“Decided to buy Alba HOUS208”
Alba were another of those ‘affordable’ hi-fi brands that littered the marketplace back in the Seventies.
Search as I have, I can find no online reference to – or photos of – this particular amplifier, but I indeed remember it quite well.
It was not of standard design. Not for me the ‘boring’ traditional look of a silver amp with all the knobs and switches on the front.
Instead, it was built in a flat ‘piano’ style, with sliders for the volume/bass/treble/balance controls that moved from front to back. A few toggle switches for mono/stereo and the important (back then) “loudness” control, something which only served to boost the low and mid range whilst stifling the treble. The top was black alloy but the sides were made from real wood, I think it was walnut.
The only inputs it had were phono, tuner & tape, with outlets for two pairs of speakers – if you were rich enough!
Unlike much of the stuff that was at the cheaper end of the market it was not made in China, instead it was homegrown, a genuine “Made in England” product.
It was either 30 or 30 watts per channel I think, which would have been more than enough ‘oomph’ for my miniscule 7′ x 9′ bedroom.
Coming soon… the debacle over actually buying it.
Excerpts from a 70's Teenage Rock Opera 