MADE IN USSR. 1987 Ad, Hi-Fi Components by VEGA Radio Factory

Music in the USSR. Soviet Hi-Fi electronics. Soviet-era Hi-Fi Components. Vega radio factory, Russia.
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[@UshankaShow]

Soviet Vintage Folms Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLNq3y0OU1_BYCuaiMO-4jNMjDNC94lOAr My name is Sergei Sputnikoff. I was born in the USSR in 1971. Since 1999 I have lived in the USA. The Ushanka Show was created to share stories and recollections of everyday life in the USSR. My books about arriving in America are available at www.sputnikoff.com/shop (Russian or English versions) or on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNQR1FBC?binding=paperback&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1688731325&sr=8-1 Don't hesitate to get in touch with me at [e-mail] if you would like to purchase a signed copy of “American Diaries” Fan Mail: Ushanka Show P.O. Box 96 Berrien Springs MI 49103, USA You can support this project with SuperThanks tips, or: Via Patreon here: www.patreon.com/sputnikoff Viia PAYPAL: paypal.me/ushankashow Ushanka Show merchandise: teespring.com/stores/ushanka-show-shop Instagram: instagram.com/ushanka_show

[@elausraliano]

A friend had a music store and, among the many brands of amps and speakers, there was this "Sovexport" brand with valves instead of transistors. I was surprised and I asked if people bought these amps, and my friend told me they were very popular with many professional musicians, they were good quality, sturdy and gave a very warm sound.

[@epiculo2]

Valves give a warmer sound, if you check, valve amplifiers are more expensive than transistor ones.

[@martinburke362]

I bought a Soviet Selena radio in 1983 still going indestructible!!

[@RextheDragon881]

That's awesome. I'm jelly

[@mrguiltyfool]

Does the soviet use different radio system than the west?

[@martinburke362]

@@mrguiltyfool No it's got a solid ferrite receiver instead of the compound ferrite receivers as used by western designs this means there's a very audible clunk when changing between wave bands but this thing will literally pick up just about any short wave radio station on the planet

[@mrguiltyfool]

@@martinburke362 that's cool

[@becconvideo]

@@mrguiltyfool The FM spectrum in Eastern Europe including all of the USSR was different 65-74 MHz instead of 88-108MHz in the rest of the world.

[@madcat789]

Dang, that girl in the first ad was cute.

[@jamesofficial6829]

Yeah she was.... Its sad though that beauty fades... Her beauty forever captured in a video and of a person we will never know....

[@HHH-so9ro]

Her looks are miserable, she wishes she could buy this device but can't.😢

[@lundsweden]

​@@HHH-so9roNo, it's very hard to afford but what she's really sad about is she can't buy the latest Japanese hifi components!

[@martyniner8893]

I agree!

[@cv507]

that webcaäm öne -:-

[@primerye]

Sergei, I know I heard you say in one of your videos something to the effect that you know not a lot about music, but you have the most impeccable taste in music in these sort of presentations.

[@stevenobrien557]

Perhaps it is the opposite of the Dunning-Kruger Effect? He knows enough to get an idea of how much he doesn't know.

[@jimmyg5636]

Best elevator jazz music mix I’ve ever heard. If KZbin ever has a Grammy. This sound track is winner 🏆 😉 Great footage JWC 😊

[@mattsmitt4914]

Сергей спасибо! отличный ролик, ностальгия, хорошо помню детство только с 88 года,

[@davidchristensen6908]

Very cool video. Nice work. You sure come a long way from your first videos. I have followed you since 2019 or 18. Your channel is pure information and a fun way to present it.

[@Moondog66602]

Legitimately freaking cool

[@CommodoreFan64]

The designs of the portable boomboxes shown remind me a lot of GE(General Electric) ones from the 80's, and that's not a bad thing as they were a middle of the road brand that lasted if you took care of them.

[@Phiyedough]

I collect old audio gear and I do have a couple of Soviet devices but earlier ones, probably 1970s.

[@johnthefinn]

I used to watch Soviet ads on Estonian TV sometimes. I was amazed at how LOOONG they were. I think this entire episode is a single ad, in fact.

[@resrussia]

I am surprised to see that the Soviet Union was designing short wave radios with cities printed in English including London. What is also interesting the made "Made in Hungry" and "Made in Poland" labels. One think that they would written in the national language or Russian. One wonders if this video was produced for Western consumption.

[@HHH-so9ro]

Due to the economic decline, the Soviet Union was forced to do this because of its urgent need for hard currency, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s.

[@ctrlz4439]

They were exporting stuff. But it was not strictly forbidden to listen foreign radios except Voice of America etc.

[@Welgeldiguniekalias]

Made in 1987. Just in time to listen to listen to Всё идёт по плану the next year.

[@daffyduk77]

More fascinating & absorbing content from the inimitable Sergei - *thanks!* 🙂

[@frustrateduser9933]

Surprised how long the commercial was. Was that just one? Or did you combine them?

[@ImperatorZor]

I think this is more of a demonstration to investors.

[@UshankaShow]

Just one. It's more like a promotional film, I guess

[@mrguiltyfool]

Reminded me of the song Oleg Gazmanov - Made in the USSR.

[@ionidhunedoara1491]

You want a sw radio that can pull in stations from Yakutsk to Kaliningrad,- quite a few time zones. The phono turntable seems inspired by the Thorens model where the heaviness of the platter minimises flutter and hum.

[@Starphot]

I repaired stereos in that time period. I seen everything from germanium transistors to surface mount components in the assembly part of this video. In 1987, the US was going into the monster receiver wars with the amp sections 80 watts RMS or more per channel. The CD players were getting popular despite the cost at the time, the LP vinyl records was still on top in sales.

[@Salt_of_the_Red_Earth_31]

Great stuff Sergei. Keep it up. I love the content!

[@spacetrucker2196]

Now all these people work at fast food jobs.

[@rjames3981]

Cool toons 🎵

[@harryhole5786]

They look like my radio-cassette player from 1975. Was USSR still back behind? Yes, I think so, 10-12 years seems to be a good average. But at what prices were they sold, mine I paid DM 229.-- that's roughly € 124 at the time. Quite some money also.

[@tweeglitch]

WOW! I'm sold! Where do I queue?

[@epiculo2]

Makes me wanting a Tento boombox.

[@David_Rafuse]

Wow, the first 4 minutes of this ad sounds like a 70's porno flick 😂

[@ENGRAINING]

in the soviet era music like this would be worth its weight in gold as samizdat

[@richardkammerer2814]

Ah, very enjoyable. Just a reminder for me with all the madness yesterday and today, people are people.

[@dirkbonesteel]

FUN FACT - Russian tubes and old style Germanium transistors are still in huge demand from the vintage guitar and stereo community. When it comes to obsolete but cool technology they are as good as they are bad at tanks

[@captlazer5509]

I've heard that from friends who restore old amps. I think that is cool! Too bad about the other stuff.

[@helgeschneider9069]

sorry...fun fact....this is just a myth. as no other tubes then russian and chinese tubes were still available, sellers told these myth to customers. just make some meassurments. the specs of each tube divide a lot. now there are again tubes from other companies available. us-made, czech-made.....much better quality. not talking about the real kings of tubes, which russia never have produced. by the way, the russian tubes are mostly copies of western technology.

[@captlazer5509]

@helgeschneider9069 I didn't read "better than..." but the Soviets most certainly made vacuum tubes far after it was no longer made elsewhere. Is there NOS western made tubes? Yes, but m hard to find. Nobody was hoarding them. Yes, for 1950-60's amp restorations, I've seen Soviet vacuum tubes used.

[@dirkbonesteel]

@@helgeschneider9069 That's what I have heard too. Nice detail

[@helgeschneider9069]

@@captlazer5509 "When it comes to obsolete but cool technology they are as good as they are bad at tanks" there now still tubes produced in czech republik and usa. czech: jj, canor....most tube using audiodevices have JJ. usa: western electric. no need for russian tubes. the quality of russian tubes is bad.

[@wilco3588]

Very cool video thanks for sharing. Was that a commercial for domestic use or export?

[@radiozelaza]

why is the image so high quality?

[@rickrandom6734]

I guess it is shot on film, not to videotape.

[@radiozelaza]

@@rickrandom6734 it surely is, I'm surprised they did an HD transfer

[@maximshakhov284]

Pretty cool soundtracks. They couldn't do it better placing it right. Weackest point of soviet consumer technical goods was poor materials quality plastics etc.

[@drbulbul]

Why does English text appear in the opening segment? Was this advert intended for the international market? Or was it added for the Ushanka Show?

[@UshankaShow]

Nope, we did not anything. My guess, in 1987 there were hopes to capture foreign markets.

[@crimony3054]

Always interesting to see how marketing was accomplished in a command economy. Why have dozens of choices and leave some folks priced out or disadvantaged when half a dozen choices can reach so many more?

[@maximshakhov284]

In the planning economy the point is production and distribution costs. But the reality is that demand for consumer goods is much higher than supply. So ppl are ready to pay double and more price for desired goods. Meantime right planning and distribution kills deficit. That was with soviet hand watches, semiconductor radios, or nylon fiber goods in 60-70's

[@crimony3054]

@@maximshakhov284 yes, generally speaking, market capitalism will shift capital into needed areas faster than any planned economy can. And if it's consistently more efficient by as little as 2 or 3 %, a gap can open up quickly.

[@mikethespike7579]

Nice HiFi equipment. Looks really good, something I would buy even today. Just one question, were these HiFi products on sale in the USSR or made exclusively for export? Because I know I never saw this quality of product anywhere int USSR when I visited.

[@jeffbreezee]

At that time, I guess being Soviet wasn't bad.

[@UshankaShow]

1987? Yes, the best Soviet days before the bottom fell out

[@frugalbirders7416]

Wow. That’s a long ad. Is it a compilation, or is it the Soviet version of a late-night “But wait, there’s more!” Commercial?

[@UshankaShow]

More like informercial.

[@gamewizard1760]

I saw a radio with international frequency tuning. How was this allowed in the USSR? I thought they didn't want the people to be able to hear what was going on in the outside world?

[@mfbfreak]

In 1987, Gorbachov was already in power, so explicitely putting them on the dial probably was acceptable, politically. Aside from that, there were plenty of soviet-aligned stations to hear on shortwave and longwave, which was available on many standard broadcast receivers from the 50s till the 90s and needed because the soviet block was such a large geographic area. If you include either of those bands it's inevitable that the people were able to listen to the western transmitters. Finally, the fact that they're printed in the western alphabet, means that this was a radio meant for export. The version for the internal market likely would not have the western stations on the dial, but instead the countless stations from the other communist countries.

[@epiculo2]

@@mfbfreak As much as i know, the radios were the same exported to the West, it was SW stations from abroad that were jammed.

[@MichaelJohnson-tw7dq]

Those Kremlin blasters made the Central Committee, Party Central!

[@abominabelle]

First turntable also coming back at 4:17 is not Russian but Polish. You can see name UNITRA (Fonica) in certain moment. So NO, its not made in USSR (aka CCCP).

[@gondyy]

I have several Unitra radios from Poland including the collectible Julia,,,

[@abominabelle]

@@gondyy Yes, i remember Julia (Stereo). It was very expensive then but with good sound (on external speakers), rather high sensitive radio with lots of short waves. Still valued high as a collectible and for daily use.

[@richardpchaseii5084]

Boom box, baby! Long way to go, to beat a Grundig, though...

[@grahambentley3964]

They need to work on their slogan. "It's better to hear once" doesn't make lot of sense. Maybe it was a literal translation from Russian?

[@UshankaShow]

Yes. It's rewording of a popular saying "it's better to see (something) once than to hear (about something) a hundred times.

[@anthonydefreitas6006]

0:24 Why was the writing on the record in English?

[@daffyduk77]

Why did they need ads when there was no competition ? (half-joking here). Maybe it was a state hifi manufacturer competing for consumer roubles against say a state camera manufacturer

[@squarewave808]

Comrade Sputnikoff, did you ever have any experience with these components? I notice they conspicuously showed the Hungarian and Polish made parts. Was that some sort of Warsaw Pact solidarity propaganda?

[@UshankaShow]

I had RADIOTECHNIKA stereo center which had cassette components made in Hungary.

[@RandomDudeOne]

Get your Hi-Fi now! Only cost you 6 months salary.

[@Brfff]

01:42 ... why the little white hats?

[@halicarnassus8235]

I thought the Soviet government frowned upon Black American inspired "decadent" Jazz music, even soft jazz.

[@olegivannikov9163]

Первая тема гитарная класснач.

[@MatthewSuffidy]

But they would shoot you if had a decent album. These days I have pretty good Sony tower speakers connected digitally to my computer. I pre EQ the output using 'Easy Effects in Linux. That is to say the desktop sound is digitally EQd before going to my amp.

[@thefreestylefrEaK]

Sounds like you know nothing about audio.

[@ENGRAINING]

soviet could have been as good at electronic development as the west if the gosplan wasn't so inefficient with innovation in this field.

[@jayexile2487]

I wonder if this factory had a cafeteria or people had to bring lunch from home

[@rivendellcoinsantiquities4964]

Could those radios tune-in to Radio Free Europe or Voice of America? "Nyet" is my guess ...

[@UshankaShow]

They could but it was hard to hear anything due to radio jamming kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3TKmqGooLqlj6s

[@becconvideo]

@@UshankaShow Could they rally jam all the SW bands? We SW listeners back then remember the infamous "Woodpecker" signal which we later found out to have emerged from the giant Duga antennas in the Kyiv area (inside the Czernobyl exclusion zone actually) They might have ground wave effects on a wider spectrum in the near region - such as Kyiv city. We all suspected jamming back then but they were used as an over the horizon radar to track aircraft, missiles and even submarines. At least in East Germany, my VEF206 was a reliable way to get information and music from all parts of the world beyond West German media - learn some English 🙂

[@UshankaShow]

@@becconvideo Jamming stations were placed around every large city. It was pretty challenging at times to hear anything

[@OkupantTuriMutiCiet]

​@@becconvideoRadios sold in the USSR only received frequencies up to 12 MHz.

[@K2teknik.]

@@OkupantTuriMutiCiet Wrong.

[@ДраконлордЕрешкігаль]

її ася на мініатюрі ася олександрівна василевська так її звати

[@ДраконлордЕрешкігаль]

т

[@thefreestylefrEaK]

This ad is annoying and the radios look like cheap garbage.

[@cv507]

$inGhäl cyded teip vv0vLD häve bin nvFF v v