The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

My personal opinion is that good electricals sound better, but a good chunk of them I find a bit strident when played in an ortho machine.
In the other hand, it's peculiar how well good acoustic records sound in ortho machines... Some sound amazingly natural, despite the lack of some frequency ends. Also some acoustic records sounds very well on old style gramophones.
There are many records very well suited to be played in acoustic gramophones, both types, but I found other many that don't sound too well in one or other type of machines.
Many more sound good to me played in modern equipment, even the strident ones.
So I can understand why some people didn't like the sound of gramophones (old style or ortho).

Edison must be right! After all it was blind curtain test with 20 people who didn't know what records were electric or acoustic. And it was unanimous! The old records won! My brother, who is not an old record buff, once proclaimed that he liked the sound coming from my Victrola 300 more than the sound from my Credenza!

After listening to my 5000+ 78s for many years in several types of equipment (gramophones small and big, electrical record players, etc) I feel that each record is a particular case in itself.
I find the Victrola VI type of gramophone plays some records admirably well, while others not. A larger horn, same type of pre-1925 gramophone, plays other records well, and others not. The exponential horn gramophones of all sizes (portables, table units and big reentrant uprights) is the same... singer records sound admirably well, but others don't.
It's a matter of subjective taste, I believe... And surely each person will feel it different.
In all, to my personal taste, the big reentrant horn gramophones are the best sounding ones with the majority of records, so I'm not of the Edison (et alter) opinion, but...
It's logical, anyway, for each recording was slightly (or greatly) different from its inception, there is no standard. Playing gramophones, I've listened to very bad acoustic piano recordings, and to others that seem really authentic. Same with voices, violins, bands and orchestras, etc. I've listened to very pleasant electrical recordings of all types, but also to others that sound strange, poor, dull or too strident... to me.
The opinion of those people, witnesses, could be biased because they were more used to the old style recordings. Who knows...!
It's only MY opinion. Others are as well VALID...