Edison Diamond Disc vs. Victor Victrola

[antique1973]

Assuming all machines in question are in restored condition, Edison disc players have superior sound to
Victor. Victor being second place, then Brunswick, and Columbia last. I think the larger mica on Brunswicks
give a slight edge in the low frequencies over Columbia.

[Valecnik]

I couldn't agree more about the superior Edison sound quality at least to the end of the acoustic period for the whole system, (records plus reproducer). Electric Edison records usually sound fantastic too.

I've got a Victor V with a rebuilt no. 4 (the best pre-orthophonic) next to my A250 with a rebuilt standard reproducer. The Edison knocks the socks off the Victor on records of comparable issue date, genre and quality.

Pathé was right up there too and as others have noted, VERY loud. Another example of an excellent technology that just did not catch on...

[larryh]

Interesting discussion here. I agree that nothing touches the Edison when all aspects are working properly on a large horn. I have many times played other machines in comparison an standing back or even in the next room if they open widely into each other, the realism of tone of the instruments on Edison is basically like having the instrument in the room. The victor or even brunswick tend to sound "canned' where the pop groups blend in what I have come to call the "victrola" sound. Its a sound all of its own and for many years I found it quite interesting, but after returning to Edisons a few years back its become very obvious the realism of the sound.

I also defend Brunswick on the grounds of similar test. I know some don't hear subtle differences but having a large collection of early acoustic classics at one time I found that when I got my first brunswick things on the records became more apparent. I wouldn't rate brunswick as a second tier to my ear.

Then the Pathé which I have limited exposure to. I agree that of all the machines Pathé seems to come the closest to that rich round tone that Edison has on many types of records. So far I find it mainly obvious on the earlier black center start records. The american made records just don't have the punch that the french ones do. The biggest flaw to me is the short recording time per side and the tendency to skid the tone arm across the record at the slightest jiggle of the machine.

For victor and columbia it seems that the later portion of the acoustic recording era they had come a long way in producing a richer and wider sound. That combined with the quality of artist often makes them very appealing. The Mengleberg records for Victor are very bright and full as well as many of the Columbia records which also seemed to have an edge of some kind in the "width" of sound produced with a noticeably warm quality. The other oddity to me is that some very early Victor band records have some amazing loud and clean sound so evidently something about the recording locations helped to produce some great records at various times.

One other thought. The most appealing thing about returning to a brunswick from listening to edison is the near absence of surface sound which is a plus in its self.