A Few Items For Sale

Here's a few items to whet the appetite - these are for sale right now.  Please messsage me if you have any questions, etc., but be quick!  They are listed for sale elsewhere.  The majority of these are personal items and have had light use.

Linn Sondek LP12 (Afromosia) / Ittok LVII / Valhalla / Troika

This is my friend’s Linn which I have referred to earlier. As you can see, it’s in pretty good condition, not perfect, after all it is around 25 years old. It has been recently serviced by myself and, as some of you will already know, I have all the necessary Linn gauges and jigs plus the knowledge to be able to do this with some authority. It is kitted out as described above, but has the original sub-chassis and bearing - not cirkus. However, judging by the way it set-up, I’d say that the suspension springs are the newer type, I may be wrong, but getting the loading right, so that the oscillation of movement was good, was all too easy (just like the later springs do!). The cartridge is in very good nick, under the microscope, there’s no visible wear to the stylus and things down there are very clean - a good sign that this has done hardly any work.

As mentioned, the aesthetics are not perfect. There are quite a few fine scratches on the dust cover, as you would possibly expect of a mid eighties unit. However, a little bit of elbow grease and a magic product called “Greygate Plastic Polish” can work wonders, much better than T-Cut or Brasso. They also do a “No. 5 Paste” for deeper scratches, I should be able to supply these products. There is a small crack to the rear by the right hand hinge (see picture). The hinges are in good order. I polished the stainless steel top plate whilst the deck was stripped for service, but other metal components could be improved slightly. We’re looking at offers around £1,000 for this, it must be worth that!

Roksan Xerxes 20 Turntable / Tabriz ZI/ XPS7/MC2 Special

Literally as new, this Roksan hasn't been used at all for over 6 months, it’s been packed away and in storage since before my house move in May. This is my ultimate ”dream machine” and it’s being sold on barely before I’ve had time to enjoy it. Personal circumstances and recession (thank you Mr. Brown) dictate that it must go. It is little used and in fabulous condition. It sounds superb - articulate, detail, bass, mid, top, it has it all. The Van Den Hul MC2 Special cartridge is a high output moving coil, so will work straight into a moving magnet input if required. Although I have all of the packaging, it would be better to collect the deck to save dismantling and set-up. New price £4,750.00; selling at £3,750.00.

 
 
Ortofon 'Kontrapunkt a' phono cartridge
SOLD!

The 'Kontrapunkt a' is a low output moving coil (MC) phono cartridge. This item is as new and in the original packaging. It’s been used for about 20 hours before discovering the delights of a Van Den Hul MC2 Special! Mind you, the VDH is more than twice the price! It’s the first in the Kontrapunkt series, ideal for vocals, choirs and the classics. My listening is more varied than this, so not greatly suitable for my “heavier” choices. New price £600.00; selling at £400.00.  SOLD!

Philosophy - Nebrion digital interconnect

A great high end 75 Ohm digital interconnect sporting the correct BNC connectors (RCA plugs are actually designed for 50 Ohm uses!).  Still as new in it's box.  I can supply new BNC to RCA adaptors with this if required, or alternatively 75 Ohm BNC sockets if you wish to convert your equipment (£5.00 additional please). The Nebrion has a silver core and provides fantastic detail and bass control, fast. Very musical. New price £350.00; selling at £200.00. Sorry no picture at this time, it’s in a box somewhere in the spare room!

Chord Company - Signature interconnects
SOLD!

The Signature used to be Chord’s flagship interconnect and uses two separate conductors per channel in order to minimise interaction between signal and earth. This makes it slightly stiff but presumably also accounts for its stunning sound. Images are huge and you hear more of the recording character than most of the competition, it also has a superb sense of timing thanks to great transient response. If you want to add precision and scale to your sound, it's a winner.

This has to be the next best cable I've ever listened with (see below for Chord Indigo!) - detail and noise floor is fabulous. Literally as new but no box. This is a 1 metre analogue (RCAs) pair.  SOLD!

Chord Company - Indigo RCA interconnects
SOLD!

The Indigo is optimised for analogue signal transmission and has a low capacitance design with minimal high-frequency attenuation, which make it ideal for accurate wide-bandwidth signal transfer. The shielding system is similar to the award-winning Signature RCA cable but all components are silver-plated for improved conductivity. All signal path components are silver-plated and all the connections are made with a high silver content lead-free solder.

This has to be the best cable I've ever listened with - detail is exquisite, Obviously you need to have the level of system to support this. Literally as new in the box. This is a 1 metre analogue (RCAs) pair.  SOLD!

Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Headphones

With a lightweight honeycomb aluminium casing and magnesium frame structure, these open-air headphones produce no sense of pressure on the ears, offering a completely natural listening experience. The sound is smooth and relaxed, with deep resonating bass and vocal projection. The self-adjusting wing support automatically adjusts to your head size for easy-wearing listening comfort. A straight cord at the left earpiece terminates to a mini plug with included ¼" adapter.

The box is somewhat trashed, but the phones are in perfect condition and order—as new. New price £139.00; selling at £85.00.

• Type: Open-air Dynamic
• Driver Diameter: 53 mm
• Magnet: Neodymium
• Voice Coil: Copper-clad aluminum wire
• Frequency Response: 5 – 30,000 Hz
• Maximum Input Power: 500 mW
• Sensitivity: 98 dB/mW at 1 kHz
• Impedance: 32 ohms
• Weight: 280 g
• Cable: 3.0 m (Single/Hybrid-PCOCC)
• Connector: 1/8" (3.5 mm) mini stereo, gold-plated
• Accessory Included: Detachable 1/4" (6.3 mm) adapter

Arcam Alpha 8 integrated amplifier (with phonostage)

This is the amp from my “second” system. It’s In great condition and these seem to be sought after. No box or manual but still a bargain at £100.00.

TEAC V-395 CHX cassette deck

A very little used Teac single deck, bought “just in case”! No box, copy of manual included. £50.00 snip in tip top condition!

New Beginings?

The reason I am trying to create this blog and that I am addressing you personally, is quite simple - I need your help. It is my intention to get a new small business off the ground. I know and you know that I have a passion for music and I have the knowledge of what it takes to put a good system together and “make it sing”. And that goes for domestic hi-fi or commercial sound systems. I’ve also been known to repair the odd item or introduce astounding modifications: my knowledge and experience with electronics is fairly comprehensive. I have had numerous communications urging me to “carry on”, “pick myself up”, “get off the ground”, “do something with that knowledge”, “don’t just disappear”. Thank you, all of you, for the kind words that I have received.

RJF Audio Visual had a great following of serious enthusiasts and happy commercial clients alike. I am RJF! I need that following to carry this new venture forward. Hopefully, you will be able to follow progress through this blog and decide that there may be something that I can help you with. So, with luck on our side (well, maybe a little more than that), we should see this turn from a personal crusade into a running business. I don’t even know what this new business is going to be called yet. I also know that it’s not going to happen overnight.

Too many people have said to me over the last few years that there is a major problem with the lack of good hi-fi/electronics stores. The fact is that our trade has very much become a niche market.  The general public (non-enthusiasts and un-initiated) think that we charge outrageous prices for what we do and sell. They are brainwashed into buying low cost junk by the supermarkets and internet. You and I know better, you can’t buy a decent, working audio system - hi-fi or professional - in Tesco’s, or from RichardHeadOnline.com for tuppence ha’penny!  This is one of the reasons that RJF A.V. has closed: lack of support from the mass market.  I did (do?) have a reputation for dealing with quality products. Many will recall my slogan “The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”.

I would very much like to start over, but first I have to convince myself as well as my partner in life, Jan, (and the DSS!) that a new business is feasible.  I know without a shadow of a doubt that it would not work in the current climate with a retail shop environment – witness the demise of my previous business. For this reason I’m now undertaking a “client based feasibility” study.  Please message me if you have something - a repair or a project - that you think I can help with. I believe that I’m more likely to succeed if I run a new business as a consultancy style solo enterprise with an internet presence and a web-shop, rather than go into the high street.

At this time, I think we could say that it is probable that I will start again on a freelance self-employed basis. As people are making contact, I’m trying to do some market research and asking if we can keep in touch. From the information that’s being gathered, I should be able to gauge where the real strengths are going to be. No-one at this time knows what direction the new venture will take, there should be several. However, I do have a number of specialist areas to whet the imagination. I’ve put together the following thoughts and ideas:-

I really want to do some work with turntables as they are one of my “pet” subjects and there’s hardly anyone around nowadays who knows about setting them up or which ones / component combinations are any good, etc. Cartridges, set-ups and servicing are obvious areas that I can be of use. I will probably be getting involved with some sales as well.

“Hi-fi Doctor” is another area I certainly get into – demonstrating how such things as cables, stands, stabilisation, isolation, and filtration products can seriously improve a systems performance. This would obviously generate sales off the back.

The repair industry has all but shut down because of the high street attitude to selling products, but I can find work with serious hi-fi products and also PA gear (guitar amps, etc.) that require service or repair.

If I could get a workshop together with a bit of space I could even take on the servicing of live and recording consoles (mixers). There are very few people in the South West with a better knowledge and experience of this specialist area that I have.

 

I have several potential customers expressing the need for a commission based resale / disposal (including eBay, etc!) service.

Buying and selling vintage and high quality used hi-fi is another area I can look at. I already have a number of personal items that need to be cleared (and a friend has already suggested that I sell his LP12 Sondek for him. This I have already serviced.)

I’m quite good at sourcing used products for individual requirements.

I have already had a number of suppliers express a wish to help with whatever the future brings, so perhaps I can get into some new sales quite quickly.

I’ve already had some requests from the commercial market to be available to service existing - and install new equipment - in their buildings. I should be able to kick start the installation business again. Conventional, 100v-line and AFILS (hearing loop) systems are all within my scope.

Also, I have a lot of experience in the visual market – projectors (home cinema and data) and LCD / Plasma screens.

If necessary, I could undertake PAT safety testing to “fill in” some time.

I have a number of friends and associates in allied trades that need help from time to time.

Being self employed, I have some other interests that could be pursued under the same umbrella. I don’t have to stick with the above completely (or even within the field of electronics!).

 

It seems that many are already missing the services that we provided at RJF Audio Visual and our enthusiasm for “real” kit. But, with the little list above for starters, I don’t think it will be long before something will emerge.

Please message me, I want to know if:–

• Any of the above interests you
• If you have any further suggestions
• If you think I can service / repair something for you (or get this achieved)
• If you have an installation project that you think I will be able to help with
• If you have any advice or support that you think may help!
• If you have any funding or grant money for the start-up of small businesses (!)

If you know someone else that may have an interest in this, please tell them and direct them to this blog site - friends family and neighbours are all needed for this to succeed! I’m going to be based in the Penzance area, but I also envisage a fair amount of travelling – my cut-off point will probably be Newquay – St. Austell. I’ve not got a workplace set up yet, but I’m working on it. Researching this new project is rapidly becoming a full time occupation in itself, so I hope something does come of it!

Did it become a dinosaur?

Many of you that are visiting this blog will be doing so because you know me and have probably been invited to look or have been told about the site. Some of you will have happened upon this by pure accident whilst “surfing the net”. If you don’t know me, welcome. Hopefully you soon will. Most of you that do know me will also know by now that True Sound And Visual Presentation Limited, better known to yourselves as RJF Audio Visual has ceased to be.

Towards the end we had many problems trying to keep RJF A.V. going:-
Unhealthy competition from the internet and supermarkets had been causing us a few problems for a long period of time, which were gradually getting worse. Much of the product available from these people is just cheap and nasty (no wonder we have a landfill problem), but even when they do get hold of something worthwhile, all they seem to want to do is trash the price thus undermining the quality of the product. You will notice that a good many internet companies come and go. This is because their operators seem to have no real business acumen and have no visible profit margin to be able to sustain their operation. We saw this sort of behaviour 10 or so years ago with, for example, mobile TV repair men – “No call out charge”; “No estimate fee”; “No repair, no charge”. All that happened at the end of the day was that as soon as the van needed a new MOT they went out of business, having made insufficient profit to pay for their own repairs!

The supermarkets and “sheds” are using electrical goods as “loss leaders”. All the supermarkets want to do is attract you through the door, they know once you’re inside, you’re going to fill a trolley with groceries. After all, why would you go somewhere else once you’re inside? The sheds, on the other hand, like to sell insurance – fear of high breakdown costs. Don’t forget that you are protected through the lifetime of the product by the Sale of Goods Act. You should not have to buy a breakdown policy in order to resolve a potential high cost repair situation.

All of the above gave us problems with customers who had bought from these sources. Repair of low cost items is often futile in the rare instances that it is actually possible. Often products are designed in such a way and with such cheap components that they will not last very long. These items will not stay repaired! Another major frustration in trying to repair these things is that most frequently they are sourced from a third world location at very low cost by the seller themselves. These sellers are not geared up for service: they don’t have repair workshops, so why on earth should they purchase un-necessary items such as repair manuals and spare parts? The truth of the matter is that well designed, good quality, higher priced items, very rarely go wrong (and the manufacturers are very often willing to issue much longer warranties than their cheaper counterparts). Within a very short time span the number of worthwhile repairs coming into our workshops had been reduced by a crippling 90%! Ultimately we had to all but close this service as it was simply not paying its way.

Here's a typical problem caused by cheap components. The electrolytic capacitors (larger dark blue/grey items) on this PCB have become swollen and leaked corrosive electrolyte onto the board. Secondary failures will have occurred and there is much damage to the PCB itself, as well as other components. This unit is now a write-off. It cannot be repaired successfully. The worst-case scenario of this type of failure that I have encountered was a £1,000 Techwood Plasma TV. The control unit for this product was actually a separate item from the screen and yet it could not be purchased separately despite the fact that the screen was useless without it. The product was less than six months old and technically under warranty. In this instance the seller had a service department but the owner was fobbed off with the suggestion that his cat must have peed into the control box! My inspection revealed the true cause. The control unit was a large, complex piece of electronics with scores of capacitors, most of which were exhibiting this problem.

However, in addition their non-provision of service, the main issue with these sellers is their lack of product knowledge, resulting in great numbers of the general public coming into my business wanting free information about the products they had bought elsewhere, cables and accessories that simply don’t exist (e.g. USB to HDMI adapters!) or that we couldn’t supply. I draw a veil over the mind boggling quantity of people blatantly coming in for free demos and information about products (and sometimes taking several hours of our time about it) that they fully intended to purchase elsewhere!

The recession we have all been experiencing has certainly not helped in preventing the failure of RJF A.V. This has been beyond all of our control. Although we were able to continue with a number of commercial installations, we were frustrated by the reduction in takings over the retail counter – some 75% down, almost the instant recession was announced.

The last straw was a major robbery which took place in broad daylight on a busy Saturday afternoon. Strange as it seems, I can’t remember when we had so many people in the shop at the same time! The perpetrators got away with about £6,000 worth of hi-fi and left us with a further £6,000 worth which was useless without the related components that had been taken. Some quick thinking and fast action rendered the offenders behind bars within a couple of hours, hopefully soon to be away on holiday and under Her Majesty’s direction! Unfortunately, this did not recover the gear for us.

The net result of all this, after taking some (more) advice, was the conclusion that we should “throw in the towel”. The decision was not taken lightly, but we felt that the retail shop was a liability and was causing the demise of the total business. I think, maybe, we should have closed the retail side 12 months ago instead of waiting and hoping for things to improve. However, this was always the core business. Ultimately the company was put into Voluntary Administration.

The task of shutting down a business of some 20 years standing and all the necessary meetings with DSS, CAB, etc. has been all-consuming. I’ve been using it as an excuse for keeping my head down, facing people these last few weeks (even friends, who I know want to help) has been somewhat nerve wracking! I am now being able to “come–out” a bit more. Though, I think there will be much more to come with the Administrator once we have to arrange creditor, bank and who knows what meetings. Watch this space!