The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

As far as I can see it is possible that the full weight is applied to the reproducer stylus and the smaller weight only to the cutter.
The standard speaker can only apply the same smaller weight to both and this compromise reduces quality of the playback.

Later Dictaphone recorder/reproducers do this as well but in a different way.

It is possible that that this was more for the early office application rather than entertainment.

Didn't Greenhill patent one of the first spring motors for phonographs as well?

recordmaker wrote:As far as I can see it is possible that the full weight is applied to the reproducer stylus and the smaller weight only to the cutter.
The standard speaker can only apply the same smaller weight to both and this compromise reduces quality of the playback.

Later Dictaphone recorder/reproducers do this as well but in a different way.

It is possible that that this was more for the early office application rather than entertainment.

Didn't Greenhill patent one of the first spring motors for phonographs as well?

Thats certainly a possibility, I don't have a clip style carriage for my home yet to test it, but that might be the case.

I can't see it as a dictation device, I believe the dictation machines had separate recording and playback heads or at least a set switch to go between recording and playback, this I imagine would require too much adjustment to set for an office.

And yes, he did indeed, in 1893.

It's a very cool and unusual speaker, I'm unsure I'm going to keep it, I'm thinking about moving it on and replacing it with an Automatic instead