Discman to Credenza

[HisMastersVoice]

All I had available when I made mine was a Sonora reproducer and a cheap speaker, which I set into it where the diaphragm would normally go and sealed it with beeswax. The tension springs for the needle bar were convenient for clamping down the wires. I used a rubber connector so it would work on either a regular or Orthophonic tone arm. Some day I'll build a better one, but it works for now.

[dd2u]

That sound must have been really interesting. Any recordings?

I am afraid I did not make any recordings but could do so given time. Interesting developments are afoot which I hope to be able to report on in coming months. Thank you for asking.

Intriguing!

Was it you who posted the original EMG advertisements for adding a similar device to enable listeners to use their "superior amplifier" (i.e. horn!) for radio listening?

I have seen (in an old copy of The Gramophone magazine) an illustration of a reader's front room, where a Wilson Horn protrudes from a small box, mounted high up on the wall, which contains a voice coil driver. The sight of a Wilson Horn firing so high up into a room from a corner is really quite bizarre, more like something from a science fiction fantasy recreation than a real picture from the late 1920s or early 1930s, but it is real. It must have been on The Gramophone magazine website archive somewhere, but I cannot find it now.

I have found that the sound transmission from the voice coil to the horn is somehow different from the transmission from reproducer or sound box to horn, so the frequency response is quite different. In short, it sounds far more like a loudspeaker and far less like a gramophone. I assume the voice call is able to push lower frequencies through the horn more effectively than the sound box, though I do not understand the mathematics behind this. Maybe it is due to the attenuation of lower frequencies on records, compared to the flat frequency response of a voice coil? Or is some other mechanism at work?

[emgcr]

I hope the attached photos will jog a few memories. The living room photo was actually in Percy Wilson's own house and his personal experiment as the Gramophone Magazine article of May 1927 relates. The first half of the article was published in Feb 1927. His comments relating to position of horn and temperature of ambient air as well as soundbox etc are fascinating.

I have never actually seen an original moving coil accessory but clearly they existed as shown in the other photos. I too have little mathematical knowledge surrounding the subject as to the reason for the differences in sound produced either via a soundbox or moving coil unit but would guess that the greater energy to be found in a moving coil appliance would have a lot to do with it. I can say, from personal experiment, that sound production from a moving coil unit is very impressive indeed when replacing a soundbox at the end of the tonearm. The performance of quite humble gramophones is dramatically enhanced. The larger the horn, the harder it likes to be driven. Of course, quality of sound production derived from the amplifier is critical also.

[Frankia]

Really interesting stuff that. I'll have to get into the Gramophone on line archives when I get time and read both articles. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Much appreciated.

[emgcr]

It might be of interest to note for dating purposes that Michael Ginn started the "Expert" Gramophone Company (or E. M. Ginn) in 1930 and that the firm was housed at Rathbone Place only until 1933.

[dd2u]

Yes, that is the one! Thank you for reproducing that. The Gramophone Magazine archive does not contain the full text.

"I think I may claim with justice that it is neither unsightly nor in the way..." I think it would be considered so in my house!

[Frankia]

And in mine too! Might fit in in the Addam's Family mansion!
I got to read the previous article he wrote and in it he talks about how to heat a room so that the horn sound waves carry to greatest effect, given that apparently sound waves travel faster through heat than cold. Not for this thread I realise - but very interesting at least to me who is grappling with gramophone sound issues in a room at the moment!

[Tinkerbell]

It's funny you tried this as I decided to try something similar awhile back. My wife doesn't quite enjoy the music I play on my phonographs as much as I do. So using a junk Diamond Disc reproducer top I had, I found a solution for her. I epoxied a 2-¼ inch speaker to the rim of the reproducer top with the speaker facing upward. The speaker was wired with a mini connector on the end just like a pair of headphones have. So now she can open the lid of my C-250, plug the wire into her iPhone or mp3 player and play the music she likes to listen to using my DD machines as her amplifier. Here is the reproducer:

DSC03740.JPG

DSC03745.JPG

I'm very intrigued by this, and am thinking of tackling a similar project to attach to my Brunswick Ultona tone arm.

Would the quality of the reproducer used make any difference at all, or is it primarily for the purpose of making a connection with the tone arm? I believe I still have an old, trashed single diaphragm Ultona reproducer in one of my junk, um, I meant to say... collectible bins I thought I might use.

Does it make a whit of difference?

[emgcr]

The single Brunswick Ultona reproducer casing should be fine as, in relation to your proposed use, it is really only a mechanical contrivance to enable connection to the tonearm, as you suggest. The quality of what you introduce into the casing does, of course, matter very much indeed. A very interesting experiment---let us know how you get on ! Brunswick generally manufactured good quality and well designed products and the Ultona reproducer/tonearm in particular is excellent.

You might be amused to see an old video clip of a three way Brunswick Ultona soundbox used in a modified fashion to play an Edison "Hill and Dale" record on an EMG gramophone. Experiments are fun !

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNj7w3bcI1c[/youtube]

And here is another variant, this time employing the reproducer you are intending to use---all adds to the total sum of human knowledge ! I am afraid I seem to be unable to post directly but here is the link..............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zQw4K80 ... video_user

[Tinkerbell]

The single Brunswick Ultona reproducer casing should be fine as, in relation to your proposed use, it is really only a mechanical contrivance to enable connection to the tonearm, as you suggest. The quality of what you introduce into the casing does, of course, matter very much indeed. A very interesting experiment---let us know how you get on ! Brunswick generally manufactured good quality and well designed products and the Ultona reproducer/tonearm in particular is excellent.

Thank you for your response and for the information. I'm excited to try it out and see how it works! I have a few speakers lying around that I can play around with to see what might work best.