The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The interesting thing about these, is that playing electronic recordings through an acoustic horn replicates the original sound very well... Also, no winding or needle changing...

Here is an iPhono that I made several years ago for my iPhone 4. Unfortunately someone else wanted it more than me, so it's gone. It was made from wood that was salvaged from an junked phonograph and a repro horn... It worked very well and didn't require any other machine for it to operate. This same concept could be applied as Fran asked, to any phonograph with a tonearm. Just use a square - probably 4" - block of oak or any other wood, rout a slot in the top to fit your phone, then drill a vertical hole from the slot (matching where your phone speaker(s) is/are and intersecting a horizontal hole drilled large enough to fit the end of your tonearm into... Just a cheap and easy connector. To do a neat job, you would need Forstner wood bits to drill the holes since they drill flat bottomed holes nice and neat.

Here is a link to the iPhono: http://open1234.wix.com/camps-site/home#!__iphono

A year after it was started I'm bring this thread back up to the top with a question.

My wife is president of the board of directors of a beautiful antique inn on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, CA (www.westpointinn.com). They have a Victrola XI in the old lounge, which I have been keeping in running order. But too many people toy with it, which is a real headache....

It occurred to me that this MP3 trick would be ideal for them to use at events, where they want vintage music but don't necessarily want to be constantly winding the machine and changing records and needles. I'm planning to make a unit they can put in place of the Victrola No. 2 reproducer, then lock the lid and let the music play all evening. Ideal ambiance and 90% of people would never be the wiser.

The speaker in the Amazon link in the first post is still available, and certainly cheap. Is that one still recommended or are there better options?

Also, I take it that any speaker will need to be recharged periodically, along with the iPod or whatever they use. I assume it's simple matter to leave the charging cord draping out of the unit while in use.

The inn was built in 1904 so I will probably end up downloading more cylinders than discs in order to have plenty of era-appropriate music, even if it comes out of the built-in horn of a Victrola.

I know that Norman Bruderhofer was selling a purpose built device that included an mp3player with usb and sd card connectors in addition to an iphone connector. Not sure if it had bluetooth as well. Maybe a bit more expensive than home built, but probably easier to handle for an everyday person. Just a thought.

Andreas

TinfoilPhono wrote:A year after it was started I'm bring this thread back up to the top with a question.

It occurred to me that this MP3 trick would be ideal for them to use at events, where they want vintage music but don't necessarily want to be constantly winding the machine and changing records and needles. I'm planning to make a unit they can put in place of the Victrola No. 2 reproducer, then lock the lid and let the music play all evening. Ideal ambiance and 90% of people would never be the wiser.

The speaker in the Amazon link in the first post is still available, and certainly cheap. Is that one still recommended or are there better options.

The Boom Cube that I used to build the gadget in the first post, is still my choice for something to use with a Victrola. It's simple to make and cheap, but the best thing is it works great and sounds just like playing records. The acoustic reproduction and amplification is perfect for the use you are suggesting... I did exactly the same thing at our phonograph show last year to have the ambience of playing the machine without winding and changing records.

I finally got up to West Point Inn yesterday with my newly-made adapter and an mp3 player stocked with 150 records. It works like a charm! This is great for their purposes and will liven up many an evening in that historic inn.

Thanks for the tip. Easy to make, easy to use, and sounds fantastic.

For those of you who wished they had an Edison phonograph doll, but can't find one or don't want to fork out the money to buy one, just buy an inexpensive nice looking doll and insert a Bluetooth speaker inside and voila, you have something your daughter or granddaughter or you can enjoy. If anyone tries this, post some pics...

Download this file and use it in your doll - the earliest known phonograph doll recording 1888
http://www.nps.gov/av/ner/avElement/edi ... nd-eqd.mp3

I am enjoying this technique so much. However, it does not resound well with me to listen to hot '20s jazz coming from my Edison Triumph for some reason... I now have to equip my only console, my Brunswick 117 with Ultona.

Has anyone already built a 90 deg. adapter that would work on an Ultona? I'm thinking a "T" or 90 PVC fitting? I'd appreciate a picture as a short-cut.

(I've modified my simple speaker-just-plugged-into-any-source [shown here] such that it runs through a small stereo and the additional power sounds great [to me]! I would have something sneaking out the back either way, whether it be recharger or speaker wires.)

Ingenious, fellows!

-Michael

I love this thread. I think this is the key to breathing new life and functionality to an old machine that has lost value (except for sentimental).

I found this smaller Bluetooth speaker that is round. I think the key is to have something that is so small that it would allow the phonograph to look the same but include a totally concealed Bluetooth system while allowing it to operate with old records as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Domon%C2%AE-Bluet ... th+speaker

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011W7 ... B018RTRFNK

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LLJ ... B0178XGQC2

I think these are practical for get togethers that need some entertainment without the work of monitoring the records and playback. I also made one for an Edison Standard with a cygnet horn...