AKG K340 in Africa

A most extraordinary thing happened the other day. It was my uncle’s birthday and I browsed through one of his old photo albums. He used to be a radio operator in the merchant fleet before retirement. One photo especially attracted my attention as I saw a man with a pair of headphones. It was apparently from Africa in the 1980s or so, as the accompanying photos showed white houses, dunes and camels. When I asked my uncle he said the photos were taken in Morocco when the men were on leave for two or three days in Tarfaya while the ship was undergoing repairs. After a day in the bazaars they went to a small hotel with an adjoining restaurant for supper.

A the table next to them sat a family and the father invited my uncle and his colleagues for a local specialty, a spiced refreshing drink from a large glass bowl. He introduced himself (the name written in the photo album looks like Ali Ben Adir, not “Hen” Adir as I first thought), and said they lived in Rabat but had travelled to the south coast for holidays. My uncle believed the man was carrying a camera or a pair of binoculars, but it turned out to be a portable CD player with headphones and a big shoulder bag!

The man said: “Music one cannot live without. That’s why, even when I’m on holiday with my family, I bring along my cherished recordings.” One must remember that a CD player was quite unusual in those days, it was introduced in Japan in 1982, especially in Africa. “I am very proud of this”, said the man, and insisted my uncle took a photograph of him in the lobby. My uncle did so, after all he had generously treated the company to drinks, but one snapshot was not enough. Mr Ali Ben Adir said he must take a “close-up” of his very expensive and rare equipment. And he was right: look at it – it’s friggin’ AKG K340, the electrostatic, and most likely a Sony Walkman CD player! I wonder how those survived in the sand. That’s probably why the man has this big, yellow bag.

When they were done, Mr Adir let my uncle listen to the set-up, and he says the experience of listening to Tony Bennett singing “Watch What Happens” in the warm Moroccan evening was quite mesmerizing.

And there it is for you, two snapshots from an African headphone hobbyist, almost three decades ago.

This discussion is interesting, especially in the light of the inadequate power output of today's iPod Nanos etc. I called my uncle and asked if he remembered anything about the sound, and he said it sounded fine, he is not an expert in the field. But he did remember that Mr. Adir got a worried look on his face when he cranked up the volume, the music was quite loud without being turned up all the way. So if it was still only a measly 9 + 9 mW it seemed to have been enough to power the K340. Is there anyone out there who could try an old Discman with the K340?

The more I learn about old gear the more intrigued I get.