Expert gramophone--too loud for an apartment?

[Burtemg]

Get the biggest you can get! All of your neighbors probably have home cinema sound systems of any kind

[VintageTechnologies]

If and when you acquire an EMG or Expert, it's arrival at your flat will probably not go un-noticed by your neighbours who will wonder what it is, so why not invite them round for a record session?

Not only that, you may become the topic of gossip in the building for quite some time. "Did you see the eccentric bloke that moved into #7 with that weird "Gramophone" as he calls it? Very strange! He seems mostly harmless though."

[Meltrope3]

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice and your warm words of encouragement--one thing I learned very quickly about TMF is that its members are not only knowledgeable and enthusiastic, they're also darned nice people!

What I have acquired is actually an EMGCR--an EMG Xb with a new Oversize horn created by Graham Rankin (EMGCR on our board), who beautifully restored the original EMG Mark X base unit. I don't need to tell anyone here what an amazing craftsman and engineer Graham is, but the attention he devotes to every detail goes beyond what one would think possible. He is an artist who would have garnered the admiration of the gifted men who designed and built these machines. And he is also an extraordinarily kind and generous man whose friendship I shall always treasure.

The instrument arrived at my little place just a few days ago and I have been too busy playing records to do much proper photography, but this photo taken immediately upon its arrival gives an idea of how much my feline friends are enjoying it. The experience of music has been transformed forever--the presence, richness and detail of my records is just not to be believed. Acoustic Fonotipias in particular just seem to love the EMG--in fact, I never imagined that acoustic records could ever sound so good. People say that EMGs render more surface noise than the Expert Senior, but I don't find surface noise bothersome--it varies a great deal from record to record, and with the EMG's excellent tracking I'm able to use fibre needles on records that I never imagined would permit a fibre needle to make it through.

Going back to my original question about volume, it's indeed true that loudness isn't shockingly with the needles I use--mostly thorns or soft steel. The point is that one has tremendous control. Though I wouldn't try putting a sock down that horn, Tino--you'll never see it again! More like a pillow or sofa cushion... However when I want to be bad, I can really crank it up! As an experiment, we played part of the (electric) "potted Ring" with a loud steel needle (after making sure none of our neighbors were at home)--I don't think my home stereo could have played much louder! But the dynamic beauty of this gramophone comes through when we're listening to Edmond Clement singing mezza voce in the Dream from Manon, or some other exquisitely delicate music--like a great singer, the EMG shows its technique to best advantage in the subtle filigree work, where it feels to all the world like I'm listening to a voice floating on the breath of a live human being.

Louis

[Orchorsol]

Congratulations Louis, I don't think one can ever regret buying a good EMG or Expert, and especially one of Graham's, being the ultimate in perfection in every way imaginable. It's wonderful to feel the deep appreciation and total joy from your writing. When set up properly and thoroughly on-song, the delivery from these instruments is uncanny in visceral and emotional realism, and really gets under the skin - as you are clearly experiencing! The fascination with them as instruments and machines is endless, but ultimately for me, the way they serve the music is paramount - exquisite.

[Meltrope3]

Thank you Orchorsol! I agree completely with all that you've said, and it's such a pleasure to hear you articulate this experience so beautifully.

One unexpected side-effect of having this instrument is that it is causing me to want to replay every single record in my collection so I can hear what they "really" sound like. I'm finding it can be such a moving experience to hear music played back with such lifelikeness, atmosphere, depth and detail using just a thorn, an aluminum diaphragm, and no electric gadgetry other than the simple induction motor that rotates the turntable. It seems almost magical that such simple means can produce such rich musical effects. But I guess it's the same as a musical instrument, where fairly simple materials have been put together with profound acoustic knowledge and skill, combined with a musician's ear and musicality. I don't play myself, but I've never been able to touch the strings of a violin and hear their resonation without a sense of wonder; I feel something very much like that when I put the needle into the groove of a record on the EMG.

Louis

[Frankia]

"a voice floating on the breath of a live human being"

What a lovely way to express the experience of listening to the EMGCR! I have had an EMGCR for over three years at this stage. It has changed my whole experience of gramophone listening forever more. I have since added to the family several times both from the original EMG and Expert stable, and I wouldn't want to be without any of them. However on many records, the Oversize horn produces a quality of both power and delicacy that I have never heard from anything else.
I mainly listen to music, but I know just what you mean in that very apt description. It's as if the artiste is in the room on a really well recorded piece, or in the next room on less well recorded pieces.
Graham Rankin's restoration work and horn design and manufacture are unsurpassable. Without that, we wouldn't have any of this incredible gift.

Thanks for that uplifting, imaginative and human post, Louis - and nice to have a fellow EMGCR enthusiast around!