1976 Sony WEGA Concept 51K

Ahh the good old days when Sony made some amazing products. Here we have the 1976 Sony Wega Concept 51K all-in-one turntable, tuner, and tape player. It was designed by German-American industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger. Here's a bit about him from Wikipedia:

At age 25 Esslinger finished studies at the Fachhochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd in Germany and started his own design agency, later renamed frog design. For his first client, German avantgarde consumer electronics company Wega, he created the first "full plastics" color TV and HiFi series "Wega system 3000". His work for Wega won him instant international fame. In 1974, Esslinger was hired by Sony - Sony also acquired Wega shortly after - and he was instrumental in creating a global design image for Sony, especially with the Sony Triniton and personal music products. The Sony-Wega Music System Concept 51K was chosen by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

More photos of the 51K available here at Gizmodo.

New takes on the classic milk crate

The good old plastic milk crate is easily the simplest, cheapest way to store your vinyl records. This weekend, I came across two interesting takes on the classic milk crate over at Urban Outfitters.

On the left, we have a cast aluminium version ($98 here) and on the right, a simple wooden box with the sketch of a milk crate on the outside ($38 here).

While they're priced too high to store all of my records, I like the idea of having one nice crate out in the open that I can move around while the rest of my records are on the shelf.

Blue Note: Album Cover Art

For fans of Blue Note album covers and the work of Reid Miles, there's a great little book (7" square, 288 pages) you may want to pick up. It's available here on Amazon.

Thorens TD 309

I'm a big fan of this Thorens TD 309, the latest model from the Swiss manufacturer of high end audio and turntables.

Yes, it's beautiful, but what makes this turntable unique is the suspension system tucked away in the three feet. Here's a bit from their preview site:

The novel sub-chassis system of the TD 309 allowed us to optimally distribute the weight of the turntable, achieving perfect balance in both mechanical and aesthetic terms. Form and function work in harmony to make the TD 309 a turntable that is guaranteed to reveal the magic of analogue replay.

It's scheduled to be released in September of 2009. US pricing has not been announced but the projected price in Europe was 1000 - 2000 Euros.

Anyone at Thorens want to send me one?

via AVguide

Documentary: Vinyl Lovers

Vinyl Lovers from Jack Somerville on Vimeo.