The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

In addition to phonographs, Lori and I have an equal interest in jukeboxes. Whenever the two intersect, it is all the more interesting. Naturally, this recent find got us interested. We found these speakers, smaller copies of a 1938 Wurlitzer Model 39A wall speaker, a natural connection between our two collecting interests.
After ordering a pair, we were pleased to learn that they connect easily to our smartphone, PC or other Blue Tooth device, and they sound pretty good. If only there were a way to convert the acoustic signal from a Victrola to an electrical signal that would feed a BT transmitter for broadcasting to the speakers.

The first picture shows an original version.

"If only there were a way to convert the acoustic signal from a Victrola to an electrical signal that would feed a BT transmitter for broadcasting to the speakers."

There is... it's called MP3...
Here is a site that has freely downloadable MP3s of British and American bands: http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Soundfiles/So ... -Index.htm
"Click" on Category, then find the music titles you would like (in green) "right click" on the title to save it. Download it and save it to your computer or phone, pair the Bluetooth from either or both devices to your speaker and your are good... Vintage acoustical music played from your computer or phone to your speaker. Since these were recorded directly from an acoustic phonograph playing period records, they sound great.

Curt, Am I missing something? How does MP3 convert an acoustic signal from a Victrola to an electrical signal? Cheers, Russie

startgroove wrote: How does MP3 convert an acoustic signal from a Victrola to an electrical signal?

I kind of think he was saying that playing MP3 transfers of vintage music through these speakers would be the same kind of vintage music, with the same good sound quality, but without the hassle of rigging up a transmitter on a windup record player.

That is actually a very interesting little speaker. Glad it sounds as nice as it looks.

A few years ago I rigged this system up for playing CD's through my various Victrolas. With the lid down, it was fun to watch friends being amazed by the sound - and musicians - emerging from my Credenza!

Van, yes I think you are right. Yet, I am most interested in having some kind of sensor on a reproducer, or tone arm, that would pick up the acoustic data and relay it to a Blue Tooth transmitter, which will then send it on to this Victrola Speaker. Hopefully it would be something that could fit to a cylinder machine also.

All the methods listed above, including Nat's, are other great novelty playback ideas. Thank you NAT for showing that system, I think I could try that too as a way to play MP3 sources through. What does the piece attached to the reproducer consist of?

I've seen a system that uses a small transistor radio speaker attached to the tone arm, and another system where a radio horn speaker was used.

This whole thing is getting more and more interesting. I'd like to try all the ideas that are proposed here. Thank you boys and girls.

Cheers, Russie

startgroove wrote:Curt, Am I missing something? How does MP3 convert an acoustic signal from a Victrola to an electrical signal? Cheers, Russie

The part you are missing is this: an MP3 doesn't "convert" an acoustic signal to an electrical signal, it is the "result" of converting an acoustic signal to a digital signal...
Here's how:
1 - You play any acoustic record on your acoustic machine of choice, while recording it with a cell phone, iPad, microphone attached to your computer, etc.
2.- You convert the recorded info from the device of your choice with an audio conversion program or app
3.- Choose MP3 as the target format for that recorded digital signal
4.- You now have a digital MP3 file that was "converted directly from your Victrola" or other acoustic device
5.- Upload it to your phone or other digital Bluetooth playback device
6.- Pair your phone or favorite playback device to your Victrola speaker
7.- Play the digital file on your playback device and enjoy your own record, played on your own acoustic Victrola, through your Bluetooth speaker

startgroove wrote:... If only there were a way to convert the acoustic signal from a Victrola to an electrical signal that would feed a BT transmitter for broadcasting to the speakers. ...

I think this would do it: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... l/overview

As I read the description, I think you can feed a microphone (purchased separately) into this box and then stream the signal to a Bluetooth device in real time. If the phono and Bluetooth speaker are to be in the same room, you'd want a microphone that could be positioned inside the horn to avoid the risk of audio feedback (read: howling). If the phono is in one room and the Bluetooth speaker in another, of course, the possibility of feedback is probably less of an issue.

Curt, Thank You. Yet I would prefer a simpler method and one which is a "live" connection. Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, my apologies for that. I want to place the reproducer on the recording and instantly hear music in the speaker.

drh, That would do it. Thank you for that suggestion. I went a step further and found this:
https://www.lightinthebox.com/en/p/blue ... 68793.html?
This one requires an adapter to be fabricated to convert a microphone level to line level.
Perhaps a magnetic or ceramic phonograph pickup attached to the diaphragm or the armature could serve as the transducer.
Cheers, Russie