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Celebrity hifi systems

Didnt know Jobs had a Gyro..... Bet the stylus had a rough time with the poor TT on the deck.
 
AQ (Audio Quarterly) published an interview with John Frusciante in 1999 featuring some photos of his hifi system, all placed on the floor, a Garrard 301 with a 12" tonearm in an odd looking high mass T shaped plinth, Marantz valve pre and some valve monos, I can't remember the details of all the components.
The interview IIRC was mainly about his recent releases of many solo Lps
I never has seen another T shaped plinth for a Garrard motor unit.
 
You haven't seen many more issues of Audio Quarterly either. The bloke was a charlatan.

Yep, I came across the first issue in a newsagents, being impressed with the first issue I decided to go for the two year subscription. I received two more issues then nothing further.
A while after I went to the Belfast Hifi show where the first issue of Hifi + was being launched, having a quick look through this new magazine I immediately recognised some of the cartoons and the name Roy Gregory, so I asked the guy promoting HIfi + was there a connection, turns out it was Roy I was talking too, he told me that I wasn't the only person who had been ripped off, apparently nobody ever got paid, he gave me a copy of the first issue of Hifi + gratis, a few years later when I auctioned it on ebay it covered the money I had been swindled out of, the original copies of AQ made a few quid on ebay too.

Back on topic, Jimmy Chamberlain has a full McKintosh system, TT , CD and amps powering a pair of B&W 80? ( floor standing models with the bulbous head)
 
He probably threw it away and upgraded after a couple of years.

Definite endorsement of the design though - according to the Unbelievable Truth (think Q. I. but on the radio) when he was in hospital he took off the oxygen mask they gave him and demanded that his staff come up with revisions because he didn’t like the design.

The bloke may have been a strange plonker, but he was a stickler for design!
 
Yep, I came across the first issue in a newsagents, being impressed with the first issue I decided to go for the two year subscription. I received two more issues then nothing further.
A while after I went to the Belfast Hifi show where the first issue of Hifi + was being launched, having a quick look through this new magazine I immediately recognised some of the cartoons and the name Roy Gregory, so I asked the guy promoting HIfi + was there a connection, turns out it was Roy I was talking too, he told me that I wasn't the only person who had been ripped off, apparently nobody ever got paid, he gave me a copy of the first issue of Hifi + gratis, a few years later when I auctioned it on ebay it covered the money I had been swindled out of, the original copies of AQ made a few quid on ebay too.

I can't remember the guy's name but as far as I recall he had just supposedly completed a degree in marketing or somesuch. His first con was to call his rag Audio Quarterly but only publish 3 issues per year. He was told by many people that his launch issue would not attract impulse purchases in retail outlets because it did not feature anthing audio related on the front cover.. which..as I recall was also badly printed and indistinct.

I can't recall exactly, but I think he was pretty much forced into a 're-launch'. However.. he was making lot of noise and attracting lots of attention. Everyone in the industry seemed to know of him and staff at one highly respected dealership were also seemingly taken in to the extent that they recommended his rag as a good place to advertise.
Foolishly or naively as it turned out.. I paid him a couple of hundred quid for a small advert. Needless to say it never appeared and I never saw my cash again. He attended a number of shows but was very elusive whilst there.. mostly using a couple of attractive (and presumably also unpaid) young ladies to field queries and fend off creditors. whilst he was having 'important' conversations elsewhere.

As to his rag. I think that only 3 issues ever appeared. I gave mine to a well known PFM member.. along with an almost complete set of the first ten or more years of HFW, plus a lot of HFN/RR and Audiophile. The rag itself was OK..ish inside.. with some pretty glossy pictures... But it was difficult to grasp exactly what the target market was and the writing was pretentious drivel for the most part.
 
Definite endorsement of the design though - according to the Unbelievable Truth (think Q. I. but on the radio) when he was in hospital he took off the oxygen mask they gave him and demanded that his staff come up with revisions because he didn’t like the design.

The bloke may have been a strange plonker, but he was a stickler for design!
Now before I get jumped on, the Gyro is an excellent turntable. However, I reckon he was endorsing the aesthetic and probably unaware of its performance or its place in the pecking order. Great advert for Michell though, deserved as well
 
From the looks of that site and its ludicrous claims.. somebody is still bullshitting...

..and hiding.
 
Now before I get jumped on, the Gyro is an excellent turntable. However, I reckon he was endorsing the aesthetic and probably unaware of its performance or its place in the pecking order. Great advert for Michell though, deserved as well

Agreed. In fairness though, I’d also like one eventually for pretty much the same reason :)
 
I'm wondering about that too! Was the centre speaker for mono? Or for the TV? Hmm.

The amps looks a bit like Altec 128as but the knobs aren't quite the same.
Could it be a three-channel system for playing studio tapes? The tape deck looks like it has three channels and I know some studio recordings were made on three channel recorders back in the day.
 
A few examples:

Apparently Kate Bush has a Naim system.

Paul Simon supposed to have an LP12.

I saw a LP12 and Naim chrome bumper amps in Prof Robert Winston's living room in a documentary shown several years ago.

Eric Clapton was interviewed in his living room with what looked like Wilson speakers (certainly looked very expensive).

Jimmy Page uses an old Thorens turntable.

Barack Obama has a Teac turntable. Looks like the TN400 which retails for a few hundred.

Keith Jarrett is known to be an audiophile but not sure what system he has.
 
Prof Brian Cox I think uses some Audio Note gear, specifically speakers I think? I saw some online tv interview during this pandemic, the speakers in the background had blue cones and they looked like the Audio Note shape (Ks or Js??)
 


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