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Author Topic: Gaumont Kalee mag pre amp details required Warren Smyth Expert Film Handler Posts: 158 From: Auckland ,New Zealand Registered: Aug 2003 posted 04-16-2018 06:50 AM                     Yes, there has been a few ideas on the cause of Kalee's death, however as far as I can see, they remain theories only. It is surprising that there seems little verifiable information of the reasons for the closing of the factory. One would have thought that there would have been accounts in trade publications or direct information from workers who may have become unemployed. That's not to say that the theories are not correct. I never realised the 37 projectors were similar to the VV machines and that the parts from the latter were used for the 37s. A few of them were used here with apparent success but there was some unease about the belt driven sprockets and the arcs were replaced with Peerless ones after a few years in some cases. The RK60s arrived here in the 1970s but we knew them as Vic 8s. They were not fitted for 70mm but had the extra upper sprocket and were convertible. The man with the gong was clearly displayed on the name plate but by then, Cinemecannica solid state amplifiers had replaced the Kalee valve equipment so everything was Italian. PICTURE HERE  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 04-16-2018 11:50 PM                        At the risk of sounding a little controversial, I don't think you're going to find the cause of Kalee's death simply by looking at the history of projectors. It was part of the broader troubles faced by British heavy industry between the end of WWII and Thatcher's reforms in the 1980s. This book offers a very controversial take, but one that I believe needs to be taken seriously. He argues that in the defeated countries of Europe after WWII, the emphasis in reconstruction was in rebuilding industry, developing high tech, and growing economies that could compete with the emerging superpowers of the USA and USSR. In Britain, on the other hand, it was on developing the welfare state (social security system) and government paying voters the short-term price they demanded for the sacrifices they'd made during the war. In very simple terms, that is why, by the early 1970s, West Germany had BMW and Mercedes, and Britain had, well, this. I hate to have to say it, but the projectors being made by Kalee in the 1960s were essentially 1920s technology, albeit refined and improved over four decades. For total cost of ownership and the quality of the job they did, they couldn't compete with Vic 5s, Vic 8s, DP-70s and FP-20s; and that was basically why Kalee went out of business. It sure was a sad end for a company that was founded in the high tech, Victorian tail end of the industrial revolution, by an inventor (Abram Kershaw) who rivaled Edison in all abilities except self-promotion. Rank's VV project probably hastened Kalee's demise, but the writing was essentially on the wall by the time that started.  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 06-09-2019 04:19 PM                 It has been 418 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Jacob Pearson Film Handler Posts: 12 From: Bradford, Yorkshire, England Registered: Dec 2015 posted 06-09-2019 04:19 PM                     Warren, I have sent you an email.  |  IP: Logged

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