PRICE REDUCTIONOne pair of GENUINE vintage specification late 50s/early 60s LOWTHER PM6s.
I do not refer to them as PM6As, simply because, during this period, PM6s only came supplied with ALNICO magnets.
(The low quality ceramic magnets - denoted as -C - only arrived after Hansen and Hopps took over Lowther in the 70s, then wasted its rep. Permit me to draw your attention to the serial numbers and to the factory location impressed into the brass plate attached to the rear of the magnets.
9705 & 9697.
This establishes their true vintage provenance.
Now, had I given them to Lowther to have them reconed, I would probably have never seen my original alnico magnets again - again.
During the Hansen/Hopps tenure, Lowther were snidely switching the alnicos to ceramics and selling the alnicos to Japanese hifi buffs.
I know this from four reliable sources, one of whom was Hansen. The first was a Lowther repairer whom I met at my stand at London HiFi show 1999.
The second was a report from either the UK Department of Trade, or UK Customs & Excise, prosecuting Lowther for underhanded business practices.
The third was when Hansen told me face to face that they were swinging PM6 users to ceramics "koz they wuz better than the alnicos
and we wuz quietly flogging the 1950/60 alnicos to the Japs for mega money".
This was particularly galling as she had spun the same lie to me 20 years previously when I, unbeknowingly, approached Lowther for a coil replacement for my very original PM6s.
The fourth was not knowing any better I acceeded.
Lesson - NEVER DEAL WITH LOWTHER DIRECT.
I deal with John Howse at johnhowes11@yahoo.co.uk.
He will carry out your requests to the letter. These PM6s have been reconed - without the lively/screeechy Lowther HIFERRIC on the coils, with 16 ohms alu coils + a replacement for the old chassis with the latest.
(The HiFerrics require a heavily damped room or a really big space.
Or they will sound really screechy.)
The chassis replacement is a vast improvement on the original, as the cone sits at the top of the chassis, which then sits on top of the cabinet baffle, adding to the openness of the sound.
The old chassis had the cone behind the mounting baffle plate which then was screwed to the inside of the baffle, basically making a short tunnel, which resulted in a slight restriction of the sound. This is my one and only pair of genuine, vintage, unadulterated PM6s.
I've owned PM6As, PM6Cs, DX2s, DX3s, DX4s, EX4s and DX55s; all disposed of over the years.
I'm selling these because I don't listen to them any more.
I don't know why.
I have a moderate, diverse music collection but I don't seem to have the time, or the inclination, any more.
The older I have become the more I appear to have lost the inclination to just stop and listen to music.
So, it is time to find someone who appreciates these fine objects - before I croak it and my widdow slings the whole lot in the garbage - as she incessantly instructs me to do now. I also have a Harman Kardon turnatable with the Rabco parallel tracking arm carrying the Technics 205Mk3 cartridge.
In addition I have two metres of vinyls which have remained in their packing cases for the past fifteen years.
Most have either been played on the Harman - mostly, or previously, on my Beogram 1000; cartridge playing weights 1.25/1.50gm.
Some have never even been played, or removed from their sleeves.
I've since disposed of my old valve Quads. These PM6s are not priceless since they are probably not unique.
However, they must be quite rare.
A pair of new PM6As from lowther, will cost you (depending on the exchange rate) around US$1300.)
For that money you are buying a pair of screechy, HIFerric PM6As
I am looking for something above US$950. (No one is biting at $1500)
So if you like that original, big, natural sound from the 50s/60s then do get in touch.
Should you want to hear them, come and spend a few pleasant days in the Algarve, or I can ship them to you FOC direct. You may have already sussed that I used to deal with Lowther.
In 1999 my company, Hornutopia, briefly manufactured our own design horn enclosure called The Cornucopia, driven by their EX4s (images attached)
which was included in his 1999 London HiFi Show, 'best of,' report, by 'noted hornophobe', Ken Kessler, of HiFi News magazine.
But that is all history - albeit documented. The Cornucopia enclosures are not really for sale as the wife likes them as furniture. However should someone take a shine to them, they are hand made from Finnish birch 12mm ply, hand veneered from real cherry veneers and lacquered.
They've been under wraps for 15 years.
They are reversable and can be placed anywhere in a room, in a corner, in a line of furniture.
I can confidently claim that there is only one pair of them in the Universe.
They were incredibly expensive to make.
To view them you would have the added attraction of a few pleasant days in the non-touristic part of Portugal's Algarve.
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