Pink Triangle

Pink Triangle Origins

Pink Triangle Products Ltd was a British audio manufacturer specialising in high end turntables.

It was founded in London in 1979 by Neal Jackson and Arthur Khoubesserian. Jackson chose the name 'Pink Triangle' after the symbol used to identify homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps (both Jackson and Khoubesserian are gay).

Initial manufacturing took place on an industrial estate in Maidstone Road, Sidcup, Kent, and later at Lomond Grove, Camberwell, London. The company closed in 2003.

Very few of the company's first product, referred to as the Pink Triangle Original turntable, were produced. This product and some of the later models included some then very innovative design features. It had an 'aerolam' (a very light and stiff aluminium honeycomb structure developed for and first used by the aircraft industry) sub-chassis that rigidly coupled the platter/bearing assembly with the tone-arm while being low in mass, for low storage of vibrational energy. The wooden plinth was topped with a 3 part mirror glass plate that covered an aluminium frame providing mounting points for the suspension and DC motor. The suspension was unusual in that the subchassis hung from three extension springs rather than sitting on compression springs; a more stable arrangement.

The next product, referred to as the PT1, is often mistakenly assumed to be their first product. The PT1 was an easier to manufacture version of the 'Original' having the glass top plate replaced by a black painted steel plate. Later versions of the PT1 moved the motor from its original 'one o'clock' position to 'seven o'clock', on the opposite side of the spindle to the tonearm to mounted it on the top plate. This turntable was in production from 1979 until 1985.

The last Pink Triangle turntable produced was the Tarantella. A complete stylistic departure from the earlier models, its chassis was a triangle of clear acrylic, with three metal spikes supporting it. DC motor and tonearm were mounted on metal outriggers, and the belt drove the periphery of the acrylic platter.

Pink Triangle turntables were highly praised by the audio press and sold in significant quantities. However, they were never as commercially successful as the similarly priced Linn Sondek LP12 they competed with.