Partington Partington Partington! We can’t get enough of these marvelous speaker stands. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a hi-fi brand which has one keen focus – and one acute speciality, and you don’t get many quite as keen and focused as they. They were initially forged in Britain, and that is where they remain to this very day. It all began with the Partington’s Family Business of playground equipment, and a chance encounter with a hi-fi guy who just happened to have the right connections for the man who had an extraordinary perception on how to take something and truly adapt it to the needs of the listener, all-the-while taking into consideration the needs of every party involved.
We managed to hunt down the man behind the brand – Peter Partington – who was very lovely, and although retired, took some time to give us his own version of how Partington came into being, and how it came to be known for it’s incredible quality and attention to detail.
Brand History
It all began with three men. Peter Partington, his brother and his father. I’ll let the man himself take it from here.
“It all began 40 years ago (1975. Before that I was in business with my brother and dad making playground equipment. My dad used to make playground equipment after the war, designed for big playgrounds and schools. It was probably my brother’s idea that we scale it for gardens and home use, and to sell it to high street stores such as Selfridges. We were the first to make a fibre glass slide with a hump in it – which we called the Big Dipper! All of that sold very well in the summer, but in the winter funds would dwindle.”
“My brother’s father-in law managed a ‘wireless shop’ which sold all manner of audio and visual equipment, and they did a lot of rental televisions. These televisions had to sit on stands which had screw-in wooden legs. Due to their size (and weight), people would have to shove them around the room when they hovered and the legs broke off and there was no way of fixing them. Wally, the aforementioned manager, came to me and asked if I could make a television stand for varying sizes and I said I could make one to fit the lot (trade secret, sliding tube) and I did. He took it to his boss and they ordered 20!”
That man belonged to a buying group and took these new fangled trolleys with casters (wheels, for the purpose of movement) and they ordered 100 All of this gave us the platform.to get new ideas. We supplied Currys at one point, and over the years ordered 20,000 of them! I decided to take them on the road and see who else would benefit from them. I visited Billy Vee’s in Lonon, which was owned at the time by someone else. They had no need for television stands and explained that they dealt entirely in separates hi-fi. I had no idea what that was! They explained the process of separation to me, and told me they needed trolleys for those. I scaled down the trolleys to fit the speakers and separates and the more that they were used, the more folk would notice the difference in sound.”
Award Winners
When Peter branched out fully into making furniture specifically for Hi-Fi he – and many others – realised that it wasn’t just a matter of practicality. Stand and had an important secondary function in making the speakers physically sound better, as opposed to simply looking – or acting the part. Reviewers such as What Hi-Fi cottoned onto this and he worked closely with them and their expertise in the field of high fidelity to make stands that offered benefits for sonic, aesthetic and practical high-fidelity needs.
“I approached reviewers when we realised how much the stands made a difference to the sound and they were tuned, refined and improved to appeal to the high fidelity market, as well as something that would fit in with the domestic aesthetic without affecting the build quality of the stands and the sound. We stopped using wheels and started using spikes and started making stands for studios. Gradually I scaled the business down as I got older both produced higher quality products for the discerning listener, all based on what the expert’s ear would tell me”
Let’s just say, they asked the right people for the job. What he and his team created from then on went to sweep the boards.
“Everyone of our products has achieved a five star review and if they didn’t we stopped their production.”
Since their first five star win in 1980, there hasn’t been anything stopping Partington scooping up awards like sweets. Their first award winner was the Trophy which was awarded a 5 star award with What Hi Fi upon, being re-reviewed several times in the years following that and always achieving five stars. This became Partington’s pattern as what followed then was a succession of consistent wins, from their cheapest – the original Ansa – which achieved five star status in every British audio magazine of the time. Right through to their more high-end Dreadnaught and Super Dreadnaught which picked up multiple awards between 2001 and 2008, unlocking either Best Speaker Stand or the prestigious Product of the Year at the What Hi-Fi Awards each and every time. There is not a single product within Partington’s range which hasn’t had full merits and honours by each of the major reviewing bodies, and this is the reputation that will carry them ahead into the future.
Current Line Up
Ansa 60
The perfect ‘budget’ stand within Partington’s current range, but there’s pretty much nothing budget about this but the price! Designed for smaller bookshelf speakers, these are the perfect match for anything that drives tight, punchy and detailed sound. They have previously won What Hi-Fi’s prestigious Best Speaker Stands award, multiple times and have achieved five star status across the board. The Ansa‘s are elegant stands, built using laser profiling throughout. They feature specially formed centre columns, welded to a strong base and top plates.
Super Dreadnaught
These are stands that stand at a similarly affordable price are an excellent choice for supporting most normal sized “bookshelf” speakers. As with other stands in the Partington range, Super Dreadnoughts are built using laser profiled panels, with one inner and four outer tubes. They offer an incredibly high level rigidity and vibration control and boast a base plate pre-filled using their unique resin, alongside a silicon-iron damping system.
Broadside
A battleship of a speaker stand! These beautifully made stands have been lauded across the hi-fi world since their inception. They boast incredible rigidity with design that is very effective in cleverly dispersing vibrations. Sonic improvements include a better soundstage and stereo imaging, achieved using laser profiled panels, with one inner and four outer tubes.
Ultima
When only the flagship will do! The Ultima is unique, through and all welded and laser cut design has a specially formed centre column, heavy gauge folded top and base plates in a triangular design that, all together, offer exceptional rigidity. The top and base plates are coated in Partington’s own resin, which deadens vibtations further. The result is controlled and deep bass; unsurpassed definition, dynamics and stereo imaging; greater instrumental and vocal separation, wide sound staging and above all, a smooth warm sound throughout the audible spectrum. Pretty good, in other words. And it will only get better from here!
The Future
We managed to speak to both Peter Partington (who kindly provided all of the information regarding brand history and awards, as well as plenty of other cool stuff!) and a Partington Rep, who had this to say:
“Currently Partington are focused on the award winning range of speakers stands in the current line up as these sound so good , but we are looking at the possibility of adding a hi-fi stand and/or new turntable wall shelf into the range in 2015”
And who can blame them for not wanting to fix something that is by far from broken? It could be suggested that Partington have made the most critically acclaimed articles of hi-fi furniture ever – and their current line-up are their most successful articles yet. We will never tire of hearing about how much folk love them – and will never tire of recommending them either. Stay tuned, there will be more to come!