Classic audio

• ANGELA INSTRUMENTS, 10830 Guildford Road, Suite 309, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701, USA (00 1 301-725 0451, fax 00 1 301-776 2892). Tube-type hi-fi gear, test equipment, books and components.
• ANTIQUE AUDIO, 5555 N. Lamar, H-105, Austin, TX 78751, USA (00 1 512-467 0304, fax 00 1 512-467 2944). Components, kits and books.
• ANTIQUE AUDIO OF MICHIGAN, 41560 Schoolcraft, Plymouth, MI 48170, USA. Components for rebuilding old amplifiers.
• ARGIRIADIS ANALOGUE ELECTRONICS. Tel: 0208 881 1623. Web Site: www.tube-electronics.co.uk Specialist in valve amplification. Workshop in north London - repair services especially electronic restoration of vintage amps. Guitar amps, valve outboard and audio designed and built to your specification.
• ARMSTRONG HI-FI VIDEO SERVICES Ltd, 32a Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, London, E17 6HJ (020-8523 0051 or 0023, fax 020-8523 4395). Service for all Amstrong equipment, including valve-era products.
• AUDIO CITY USA, Box 802, Northridge, CA 91328-0802, USA (00 1 818-701 5633). Buy/sell high-end consumer and professional tube-type amplifiers and speaker units.
• AUDIO EMPORIUM, (John Dempsey) at DAVE MANN MUSIC, 123/125 Mansfield Road, Nottingham, NG1 3FQ (0115-947 6911). Large shop concentrating on musical instruments but goodly selection of valve-era and other classic hi-fi (Quad, Leak, etc)..
• AUDIO GOLD, 308-310 Park Rd, London, N8 8LA. (0208 341 9007, fax: 0208 341 0183). Web site: www.audiogold.co.uk  A specialist hi-fi shop in North London, dealing in older equipment across the board - inc. valves, 1970 - 80's gear/speakers etc.
• AUDIO LABORATORIES, 3 Kildare Terrace, Leeds, LS12 1DB (0113-244 0378). Full range of mechanical and electronic engineering services for restoring communications and hi-fi equipment from a small amplifier to a transmitter 6ft. tall. Established 1976. Service specialist, from the oldest valves to the latest digital laser disc.
• B&W AUDIO SERVICES, 135 High Street North, Dunstable, LU6 1JN (01582-663391). Record player stylus and cartridge specialists. Mail order.
• AUDIOTOOLS.COM Click here for their web site. This somewhat quixotic site has references that wander all over the field of current and classic audio devices and link out to old manufacturers' info, collectors' info, parts sources (who bought all the parts for Thorens TD-124s?), etc. A great nostalgia trip if nothing else.
• CEDAR ELECTRONICS, Cedar House, 12 Isbourne Way, Broadway Road, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5NS (01242-602402). Heathkit spares & service.
• GODSTONE HI-FI. John Chinnock. 01883 743402. Audio Repairs. 40 yr experience.
• CLASSIQUE SOUNDS, 61 Aylestone Drive, Leicester, LE2 8QE (0116-283 5821). Refurbished vintage products plus restoration service.
• COLLECT RADIO (UK) Ltd., Buyers and sellers of all vintage/collectable Hi-Fi and audio equipment. Leading suppliers of vintage SME Tonearms and all component parts. Tel: 01803-856950. Email collectradio@aol.com Ebay i.d. collectradio
• CONCORDANT AUDIO , 14 Glyn Close, Barwell, LE9 8GL (01455-43752) Rebuilds Leak Troughline tuners.
• CRYSTAL CLEAR SYSTEMS Flat 2, 18 Canfield Gardens, London, NW6 3JY (020-7328 9275, fax 020-7833 3008, mobile 0831-860499). Interesting early valves and hi-fi bought and sold.
• CARTRIDGE MAN (020-8688 6565). Cartridge and stylus specialist, re-tipping service.
• DIAMOND STYLUS COMPANY (01492-860881). Cartridge and stylus specialist, re-tipping service.
• EMPORIUM, 28 St Nicholas Street, Diss, Norfolk (01379-650744, fax same number). Vintage hi-fi equipment.
• EXPERT STYLUS COMPANY, PO Box 3 Ashstead Surrey KT21 2QD. Tel. : 01372 276604 Fax : 01372 276147 Web reference here. Stylus replacement service for all types of cartridge, including precise profiling to suit 78s from different periods.
• FALCON ACOUSTICS (01508-78272). Publications on valve hi-fi.
• Neil FAIRLEY. 64 Hidcote Road, Oadby, Leicester UK LE2 5PF. Servicing of valve audio equipment ranging from a quick safety check to a comprehensive restoration. All work is guaranteed. Happy to offer free estimates and advice. Email Neil Fairley on neilf@freeuk.com or call 07986 495793.
• FERROGRAPH Ltd, Suite 7, Cookson House, River Drive, South Shields, NE33 1JX. A full repair and documentation service is available on all Ferrograph products, also Revox and Uher. Refurbished products bought and sold, also a users/enthusiasts group.
• GRAMEX AUDIO, 25 Lower Marsh, London, SE1 7AB (020-7401 3830, fax 020-7928 3999. Valve amplifiers.
• GT AUDIO, 5 Upper Road, Higher Denham, UB9 5EJ (01895-833099). Repair, restoration and sale of classic hi-fi equipment and valves.
• HADEN BOARDMAN AUDIO CLASSICS/MELLOTONE (01942-257525, fax 01942-525861). Supplier (and purchaser) of classic audio equipment. Vintage hi-fi, modern quality component audio, absolutely anything of interest to the audiophile. Repairs and restorations but no spare parts or circuit diagrams sold.
• HEATHKIT, see Cedar Electronics.
• HEAD TECHNOLOGY, 11 Britannia Way, Stanwell, Staines, Middx. (01784-256046). Tape head re-lapping, re-profiling, new heads supplied.
• HI-FI CURIOSITY SHOP, 23 Bell Street, London NW1 5BY (020-7723 8545). Valve equipment sales, repairs, rebuilds.
• Ward KREMER, 5807 Papaya Drive, Ft. Pierce, FL 34982, USA (phone/fax: 00 1 561-468 7732, e-mail:WKremer798@aol.com ). Buy, sell and repair wire recorders. Webcor spares. Transfers of old wire recordings.
• LONDON SOUND (Mike Solomons), 389b Alexandra Avenue, Harrow, HA2 9EF (020-8868 9222). Web site www.londonsound.org .  Repair of audio and hi-fi equipment. Free estimates. Electronic gadgets designed and built.
• LORICRAFT AUDIO, 4 Big Lane, Goose Green, Lambourn, RG16 7SQ (01488-72267). Remanufacture and restoration of Garrard 301 and 401 turntables to original standards of performance.
• LOUGHBOROUGH HI-FI, 43a Market Street, Loughborough, Leics. Valve to modern hi-fi bought, exotic or not, working or not.
• MANTICORE AUDIO VISUAL, The Courtyard, 56c Shortmead Street, Biggleswade, SG18 0AP (01767-318437). Rebuilding and rewiring tonearms plus turntable spares.
• MIDLAND AUDIO EXCHANGE, 181 Franche Road, Kidderminster, DY11 5AD (01562-822236). Hard-to-find items plus rebuild and repair service.
• MIDLAND VALVE HIFI, Solihull, West Midlands (0121-722 2317, fax same number). Suppliers of new valves, components and hi-fi amplifier parts, also vintage literature, classic equipment.
• MUSONIC (UK) Limited, 271B Wenta Business Centre, Colne Way, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD24 7ND. Tel: 020 8950 5151, Fax: 020 8950 5391, Email: sales@musonic.co.uk   Web: www.musonic.co.uk. Excellent web resource featuring original and replacement styli, with many obsolete and 78rpm versions.
• OLD COLONY SOUND LABORATORY, Box 243, Peterborough, NH 03458, USA (00 1 603-924 6371, 00 1 603-924 6526; fax 00 1 603-924 9467). Comprehensive stock of current and classic hi-fi equipment, spares, books and magazines, even software for designing speaker drivers. Definitely for the serious enthusiast. Mail order, catalogue available.
• PALEOPHONIES (David Winter), 16 rue de Vaugirard, 75006, Paris, France. Tel & Fax: +33 1 46 33 20 17. Web site: www.paleophonies.com   Email: email@paleophonies.com   Interesting shop - open Tuesday to Saturday from 1pm to 7.30pm. Equipment is bought, repaired and sold. Mainly valve & transistor radios, valve television sets, cylinder and disc gramophones, record players (old and new), magnetic recorders: wire, tape and disc. Spare parts also bought and sold; e.g. valves, styli and cartridges for record players and gramophones; also other radio/tv parts (please enquire). Modern turntables, Shure and Denon cartridges and diamond styli also available. Official Thorens reseller.
• PRESENCE AUDIO, Haywards Heath (01444-461611, fax 01444-461510). Service for all Decca and London cartridges and tone arms, plus replacement ribbons for Kelly speakers.
• QUAD ELECTROACOUSTICS Ltd, Huntingdon, PE18 7DB (01480-52561; fax 01480-413403). It is worth noting that this long-established company still offers a first-class after sales service for all its classic-era products. Articles on refurbishing the Quad II power amplifiers appeared in the February 1994 issue of Everyday with Practical Electronics and the special Quad supplement to the February 1994 issue of Hi-fi World.
• RATA Ltd, Edge Bank House, Skelsmergh, Kendal, LA8 9AS (01539-823247, fax 01539-823317). High grade audiophile components and cables, also some valves, valve bases and coolers.
• Brian REEVES, 184 Finney Lane, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 3PU. Tel: 0161 499 2349. Email: Brian@RevoxService.co.uk Web site: www.revox.freeuk.com Revox specialist. Service, spares and technical information.
• REVOX Ltd, see Brian Reeves and Ferrograph.
• SERVICESOUND, 31 Turkey Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN39 5HB. Tel: 01424 216245. Web site: www.servicesound.com Geoff Kremer services audio and valve hifi equipment. He can also supply valves and certain spares.
• 6V6 VINTAGE COMPONENTS, 3 Baskerville Road, Wandsworth Common, London, SW18 3RJ. Web site: www.6v6.co.uk. A UK source of radio and audio restoration products and spare parts from the 1920's to the 1980's. E-commerce facility now online. They can supply valves, high voltage capacitors, radio kits (based on 1920's designs), transistors, crystal set spares (original and reproduction), and some downloadable circuit diagrams - free when you buy anything.
• SOUND AFFECTS, Lower Rainham, Kent (01634-377339). Classic and modern hi-fi.
• SOWTER TRANSFORMERS (E.A. Sowter Ltd), Box 36, Ipswich, IP1 2EL (01473-219390, 252794, fax 01473-236188). Audio and mains transformers, chokes. Established over 50 years.
• STUDIO SAV, 17 Bell Street, London, NW1 (020-7258 3448). 1930s-1960s vintage hi-fi and wireless, buy/sell, repairs. Not the lowest prices.
• SUNSHINE SOUNDS, 1413 Magnolia Lane, Midwest City, OK 73110, USA (00 1 405-737 3312). Hi-fi tube and commercial amps, speakers and horns.
• SUPERIOR SOUND AUDIO, 25 Montefiore Road, Hove, Sussex (01273-206327). Valves galore; everything from complete amplifiers built to order, to output transformers.
• TANDBERG. Spares and service from RDE Tandberg Ltd, Holly Tree House, The Green, Full Sutton, York, YO4 1HW (01759-372795). This company, run by a former Farnell-Tandberg engineer, owns the remaining spares in the UK.
• TECHNICAL & GENERAL, Box 53, Crowborough, TN6 2BY (01892-654534). Turntable specialist offering spares, arms, cartridges, styli, etc. for all the classic brands.
• TINNITUS a problem? This whistling in the ears can be caused by excessive sound levels and has become common in audio circles. Fortunately there is now a possible solution. It's called the Detinnitiser. More details at www.detinnitiser.com
• Bob TUCKER, A large selection of vintage radio spares, too many to list - including capacitors, chokes, dial bulbs, holders, knobs, speakers, transformers, switches, connectors, potentiometers, backs, valves and sockets. He also repairs vintage valved hi-fi amplifiers: Leak, Quad etc.
  Email your inquiries to: robert.tucker(at)nospam dsl.pipex.com [replace (at) with @ and remove nospam before use].
• UHER, see Ferrograph.
• VINTAGE RECORDERS UK. Web site www.vintagerecorders.co.uk
• WATKINS ENGINEERING, 1019 East Center Street, Kingsport, TN 37660, USA Tel: (423)246-3701.  Fax: (423)230-0580. Renee Dean says "We currently recone/repair/rebuild loudspeakers. Our owner had several patents, one of which was the Infinity-Watkins woofer... We also repair vintage audio components." Web site at www.watkinsstereo.com Email: whwatkins@WatkinsStereo.com
• WATTS RADIO (Jim Badman), 1 West Street, Somerton, Somerset (01458-272440). Quad main dealer, repairs to most classic audio equipment.
• WEST-TECH SERVICES, Steve Karpiak, 3725 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 129, Hollywood, FL 33021, USA (00 1 305-929 3007). Cartridges rebuilt, idlers resurfaced. 78 RPM styli fabricated and rebuilt. 1,500 types of stereo phono styli and needles.
• WHITE TOWN VINTAGE, 50 Meddon Street, Bideford, EX39 2EQ (01237-424280, fax 01237-424280), e-mail: white.vintage@virgin.net Tudor Gwilliam Rees' new vintage electronics business following his sale of Savoy Hill Publications. He buys and sells most British audio, and supplies vintage-compatible capacitors and other parts. Also he now can repair damaged CDs and DVDs !   A monthly news sheet is available.
• WORLD DESIGNS (Hi-Fi World), 64 Castellain Road, London, W9 1EX (020-7289 3533, fax 020-7289 5620). Selection of kits for brand-new valve amplifiers and other items.