The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Inigo wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:42 pm I prefer 78s, but that's because there's no cylinder machines here around. Gramophones and records really did it in Spain, the cylinder fashion must have been a brief one and only among very wealthy people... I've never seen one cylinder machine here, while I see old gramophones and records frequently.

Same over here. The only cylinder machine that I own, I purchased and imported from northern Europe.

Answering to the question, the match is unfair in my case as I own several top-quality (soundwise) disc gramophones, as opposed to only one cylinder graphophone that, while rare and valuable, can't do full justice to cylinders. However, the difference is so abysmal that I can hardly figure ever listening to a cylinder machine that would make me prefer them over discs.

It has also to be said that discs have benefited from a much longer period of evolution: definitely the average sound quality of later releases is very rarely paralleled by that of early issues.

1894-1903 would be discs, 1904-1921 would be cylinders, 1922 and after are often mediocre recordings but you can find a few gems.