Many thanks to Brian Pook who was Managing Director of Rogers between 1976 and 1982 for this history which he originally posted in the LS3/5A YahooGroup. This article and photographs are the copyright of Brian Pook and may not be reproduced elsewhere without his permission.
Introduction
After 25 years 'in exile' I have been directed to this website by an old friend and hope to find the time to help a few people with history and technical advice ( without treading on toes or destroying too many peoples' misapprehensions! ). I was Managing Director of Rogers from 1976 until 1982. I left the industry completely and have restored furniture/architectural fittings for the past 24 years, having just commenced 'semi- retirement'. My period of involvement with Rogers spans the initial production of the LS3/5A,the volume production of the LS3/5A, the LS3/6 problems, its change to the Export Monitor, the aquisition of Chartwell in 1978, the creation in house of unique polypropylene and bextrene coned drive units, the creation of the Studio 1, the creation of the worldwide Rogers distribution. etc.,etc,.etc..
The
stories concerning the BBC, KEF and the LS3/5A production could fill
a book. I'm so sorry to report that Malcolm Sced, the Technical
Director and Richard Ross, the Loudspeaker technical genius ( later
MD ) have both passed away, so it seems important to pass on a few
bits of info whilst I have the time and enthusiasm. I haven't got
time to write a book every evening, so I may be selective in how much
I reply daily.
When I took over at Rogers they had been struggling to produce the
LS3/6 BBC Monitor. Not only was the main bass unit unreliable, due to
the BBC-defined construction, but Celestion were only able to
spasmodically supply the HF1300 tweeters, which were selected to very
tightly defined parameters. The only solution was to break away from
the BBC design, seek a manufacturer to supply a special higher-
powered, pressed-steel frame bass unit ( Dalesford ), make mods to
accomodate more mainstream HF1300s and streamline numerous BBC quirks
thus creating the Rogers Export Monitor. The performance of the bass
units in terms of listening quality was never comparible to the LS3/6
due to the inferior cone profile and chassis. When Rogers bought the
Chartwell company they were able to rescue the original BBC profile
cone moulding tools from Hyder Cones and make high power bextrene-
coned cast frame drive units in-house that were superior to the BBC
LS3/6 design in every way. This was used to create the Rogers Studio
1.
I hope this provides some useful background. Obviously this is just a snapshot of a much bigger picture!
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 1
This lengthy lead-in may at first appear irrelevant, but stick with
it !
In the early 70's I was the Director in charge of the Audio division
of a specialist manufacturer called Electrosonic Limited ( an
interesting google ). I designed theatre, studio and audiovisual
sound equipment. For control applications I incorporated Teac
multichannel tape machines, imported by a company called Acoustico
Enterprises, whose owner was a Chinese entrepreneur called William
Ling. They were also the first UK importer of Bose products, which I
introduced into systems using the first professional Bose 800
products. As a result of my experience I was asked to accompany the
European Bose Distributors to the first European Distributors'
meeting at Framingham, USA as their technical advisor. I therefore
came to know William Ling very well and created for him the Bose PA
systems used for the performances of the James Last Orchestra and the
Bert Kaempfert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. I then had a huge
car accident ( driving head on into a lorry ) which kind of
terminated my meteoric rise. After more than a year recovering I
visited the Electronic Components Show in London and by chance met
William Ling in the crowd. He said he had heard that Rogers were 'in
trouble' and would I like to take an interest in running the company
if he bought it. I was really still recovering from my accident and
this seemed an opportunity for rejuvenation - little did I know what
I was getting into !
So I visited Jim Rogers with William Ling and 'took stock' of the
situation. At that time I was yet to hear from a young engineer
employed by William Ling called Richard Ross ----
Intermission No 1
As I've had a hard day I won't continue with
the saga today but instead just enlarge on something Pete Sced's mum
mentioned - the fact that at one time Rogers were rejecting 90% of
the KEF B110 drive units !
When Rogers, manufacturing under my direction, put the LS3/5A into
production a large number of the B110 drive units did not provide the
expected performance and initially anything up to 30% of the B110s
were rejected. KEF agreed to exchange them, since they were anxious
to co-operate in view of the glory of the BBC association and their
reputation. This was hardly efficient ,since we could only verify
performance by testing the finished loudspeaker and then taking it
apart, swopping the B110 and trying again! To our horror as
production increased and the weather changed during the year more and
more B110s were rejected, until it became almost impossible to
maintain production. Laurie Fincham, the Technical Director of KEF,
analysed the problem in conjunction with Malcolm Sced and came to a
shock conclusion - the BBC had designed the LS3/5A using B110 drive
units that were right to one end of the drive unit performance
tolerances ( probably due to the weather at the time of year they
were made ? ). The attitude of the BBC was that the LS3/5A was a
finished design and could not be changed. To my relief and joy Laurie
Fincham agreed that KEF would pre-test and select the B110 units for
Rogers using computer performance analysis ( something KEF had
pioneered) prior to delivery. You can imagine the difference this
made in production efficiency and consistency. Many people have made
nasty remarks about 'how could Rogers make so many LS3/5A
loudspeakers and still maintain quality?'. Our little secret has
never been revealed until now.
Later, of course,( possibly after my time ) the BBC did work with KEF
to modify the design slightly and eliminate the problem, thereby
allowing the design to be more generally licenced. I have a sneaking
suspicion that those 1976-1982 Rogers are the business !
In my saga I may reveal later why Raymond Cooke, the MD of KEF, was
so helpful - a bit embarassing for him !
Of course, Kef had their own plans to better the LS3/5A and
considered that it used old drive units and only had a limited life
until such time as KEF brought out their own alternative. I remember
visiting the KEF Suite at the Paris HiFi Show at a time when we were
in big quantity LS3/5A production and had scheduled orders with KEF.
When I entered the Suite Bob Cox, the KEF Sales Director, drew me to
one side and in hushed tones advised me that I might need to review
our drive unit orders because KEF were introducing their Reference
101 at the Show, which he proudly showed me. Such arrogance - but of
course KEF believed their Computer Design was perfect - no need for
silly things like endless hours of comparative listening at the BBC!
I can allow history to be the judge of who was right!
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 2
Whilst Willian Ling negotiated with Jim Rogers the terms for purchase
of Rogers Developments ( I never knew the details, unfortunately ) my
concern was to investigate the financial health of the company, its
products and their future potential. Whilst Jim Rogers seemed
somewhat shell-shocked and isolated in his upstairs office,I spent
hours with Macadie, Jim Roger's fellow Director, analysing the
accounts and the practical aspects of production. The poor chap had
been single-handedly fighting to keep the company afloat and was
exhausted. The Rogers Electronics were dated, but still in sluggish
demand - the glimmer of hope for the future was the potential for the
LS3/5A, if only it could be economically produced in quantity. I
already knew the LS3/6 as a professional customer and had never been
able to obtain adequate reliable supply, however I knew the Spendor
BC1 (as a customer) and had ideas to build on the LS3/6 potential.
Rogers had lost a large ammount of money preparing and purchasing
components to produce the LS3/5 ( including full colour leaflets )
and had then waited for months whilst the BBC finalised the LS3/5A
design, approved the production samples and granted a license to
manufacture.
Based upon my optimism for the future potential of Rogers, rather
than its past results, William Ling transfered £20,000 into the
Rogers bank account and left me frantically working out a plan to
keep creditors at bay and the ship afloat. Macadie and Jim Rogers
were conspicuous by their absence -------
As the company had been sliding towards bankruptcy Jim Rogers had
been playing in his office with a cylindrical aluminium prototype
loudspeaker enclosure which I understood had been developed by GEC,
whose Hurst Laboratories had an anechoic chamber. I recall a frequent
visitor, Bobby Fisher, as being important in some way, possibly as a
GEC employee, but would appreciate any input that anyone can provide.
Jim Rogers obviously had his own ideas for the future ! ----
Meanwhile I was able to use the sudden cash injection to briefly
reassure the bank, re-establish component supply and pay the staff.I
discovered that the company had taken considerable prepayment for
amplifiers and tuners from M.O'Brien HiFi and AT Labs ( two volume
retailers ) and had been unable to supply due to its financial crisis.
One of my first acts was to supply these pre-paid back orders, purely
on moral grounds and this was to have unforeseen future benefits ----
Meanwhile after a couple of weeks at the helm I received a surprise
phone call - ' Hello , Mr Pook?, I'd like to introduce myself, I've
been appointed the Receiver for Mr Ling's Company, Acoustico
Enterprises Ltd. I believe Rogers has an outstanding loan from the
company of £20.000 and I'd like it repaid' -------
More to come ---- meanwhile does anyone know the link between
Rogers, a chinese laundry and a bean shoot factory?
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 3
So there I was ----- running a bankrupt company 'owned' by an absent volatile individual whose main trading company had gone into receivership. I had a large workforce to look after, the Rogers history and its reputation in my hands and no money - crumbs ! Wait till the Bank get wind of this !
Colin Marsh, the delivery driver, factory caretaker and general good
guy, had let me know that Michael O'Brien, the Wimbledon HiFi
retailer, was wealthy and interested in Rogers. Luckily, as I
previously mentioned, I had looked after his prepaid orders and he
was happy to talk. With an understandable degree of trepidation and
doubt ( his accountant advised against the venture ) Michael O'Brien
decided that he would buy the company from William Ling, Jim Rogers
or whoever proved to have ownership ! Lawyers were briefed and
a 'sale' meeting of all parties was tabled .The staff at the Sidcup
metalshop were asked to arrange for all the heavy Plant (guillotines,
power-presses,fly-presses,etc.,)to be transferred to the Catford
factory yard, since the Sidcup factory would be excluded from the
sale ( I had always believed it to be uneconomic ). On the appointed
day a sale meeting was convened at the Rogers factory and at the same
time a gigantic Beck and Politzer low loader pulled into the factory -
-------
The sale talks and the resultant legal ramifications commenced and
whilst this was happening we watched out of the window the giant
Scania tractor unit detach from the trailer ( overloaded with the
huge Sidcup machinery ).It promptly jammed itself between the factory
gateposts! As the talks proceeded we had the spectacle of a giant
Beck & Politzer crane appear and lift the Scania lorry vertically
from between the gateposts ( under searchlight, as night had fallen --
-- this was just like the movies ! )
As the meeting drew towards the intended sale a metaphorical hand-
grenade was thrown in by Jim Rogers or Macadie, I can't remember
which,to the effect that the Borough of Lewisham had some time
previously 'levied distress' on the company for non-payment of Rates,
thereby making it illegal to sell any of the company's assets. A bit
of a shock ! How had Jim Rogers thought that he could sell the
company to William Ling ? A good time to go home --- pay the Rates
and try again.Off we went leaving a trailer of heavy plant on the
factory lawn ----
Next day, shock, horror,the front steady legs of the trailer on one side had been placed over a soakaway and it had sunk drunkenly five feet into the ground. It was now useless - twisted beyond salvation. Oh dear, another giant crane - and who was liable to pay Beck & Politzer ?
Michael O'Brien had wanted to save the company, but had been thwarted
by the stupidity of the Rogers Directors ----
Meanwhile ---- Lewisham council had got wind ,somehow ,of what was
happening and sent in the bailiffs. This was the end --------
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 4
I just couldn't leave things in mid-air - how would anyone sleep ?
The bailiffs arrived and were nice sensible guys, given that they
were instructed to effectively clear the factory. With a bit of fast
thinking, subterfuge and charm all BBC design data, prototypes and
critical hardware,tooling, etc was spirited away ( hence Malcolm
Sced's home store ), thus ensuring that the bailiffs covered the debt
by removing replaceable items, equipment and tools.Imagine the
heartbreak of watching them remove a £7,000 Bruel & Kjaer measuring
set as part of their booty !
The company appeared sunk. The workforce had to be made redundant and Rogers Developments cease trading - but how could we allow this to be the end ? How could I ever face the world again ? We knew from the bailiffs that everything would be taken to Greaves Auction Rooms at Tooting. This key factor led to a crazy idea - why not attend the auctions, buy back all the Rogers items, buy the Rogers name from the Rogers Receiver ( when appointed by the Bank ), lease the factory from the absentee landlord in Scotland, renegotiate the BBC LS3/5A licence and start again ? ( assuming that Michael O'Brien was willing to put up the money ! ) ----- and this is exactly what we did.
It's not every day that you buy a Bruel & Kjaer at auction for £300 !
We needed an instant trading vehicle overnight and Swisstone
Electronics Limited was 'on the shelf' for immediate use - a rather
bizarre name for a prestige British manufacturer !
I reckoned we could rebuild the company from a nucleus of six key
people - myself, Malcolm Sced, Jim Elms ( production foreman ), Colin
Marsh ( van driver extraordinaire ),Len Neville( former metal shop
worker )and a.n.other ( I feel guilty now, in that I can't be certain
who the sixth person was ). Crucial to all this was the unswerving
support of Michael O'Brien. I don't know if he was sleeping too well,
I'm sure I wasn't. Another critical factor was the contribution of
Michael's superb Solicitor, who I shan't mention by name, even though
he is unlikely to be alive today. Later, his role was to become even
more vital ----
Meanwhile both William Ling and Jim Rogers had their own plans -----
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 5
Looking back it seems ridiculous that I resurrected Rogers with five other people ( a crucial one being Malcolm Sced ), thanks to Michael O'Brien's financial gamble and the experience of his Solicitor. Within weeks we had re-employed an increasing number of former employees and resumed production. The substance and reputation of Michael plus my credibility on the telephone persuaded suppliers to come back 'on board'.
At the same time Jim Rogers was putting his JR149 into production,
initially using the 'Rogers' brand name, unaware (possibly)that we
had purchased the title to the use of the Rogers brand name from the
Receiver of Rogers Developments. This caused confusion and ill-
feeling within the industry, since people perceived Jim Rogers to be
the injured and duped party. Firm legal action was required to
rectify this situation.
At the same time we had to deal with the little matter of a licence to manufacture the LS3/5A, since the licence had ceased with the demise of Rogers Developments and the BBC Secretariat were reluctant to be involved with any successor. I still vividly recall the meeting of myself, Michael O'Brien and his Solicitor with Mr Casson of the BBC Secretariat. He was anything but understanding and was presented with a combination of my 'pleading' and the more businesslike approach of Michael and his Solicitor. Legally he was obliged to be even-handed in his dealings with all interested parties with regard to licencing and Swisstone Electronics were granted a licence to manufacture the LS3/5A. At the same time it was pointed out that the BBC were granting the same licence to a Company started by former BBC employees called Chartwell ---------
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 6
As I've finally relaxed in preparation for
festive celebrations, I thought it would be interesting to talk about
another virtually unknown part of the Rogers tale - the way that
Richard Ross' honesty and Michael O'Brien's bulldog-like
determination saved the LS3/5A from a messy and uncertain future.
Equipped with a shiny new BBC LS3/5A licence its huge workforce of 6
people was slowly expanded in 1976 by re-employing former staff. Our
focus was on re-establishing demand and achieving efficient
production. It needed a combination of nerve and hard work to rebuild
everything virtually from scratch, whilst at the same time calming
the uncertainty of UK retailers . We decided it would be wise to
concentrate on establishing overseas distribution, especially in view
of possible dealer resistance to selling the products of a company
owned by another dealer . At the same time we were
continually `looking over our shoulder' at the activities of both JR
and Chartwell ------
Suddenly, out of the blue, I received a telephone call from a Mr
Ross, who introduced himself as an employee of William Ling . He
explained that he had been working as an engineer for him and had
become concerned that William Ling was preparing to manufacture
counterfeit LS3/5As in Hong Kong ! Oh no ! It was that man again ! It
is not hard to imagine the damage that this action would have had on
the reputation of the BBC, the LS3/5A and Rogers. Michael O'Brien
reacted swiftly ( and expensively ) to deal with the situation. Legal
action was taken, both in England and Hong Kong, to prevent William
Ling `passing off' any Rogers or BBC products. My trip with Michael
O'Brien and his Solicitor to take instruction at Barristers Chambers
in Lincoln's Inn Fields was very expensively special – not something
I wish to repeat, but an experience I shall never forget ! I cannot
recall the final huge legal bill, but it's probably best forgotten !
I am pleased to report that we never heard of Mr Ling again ------
This sorry episode had one very happy outcome – I had met Richard
Ross, asessed his special talents and been able eventually to offer
him a job. He was to become head of Rogers loudspeaker design and was
one of the most naturally gifted engineers that I have ever met. I
was delighted when he became Managing Director after my departure in
1982.
During the stress and strain of our first year of revived production
I had been cultivating export sales as the key to the future success
of Rogers. We were to achieve huge sales in Japan and the USA, which
I'll talk more about soon.
Whilst the Rogers production was growing a new manufacturer was
becoming established – Chartwell. Led by David Stebbings, an ex-BBC
Engineer, this new company based on Mitcham Common not only had a BBC
LS3/5A licence, but knowledge of the new polypropylene cone
technology developed by Dudley Harwood, the BBC Design Engineer ( at
that time ). Chartwell had found finance to `jump in at the deep end'
and established facilities to manufacture their own drive units,
including vacuum-forming the cones in both bextrene and
polypropylene. They were to find, to their considerable cost, that
there is a huge difference between one-off research and reliable
volume production -----
Here is the link between Rogers, a laundry and a bean shoot factory --
-----
A Director of Chartwell and its primary source of finance was a
charming Chinese gentleman called Joseph Pau. He was the owner of a
bean shoot factory in North London which he had created in an old
laundry. He was a major supplier of bean shoots to restaurants and
supermarkets. The speed of bean shoot growth and the return on
capital employed is phenomenal and Chartwell proved the ideal means
of soaking up the bean shoot profits -------
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 7
I've replied to a query on the Group regarding the Rogers Export
Monitor and this seems a good time to give some background to the
LS3/6 - Export Monitor - Compact Monitor - Studio 1 Rogers bextrene –
coned monitor lineage.
Between 1970 and 1975, when I was designing one-off systems at Electrosonic Limited, my great love, on the rare occasions when I could get supplied, was the Rogers BBC LS3/6. One mention of those magical words – Dudley Harwood and the BBC – and the red mist would descend and I'd wait weeks for a pair of the Rogers loudspeakers when Spendor BC1s were predictably available. The performance compromises were infuriating ( the poor power handling, limited maximum s.p.l., the critical room placement, the need for special stands, the `plummy' overripe base on certain source material and hardware, the unusual load impedance ) and yet listening could be very special.
Having resurrected Rogers in 1975, here was my big opportunity to sort things out ( or so I thought ). There we were, all 6 of us, dreaming of realising the sales potential of the BBC LS3/6 and steaming into quantity production, except for the small matter of complying with the BBC design to the letter --- it didn't take long to realise that Rogers should never had been making the LS3/6 !
I think it's best if I list a few headaches ---
- The hand made bass unit was notoriously unreliable - - - -
- The voice coil was wound on a paper former at Rogers using glues that would be laughable today.
- The spider would sag, causing the voice coil to rub.
- Supply of the Celestion HF1300 tweeter was almost non-existent, as Celestion had to specially select a tiny percentage of production units in order to meet the BBC specification.
- The crossover was complex and expensive to produce. It presented an inductive, transformer coupled load to the amplifier, which upset some amplifiers.
- The acoustic balance would prove bass heavy in most placements. This was not helped by the bass reflex design( the bass balance and damping were chosen by the BBC for their studio requirements ).
- It was easy to solve the problem by ceasing production, but there was an established reputation and demand for a loudspeaker to the LS3/6 concept.
The arrival of Richard Ross gave fresh input into the
groundwork investigations of Malcolm Sced into designing an LS3/6
derivative, essentially for overseas markets. An engineering Company
in Yorkshire, Dalesford, agreed to manufacture a unique 8" bass drive
unit for Rogers. Celestion agreed quantity HF1300 tweeter supply to a
more practical specification. Richard redesigned the crossover using
ferrite cored inductors. Hence the creation of the Rogers Export
Monitor. By making a loudspeaker that made no claims to BBC design,
handled power and had `tighter' bass, sales went from strength to
strength.
The lessons learnt enabled an `economy' loudspeaker to be designed –
the Rogers Compact Monitor. This was two thirds of the size of an
LS3/6, an IB cabinet design, and used a fabric-domed Audax tweeter
with a Dalesford bextrene coned bass unit. Thirty years later my 90
year old father still uses a pair – they still sound great, shame his
hearing is almost non-existent !
During 1976/1977 production of the Rogers loudspeakers became
predictable, efficient and a world wide success, especially that
little miracle, the LS3/5A. However we(the Rogers triumvirate of
myself, Malcolm Sced and Richard Ross) knew that the LS3/6 had
special qualities that had been lost and we knew why -----
The key to the LS3/6 performance was the 8" bextrene coned BBC
designed bass unit. The cone profile and thickness, especially in the
neck region are crucial to achieving the smooth,extended HF range of
the bass unit , which allows an unusually high crossover frequency
and a wonderful mid-range. The cones were moulded for Rogers, using
their own tools, by Hyder Cones. The only way to resurrect that
quality was to manufacture our own bass unit again with our own
unique cone and cast chassis. Meanwhile Chartwell had established in
Mitcham, south London,a complete facility for moulding cones and
manufacturing their own bextrene and polypropylene coned drive
units ------------
The Studio 1 would be more special than people realised --------
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 8
Mentioning the Rogers Export Monitor is a handy lead–in to the thing
that generated the profits that made the purchase of Chartwell
possible – the Rogers export sales success. Once production was re-
established in 1976 a deliberate policy of export sales emphasis was
implemented. Within two years a combination of hard work and luck
resulted in 50% of loudspeaker production going to Japan and the USA.
The luck element ? – the discovery and cultivation of two surprise
distribution opportunities.
Japan
Within a few months of achieving efficient production I received a surprise telephone call from a Japanese businessman who was visiting London and wished to visit the factory and discuss `Rogers'. The factory was operated by a tiny workforce and looked like the aftermath of a burglary, but what was there to lose? I gave him directions on the use of British Rail (!) and he duly appeared at our factory door. The visitor, Toshihiko Mori, proved to be the most charming, friendly and enthusiastic person one could wish to meet. A true friendship that continues even today, over 30 years later. He proposed Japanese Distribution of Rogers through his business, Odex Japan Company and agreed an initial order.
Almost simultaneously
the Federation of British Audio in conjunction with the Board of
Trade and the British Embassy in Tokyo announced that they were
organizing the first exhibition in Japan dedicated exclusively to
British HiFi. With our newly agreed distribution this provided the
perfect launch pad for our fledgling operation. Imagine my amazement
on arrival in Tokyo to find that our new distributor had made a huge
investment in both personnel and promotion – a fact that was somewhat
embarrassing at such an early stage and that must have caused gossip
amongst our fellow British exhibitors. When showing the ageing
President of the Japan Audio Society our stand, Raymond Cooke, the MD
of KEF made sure to point out the amusingly primitive BBC
construction techniques of the LS3/6 – still, I had the last laugh,
in terms of our Japanese sales !
Toshi Mori lived up to every expectation and I'll relate some
further tales later ----
I've posted some photos of that first Tokyo Show in my photo gallery.
The United States of America
During the early days of 1976 Rogers UK market sales were hard work,
due to the recent upheavals and the reluctance of UK dealers to
support a company owned by a fellow shop ( especially one known for
heavy discounting ), even though in practice Michael O'Brien proved
honourable in maintaining a clean, arms length relationship. However,
some shops were supportive, especially Reading HiFi, who had realised
the performance and potential of the LS3/5A. Out of the blue, the
owners, John Bradford and Edward Toms, phoned to arrange a meeting at
the factory to make a proposal – that they would sell up and both
move their families to California to establish US Rogers
Distribution ! John had dual nationality, since his father was
American and his mother English. We agreed exclusive Rogers
Distribution and off they moved to San Diego, to capitalize on USA
LS3/5A reviews that were the stuff of dreams. They invested in a
stand at the June Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago and launched
Reference Monitor International onto the US market as the official
exclusive Rogers Distributor. Further tales to follow -------
I'll post an amusing picture of John Bradford in Tokyo later, when I relate a tale of a typhoon, 30 deaths, suspected cholera, an isolation hospital and a living nightmare !
The Rogers History 1975 to 1982 – Part 9
For the first two years of the Rogers re-incarnation I focused on
maximizing Rogers export sales ( after all, UK Hi Fi Outlets were
reluctant to buy the products of a company owned by a rival
retailer ! ). Distributors were established in the USA and Japan, as
I previously mentioned, but also in Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada,
France, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, and later in Taiwan, Thailand,
Spain, Germany and Greece.
Whilst efficient, profitable production was the priority, Richard
Ross, Malcolm Sced and myself became increasingly paranoid about the
threat of a new wonder development – the polypropylene loudspeaker
cone. My recollection of events may be rather sketchy compared to the
detail known by Malcolm and Richard, but hopefully I can capture the
essential events and atmosphere.
It started with news that Dudley Harwood and the BBC had developed techniques that enabled the use of Polypropylene as a loudspeaker cone. The material enabled the construction of drive units that were more efficient ( polypropylene is lighter than bextrene ) and exhibited lower colouration ( although some people might say different colouration ! ). Rumours spread that a company called Chartwell had a licence to use this new development and employed ex- BBC engineers. Was the use of polypropylene in this way patented ? Would the BBC Licence it ? Did Dudley Harwood have plans to form his own company and use it ? Did Dudley Harwood have exclusive rights to the use of it ? Were the BBC planning designs using it and would they be licensing the manufacture of them ?
Insiders
related stories of David Stebbings, the Chartwell MD and an ex-BBC
engineer, having BBC inside knowledge in forming Chartwell ,
unlimited finance from Joseph Pau, a Chinese businessman and a shiny
new LS3/5A licence.
Not the sort of situation for a good night's sleep. Things could only
get worse ---------
In 1977 we heard that an Iranian businessman, Farad Azima had formed
the Mission brand manufacturing company and was soon to start
producing polypropylene – coned loudspeakers. Had he a licence to
use the material ? Was one necessary ? Who was he ? Was he friends
with David Stebbings ? At the same time we heard that Infinity, the
USA loudspeaker manufacturer, were about to use polypropylene and
were rumoured to reject any patent claims.
Meanwhile Chartwell had commenced production by selling LS3/5A
loudspeakers `kits' to BBC employees, something that disgusted us.
We knew from extensive production experience that the performance
would be compromised without selection of drive units and experienced
calibration and adjustment. How could the BBC permit this violation
of the LS3/5A ?
This was the stuff of nightmares !
We were making excellent profits and `keeping our
heads down'. The Hi Fi industry must have considered us upstarts
with negligible sales, let alone profits ( if only they knew ! ) .
We now had a competitor with BBC friends. Mission were growing
stronger, winning friends in the media and about to use
polypropylene.
We felt destabilized by the threat of the unknown and our need to
guarantee a stable future for the Rogers Loudspeakers.
If only we had the means of making our own drive units.
If only we knew more about the new polypropylene technology.
If only we had bigger premises with an anechoic chamber.
Imagine my amazement in 1978 on hearing that their bank had placed
Chartwell into Receivership ---------
To be continued.......