The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I live in a 1928 apartment building fitted with wall to wall carpeting over its original oak plank floor. I'm grateful for this, since the floors are not insulated, and even with the carpeting I still can hear the neighbors TALK to each other below me, from time to time.

In any event, I've long suspected that I'm not hearing as much bass out of my Orthophonic 4-40 as I should be, even though I can feel its reverberation, and when I walk around while a record is played, actually do hear more bass (and mid-range) in certain areas of the room.

Today, as an experiment, I grabbed my copy of "Dallas Blues" by Ted Lewis (Col. 2527-D) with vocal by Fats Waller, and played it through as I normally do, using a loud tone steel needle. Then, I played it again, but this time I set a large flat board--2" by 3 ft. by 2.5 ft.--on the floor in front of the horn's mouth. The difference was amazing! Not only did I hear far more bass, but the sound was consistent throughout the room, with no "sweet spots." Overall, the music had an almost 3D quality, with some instruments sounding closer to the microphone than others. The vocal also had more body.

Now, I have to think of a way to lay an attractive looking parquet floor under the Victrola, without pulling up the carpet.

I'm wondering if others have noticed a performance difference--playing an Orthophonic Victrola (etc.) on a carpeted vs. a non-carpeted floor?

OrthoFan

Get a bamboo rug and roll that out. Should work as a tone reflector--mind you, I have never tried this before, but have dealt with the rugs.

Yes, I do know putting machines in different places will boost the sound. The tall skinny Victrolas sound best in the corner of a room kitty-cornered. I did that when I first got into the hobby (more space and only one machine) and it sometimes sounded like 3d sound...I would sometimes get goosebumps thinking I was fixing to bump into a jazz musician when I walked through my room. It was pretty freaky.

Victrolas are surprisingly adaptable so see what you can adapt! You've got me interested.

Oh yes, yes, and yes! Some years ago, I had an Edison Chippendale 250 in my living room. It had wall to wall carpeting. Then, I decided to get rid of the carpeting and put in a maple hardwood floor. I had to remove all of the furniture and the carpet of course to give the men space to put in the new hardwood floor. After the new floor was put in, I played some Edison DD's and oh boy, the sound was phenomenal, sounding down through the living room and into the bare dining room. I should also mention the living room has a 25 ft. ceiling. Can't really describe it, you have to experience it to believe it!

Sounds like you're living with a real bass hole there!

A 25ft ceiling? Sounds like you're living in a church!

You may need a__________

A 25ft ceiling? Sounds like you're living in a church!

Well, that was kind of a very rough estimate or exaggeration! I measured the height of my living room ceiling today and it's really 18 feet 10 inches. By the way, what's this dog doing here?

marcapra wrote:

A 25ft ceiling? Sounds like you're living in a church!

Well, that was kind of a very rough estimate or exaggeration! I measured the height of my living room ceiling today and it's really 18 feet 10 inches. By the way, what's this dog doing here?

Sub woofer.

fran604g wrote:

marcapra wrote:

A 25ft ceiling? Sounds like you're living in a church!

By the way, what's this dog doing here?

Sub woofer.[/quote)

Bahahaha that's awesome

OrthoFan wrote:I live in a 1928 apartment building fitted with wall to wall carpeting over its original oak plank floor. I'm grateful for this, since the floors are not insulated, and even with the carpeting I still can hear the neighbors TALK to each other below me, from time to time.

In any event, I've long suspected that I'm not hearing as much bass out of my Orthophonic 4-40 as I should be, even though I can feel its reverberation, and when I walk around while a record is played, actually do hear more bass (and mid-range) in certain areas of the room....

OrthoFan

If you can hear your downstairs neighbors talking through your carpeted oak floor, just imagine what they can hear through their ceiling when you crank up your 4-40---with or without a wood panel in front of it over your wall-to-wall!