|
Pink Triangle 'PT1', Circa. 1979
 
Photo's Copyright: Geoff Hawkins 2015
Geoff Hawkins (March 2015) says:
Above are some pictures of my
original Pink Triangle. It was the first commercial sale of a PT
deck, and was purchased from HiFi Connections in Beckenham in January 1981. It was
ordered in late 1980.
My girlfriend and I went to HiFi Connections to audition some
decks. We listened to a Thorens TD160s, and a small Ariston (I
believe, but could be wrong). Both were around the same price
(£150-£160). I remember asking what sonic gains were to be had
if I spent more money on the more expensive Ariston. They told
me that they didn't have one, but did have a new deck called a
Pink Triangle priced at £200. Not only did it look fantastic
but on first listen it was magic. We had been listening to one
LP of a group whose name escapes me, and we both found them
boring. As soon as the Pink was used, even that LP sounded
good. I cannot remember which arm it had.
It was to have had silver mirror
glass as the top plate, but I was asked if I wanted the black mirror
finish for an extra £10. The white slide switch controlled the
on/off and speed 33/45. The deck was rebuilt early on by Arthur
Khoubesserian when the suspension adjustment failed. He used
chassis no. 029 for the rebuild (mine was chassis no. 002 and
originally matt black). He also changed the spindle bearing for the
jewelled version; the original was bronze.
Much later, the motor went wrong and
Pink Triangle Projects rebuilt the deck with an off-board power
supply and an AC motor. The motor position was changed to the front
left side. It was originally at the back right. The motor has now
failed and I am going to have my PT rebuilt with a Funk Firm VX kit
later in the year (when I can afford it!).
I have located the original, non-jewelled
bearing unit. It is a much tighter fit than the
jewelled one on the deck. (see below)
The reason that I say the very early decks had the bronze
bearing is that when the suspension collapsed, we went to Arthur
and Neal's house and listened to the PT, while Arthur kept
swapping the upper bearing assembly. He then revealed that the
one that we liked better was the new jewelled bearing. That was
when he rebuilt my turntable using the later chassis. Late
afternoon, we were joined by the chaps from HiFi Connections and
went through the same procedure. In blind testing,
you could hear the difference that the jewelled bearing made.
I have also found an advertising sheet put
out in 1981 entitled 'Ronald and Rebecca Proudly Present the
1981 Collection'.
The deck still has the original SME 111s
on it, and was originally fitted with a Goldring G900IGC.
Currently using a Goldring 1042, which is no match for the
G900. Anyway, the whole motor unit has packed up in the last
few days, hence my thoughts about getting the Funk Firm to fit
the VX kit. I want to try to get them to design something that
retains the original slide switch.
The article that I was reading was from
High Fidelity, and is an interview with Neal Jackson and Arthur
Khoubesserian by Malcolm Steward in 1990.
Attached are copies of the front, back
and inside pages of a PT flyer. The flyer shows the early
slide switch and also details the options for finish. I'll
send them as two emails as the files are quite large. Front
and back attached.
We would like to thank Geoff
Hawkins for letting us share the above information. |
Pink
Triangle
Turntables,
and a little bit of
nostalgia
