Archive / Classics, 1946 to 1969
Project G
Radiogram, Clairtone, 1964
A transistorised stereo console in a rosewood cabinet with two rotating aluminium speaker spheres, which won a silver medal at the 1964 Milan Triennale.
A-22, isometric, same camera for both
- Drawing
- A-22
- Introduced
- 1964
- Produced
- Not published
- Made in
- Canada
- Designed by
- Hugh Spencer
- Launch price
- CA$1,850 (IEEE Spectrum); Wikipedia gives $1,600 at launch
- Size
- 2159 x 711 x 483 mm
- Weight
- Not published
Hugh Spencer, a CBC set designer with no engineering background, designed the Project G for Clairtone of Toronto, and it debuted at the National Furniture Show in Chicago in January 1964. A book-matched rosewood cabinet on an aluminium stand carries a turntable, a transistor amplifier and an AM, FM and FM stereo radio, with Wharfedale speakers inside the sound globes. The globes rotate through 340 degrees. IEEE Spectrum says fewer than 500 were made.
In the collections of Royal Ontario Museum (holds the Project G pictured by IEEE Spectrum; transferred after the Design Exchange closed its collection in 2019).
Specification
| Item | As published |
|---|---|
| Turntable | Elac Miracord 10H (first generation); Garrard Lab Series in later units |
| Amplifier | Transistorised; model not named in the sources |
| Radio | AM, FM and FM stereo |
| Speakers | Wharfedale drivers inside sealed spun-aluminium globes, 46 cm in diameter each |
| Globe rotation | 340 degrees |
| Length | Over 2 metres (IEEE Spectrum) |
Out of production
Find an original
The Project G is out of production. Originals change hands on the marketplaces listed here; buy restored, or budget for recapping and new valves.
The house
- Founded
- 1958
- Founder
- Peter Munk and David Gilmour
- Origin
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Today
- The Nova Scotia government took control in 1967 and the company closed in 1972, though it was not dissolved until 1979.
Further sheets
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairtone
- https://spectrum.ieee.org/project-g-stereo
- https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/credenzas/first-generation-clairtone-project-g-t4-rosewood-stereo-system/id-f_6661543
Notes for the record: Price conflicts: IEEE Spectrum says CA$1,850; Wikipedia says $1,600 at launch. Currency conversion to USD was not sourced, so launch_price_usd is null. Dimensions are a 1stdibs dealer listing for a first-generation unit (28 high, 85 wide, 19 deep in), converted at 25.4 mm per inch; IEEE says over 2 m long and Wikipedia nearly seven feet; a Wright auction listing seen only in search results gives 27 3/4 x 84 x 19 in, but wright20.com returned 403. The ROM collection record (search result, object 2020.24.1, dated 1963) returned 403, so the ROM holding rests on IEEE Spectrum. The Wright sale of a Project G on 30 July 2024 (reported in search results at US$20,160) could not be opened, so collector_market is null. Wikipedia names Peter Munk and David Gilmour as founders and says the company closed in 1972.