Altai ??

[G6Tanuki]

I'm pondering if anyone has knowledge of the background of "Altai" components, which were common in the 70s and 80s.

i used "Altai" 240v-to-12v transformers in a few projects, and they also did a range of low-power PA amplifiers, horn speakers and audio-matching preamps/transformers. They also sold a range of small couple-of-watt-push-pull audio-amp blocks along with accessory-microphones of the kind that would have fitted well with the cheap mono cassette-recorders that were popular at the time.

Their logo was a clear ripoff of the HMV "listening-dog" in that it had a couple of kids listening to an old-style horn-speaker.

Who was the marketing-business behind them?

[Outrun_uk]

I remember a place called Electrovoice based in/near St. Helens used to carry a lot of their products. Maybe one of their main importers? I won't go into the quality of their power supplies too much - suffice to say that a cheap quality preset used went o/c and shot about 35v into the 12v video camera (back when they were expensive!) that was plugged in at the time...

[vidjoman]

Altia was another sales company, a bit like Eagle, who sold products made by various makers under a corporate banner. Usually sold through wholesalers to numerous retailers around the country. I don't know who actually owned the brand.
ISTR that Eagle was owned by someone like Laskys so as to sell the products without the general public knowing who they were actually buying from.

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

ISTR that Eagle was owned by someone like Laskys so as to sell the products without the general public knowing who they were actually buying from.

From memory, Eagle was owned by a guy called Adler [german for Eagle] who was in the 1950s the brains behind "Relda Radio", "Relda" being Adler spelled backwards.

Considering the nature/market-sector of the products, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a tie-up between Altai and Eagle/Adler/Relda.

['LIVEWIRE?']

Eagle's owner's name was Gerry Adler. Does anyone know hat happened to the company?

[AC/HL]

Both still going it seems: https://www.ukdj.co.uk/general-store...agle-altai-m20

[Restoration73]

Now seems to have dispersed, But Eagle, Adastra and Bandridge were in a group;
http://www.bandridge.com/en-us/

The start of Altai with Manchester as the UK base seems to have occurred as a
consequence of the closure of Norman Rose Electrical around 1990. They were based
in East London and sold exclusively to the trade.

[G8UWM-MildMartin]

From Wikipedia:
In December 1994, the private equity firm Saltire plc acquired Maplin Electronics from its founders, with the intention of merging its operations with another electronics distribution business in its portfolio, Altai...

[dazzlevision]

I think this Companies Hiuse record may be the origin of Altai:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00580524

[nutteronthebus]

I still have a set of book shelf speakers from them ( a mate in the trade did a lot of repairs to their kit for resale in Manchester )

[GRID LEAK]

Outrun uk, you were close. The firm was Electrovision and were based in Haydock. As far as I know, they are still trading.
Regards

John

[McMurdo]

These days both Altai and Eagle, along with others eg Soundlab & NJD are brands of Electrovision in St Helens, they are a trade-only wholesaler who also offer a direct ship for mail order retailers who don't want to stock their inventory in-house.

[Hartley118]

The Companies House entry for Altai Group showing the previous company name as L. H. Altaras reminded me that this group have their origin in the entrepreneurship of the German immigrant Altaras family.

I remember going to meet Mr Altaras in his Manchester office/warehouse in North Manchester in the 1960s. He was very focused on his enterprise and was very clearly the boss of the outfit (and its employees, who did as they were told). The warehouse was packed with all manner of ex-WD equipment, this being the age when government surplus was still big business. I remember he was rejoicing that the price of copper was rising and he was planning to make money from his stock of wound components.

The warehouse was in an old cotton mill on the floor above a garment factory which played music all day to entertain its seamstresses. This music was disturbing Mr Alteras and his employees and I was visiting as a potential noise control adviser. ISTR that the solution lay in use of the amplifier volume control!

Altaras's brands have usually included 'Alt' as part of the name: e.g. before the appearance of Altai, Altham was a popular brand for electronics Far East imports. Originally I believe that Altham was an early 20th century radio retail brand in Manchester controlled by the Altaras family. I guess that the 'ham' part of the name suggested an aim at the radio amateur market.

There may well be a connection by marriage between the Altaras and Adler families, both of course of German immigrant origin, but I haven't yet managed to trace recent firm evidence of that.

It's interesting that some of those familiar brand names in our business are traceable to one immigrant family, and perhaps a group of families. Like Alan Sugar, they were successful in business before the word 'entrepreneur' became common currency.

Martin

[Richard_FM]

I remember Electro Supplies in Stockport used to have a lot of Altai stuff, over the years I bought a few leads for connecting things up as they had a good selection of ones with different plugs on.

I thought the logo was supposed to be someone looking into a TV screen.

PS: The logo on their site for 70s 80s 90s TV Sets leads to CDs of TV themes from these decades.

https://www.ukdj.co.uk/search/classi...esents-tv-sets

[wd40addict]

The attached is the HMV style logo I remember from back in he day. I have one of these power supplies, but a previous owner seems to have fitted his own bonkers stripboard based 'regulator' circuit inside!

[Pfraser]

Originally Posted by wd40addict

The attached is the HMV style logo I remember from back in he day. I have one of these power supplies, but a previous owner seems to have fitted his own bonkers stripboard based 'regulator' circuit inside!

I can hazard a guess as to why that attempted mod was made: these PSUs offered poor voltage regulation even in original condition. Not recommended for CB transceiver use, back in the day.

OTOH, I bought an Altai electret mic for £1.50 from an amateur radio rally. After a fault in the lead was fixed, it worked just fine for over 10 years. Partially corroded & disintegrating battery terminals finally finished it off.

Hartley118:

Altaras's brands have usually included 'Alt' as part of the name: e.g. before the appearance of Altai, Altham was a popular brand for electronics Far East imports. Originally I believe that Altham was an early 20th century radio retail brand in Manchester controlled by the Altaras family. I guess that the 'ham' part of the name suggested an aim at the radio amateur market.

Could the Waltham brand be related?

[dazzlevision]

Originally Posted by Pfraser

Could the Waltham brand be related?

I don't think so:

Waltham. Brand name for consumer electronics sold in the 1970s and 80s (e.g. music centres, TV/radio/cassette combi units). It is believed that the products were made in the Republic of Ireland, using Japanese designs and components. Probable connection with the Japanese “Standard” brand (Standard Radio Corporation - later known as Marantz Japan Inc).
In 1980, Waltham Electronics (UK) Ltd., 155-159 Queens Road, Watford, Herts., WD1 2QH (directors: M.Raymond, L.Raymond & A.T.Jeffers).

Waltham products, being based on a good Japanese brand, were pretty good. I've come across a few, such as transistor radios and music centres.

[Maarten]

Not likely, isn't that Swiss?

[Richard_FM]

Originally Posted by Maarten

Not likely, isn't that Swiss?

Indeed they had some TV sets with the Brilliant model name.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/waltha...lant_3000.html

Interestingly this was a system B/G version of the Ingersoll I used to have.

I've seen pictures of the same design of set badged as Prinz & possibly 1 or 2 other names.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/prinzs...v121tv_12.html

They were made in Singapore (at least mine was), but with a Tatung CRT licenced from Mitsubishi, just to stir the badge engineering pot a bit more.