The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

...has been surrounded.

I was longing to find a place to set up some of the audio gear that has been supplanted by my growing antique talking machines, and just couldn't stand leaving them in the attic any longer, so I brought them down, and placed them into the very small "mad scientist lab" in the rear of my home, where I do my fun hobby stuff.

I must say, this system really sounds better than it has any business sounding. I just need to somehow make space for my early-mid 1960's Benjamin Elac Miracord 10H turntable that should be included.

2006 Yaqin MS-12B preamplifier (TUBES, baby!); 1986 Adcom GFA-555; 1970's Altec Lansing EQE active line-level signal equalizer (a sort of active crossover network); 1957 KLH Model Six Speakers; 1970 AR4x Speakers; 1990 Altec Lansing GFS-3 Speaker Selector.

Best,
Fran

"Preamplifier?" "Line-level signal equalizer?" "Active crossover?"





George P.

HAH! You know me, George: if I can't impress with brilliance, I'll baffle with BS.

-Fran

Actually, I know what two of those three terms mean...I played in a band during college back in the 70s!

Your line about impressing with brilliance vs. baffling with BS reminds me of something a colleague said to me during our time working for the State of New York. I had just received a promotion to an administrative position, and my friend (who was also an administrator) advised me: "Just talk fast, cite Regulation, and act like you know what you're doing."

In my 32 years of working for the State, I encountered many who lived by that principle!

Several years ago I had a hankering to listen to some of the LPs from my youth. I hooked up my daughter's unused receiver and speakers to my old turntable and put Led Zeppelin on the spindle. I was mesmerized by the slow rotation of those LPs. I hadn't played a 33.3 rpm disc in over a decade, and compared to the whirlwind of a 78, the LP's stately rotation seemed almost theatrical. That little sound system became a permanent part of the belfry where much earlier equipment is displayed. Each era has its charms.

George P.

phonogfp wrote:Actually, I know what two of those three terms mean...I played in a band during college back in the 70s!

Your line about impressing with brilliance vs. baffling with BS reminds me of something a colleague said to me during our time working for the State of New York. I had just received a promotion to an administrative position, and my friend (who was also an administrator) advised me: "Just talk fast, cite Regulation, and act like you know what you're doing."

In my 32 years of working for the State, I encountered many who lived by that principle!

Several years ago I had a hankering to listen to some of the LPs from my youth. I hooked up my daughter's unused receiver and speakers to my old turntable and put Led Zeppelin on the spindle. I was mesmerized by the slow rotation of those LPs. I hadn't played a 33.3 rpm disc in over a decade, and compared to the whirlwind of a 78, the LP's stately rotation seemed almost theatrical. That little sound system became a permanent part of the belfry where much earlier equipment is displayed. Each era has its charms.

George P.

We're of kindred minds, my friend. I'm just much heavier (both figuratively, and literally ) on the electronic audio end, and you're much heavier on the acoustic audio end. We both cherish the world of audio reproduction, except that you can add the "real" audio world with your guitar(s), and musical abilities -- and I'm in awe of that ability. My (limited) musical abilities left me a long time ago. That's probably why I'm just so inured with the audio reproduction world. I'm doomed (if such a thing can be considered as doom) with living vicariously through those that can actually create music.

Onward we march!

Cheers,
Fran

Well, you're very kind, Fran, but let's not overstate my tinkering around on a guitar. I'm blown away by real guitarists, and frequently reminded of my own limitations.

But that brings me back to the charms of each era of sound reproduction. The 1890s are awash in brown wax, with its peculiar aroma and the distinctive looking talking machines that played them. Light oak, nickel plate, and black enamel were the typical visual cues. Berliner Gramophones ground away (and I do mean grind!) on their 7-inch discs which offered volume that impressed listeners at the time, but whose attractions are mostly lost on 21th century ears. Still, these records and machines represent a heartbeat in time in the development of sound recording, and presaged a revolution in format.

The early 1900s brought more refined cylinder machines and breathtakingly improved recordings. Victors and Columbias became rear-mounted, which was gentler to records, and improved disc recording lent a sound that was distinctive. Modern collectors can tell the difference between a cylinder or disc record from the next room. Cabinets became generally darker and more rounded. Horns literally flowered from their drab beginnings into colorful celebrations of sound.

By the end of the century's first decade, cylinder machines had evolved to a new level. Mechanical amplification, 4 minute records (in celluloid even!), rear-mounted horns like their disc brethren, more sophisticated cabinetry, and even internal horns to mimic Victor's marketing phenomenon - the Victrola. Horns began to revert back to basic black, while offering improved performance (as in the Edison Cygnet) in their twilight years (at least in the U.S.).

The Edison Disc Phonograph introduced a commercially viable way to reproduce vertically recorded discs without violating existing patents. In so doing, it also produced arguably the best acoustic reproduction of the pre-1925 period. Again, a distinctive sound and a distinctive look. After more than a decade of disc playing machines, the Edison looked and sounded like nothing else. An overbuilt, beautifully designed system (thanks to John Constable) that was mismanaged (thanks to Thomas Edison), yet sold surprisingly well. There's nothing else like them.

Orthonophonics, Viva-Tonals, and Panatropes in the twenties...each with a different sound, look, and "feel" to them.

The advertising for each era was as distinctive as the products. And again, experienced collectors can usually bracket an undated advertisement to within a couple of years of its actual age because of this constant evolution of tastes and styles.

How can anyone not love this hobby?

George P.

phonogfp wrote:Well, you're very kind, Fran, but let's not overstate my tinkering around on a guitar. I'm blown away by real guitarists, and frequently reminded of my own limitations.

But that brings me back to the charms of each era of sound reproduction. The 1890s are awash in brown wax, with its peculiar aroma and the distinctive looking talking machines that played them. Light oak, nickel plate, and black enamel were the typical visual cues. Berliner Gramophones ground away (and I do mean grind!) on their 7-inch discs which offered volume that impressed listeners at the time, but whose attractions are mostly lost on 21th century ears. Still, these records and machines represent a heartbeat in time in the development of sound recording, and presaged a revolution in format.

The early 1900s brought more refined cylinder machines and breathtakingly improved recordings. Victors and Columbias became rear-mounted, which was gentler to records, and improved disc recording lent a sound that was distinctive. Modern collectors can tell the difference between a cylinder or disc record from the next room. Cabinets became generally darker and more rounded. Horns literally flowered from their drab beginnings into colorful celebrations of sound.

By the end of the century's first decade, cylinder machines had evolved to a new level. Mechanical amplification, 4 minute records (in celluloid even!), rear-mounted horns like their disc brethren, more sophisticated cabinetry, and even internal horns to mimic Victor's marketing phenomenon - the Victrola. Horns began to revert back to basic black, while offering improved performance (as in the Edison Cygnet) in their twilight years (at least in the U.S.).

The Edison Disc Phonograph introduced a commercially viable way to reproduce vertically recorded discs without violating existing patents. In so doing, it also produced arguably the best acoustic reproduction of the pre-1925 period. Again, a distinctive sound and a distinctive look. After more than a decade of disc playing machines, the Edison looked and sounded like nothing else. An overbuilt, beautifully designed system (thanks to John Constable) that was mismanaged (thanks to Thomas Edison), yet sold surprisingly well. There's nothing else like them.

Orthonophonics, Viva-Tonals, and Panatropes in the twenties...each with a different sound, look, and "feel" to them.

The advertising for each era was as distinctive as the products. And again, experienced collectors can usually bracket an undated advertisement to within a couple of years of its actual age because of this constant evolution of tastes and styles.

How can anyone not love this hobby?

George P.

Your words are nearly poetic, George. Your ability to draft a thought into such succinct words is yet another blessing. I'm not trying to gush, and hopefully I haven't initiated a torrent of lethal comments...soon to be revealed.

Am I merely missing the annual pilgrimage to my personal mecca today? Or am I missing the wonderful people I've too briefly met with at Charley's, and at Wayne -- today and tomorrow? I think I've become a little melancholy the last couple of weeks, and my current recent distraction is one of reflection and deliberate contemplation. This is another reason I've begun to rehabilitate the 1950's-something 6L6 mono amp, I've told you about. That was my first foray into the world of sound -- given to me by my Dad in the late 60's, when I was around 10 or 11 years old. I wish he were still here to see how his influence has shaped my adoration of the decades earlier devices that he surely knew, and understood in his childhood.

I hope they're all enjoying themselves this weekend! They don't know what they're missing here.

Best,
Fran

Ah...this explains everything. You're going through Wayne withdrawal.

I'm getting a few twinges myself, but there's always next time...

George P.

phonogfp wrote:"Preamplifier?" "Line-level signal equalizer?" "Active crossover?"





George P.

"I see you've got your negative feedback coupled into your push-pull input-output: take that across from your redding pickup to your tweeter, you're modding more than 8; you're going to get wow on your top. Take that through from your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom."
- Michael Flanders

Bill

Lucius1958 wrote:

phonogfp wrote:"Preamplifier?" "Line-level signal equalizer?" "Active crossover?"





George P.

"I see you've got your negative feedback coupled into your push-pull input-output: take that across from your redding pickup to your tweeter, you're modding more than 8; you're going to get wow on your top. Take that through from your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom."
- Michael Flanders

Bill

"Still I ought to please any passing bat
With my high fidelity."

That sounds reasonable.

Franeola

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fJmmDk ... e=youtu.be