The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have heard around that when one acquires an Orthophonic Soundbox, if it sounds good to leave it alone. For quite a while, that's what I did. BUT. I decided on a whim to tackle the challenge of rebuilding one, and the difference is... almost supernatural. Let me be clear, the volume is about the same and the sibilants didn't get any more crisp, but the reason I call it supernatural is because the newly-rebuilt sound box is picking up entire instruments that I previously didn't even know were present, and making them quite loud and easily distinguishable. For example, one of my favorite Victor Scrolls is "Ich Hab' mein Herz in Heidelberg Verloren" by Georg Gut. This is a record that I play a lot, and so I thought I knew the sound back to front.

In the words of Thorin Oakenshield, I have never been so wrong in all my life.

There is an entire harmony section that was all but inaudible before, that is on the level with the rest of the band now. An entire section. So just because that Orthophonic Soundbox on your Victrola sounds good, doesn't mean it can't sound a whole lot better.

I'm sure many of you have known this for years, and I apologize if I sound like Phil Thwift trying to thell Flextheal, but I have never fallen in love with a record twice before, and a simple rebuild helped that to happen tonight.

Congrats on a successful rebuild!

The reason many of them don't get rebuilt is the potmetal being cracked and falling apart when they are disassembled. Thus the conventional wisdom of leaving them alone if they sound OK.

Clay

Clay makes a good point...

Glad you successfully attempted, and made yours better !


I still have to do the DIY silicone isolator bushing for mine.

The nice thing about having more than one of a sound box is that you know whether one needs rebuilding. I bought a VV 2-65 and decided that I probably should have the sound box refurbished. I mailed it off and got it back and it sounded pretty much the same, but good. The spring went south on my 2-65, so I bought another one on eBay. I switched the rebuilt one with the one I got with the phono and I couldn't hear any difference. I don't worry about it any more.

Although I still consider communism a preferable alternative to death, I agree with you on this point. There is no orthophonic or viva-tonal soundbox that won't improve if rehauled with art. Even if the rubber gaskets are quite all right (Columbia used such a good rubber that usually it's still soft after 100 years!) most likely there will be huge air leaks especially around the insulator. And, as you know, an air leak gets exponentially worse the more it is closer to the throat/diaphragm chamber area (in other words: the same air leak that is very bad at the throat will be absolutely negligible if moved towards the horn's end). So it's usually very rewarding to take care of the diaphragm/throat area.

But, as previously said, a balance must be done between the sound improvement that is expected and the risk of the operation. Even if the back is not made of pot metal, handling the aluminium diaphragm is always chancy. If the rubber gaskets happen to be pasted to it, one may very easily end up bending, ripping or piercing it while trying to disassemble the soundbox or removing the gaskets. Replacement diaphragms are available to some extent but by far not as easily as with common mica diaphragms, and most of all they are never (or almost never) identical to the original one.

Marco Gilardetti wrote:...handling the aluminium diaphragm is always chancy. If the rubber gaskets happen to be pasted to it, one may very easily end up bending, ripping or piercing it while trying to disassemble the soundbox or removing the gaskets. Replacements diaphragms are available to some extent but by far not as easily as with common mica diaphragms, and most of all they are never (or almost never) identical to the original one.

You're quite right. Somehow, though, I managed to avoid any mishaps... This even after using pocket knife to scrape away the bits of stuck gasket (I had forgotten about the wonders of solvents)! A slow, steady hand served me well in this case but it's not something I'd want to do again. I think luck played more than a small part in my success this time around.