really be able to hear much difference in the system which is only as good as its weakest link anyway.

I had noticed that there are some pretty high end turntables out there again also that for may purists the tube/valve amp is coming back into style but certainly at prices that I can't really afford.

So I suppose what was old is now new again.

Dave

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Yep, old is the new.....erm.....new! Whilst not having a valve amp, the opposite is true actually, I have what is called a semi digital amp, they term it as class d, which describes what type of amplification it uses, but, my cd player has a tube output (valve) which helps give it an analogue sound.

I must admit to spending an absolute fortune on my kit, but, I dont smoke, have no vices and I dont drink, the latter 2 parts of of that statement being total lies!

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I remember Peter Anson's shop in Arkwright Street very well. I was a frequent visitor there and I recall on one occasion Noel Edmonds was in there buying something or other (I think he was working at Radio Nottingham at the time).

When the business moved to Bobbers Mill I got to know Peter's partner, Graham Richards very well. In fact my wife and I used to have social get togethers from time to time wiith Graham and his wife.

I bought my first colour TV from them. It was a Tandberg, which went wrong quite soon and they changed it for a Bang & Olufsen. This was a brilliant set and converted me to B&O. Now, of course, B&O stuff is so expensive that it's beyond the reach of many people (including me).

Another item I bought from them was a pair of Bowers and Wilkins hybrid speakers. The bass speaker was in a reflex enclosure, but the mid/treble was covered by an electrostatic unit mounted on top of the bass cabinet.

I have lived in Sussex for the past 20 years, but I visited Nottingham two or three times a year, when I stayed with friends in West Bridgford. Unfortunately they have both died within two years of each other (Brenda as recently as last November). The changes in Nottingham are hard to get to grips with. I did take a tram trip from the Midland Station to Hucknall two years ago, being a tram enthusiiast. Amazing how that's gone full circle from trams to trolley buses to motor buses and now back to trams. I recall when they were doing road repairs on Long Row in the 50s, the original tramlines were exposed. They had merely covered them up and not taken them out. Cheaper I suppose.

I stumbled across this website a few days ago quite by chance and the Peter Anson name caught my eye. Incidentally, although I am miles away, I watch the local TV news programme at 6.30 East Midlands today to keep in touch with what's happening in Nottingham and its environs.

Hope this gets through.

Ian

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Welcome Ian

Seems you keep up with the Lingo too :)

Where are you now

Looks like me might have a HiFi Forum here soon.

Which Reminds me, in the early 70's I went to a Hi Fi Sho in Harrogate

The main retailers and manufacturers had taken over most of the rooms in Several

Harrogate hotel.

Big following in those days

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Welcome Ian.

Glad to hear of someone else who remembers Pete's.

Good suggestion about the Hi Fi forum Mick.

Went to that Hi-fi show in Harrogate in the late 60s had a great time.

Dave

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In `62 and `63 I moved into the `Hi-Fi` arena with an old mono arm, a valve amplifier I had purchased by mail-order from Practical Wireless and a speaker cabinet that I had constructed at school. This served as the `Sound System` for the youth club that used to run in the hall up at the school next to Colwick woods on a friday night. This was mono of course but it served its purpose well and I thought I did O.K. for a 14 year old. I also repaired an old radio and we used to listen to various programmes in another room whilst dancing was going on up the passageway. The boys just stood around and talked whilst the girls would dance with each other !!!. I never did purchase any components, I used to obtain them all from tossed out old radios and T.V. sets. 6BM8`s were easily available and a couple of them would give you a good phase splitter and a massive 5 watts of sound. They were good days weren`t they.

I still own and run P.A. systems for Folk Festivals out here in Aus but I have had to downsize the speaker cabinets due to practical stacking reasons for a 60 year old !!!!

All the best Andrew.

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Welcome Ian

Seems you keep up with the Lingo too :)

Where are you now

Looks like me might have a HiFi Forum here soon.

Which Reminds me, in the early 70's I went to a Hi Fi Sho in Harrogate

The main retailers and manufacturers had taken over most of the rooms in Several

Harrogate hotel.

Big following in those days

Agh, would part of the show have been at The Hotel Majestic in Harrogate, cos if it was, there, Id have been there as a teenager with my boss, and we showed Fisher of America (when it was still a quality brand ) Rabco, makers of the parallel tracking turntable and arm, and, I recall the little glass Hiball 750 speakers

What a small world!

Btw, got my dac last week, and it really has upped the game in my set up! The only problem is, it starts the itch again, even after its been scratched! Hifi folk will know what I mean!

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The system I always coveted was a Marantz, never could afford one, then when we moved to California way back in 89, I bought one at Monkey Wards scratch and dent warehouse. Cost me getting on for $800 for the amp, tuner, tape deck, CD player, belt drive turntable and speakers. Alas it wasn't as good as the older American made units, although it still runs well to these tired ears.

I do have an older solid state amp here in the office hooked up to a very old pair of "Ratshack" (Tandy) 25 watt speakers, and even those old speakers produce the sweetest sound I've ever heard from any speakers. One project for the future is to make a pair of new speaker cabinets for those speakers, exactly the same dimensions etc to replace the old tired looking cabinets they are in now.

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Does anyone remember going to the annual Hi Fi event at the Albany Hotel, where all the local Hi Fi shops used to show off the latest gear in the top floor penthouses?

I think Radio Trent had just started and I remember seeing John Peters do a live show from there.

Earth Wind and Fire were playing in one of the rooms IIRC as they were quite popular at the time

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