Comes this collection of audio products. If you want to talk about retro, =
how about the steam powered turntable. I'm sure Gary will like the take on=
omni-directional radiating speakers. Taken one at a time, I think there's=
enough discussion material for a very long time, or at the least, things t=
hat make you go
hmmmmmmm.


[ A URL was missing in the original article, but was
supplied shortly afterward in a followup. The second
article follows: -- dsr ]

are located at http://www.mh-audio.nl/News/default.asp

My spidey sense is a bit off today.

Barkingspyder wrote:
> Comes this collection of audio products. If you want to talk about
> retro, how about the steam powered turntable. I'm sure Gary will
> like the take on omni-directional radiating speakers. Taken one at a
> time, I think there's enough discussion material for a very long
> time, or at the least, things that make you go
> hmmmmmmm.
>
>
> [ A URL was missing in the original article, but was
> supplied shortly afterward in a followup. The second
> article follows: -- dsr ]
>
> are located at http://www.mh-audio.nl/News/default.asp
>
> My spidey sense is a bit off today.

Thanks for the mention Barking, but no, these are not all that unique minds.
Pierce will probably be next up to bat with a dissertation on the
unsuitability of cardboard for speakers, and the Duevel omnis are sort of a
step in the right direction, but I would like to take on Wilson Audio.

Watch the video - what a totally clueless "design" team! By now you all may
know my spiel - that there is no theory for how to approach loudspeaker
design in the quest for the realistic reproduction of auditory perspective -
stereo theory. I can stand here and tell all who will listen that what we
hear are the Big Three - radiation pattern, room positioning, and acoustical
qualities of the room, and they will not hear me, as if I am ****ing in the
wind. NOT A WORD about radiation pattern - of a LOUDSPEAKER they are trying
to DESIGN in this whole video. Can any of you explain this to me? Wilson
goes to a live concert and memorizes the sound and comes to the lab and
tries to reproduce that with drivers and crossovers and computers and says
not a word about the FIRST TWO of The Big Three, and as for room acoustics
required for good sound, all they do is have three rooms of various
qualities that they test their monstrosities in to see if they can come up
with a crossover that doesn't sound too bad in any of them.

I'm at the end of my "splainin" rope. Please either read my Image Model
Theory paper or go back through the What We Can Hear and Mind Stretchers
threads.

Gary Eickmeier

> "Barkingspyder" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Comes this collection of audio products. If you want to talk about retro,
> how about the steam powered turntable. I'm sure Gary will like the take
> on omni-
> directional radiating speakers. Taken one at a time, I think there's
> enough discussion material for a very long time, or at the least, things
> that make you go
> hmmmmmmm. located at http://www.mh-audio.nl/News/default.asp

Of course this is about audio as art, and involves some pretty
strangely-applied technology.

The fact that the steam powered turntable was never made practical says it
all. That particular piece crudely merges some existing pieces and seems to
involve more visual mashing together than art or craftsmanship.

But as art, it is a lot of fun.

On Mon, 23 Jul 2012 05:44:50 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article <(E-Mail Removed)>):

>> "Barkingspyder" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Comes this collection of audio products. If you want to talk about retro,
>> how about the steam powered turntable. I'm sure Gary will like the take
>> on omni-
>> directional radiating speakers. Taken one at a time, I think there's
>> enough discussion material for a very long time, or at the least, things
>> that make you go
>> hmmmmmmm. located at http://www.mh-audio.nl/News/default.asp
>
> Of course this is about audio as art, and involves some pretty
> strangely-applied technology.
>
> The fact that the steam powered turntable was never made practical says it
> all. That particular piece crudely merges some existing pieces and seems to
> involve more visual mashing together than art or craftsmanship.
>
> But as art, it is a lot of fun.
>
>
>

At a CES show, in the late 1970's, some company was showing a spring-wound
phonograph. Their take on it was that the spring motor was quieter than an
electric motor(!) and that the noise an electric motor put on the line could
be heard subliminally when records were played. Their literature advertised
that the player could play an entire side at 33-1/3 RPM on one "wind-up"! I
never saw it on the market, nor did it ever show-up at another CES show. Just
goes to show that some people will try anything to pull the wool over the
eyes of the gullible audiophile. I wonder if this guy went on to sell cables
and interconnects that "improve the sound of one's system"?

"Audio Empire" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> At a CES show, in the late 1970's, some company was showing a spring-wound
> phonograph. Their take on it was that the spring motor was quieter than an
> electric motor(!) and that the noise an electric motor put on the line
> could
> be heard subliminally when records were played.

The usual problem with all-mechanical energy sources like this is
maintaining an exact speed without adding short term variations (wow,
flutter).

> Their literature advertised
> that the player could play an entire side at 33-1/3 RPM on one "wind-up"!

Nothing special.

> I never saw it on the market, nor did it ever show-up at another CES
> show. Just
> goes to show that some people will try anything to pull the wool over the
> eyes of the gullible audiophile. I wonder if this guy went on to sell
> cables
> and interconnects that "improve the sound of one's system"?

Intersting. An idea so bad that even audiophiles rejected it! ;-)

On Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:02:56 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article <(E-Mail Removed)>):

> "Audio Empire" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> At a CES show, in the late 1970's, some company was showing a spring-wound
>> phonograph. Their take on it was that the spring motor was quieter than an
>> electric motor(!) and that the noise an electric motor put on the line
>> could
>> be heard subliminally when records were played.
>
> The usual problem with all-mechanical energy sources like this is
> maintaining an exact speed without adding short term variations (wow,
> flutter).

Well, of course. But this "manufacturer" had thought of that, obviously. The
platter rim was heavily weighted and balanced and the spring motor had a
mechanical governor on it, but I don't know what kind because it was in a
machined aluminum canister. It was probably a flying ball governor or some
variation thereon. Ultimately, though it was a pointless exercise. The
people behind this "notion" had invented a problem (noisy electric motors)
that didn't really exist, and then came up with an exclusive "cure" for the
problem. It reminds me of these IEC "Mains Cable" manufacturers who take
oscilloscope photos of the line noise on a standard instrument grade lEC line
cord with the gain turned up on the scope to show amplitudes of .000001
volts, full scale, and then publish the pictures without any reference on
them to show how bad the problem of line noise is, and then show another
oscilloscope photo of ostensibly the same component with one of their $5000
IEC cords (as big as a baby's forearm) which sows this noise much attenuated,
and again with no reference as to the scope's sensitivity and no mention of
the actual amplitudes involved. In other words, again, make up a non-existent
problem, and then pretend that your product solves it . Classic marketing to
gullible audiophiles.
>
>> Their literature advertised
>> that the player could play an entire side at 33-1/3 RPM on one "wind-up"!
>
> Nothing special.

Sure, but that 'table had to have that feature or the product would be
useless. And, believe me, it's the first question that comes to mind when
contemplating a product like that.

>> I never saw it on the market, nor did it ever show-up at another CES
>> show. Just
>> goes to show that some people will try anything to pull the wool over the
>> eyes of the gullible audiophile. I wonder if this guy went on to sell
>> cables
>> and interconnects that "improve the sound of one's system"?
>
> Intersting. An idea so bad that even audiophiles rejected it! ;-)

Ultimately, good product or not, it was a useless product, that very few
would buy. especially at the $3000 price they were projecting for it at the
time (1983?).