The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I bought my ACT when it was a straight mono out with no preamp. I’ve always use my KAB Souvenir preamplifier with the straight acoustic setting. I’ve upgraded to a newer Souvenir with a vertical lateral switch but kept the old one for use with a Edison model A Standard, with 2-4 minute gearing. The external speed adjustment knob is a bonus.

Any off the self preamp would be set the standard RIAA curve.

I prefer to my playback away from the computer.

If you like your current preamp I don’t think you’ll hear much of a difference.

Just my 2 & ½ cents.

The RIAA curve was designed for LP and 45 RPM records, much later in time from Edison records.

A flat playback curve is correct with all acoustic recorded records.

Marc

Hi guys -- my apologies for not responding more quickly -- still not retired and the pressures of "all that" distracts from my hobbies!

I'm willing to try a preamp with a "flat playback curve" as Marc indicates is correct for Edison cylinders. Any suggestions?

MP

For Flat Preamplifiers, the product from "Esoteric Sound" with a Rek-O-Kut brand offers varies curves and no curve.

The electrical load on the magnetic cartridge from the preamplifier is critical to have the correct response also. I have written a lot of material regarding this and much more in my book "Music Restoration Handbook" available on the Diamond Cut Productions web site. The site offers free information on many parts of audio.

By the way, when I created cylinder music for my Podcasts (not available now), I used a modified Edison Reproducer (crystal element replaced the diaphragm) mounted into an Edison triumph player. All mechanical except for the conversion from mechanical motion (String to Diaphragm) to electrical.

Marc

The Esorteric Sound preamp page:

https://www.esotericsound.com/elect.htm

Scroll towards the bottom to see the various options.