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Has anyone on the forum tried this, and what are the opinions on the results/performance ? This one is on auction now on Ebay. Thanks, Mike

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EDISON-PHONOGRA ... 35d58f41a0

I know that several collectors have experimented over the years. Going back about 23 years, the late Bob Waltrip, who was noted for his restoration of Orthophonic sound boxes, fitted an Orthophonic diaphragm into an Edison DD reproducer shell. He wrote to me about it at the time and said that it did a much better job than Edison's original rice-paper cork stiffened diaphragm, and was what Edison might have ordered had the it been available in 1910. Of course, Bob later said the same thing about compressed Styrofoam sheets culled from meat package trays, which I've listened to, and they are VERY impressive sounding. I think some collectors still have some of these "Waltrip Wondertone" rebuilds.

A more recent attempt was done by Carsten Fischer, who has experimented over the years with a variety of sound boxes, horns, etc. He posted a video of an Edison DD record being played on his VV-10-50. As he explains in the notes section, he replaced the original mica diaphragm with an Orthophonic diaphragm:


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zQw4K80QtM[/youtube]

The 10-50, of course, had the largest Orthophonic horn Victor produced for the home market, over seven feet long, I believe, but the same coupling would probably do a tremendous job on any Orthophonic Victrola.

Joe

Wow.... impressive sound. Interesting that he used a Brunswick soundbox for the foundation for this...

It is always neat to hear of efforts, past and present, to get a better sound out of the Edison reproducers by using different materials for the diaphragms. Thank you for providing the history of some of this.

Ralph

That was really interesting, on a number of levels!

Well worth watching just to see the changer in action, let alone the Orthophonic diapragm in the Brunswick reproducer playing the DD record.

Very impressive!

I have not tried a different diaphragm material or design but I have tried a Brunswick Ultona soundbox on an EMG which sounds quite good so long as the counterweight is fully extended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNj7w3bcI1c Old rubber gasket

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j0_xpERmCc New rubber gasket

In my opinion, it is the bass response which is lacking with micro-groove---almost by definition---but it would be very interesting to experiment with alternative diaphragm materials of which there must now be many to investigate. The Ultona uses mica.

Joe,
Thank you for responding to my question with the fascinating video! What a great idea with the Ultona. My small computer is not going to do the sound justice, but I am intriqued now and will have to try some things. Two of my DD reproducers have the styrofoam True Tone diaphragm by forum member Larry Hollenberg, and they sound truly amazing. With an extra Ultona and DD reproducer, I will have to experiment.

Thanks again, Mike

While I realize this is about the fun of making old technology better, is everyone here aware of how to wire an everyday stereo cartridge to play DDs? It's easy. Simply switch the + and - leads on one channel and put your amplifier on "mono" mode, or you might be able to "Y" your two channels into a single RCA plug and then "Y" it back out again to plug into your amp if you don't have a mono switch.

I have an old Dual 1009 turntable with "sled" cartridge holders, so I have one set up for DD reproduction using a Pickering magnetic cartridge with a 3 mil stylus. Electric DDs sound fantastic! Even the older acoustic ones have a far better sound quality and better range than any contemporary, in my opinion.