Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

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OrthoFan
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Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by OrthoFan »

I stumbled upon this site, profiling a number of models--Victor, Columbia, etc., produced and sold in Japan-- and thought I'd pass it along:

Original Japanese Version -- http://www6.atpages.jp/omat/pages/grammophon.html
Google Translated Version -- https://translate.googleusercontent.com ... 5iA#VV1_90 (Not the greatest translation, but you can still cull some information from it.)

I noted some very interesting differences between the American originals and the Japanese versions, especially, the horn's design, and cabinetry.

OrthoFan

EdiBrunsVic
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by EdiBrunsVic »

Thanks for sharing it!

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audiophile102
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by audiophile102 »

Despite a few translation mistakes, it's a great read. Thanks Ortho Fan for posting.
"You can't take the phonographs nor the money with you, but the contentment the phonographs bring may well make your life better, and happier lives make the world a better place."

Phono48
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by Phono48 »

Fascinating site. Thanks for sharing.

Barry

Watanabehi
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by Watanabehi »

OrthoFan wrote:I stumbled upon this site, profiling a number of models--Victor, Columbia, etc., produced and sold in Japan-- and thought I'd pass it along:

Original Japanese Version -- http://www6.atpages.jp/omat/pages/grammophon.html
Google Translated Version -- https://translate.googleusercontent.com ... 5iA#VV1_90 (Not the greatest translation, but you can still cull some information from it.)

I noted some very interesting differences between the American originals and the Japanese versions, especially, the horn's design, and cabinetry.

OrthoFan
Hello,

Kei Ikeda who is very famous for his knowledge about acoustic phonographs in the world published in the magazine Record Collectors about Japanese Orthophonic Victrolas, most of which are table top models. Except VV 1-90 and VV 1-91, which have wooden reentrant horns, others have all wooden straight horns. I used to own VV 1-50, which has low level parts like the sound box without the spider on the diaphragm. I used to own a Japanese-made table-top model made by Paragon, which had a tar covered inside horn, which produced quite good sound.

Hideki

tomb
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by tomb »

Thank you Ortho Fan.. That documents one of the portables manufactured by RCA Victor the 2-12 or j2-12 in japan. I knew it was manufactured in Japan but I also believe it was manufactured in Mexico or somewhere in South America as the 2-12. Only one left is the one with RCA on the record holder. Tom B

epigramophone
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by epigramophone »

Many thanks for posting this excellent resource. Information on "overseas" Columbias has always been hard to find. Here is my machine :
Attachments
Columbia G-208 001.JPG
Columbia G-208 001.JPG (81.18 KiB) Viewed 2102 times
Columbia G-208 002.JPG
Columbia G-208 002.JPG (91.24 KiB) Viewed 2102 times
Columbia G-208 003.JPG
Columbia G-208 003.JPG (111.82 KiB) Viewed 2102 times

OrthoFan
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Re: Orthophonic Era Japanese Gramophones

Post by OrthoFan »

What really amazes me is the style of the horn installed in the J VV-1-80, etc. -- all those angular bends, with no attempt made to taper the flare. You'd think it would have sounded like "carp." (I deliberately misspelled that...) But, based on some of the videos I've spotted --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVzW9fOJmH8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR4myklkYNs

-- it seems to sound on par with any well made portable of the era.

OF

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