Barney Oliver

[Paul Bennett]

Is anyone aware of the custom system built 1975 in Palo Alto for Barney Oliver, the Hewlett-Packard Research Director?

The speaker system used JBL's in a concrete horn permancnetly poured in his basement included D-130's. I heard this was a birthday surprise by the engineers who worked for him but don't know how they could accomplish the surprise part.

The amplifier, later made available only to hp employees for $400 parts cost, was assembled after hours in a labor of love in the research lab. It still has the best overall specs for a SS amp especially distortion. It was designed for the Shure V15 type 3 phono cart but had other inputs. Hi and lo cuts but no operator tone-type controls. Only 200 were made available. At full volume there are NO noise clicks when changing any switches. Normal listening done at 2-3 (10).

Anyone ever seen pictures of know of this system?
I have one of the amplifiers, known simply as a Barney Oliver Amplifier.

[AUDIOWIZARD418]

HELLO I AM A NEWBY I HAVE RECENTLY BOUGHT A BARNEY OLIVER AMP DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS AMP.I PICKED IT UP AT A GOODWILL FOR 10.00

[louped garouv]

I know nada, except that if you can, I would love to see a pic of your amp....

[AUDIOWIZARD418]

HERE IS A FEW PICS

[Mario Pelletti]

Hello,
I've been working at HP in Milan when I was much younger (1975-78) as a service engineer. I remember a sales manager having bought one of them.
I'm interested in buying one, also if it does not work or in bad conditions, I can fix it myself easily.
My mail is: [email protected]

Thank You
Kind regards
Mario

[AUDIOWIZARD418]

ONE MORE INSIDE

[CalifasGirl]

This is a very old thread, but I'm resurrecting it because we were shopping in a thrift store, and we found a Barney Oliver amplifier. If anyone is interested, please give me a private message. Thank you.

[AUDIOWIZARD418]

SHE NEEDS A LITTE WORK BUT IT WILL BE SOMTHING TO PLAY WITH

[louped garouv]

enjoy it when it's ready for use again...

would be pretty neat if you could dig up some more info
on the system it was 'designed' for...


even if just for documentation's sake...

maybe you could email HP's historical society...
they do a pretty good job with documentation,
maybe someone there can remember...
he was a pretty big deal...
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/pr...4/040211b.html
(sorry for stating the obvious, but i'm trying to make it easy for everyone else)



I don't know how technically advanced you are, but if you are not...
you could find a reputable local tech to take a look at it...

(i'm a lost cause in this respect, so visit the local favorite pretty frequently)
he or she could give you a pretty good idea of what you are dealing with...

maybe even look into one of the "nationally recognized' shops and
give them a call...

good luck!

[Storm]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...n%26ie%3DUTF-8

I would email him and ask him what he sold it for? He is very nice, so I am sure he would...

I have spoke with him many, many times.



-Storm.

[louped garouv]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Barney-Oliver-st...QQcmdZViewItem

BIN of $1250.00 1/26/07 for two complete units with full documentation

Barney Oliver (1916-1995) was a legendary applied scientist of the last half of the 20th century. Vice-president of research and development at Hewlett Packard, founder and director of HP Labs – birthplace of the HP35, HP2116A, and the HP9100A, and more recently a member of National Inventors Hall of Fame. He was also an avid audiophile who designed his own stereo amplifier for his home in 1971. His colleagues and employees were so impressed with it that they begged and cajoled until it was agreed they would build and sell them to HP employees and friends – one time to fill orders on hand. Several of his close associates donated their time after-hours and 400 of these units were built at Santa Clara in the summer of 1972 with no warranty support. I had a friend at HP. This stereo amplifier was a work of genius. Most notable of it’s stunning performance was extremely low harmonic distortion = <0.01%, 2 mw to max. power, all frequencies. I took mine to a Mackintosh Clinic for analysis in 1973 and the engineers could not believe what they were seeing (I think they were using an HP harmonic analyzer). Barney was so obsessive that he optimized the amplifiers performance for a Shure V15 type II phono cartridge (best available @ the time) and J B Lansing LE85 and LE15A speakers. Per chanel power rating into 8 ohm speakers is 50 watts continuous, 160 watts peak. Size is 16.72” W, 5” H, 10.93 D At any rate, I have 2 complete units (my friend later sent me his) with Black Walnut side panels. It includes a comprehensive owners manual with complete specifications, circuit descriptions and schematics, and parts list. I also have a copy of the HP memo announcing the availability of Barney’s amplifier and a copy of the HP employee newsletter “The Peninsulan” February 1973 that describes the product and the program. I will pay shipping costs to continental US if reserve is met.


Personally, I would email the seller/winning bidder and try to get some scans of the paperwork...

[Don C]

It looks like it could have been made in a HP factory.

[louped garouv]

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...1&d=1183083967


seem like this same unit flew through Ebay recently... #196

http://cgi.ebay.com/BARNEY-OLIVER-AM...item4153b6859d

has anyone here used one of these amps?
prices seem to be all over the place, i've seen a few go for over $800
this one went for $400

[hjames]

I asked her to send me pictures and never got any ...
so stayed clear of that transaction.

This is a very old thread, but I'm resurrecting it because we were shopping in a thrift store, and we found a Barney Oliver amplifier. If anyone is interested, please give me a private message. Thank you.

[AUDIOWIZARD418]

THANX FOR INFO IF I DO DECIDE TO SELL I WILL KEEP YOU IN MIND