The Art of Clairtone

A while back we posted a little video about Clairtone, a Canadian electronics manufacturer known for their beautiful stereo systems in the 1960s (above). We love this video and when we researched Clairtone, we came across a book called, "The Art of Clairtone - The Making of a Design Icon" that highlights some of the amazing products produced by Clairtone.

Here's a description from Amazon:

For a decade, in the 1960s, Clairtone Sound Corporation captured the spirit of the times: sophisticated, cosmopolitan, liberated. From its modern oiled-walnut and teak stereos to its minimalist logos and promotional materials, Clairtone produced a powerful and enduring body of design work.

Founded in 1958 by two young Canadians, Peter Munk and David Gilmour, Clairtone quickly became known for its iconic designs and masterful advertising campaigns. Its acclaimed Project G stereo, with its space-age styling, epitomized the Swinging Sixties. Famously, Hugh Hefner owned a Project G. So did Frank Sinatra. Oscar Peterson affirmed that his music sounded as good on a G as it did live. In 1967, suggesting how deeply Clairtone’s G series had come to be identified with popular culture, the G2 appeared in The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.

The book is fantastic and available here from Amazon for $34.20. A great book for anyone that loves design and audio equipment.

Stax Earspeakers

A great pair of headphones is an absolute must for anyone into vinyl records. There's something about losing yourself in a record with a pair of solid headphones and experiencing the details you never heard before.

Japan-based Stax has been putting out some incredible electrostatic headphones since 1960. The unmistakable classic rectangular shape of their Lambda electrostatic "earspeakers" that date back to the late 1970s are sure to make a great addition to your analog setup. Four of their 7 electrostatic earspeakers (SR202 shown top right, SR303 shown top left, SR404, and SR404 Limited) feature this open-air design where the rectangular headphones are padded and angled slightly to optimize the sound that reaches your ear.

Yes, they're expensive and require their own 5-pin headphone amp (also expensive). A combination of the lowest price SR 202 + amp will set you back close to $1000. Here's a bit about Stax:

Stax Ltd. was founded in 1938. Twenty-two years later in 1960, Stax released their first electrostatic earspeaker, the Stax SR-1. Over the following thirty-six years Stax produced a variety of amplification, earspeaker, tonearm, CD player, DAC, phono cartridge and loudspeaker products. In 1995, fifty-five years after the company's foundation, Stax went bust. The company was revived in 1996 as the new STAX company.

So what exactly are electrostatic headphones?

Traditional headphone use a moving coil technology where a larger magnet creates a static electromagnetic field. An audio current is passed through a voice coil that is attached to the diaphragm. This reacts against the static electromagnetic field from the larger magnet, causing the diaphragm to move the art and thus create the sound.

In an electrostatic headphone, a thin, electrically charged diaphragm sits between two perforated metal electrode plates. An electrical sound signal is applied to the electrodes creating an electrical field. Depending on the polarity of this field, the diaphragm is drawn towards one of the plates. Air is forced through the perforations and combined with a continuously changing electrical signal driving the membrane, a sound wave is generated.

This design results in a better sound quality when compared to moving coil headphones.

Anyone have a pair of these and care to share more?

The Pro-Ject Jukebox

Look carefully at what seems like your standard Pro-Ject Debut III. You'll notice something a bit different. There's a little black unit suspended from the solid steel, red plinth with a knob in the center. Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed that it's a built in amplifier, you're almost there. It's a built in electronic speed control, a pre-amp and a digital amplifier, outputting up to 25w per channel.  All you need is a pair of speakers to plug into the gold plated connectors and you're off and running.

This is the all-in-one Pro-Ject Jukebox turntable. It aims to simplify your audio system with the turntable as the centerpiece. Overall, we like the idea of cleaning up the mess of wires and components and the Jukebox will deliver on that.

With the Jukebox, you can also plug up to three additional audio sources into the turntable and it includes a remote to switch between sources and adjust your volume. It is available in Black, Red, or White and comes with an Ortofon OM-5 cartridge.

I have yet to see this in US stores (or the Pro-Ject website) but I'd expect prices to be in the $500 - $600 $700 - $800 (According to Pro-Ject) range. We will keep you posted if we hear any updates. 

Weekly Roundup

In case you missed it, here's what we talked about last week:

• Hard Format loves new music artwork
• The DIY record holder - audience photos
• Steve Jobs on iTunes LP
• An interview with Weirdo Records
• Album cover art books
• The Numero Group
• Now live: My Analog Apartment updates
• The Vinyl Road Trip
• Concrete Stereo by Ron Arad

Concrete Stereo by Ron Arad

Last Sunday, we highlighted a turntable made entirely of paper. This Sunday, we came across the exact opposite - a turntable made of concrete. It's by renowned industrial designer and artist Ron Arad and was created back in 1983. Here's a bit about it from the Museum of Modern Art here in NYC:

The Concrete Stereo is another milestone in Arad’s work with readymades. A hi-fi range (record player, speakers, and amplifier) was first coated with protective resin and then encased in concrete slabs; soon afterward the concrete was partially chipped away, exposing the rusting steel beneath. At the time of this experiment Arad was interested in both concrete and electronics, and he enjoyed the unfamiliar juxtaposition of these components as well as the technique involved in uniting them; he has compared the uncomfortable combination of materials, both physical and semiotic, to Meret Oppenheim’s fur-covered teacup set. The stereo produced something less than high-quality sound—a surreal challenge to the sanctity of consumer electronics. Very few Concrete Stereos were made, but the idea was ripe for imitation, and knockoffs were soon appearing in novelty shops. This cooled Arad’s enthusiasm, although he still regards these works as objects of beauty.

If you happen to be in NYC and want to see the Concrete Stereo in person, you're in luck. There's a Ron Arad exhibition going on right now at the MoMa until October 16th. Learn more about it here.