The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello

Certainly most of you know the soundboxes that came with the indian
Crapohones
I wouldn´t buy a entire Crapohone, only because of my curiosoty with the reproducer.
But now I have an offer to buy only the soundbox - 20 Dollar.

My question - is it is worth ? What is the quality of the sound? Can I open
this soundbox, for example to experiment with other diaphragms or gaskets ?

Anyone with photos of the inside, or is the soundbox just junk like the whole
Crapohones ?

Poor quality, and a waste of $20. For $20, you should be able to find a decent, old, GOOD reproducer.

Odeon,

I would agree with Edisone. Even if you must pay much more, (I think difficult to find a good reproducer for $20 in Europe) save your money for a good one.

Personally, I wouldn't pay $2 for one of these. They will ruin your records.
The needle bar doesn't use conventional pivots like you'd find on original soundboxes, but instead the needle bar is mounted directly to the soundbox bezel. As you can (sort of) see on mine, the needle bar is pressed into a circle which is held by the 2 straight bits that are part of the circumference of the housing.
What this means is the needle bar has no free movement to plunge the diaphragm in & out, apart for the natural give of the metal that holds it, so the needle cant move within the record groove as it should, resulting in record wear.
They're by far the cheapest & nastiest soundbox I've ever come across, & they lack volume & sound terrible. The only reason I've kept mine is incase I get desperate for an aluminium diaphragm at some stage.