The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have been working for years off an on to attempt to create a diaphragm which will come closer than currently available to the original sound of the Edison. This diaphragm will now be known as the "True Tone" diaphragm. Steven Medved has termed it a "Listeners Diaphragm" as it will appeal to those who are apt to consider the finer points of the sound they hear. Many diaphragms are now being made and all of them have their adherents. No one including myself if probably going to have something that everyone will think just right. I tend to have always been prone to listen to the more subtle points of the sound rather than the overall volumes which can be quite tricky as to it value. Mine will be very loud when necessary but not nearly so prone to overly accenting the horns and other loud portions. The sound is balanced and has more depth of tone.

These are all hand fashioned and tested which takes considerable time and effort so they are not something I can just send out in large quantities. They will remain offered as I can turn them out. Due to the nature of the construction slight variations in volumes and sound are expected but the overall effects fall within my requirements for the sound.

So far about 25 of the True Tones Diaphragms have been either sold or donated for those who will test it for their opinions. No one has requested their money back as I have offered should someone be unsatisfied with the overall performance. A few of the Comments from users have been:

"The first thing I noticed was that the harshness and stridency was gone. This was the kind of sound that made me want to pull up a chair, sit directly in front of the machine, and just LISTEN. Previously the old diaphragm had kept me from doing this. I found my self surprised at the amount of detail those old acoustic records can preserve. My wife also commented that she thought the new diaphragm "tamed" the C-19 significantly"

"As others have mentioned, this is a diaphragm that's meant to be LISTENED to. I used to avoid sitting directly in front of the horn on my C-19 because of the harshness and volume. Now I find myself wanting to pull up a chair an sit directly in front of the machine...and listen just for the sake of enjoying the music. I am now able to pick out individual instruments where before they would be lost in the blur, and vocals are much more intelligible than they were in the past. I guess the best word to describe my machine with the new diaphragm is "controlled". Everything seems in balance as it should be without any one instrument overpowering the others. Its genuinely exciting to discover how many nuances of the original performances these old records can produce"

"I received Larry's new diaphragm and highly recommend it. Its not as loud as previous replacement diaphragms by that is not all bad. The new design sounds very balanced and has much less blasting on my Electric Disc. It sounds very natural. I have spent hours comparing it to other new diaphragms and prefer it most of the time."

More short reviews available on my Completed sales for the True Tone Diaphragm as listed on Ebay.. Also you can find several more on the Edison Online Discussion groups Diamond Disc machines thread of Designing A Diaphragm for a Diamond Disc Phonographs. The last pages of 15 and 16 will have the most current information.

Larry

For what it is worth, I purchased this diaphragm and another thru eBay. The other appeared to be made of laminated or coated cardboard (White). LarryH's diaphragm sounds much better with less surface noise and and better low range and mid range. Not as much high range, but less harshness and background noise. I much prefer LarryH's diaphragm over the first one. I purchased new seals and another reproducer to install the "competing" diaphragm so that I could compare them back-to-back on the same record, but I know which one I would rather listen to regularly...Larry's.

Since my first post over here from the Edison Group on the True Tone I have sold a number of them. Here are portions of some responses I got from owners.


"I would agree with you that its a good Listening Diaphragm.... I notice you get more clarity on some instruments and vocals compared to an original diaphragm... It does have a very warm tone to it, which helps filter out light record noise.... I am happy with the design and would recommend it, especially if your looking for a nice sound that is close to the original" JK 8-5-12

"I tired out Larry's newest diaphragm on a standard reproducer as he suggested and I have to say it was much more pleasing sound than the original" BF 6-21-12

I have had no unhappy buyers to my knowledge..

Included here is a photo of the design.

Larry

Can we someday hope for some Victor diaphragms?

May I ask about that tiny little metal loop? Is that a stock item, or did you make that?

As for a Victor-type diaphragm: I once tried to improve the sound of a Standard Model A, after grinding-down the top half of its spindle so I could play 'regular' 78s on top of a Standard disc. Using a Dremel, I polished away about half the thickness of the mica, where it met the rubber gaskets. I added several layers & diameters of shellac-soaked paper to the center. I also drilled-out many holes in what I thought was the needlessly massive needle-chuck assembly, to reduce its mass and weight. I like to think it worked well, but have no scientific proof - a Standard isn't going to be very hi-fi, whatever is done to it.

The best things that could happen to a (pre-Ortho) Victor machine: bigger diaphragm, less tracking error, less weight, and no springs on the needle bar. In other words, a different sound box & tone arm.

The little loop is a modified small hook eye type screw of a very small size. I snap it off with a small cutter and fashion it to about a half the original size. I don't have a photo of the rear but over the past years I tired many ways to transmit the sound to the diaphragm and have as little distortion from the connection as possible. Some were simply glued on the rear side, some used small vinyl buttons to thread the screw into and lastly the screw is anchored with a flexible button recessed and filled with a coating of glue to allow it to transmit the sound though the rubber button but it magically removed almost all the issues of previous designs of distortion in many quick type sound changes that plagued the previous attempts..

All my work has been done by "ear". I do not have a mind for figuring all the details of what materials may do what, I just slowly try various things till I reach a level of sound that is something I can be happy with. To that end I have actually surpassed my goals originally to simply find a fuller sound than other new items I had tired. The largest benefit to the use of the small eye on the front of the diaphragm is the ability to easily replace or change the linkage if it is needed. With most others once they are glued in place your pretty much stuck with the length and from what I have found they tend to vary from just right to too long or even too short.. Not that I have never had an issue with getting that just so my self, but I do have a jig I created that makes setting the lengths reasonably close to where they need to be. The screw also tends to be a slight amplifier of the sound which I feel increased some of the slight tones not always found with others.

Larry

Larry - I am delighted that you have continued your experiments. I still have one of the opaque plastic ones that we had tested out a few years ago. From what you've written here, the new one is a nice improvement. Thanks for all your work on this and congratulations on finding the combination that would give consistent results.

The Diaphragm seems like a good design, I will have to purchase one soon. And to other collectors, Anything that is of quality, is worth the time waiting for it. I had done some experimenting with Diamond Disc diaphragms as well, and lots of patients are needed.

Stand by!

Well, since we never sold "reproducer(s)" and all of our diaphragms are serially numbered and we have a record of who purchased each one of them and the only Robert we sold one to is a huge fan of the one he has, I must assume that your post is more garbage aimed at discrediting our project. Perhaps you would like to describe one of our diaphragms in your reply to this so I might prove you are full of excrement. Our diaphragms are sonically superior to anything yet produced. Jeff and I had difficulties getting that project off the ground due to some personal issues Jeff had. I have regrouped and resumed the project and intend to produce diaphragms again in the near future. I stand by my claims.