Click pics to enlarge. Wow! Western Electric and LS5/1! Green with Envy! Left, WE 49, used as Preamp.
Virtual Home Visits (13): Western Electric and LS5/1A
Your host today is Mila, a member of icefox's entourage. You first met him in 2018, when the icefox crowd came to my place for some bluetooth activity (here). I actually visited him at his home to listen to his LS5/1A. That's right, another pair of this rare gem (see write up on Jules' pair; also Home Visit (8)). Like Jules too, Mila fell under the spell of Western Electric.
Mila operates a Hair Salon in a trendy area. Guess what's special about the place?
Note the couch and single ESL57 are by the window opening to the street. Would be nice to sit there and have a drink! Note too the poster is for what many film critics all over the world have included in their best ever list, Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love (wiki), an authentic remembrance for a bygone Hong Kong (I can swear to its authenticity, especially the conductor's Shanghaiese elements).
The Youtube below is what icefox heard on the ESL. It is Yumeji's Theme, used throughout the film, originally from another Japanese film. Note Maggie Cheung's dress is called the qipao,(wiki), commonly worn by women in those days (including my mother). It is sad that it is almost a relic today, especially since I think they are particularly suited to the physique of Chinese ladies.
WE124. Garrard 301; SME 3012/Shure M3D; Gray/Mono GE
Above, YS Audio Phono and WE 91A Repeat Coil Transformers
Rogers JR149, Quad ESL 57
The ESL57 play this clips with great mood! https://youtu.be/Rj4lhCRaDyc
ReplyDeleteIt looks like WE does not resonate well in a "cheaptubeaudio" blog! Well shall we go into the discussion of using relatively cheap non-WE tube in WE metal?
ReplyDeleteWell, I have always maintained that even generic tubes can convey most of the WE magic. Looks like Mila is doing that.What do you think?
DeleteWell, WE is just too exotic for most of the readers indeed. So far away.
WE - these are rusty pieces of iron - they have decayed long ago and it has long been out of fashion ...a new trend for you :
Deletehttp://www.brodmann.at/jbseries.html
http://www.miyajima-lab.com/e-amp.html
http://highfidelitycables.com/power/professional-series/
Always "refreshing" to hear from you! But, let me ask you, Russia is a great country, and has a lot of great old parts (like oil caps, which I like a lot). Do you dismiss them all too?
Deletethe main sense of proportion))) ... there is a shelf life of parts (it's not me that is harmful - objectively it's physics and chemistry) ... It's like eating very expired eggs (no matter in which country the chicken laid them) ...
DeleteWe/El. is probably a success thanks to the native copper in their transformers ... it somehow colors the sound ... but every owner should have a fire extinguisher nearby - at any moment it could end badly ...