The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

mikejk wrote:A little more food for thought on the discussion.
In combination with the 250 horn in a late C 19, and a good recording, I have been using a Dance reproducer that I have rebuilt using a larryh True Tone diaphragm. Both springs are hooked up, the stylus bar spring and the top diaphragm spring. Folks, this is an outstanding set up with the 250 horn and sounds very, very good. Crisp and clear with added depth and better tone but without the sometimes unpleasant shrill of the Edisonic/New Standard.
just my thoughts.
Mike

I'm going to need to grab a Dance Reproducer soon and have listen!

Fran

I thought the dance reproducers were only to make the record sound louder? Meaning no difference in clarity or reproduction.

The thing to me that's really interesting is the "Dance" reproducer was introduced in early 1926 to meet an obvious desire to increase the volume of their models, but about a year later, the "New Standard" (Edisonic) reproducer was offered as a replacement upgrade for previous owners, and soon became "regular equipment" for all models.

Fran

So, let's cough it up folks. Which is better, the "Dance" or the "Edisonic", and, can either be used safely on all Edison DD players?

bump

billybob62 wrote:So, let's cough it up folks. Which is better, the "Dance" or the "Edisonic", and, can either be used safely on all Edison DD players?

To answer your question about which is "better", that will invariably be decided by the individual.

To the second part: any DD reproducer in good operating condition is safe to use on any DD Phonograph.

Fran

billybob62 wrote:So, let's cough it up folks. Which is better, the "Dance" or the "Edisonic", and, can either be used safely on all Edison DD players?

I've all three reproducers and have compared them. Imho the most trouble free and best reproducer for frequent use is the standard. It handles records of all thicknesses, (they vary)and handles warped records very well. It sounds great for all records, including electric.

Next comes the Edisonic, essentially a refined version of the Dance, adds a little "umpf" to those late acoustics and electrics if you need that. All around better than the Dance. Does not handle warped or mis-stamped records as well because of the larger limit pin in a relatively small limit loop.

Dance comes in third place. The sound is comparable to the Edisonic but the record has to be the right thickness, can't be warped or the slightest bit out of round. Also to change from Standard to Dance you need to put an extra piece of felt on the turntable to raise it up a bit or, some people put a 78 on the turntable and set the Diamond Disc on top. The other alternative is to downward adjust the horn mechanism but then you've got to change it back when you switch back to the Standard.

And... if you really want the best sound out of clean original Diamond Discs, modern equipment cannot be beat.

Valecnik wrote:

billybob62 wrote:So, let's cough it up folks. Which is better, the "Dance" or the "Edisonic", and, can either be used safely on all Edison DD players?

I've all three reproducers and have compared them. Imho the most trouble free and best reproducer for frequent use is the standard. It handles records of all thicknesses, (they vary)and handles warped records very well. It sounds great for all records, including electric.

Next comes the Edisonic, essentially a refined version of the Dance, adds a little "umpf" to those late acoustics and electrics if you need that. All around better than the Dance. Does not handle warped or mis-stamped records as well because of the larger limit pin in a relatively small limit loop.

Dance comes in third place. The sound is comparable to the Edisonic but the record has to be the right thickness, can't be warped or the slightest bit out of round. Also to change from Standard to Dance you need to put an extra piece of felt on the turntable to raise it up a bit or, some people put a 78 on the turntable and set the Diamond Disc on top. The other alternative is to downward adjust the horn mechanism but then you've got to change it back when you switch back to the Standard.

And... if you really want the best sound out of clean original Diamond Discs, modern equipment cannot be beat.

You make some very interesting points that I hadn't really thought about...but now that you mention it; I have experienced the limit pin contacting the loop near the end of the record playing when using either my gold or gun metal "New Standard" (Edisonic) reproducers. I have a couple of records that unless I note it's position (centered) before I drop the reproducer into play, it will nearly always do this.

I almost never have this problem with the regular reproducers, unless I drop it into play while inadvertently pushing the weight to one side or the other, and I've trained myself to always note the limit pin-to-loop position while dropping the reproducer into play on all of my machines.

Because I don't own one, I hadn't realized the "Dance" reproducer was of the same design.

Thanks, Bruce!

Could a person simply take the weight from a Dance or Edisonic and graft it onto a regular reproducer body? I feel like that would solve any issues cased by a smaller limit loop, but I guess it wouldn't work if the pin is the source of the problem.