The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The pics are great! I find all the "phonic" machines endlessly fascinating as you know. The interior baffle, that horn within a horn, would probably have the effect of making the treble response a little more prominent.

Jim

It would be interesting to know if this eBay Tru-phonic has that baffle installed in the horn. The cabinet really looks very Viva-tonal, but it also looks like so much of the furniture of the day.....not to say that's a bad thing. Since I only paid $150 for mine, I feel like the opening bid of $449.95 is overly hopeful. Even the nice gold plated fittings don't really help it all that much. Still---it's interesting to see how various companies responded to the need for an improved machine to play the (then) new electrically recorded discs.

From what I've heard Sears brand of electrically recorded discs of that time (Supertone) was pretty awful, far below the quality of late Acoustic material like Columbia.

Apparently, the "Supertone" name was used twice -- early on, following the introduction of the Silvertone label--but only for a short period, and then again in the Spring of 1929 -- http://www.mainspringpress.com/sears-labels.html

I remember hearing or reading that only acoustic recordings were available in the Sears catalog at the time the Tru-Phonic line of phonographs was introduced in 1926, which this article confirms: "Gennett was the sole supplier by 1927, when Sears introduced electrically recorded Silvertone Truphonic records."

I have to say that the few Gennett electrically recorded records I've listened to are no match for the Victor/Columbia (Western Electric) discs or even the Brunswick Light-Ray recordings.

I have several Gennett-produced Supertone discs, with the RCA Photophone system credit, they are truly wretched. You wouldn't know they were electric except for the credit.