Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms The Analogue Experience

Having completed a couple of responses to posts on the forum I thought I would add this for anyone who might be interested. I put it here as It seems to me that anyone enthusiastic about one thing is often interested in a host of other things and I know there are those on the forum keen on music and photography.
I’m sitting in my study/darkroom listening to an LP of Janis Ian played on my Ariston RD11s through a Baldwin phono pre-amp straight into a Naim Muso Qb. The Ariston I have owned since 1981, at the time it was the source design for the original Linn turntables, some say Linn nicked it. A couple of years ago I overhauled the motor and bearing, replaced the springs, on/off toggle switch and belt and now it is once again as good as new. It is a lovely thing, the two speeds 33 and 45 are changed by removing the (very heavy) platter moving the belt from one spindle pulley to the other - there are no other controls. The Grace tonearm is fully mandraulic needing to be placed on the record by lifting it and moving it into place.
The turntable sat in pride of place among other analogue HiFi gear that changed over the years, Audionote, Arcam, Roksan, Inca-Tech, SD Acoustics - all gone in favour of streaming audio and radio from an iMac into two Naim Muso units, the lady of the house really appreciates the absence of wires, CDs, vinyl records and clutter associated with the analogue experience and I am persuaded by the sound of the Muso.
Moving on, the other side of the room is my darkroom populated with 3 black&white enlargers, two Leitz 35mm units and a Durst capable of enlarging negs up to 6x8cm which I use to print negs from my Rolleiflex and Hassleblad X-Pan panoramic camera.
The enlarger nearest to us is a Leitz Valoy ll made in the early 50’s equipped with a period Focotar enlarging lens, it produces first class prints indistinguishable from those from any other source.
Next is a Leitz V35 Multigrade enlarger, autofocus with built in filters to create prints with differing contrast requirements. The V35 comes fitted with a matched 40mm Focotar lens adjusted to function with the auto-focus system. This was the pinnacle of technological development in the darkroom enlarger world and is a piece of beautiful industrial design. I bought this from a newspaper photographer on the Isle of Wight, I travelled over in my TVR Griffith and loaded it into the well behind the seats for the journey home.
Beyond that is my Durst M805, secured by a friend from a trip to the dump and given generously to me. This needs some restoration, cleaning, rust removal, missing screws replaced, lamp modified and new bulb fitted and is back to new levels of performance. Like the earlier Leitz Valoy this unit takes filters that have to be manually fitted to adjust the contrast for b&w prints.
The record is now ‘Sound Venture’, a Georgie Fame record produced and financed by Georgie himself. It’s a true swing jazz album recorded with the Harry South Band in 1965/6 and featured some of the great British players, Dick Morrissey, Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott and the great Tubby Hayes. I’m on my third vinyl having lost one and ruined one, I found this copy of a Mono pressing in average condition second hand in London. I searched for a CD issue for years and eventually found one on a Japanese Audiophile label and paid the £40 for it, it has since been re-issued (although out of print) as a result of lobbying by Elvis Costello who rates it as one of his all time favourite albums, but I’m not letting that put me off.




This side shows my small library of books by my Photographic heroes, the vinyl replay setup and most of my cameras. It is not a very clear picture but if you look closely you will find three Nikon F/F2s, Leica M6, Rolleiflex, Horizon Panoramic, Zeiss Contarex, various folders.


If you like black and white photography, there are hundreds of great pictures on Flickr produced in an analogue fashion by enthusiasts, my photographs can be found on Flickr Kevin Yateshere: ironically it begins with a few digital images of the Morgan