ArthurDent Posted February 17 Posted February 17 7:45pm Wednesday 19th February Historical Radio Society of Australia Willis Room, City of Whitehorse Offices Maroondah Highway (Whitehorse Road), Nunawading Melway Map 48 Ref G9 Contact: 9579 0936 Our February meeting will welcome Ric Clarke and Tim Robbins who will demonstrate the Williamson amplifier. Ric and Tim are part of the Historical Radio Society of Australia's Hi- Fi and Audio Special Interest Group. The Williamson is mono and pre-dates stereo by about a decade, and pre-dates speakers with cross-over networks similarly. We will also have a stereo version presented. The mono amplifier to be demonstrated is an early Australian made version by Sydney based company Audio Engineers and using transformers made in Australia and has an accompanying original Williamson preamp (which is not common to find). Tim has other Williamson amps, in various stages of restoration, and some made in England, but he believes this example is best shown off for its local origin and its preamp. The amp only puts out about 10-15W before being overdriven, so the meeting will not be ear piercing but will have adequate volume to listen to music. I will be bringing along my Technics SL-G700M2 streamer and Leak Sandwich speakers for both ends of the sound chain. The Williamson amp design soon became plagiarised and modified, so many amps from the 1950's were referred to as Williamson but typically had significant differences. I will be taking music requests for this meeting, so if you wish to have a track played please email me your selections. Two selections maximum and each track must be less than 5 minutes and if greater it will not be included. As we will be having a mono setup for part of the presentation preference will be given to those tracks that were recorded in mono. I will not be playing CDs on the night; all tracks will be streamed from Qobuz. Dave Polanske Programme Coordinator Ken Tripp Wise and Wonderful Webmaster Melbourne Audio Club, Inc. 1
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