What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

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dd2u
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What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by dd2u »

I noticed this nice example on eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GRAMOPHONE-DE ... 1192055894

I have never heard one though I know Roger Thorne was a fan. How do they compare to contemporary models from HMV and Columbia?

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FloridaClay
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by FloridaClay »

That book matched grain is especially nice. We seldom see them on this side of the pond.

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old country chemist
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by old country chemist »

In answer to the question "how do these large model DECCA GRAMOPHONES" sound, well they are very good indeed. I had one, similar to the one in the link, for sale. It was about the same size, but a simpler mahogany cabinet. It was about as good as you could get from any large model, but the "dyed in the wool" H.M.V.. VICTOR and Columbia fans would disagree. I only sold mine in the 1970s, as it was too large for our home at the time. I sold it for £60. a fine machine. They deserve better praise than they get. You really have to hear a good one to realise that they were certainly some competition to the other big makes. I see the one for sale is fitted with a "Limit" soundbox. They were usually fitted with their own badged soundbox-and mighty powerful they were.

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Orchorsol
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by Orchorsol »

old country chemist wrote:In answer to the question "how do these large model DECCA GRAMOPHONES" sound, well they are very good indeed. I had one, similar to the one in the link, for sale. It was about the same size, but a simpler mahogany cabinet. It was about as good as you could get from any large model, but the "dyed in the wool" H.M.V.. VICTOR and Columbia fans would disagree. I only sold mine in the 1970s, as it was too large for our home at the time. I sold it for £60. a fine machine. They deserve better praise than they get. You really have to hear a good one to realise that they were certainly some competition to the other big makes. I see the one for sale is fitted with a "Limit" soundbox. They were usually fitted with their own badged soundbox-and mighty powerful they were.
Same here! I had a large, similar, plainer Decca Salon some years ago too - with a big Decca soundbox - excellent machine, like a poor man's re-entrant, fantastic sound. Same again, I sold it for lack of space. (Or so I thought... having managed to squeeze two other large machines in since!)

Although very pretty, the fretwork board at the front of the one on eBay looks odd to me. On mine, the full rectangular area behind the doors was all grille cloth and as far as I can remember the mouth of the horn was that full size - or am I mistaken? Maybe this one is earlier and has a smaller horn?
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epigramophone
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by epigramophone »

Here is a Model 72 which I owned until recently. It had to go to make space for rarer acquisitions. This was a pity, because I had purchased it from the family of the original owner.

The sound from the massive "Audioscopic" horn was certainly powerful, but it would have benefitted from a better soundbox than the original, which was almost certainly bought in from Paillard.

The problem here is that the tonearm of the big "Salon" models is of unusually large diameter, larger even than a Re-Entrant HMV, so an adapter would be needed to fit most other makes.
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Salon Decca 72 002.JPG
Salon Decca 72 003.JPG

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Orchorsol
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by Orchorsol »

epigramophone wrote:Here is a Model 72 which I owned until recently. It had to go to make space for rarer acquisitions. This was a pity, because I had purchased it from the family of the original owner.

The sound from the massive "Audioscopic" horn was certainly powerful, but it would have benefitted from a better soundbox than the original, which was almost certainly bought in from Paillard.

The problem here is that the tonearm of the big "Salon" models is of unusually large diameter, larger even than a Re-Entrant HMV, so an adapter would be needed to fit most other makes.
Yes, to the best of my memory that's identical to the one I had.
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Nat
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by Nat »

I found a Salon in Edmonds, Washington about a year ago, and posted some pictures; I now have it at my cabin in British Columbia, where we get great pleasure from it; it is one of the few machines I have heard that seem to play acoustic and electric records equally well. I am quite impressed wit the sound, but wish the shut-off was as good as the late HMV and Victor versions.
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decca and cbook shelf.jpg
decca and cbook shelf.jpg (49.77 KiB) Viewed 3327 times
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Deccaman
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Re: What do large Decca gramophones sound like?

Post by Deccaman »

About two years ago I bought an example of the original version of the "carriage trade" Salon Decca (before model numbers were assigned) which has a medium-oak cabinet with figured walnut inserts at the front. It is in virtually new condition, slightly larger than a Re-entrant 163 and incredibly heavy. There is no automatic brake (which was fitted on later versions), while the lid stay is of the "lift up to disengage" type. Decca literature stated that after much experimentation the two saxophone horns which eventually converge had to be put slightly out of phase with one another to achieve a natural tone. Two with exactly the same configuration produced a clinical, artificial sound.
My example has the original, Paillard produced, 3-inch diameter soundbox, which after overhaul produces with the vast horn space a perfectly balanced forward sound of great depth and naturalness. There is no hint of distortion or difficulty, even on loud orchestral passages. My own opinion is that the Salon Decca is superior in sound to the HMV Re-entrants (where the frequencies have to fight their way through the convoluted horn). In any case, the Gramophone Company was never happy with the No. 5 soundbox and its derivatives 5a, 5b, and 16 - so one wonders why they persisted with it for so long.
So, in answer to the question, the Salon Decca sounds superior to any other gramophone so far heard for its sheer fidelity and naturalness of sound that even competes favourably with electrical reproduction.

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