Vintage

The Philips Motional Feedback loudspeaker was one of the great advances in audio technology. Launched in 1975, the series would eventually encompass four distinct generations and remain in production for over a decade, its key technologies jealously guarded by Philips patents [HFN Jul '13]. However, the partnering equipment designed to help these speakers perform at their best is less well known, arguably due to Philips endorsing the use of third-party sources and amplifiers.

Every keen LP listener should try to experience the joys of a quality direct-drive turntable in their system at least once. Everyone knows the popular favourites, but in the past all the big Japanese names made one or two decks that should still fit the bill.

If we could warp back to 1984 we would find a hi-fi scene dramatically different to how it is now. Vinyl may have been in the autumn of its life as a mass music format, but it still dominated. With CD very much in its infancy, the LP was the only practical way serious music lovers could hear their prized albums.

The 1970s was a bumper decade for massive integrated amps and receivers although these big beasts of the audio jungle often remained something of a rarity in the UK

Big stereo receivers never made much of an impact in the UK, but this did not stop the importers servicing the large Japanese manufacturers from offering them from time to time. Pioneer, Marantz and Kenwood all boasted full-fat machines with colossal power output ratings stretching into hundreds of watts per channel – these numbers far in excess of British audiophiles’ experience. Add to this list Sansui, a brand that always had heavyweight models at the top of its ranges. The 7070 model seen here is typical of the breed – it was introduced in 1976 and remained in the catalogue until 1978.