The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I hadn't noticed this thread before but have today read it with interest as I have a number of 16rpm records - all seeburg ones for their background music machines. I don't have any commercially released disks with music on although they do exist as noted earlier. Although the seeburg disks are all mono - apparently the narrowness of the groove necessary to squeeze 45 mins onto a 9 inch disk did not allow for a 45 / 45 groove cut - the fidelity IS surprisingly good. I recently played one for a friend and he was amazed at the quality of the music recordings played back from a disk turning at such a tantalisingly slow speed.

I have posted the link below in the "parlor" section of the forum last year but have repeated it here to demonstrate the point on sound quality. The only issue I have is the "blandness" of the music best described as "middle of the road easy listening" . Mind rotting indeed if you listen to it for too long!!

https://app.box.com/s/twf8bxngrfwn62jq3l17uym0dz5tqomw

I would add that all seeburg disks I have come across have a background hum that can be heard before the music starts and between tracks. Why they all have this I have no idea but I have yet to come across one that doesn't have it. Its not due to my transfer process

A few weeks ago I found the 2nd set of 16rpm records I’ve ever found (the first being an audiobook of the Bible) this one being an audiobook of “No Time For Sergeants”

Many years ago, when I frequented the second hand records clubs, I remember to see some 16rpm classical music lps, Spanish issues, so herein also there was a time (mid fifties to mid sixties) when there was a certain market for those. I've never had a tt capable of handling those, but I've seen many four speed tts at antique shops and flea markets.

My mom had some 16rpm on red vinyl that looked like 45s.They were of Bible readings.I still have them.edisonplayer.

edisonplayer wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:26 pm My mom had some 16rpm on red vinyl that looked like 45s.They were of Bible readings.I still have them.edisonplayer.

I think I have those exact same records. Did they come in a gold colored box perhaps?

Inigo wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:08 pm Many years ago, when I frequented the second hand records clubs, I remember to see some 16rpm classical music lps, Spanish issues, so herein also there was a time (mid fifties to mid sixties) when there was a certain market for those. I've never had a tt capable of handling those, but I've seen many four speed tts at antique shops and flea markets.

Yes Inigo, and also France occasionally issued classical music on the 16 RPM format. Unfortunately for some reason Spanish records are marketed at insane prices, so I still miss any in my "vast" collection.

As far as I know, instead only pop music was issued in Italy.

Back in the 1950s my family owned a Zenith AM/FM/phono console (sorry I don't have the model number at hand) with a four-speed turntable, 16-33-45-78 record changer ("with Cobramatic arm!"). We never owned any 16 rpm records, indeed I've never seen one, but the presence of the speed on a nationally marketed brand would seem to indicate that at least one company foresaw a coming demand for it. Guess they were wrong.

I suppose that being a format which held 2h of music in one lp was ideal for classicsl music, and companies launched all that with great expectation about sales... Lately people weren't so interested in this format, so it slowly died as a non profitable adventure... I tenebroso my own father telling us that people complained about the difficulty of record players avoiding wobble and wow with such a slow speed, so these defects were somehow magnified, and that technically it was a failure...

For some reason, instead, 16 RPMs were primarily marketed for pop. Perhaps, had they released long operas or symphonies on a single 16 RPM, the story might have changed.

In which sense your father thought 16 RPMs were a technical failure? They still play fine after all these years.

Marco Gilardetti wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:51 am For some reason, instead, 16 RPMs were primarily marketed for pop. Perhaps, had they released long operas or symphonies on a single 16 RPM, the story might have changed.

In which sense your father thought 16 RPMs were a technical failure? They still play fine after all these years.

The main commercially released recordings available in the USA on 16 rpm seem to be spoken word, most frequently the bible. I just picked up a box of 45s that included the new testament complete on 26 7-inch 16 rpm records, complete with their original album. Current value on eBay is around $10-$15 for the set, That seems low to me, but I guess these are little more than a curiosity these days.