The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

What was the reasoning behind making these records so darn large? I picked up six of these 14" Pathé records in their original paper sleeves for only a buck each yesterday at a local antique center. And they all look like new, nice and shiney, no marks at all.

I assume it was to extend playing time, like with all larger formats of that time. You really got a great deal there. Congratulations!

Andreas

The vertical cut Pathé's have exceptionally wide groves. Some of the same songs on 10" Perfect laterals were 12" vertical Pathé's. So I'm guessing a 14" Pathé was roughly equivalent to a 12" lateral?

These also played at a higher speed, didn't they? Or were the 90 RPM ones even larger?

Considering the 50cm Pathé disc that I recently acquired, 14" appear to be pretty small.

The Pathé discs were released in many different sizes, ranging from 6.5 to 19.75 inches. I believe that most of them offered the same playing time, while the larger discs had much wider grooves and therefore sounded better or at least louder (maybe less groove wear as well, for those rare 6.5" ones are quite prone to damage).

Some of the larger discs, such as the 15.75" and the 19.75" ones could even be played with a 16 mil sapphire, as opposed to the usual 8 mil sapphire, although you will notice that a 13.75" disc will sound much louder than a 10.5" one, even when just using a regular 8 mil sapphire.

The only Pathé discs designed to play significantly longer were the 50cm Pathé-Theatre series, which revolved at 60rpm giving a playing time of about 8 minutes per side.
It takes a machine with a strong motor to do them justice.

bfinan11 wrote:These also played at a higher speed, didn't they? Or were the 90 RPM ones even larger?

The etched Pathé discs mostly play at 90, but some are suggested even higher. AFAIK the paper label verticals play at 80.

What machine (s) played these monsters? 14, 16, 20.

A Brunswick such as the popular model 117 with its Ultona reproducer will play the 13.75" discs, while not many machines other than a select few Pathé ones will play the 15.75" and 19.75" discs.