The Vesper - A Rare British Machine

[brianu]

I recently was provided with a bunch of incredibly interesting information on this British machine that I'll upload shortly...

[Neophone]

Brian,

Please do, I'm looking forward to it. That's a very interesting machine.

Reagrds,
John

[Fredrik]

Early 1920s?

Fredrik

[brianu]

I was told, through the assistance of another boardmember who I'm not sure has arrived here as yet, that this machine dates roughly to 1920, that the vesper company itself was in existence for only a short while from 1918/19 to 1922 at the latest... there are two identifying decals beneath the lid in the playing area... vesper refers to the phonograph company, stadmac refers to the furniture company that manufactured the cabinets...

the other neat thing is the design itself, if you notice, the lid opens from one side of the cabinet, but the horn is on the opposite side... similar to the victor revere (which used the floor) or the Pathé reflex models or decca trench portables (both of which had bowls in the lids into which the sound was directed before reflected out into the world), this machine was designed to be placed in a corner of the room, with the horn facing the wall, off of which the sound would have been properly amplified...

below are copies of an ad for this machine, a jacobean table model with the table on which it was intended to sit... and a price list showing the original cost, as well as another ad showing information on the reproducer and tonearm...

[phonophan79]

What a great looking table, even just from the advertisement.

..altho it seems a little non-functional with the reverse-lid phonograph itself. I mean... wouldn't most phonographs in a home on a table like that be against a wall?

[phonophan79]

Although, in the ad they have it pictured with a scene showing the "upper class party / gathering scene". So, maybe this was meant for settings like that. Perhaps the worlds earlist DJ's stood in the room operating the machine. The reverse lid perfect for blocking surface noise somewhat to listener while keeping operating function for the "DJ".

[Neophone]

Brian,

Neat, I love the table too! D, this machine was meant to have the horn up against a corner. The horn opening faced the wall. I would imagine that the idea was by refracting the sound waves the higher tones or treble would be a bit muffled thus reducing the "blast" and "screech" as noted in the ad. Brian have you tried it out against a wall or in a corner?

Regards,
John

[bbphonoguy]

I notice the ad states prices for table models and "cabinet" models (perhaps uprights?). It would be interesting to see if the floor models also had the sound directed out the rear!

[richardh]

Nice looking machine...and ive never heard of that company before. Very interesting concept of sound reproduction relying on refracted sound. I wonder if any other manufacturers went down this route in the UK.

RJ

[phonophan79]

I don't know how plausible the refracted sound theory is since it renders the machine itself non-functional without physically turning the machine around to switch/start records. I'm sticking with my DJ / listener surface noise reduction theory.