JE Labs

Monday, May 14, 2018

Kutztown Radio Meet May 11 & 12 2018

All pictures were taken with a Fuji X-E1 camera + Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f1.9 lens

Radio shows around the country have continually diminished in scale. This Kutztown event, however, has become the biggest radio show in the east coast and is still growing!

There are still cheap tubes to be had if you're willing to get down on your knees and your hands dirty. But everything else is close to retail or eBay going rate.

Minty Altec 604D with the original paper suspension cone, IPC horns and Jensen field coils

Marantz 7, 10B & 8B

Rek O Kut LP743

Next time I went around, it was gone...

2 pairs of Heath W4 mono amps

I still remember cleaning and fixing these for Angela Instruments and I built my first pair of PP2A3 amps on these chassis

Scott 310B + 335 mpx

I listened to this combo in the 90s. I should've kept them. 😞

Fisher + Grommes

Early Audio Research D50 power amp

Altec tube type mono mixing console

Western Electric WE124 mono PP WE350B power amp

Holy Grail!

I go to this event mainly to hang out with old buddies like Chong and Larry R. Also made new friends with Francis S. who's been a frequent visitor to this blog and a dyed in the wool Western Electric/Altec enthusiast who has been carefully studying Altec 3000 tweeter repair.

Since the price was right, I adopted a single JBL D123.

Will it be as good or better than an Altec? Stay tuned...

More pics

Classic Corvette in the field

Friday, May 4, 2018

JE Labs Hi-Fi Man Cave 2018

From Attic Hi-Fi to Hi-Fi Man Cave

M42 camera bodies and lenses

A quartet of M42 SLRs

Between 2016-2017 I acquainted myself with these mechanical M42 SLR cameras and lenses. These four camera bodies left a lasting impression on me for personal, historical and sheer shooting pleasure along with the lenses I used them with. Aside from shooting film, I also adapted the lenses to my trusty Fuji X-E1.

Yashica Penta J + Yashinon 5cm f2

I have a special affinity for the Yashica Penta J since my dad taught me how to take pictures using this camera. This was the first M42 mount body produced by Yashica. It doesn't have a light meter and the shutter speeds are limited from 1/2-1/500 + B but the viewfinder is fairly bright (at par with the Pentax Spotmatic) assisted by a split image focusing screen. The standard Yashinon 5cm f2 lens is rather special and has caught the attention of aficionados which has driven its value up recently.

Pentax Spotmatic SP + Super Takumar 50mm f1.4

This is the camera most closely associated with the M42 mount. It gets more credit for popularizing the M42 screw mount than the much earlier Zeiss-developed Contax S later known as the Pentacon SLR, shown below. It is similar in size to the Yashica above with a similar spec'ed viewfinder but equipped with more comprehensive shutter speeds from 1s-1/1000 + B. The built-in light meter is broken on this flea market find. I bought this camera primarily because of the sought after Super Takumar 50mm f1.4.

Pentacon ZI + Isco-Gottingen Westagon 50mm f2
Pentacon F + CZJ Tessar 50mm f3.5

These two immediate descendants of the Contax S were manufactured in the former East Germany by Pentacon in the 1950s. They have a rather interesting shutter speed selector arrangement. There's a switch in the back which selects between slow (B-1/20) and fast (1/50-1/1000) shutter speeds. The shutter speed indicator wheel located behind a plastic window spins when the shutter is released. A very neat feature! Handling this camera is reminiscent of Leica screw mount bodies including the knob wind film advance. However, the compact and light body is ultimately let down by a rudimentary ground glass focusing viewfinder (tip: best used on a sunny day) and there's no instant mirror return. It was a time capsule shooting experience with these two cameras.

More info on Contax/Pentacon 35mm SLRs.

Fujica ST801 + Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8

A very sophisticated mechanical M42 camera, the Fujica ST801 was very much ahead of its time. It sports a compact body, bright viewfinder fitted with a split image prism, 1s-1/2000 (!) shutter speeds + B with a built-in light meter which uses a 6V battery that is still readily available. This is my pick of the lot!

Lesser Fujica siblings

The Fujica ST701 has a top speed of 1/1000 and the light meter requires the obsolete Mercury cell. While the entry level ST605's light meter works with modern batteries, the top shutter speed is only 1/750. Nevertheless, these two cameras share the same compact body and bright viewfinder with its top of the line brother - ST801.

M42 lenses

Fujinon 28mm f3.5

Quantaray 28mm f2.8

Vivitar 28mm f2.8
+
Fujinon 55mm f1.8

Soligor 35mm f2.8

Mir 1B
+

Helios 44M-4

Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f1.8

Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f2

Fujinon EBC 55mm f1.8

Mamiya Sekor 50mm f2

Pentacon 50mm f1.8

Yashinon 50mm f1.7

Good Light!

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Garrard 301 - minor restoration

ca. 2003

I acquired this early grey grease-bearing model at a Hamfest around '96. I was the only person willing to shell out $240, which was the firm asking price of an elderly gentleman.

Attic - ca. 2009

It travelled back to Manila with me in '08 where it had to endure the extreme humidity of the tropics. Despite the adverse conditions, its performance remained very stable during the 8 years spent there.

The original grey hammer tone finish had deteriorated due to corrosion so I asked my assistant to mask the important mechanical bits. 😉

I think she did a pretty good job. What do you think? 😁

I used Rust-oleum silver hammerite spray paint which is a lighter shade than the Garrard original.

I cleaned, flushed and re-packed the main bearing with 2 NGLI grease. The motor had no issues, so I just put a few drops of oil. Unlike the E50 motor in the Thorens TD124 which needs periodic motor servicing, I've never opened the motor on this 301.

When I acquired the unit, the power switch was already broken. I've had this spare speed selector switch in my parts bin for over 15 years courtesy of my buddy Joel. While waiting for the paint to cure, I cut and filed it down to function as a power switch.

Not a bad fit. 😎

I cleaned up 15 years of dust and soot build up on the plinth and then applied sealer and wax.

Here's to many more years of service! 🍻

Garrard 301 + TD124-II in the background

Sunday, March 25, 2018

XtremPro X1 USB DAC

I was too wound up after playing a gig one winter Sunday evening. Watching episodes of the Grand Tour over a couple shots of Ballantine Scotch Whiskey was not enough to relax my mind. So I ended up "window" shopping on Amazon.

Audio Silente parts for the Thorens TD124 + Mk. II

Thorens TD 124 Mk. I + Stax UA3NL

My Thorens TD 124 Mk. I and Mk. II have seen so much action and deserved pampering.

Conquering RFI in the 2C22/7193

Noisy and unstable 2C22/7193

Moving closer to civilization, this lovely sounding triode used as a voltage gain stage in my SE2A3 mono integrated amp had stability issues due to RFI.

Since I persist in using these antediluvian devices, I had to find a solution.

A 150 ohm 1/2W CC resistor with the leads cut short soldered in series with the grid cap (insulate with heat shrink tubing) >> shielded cable terminated by an RCA plug (shield connected only at the RCA jack side) >> RCA jack (barrel grounded to chassis) solved the stability issue.

A well behaved 2C22/7193

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Altec 32A, 32C, Emilar EH1210, EH800, EH500 and Faital Pro STH100

+

This is a cumulative report on horns I listened to and tested from May 2016 until the end of 2017. All the tests were done through the mono hifi rig using the above Altec 802 compression driver fitted with a GPA 34852 diaphragm + an Altec 414A in a repurposed Altec 861 cabinet running in full-range mode tied together by a 6dB/octave high pass crossover/EQ hinged at 2500 Hz.