Best Sounding and Looking upright 78 player

[Inigo]

Then I agree... resist the temptation to tinker with it.
I tuned one of them because it sounded a bit compressed.. seemed like a too powerful air pump. After certain treatments and much tinkering, the sound got better, softer and warmer, but crisp and clear... more free and expanded, more natural. I think it was because of the lower pressure on the diaphragm edge... or because of the slightly increased thickness of the air chamber behind the diaphragm... The change in sound was very noticeable.

[Watanabehi]

Interesting thread. Thank you everyone.

There must be a point in the evolution of acoustic machines where engineers, struggling to keep up with the expanded frequency and dynamic ranges of electrically recorded disks (a technology which was also evolving in leaps and bounds), reached a zenith of performance after which any continued effort was a costly exercise in diminishing returns in what a was a losing battle. And from this point on, acoustic machines fell into a rapid decline, any new manufacturing increasingly relegated to cheaper and cheaper picnic portables.

It would be nice to find a perfect machine from that zenith--best ever reproducer, arm, horn, and motor combination.

Comparatively among forum members here, I am a relative noob, someone with neither an extensive collection of machines nor a depth of decades and decades of experience. But I do have a good ear and have been an audiophile since my teens (and I won't tell you how long ago that was).

The best and most versatile reproducer from among my tiny collection of machines is undoubtedly the HMV 5a. With appropriate needle choices for the records being played, its performance ranges from surprisingly good (on electrically recorded disks--Elvis sounds good albeit with a truncated frequency range on both ends) to spectacular.

Orthophonic All Brass reproducer would easily beat HMV 5A or 5B soundbox.

[CarlosV]

Orthophonic All Brass reproducer would easily beat HMV 5A or 5B soundbox.

I agree, I utilize the orthophonic and the HMV5 (the HMV counterpart to the Victor orthophonic) in my HMV202 and it sounds much better than with the HMV5a/b.

[Lah Ca]

Orthophonic All Brass reproducer would easily beat HMV 5A or 5B soundbox.

Orthophonic All Brass reproducer would easily beat HMV 5A or 5B soundbox.

I agree, I utilize the orthophonic and the HMV5 (the HMV counterpart to the Victor orthophonic) in my HMV202 and it sounds much better than with the HMV5a/b.

As such may be, your assertions do nothing to alter the truth of my statement: "The best and most versatile reproducer from among my tiny collection of machines is undoubtedly the HMV 5a." I do not have an all brass Othrophonic reproducer on any of my machines, a sad situation, perhaps, but there it is.

[VanEpsFan1914]

I'm late as usual but again the Panatrope series by Brunswick is definitely good quality and sounds great for listening to records on. I have a 1928 console 15-8, one of the smaller ones, and it's ideal for my apartment.

They do better with acoustic records than the Victor Orthophonics and I think the Panatrope series is generally a well balanced machine.

[epigramophone]

Orthophonic All Brass reproducer would easily beat HMV 5A or 5B soundbox.

The HMV No.5 soundbox resembles the Victor Orthophonic more closely than the 5A or the 5B, but it was only available in pot metal, and most of the surviving examples are badly affected by metal fatigue. The one pictured below is typical.
If a mint example could be found and compared side by side with an Orthophonic, it would be an interesting exercise.