Testing a few vintage soundboxes / reproducers on my fake gramophone / phonograph. Is it worth the upgrade? #78rpm #78rpmshellac #gramophone #vintageaudio This video is in response to a question by @microbi46
Definitely worth it. I did the same thing with my fake gramophone only went a bit further. In addition to the soundbox, I switched out the fake tone arm with a gooseneck tone arm salvaged from a long gone suitcase player and replaced the fake motor with a generic motor that went into so many American suitcase gramophones in the 20's and 30's. I play my fake machine in between playing the actual antiques. I think of it as my Improved Crapophone.
Sounds good 👍. Not sure how far I will take this fake. I am tempted to try to rebuild the motor, but there is no guarantee I can really make it better 🤔. Thanks 😀👍
I'd not really used the Selecta before and was surprised how mellow it sounded. I agree, though, that the rest of the machine still leaves a lot to be desired 😅. Thanks 😀 👍
The Selecta was sub par, the repro had a bit much angle on it, but performed as expected. The second one is a good quality soundbox, and had more clarity. But for most buyers it will make little difference.
Thanks 😀 👍. I quite liked the tone of the Selecta, but it didn't sound very bright and I wonder if it has very poor higher frequency response 🤔. I might look into that further 😉
The no brand on did sound rather good. The fake was obviously not of good quality. Although, I’m surprised that you could take the fake one apart, and repair it. Unlike the generic one I had, that I attempted to repair. Victor was one of the few Companies to perfect the aluminum diaphragm. I’m sure HJMV had a good one too. Nice collection of soundboxes.
The fake doesn't seem to be designed for servicing, but I got there in the end 😅. Lots of the later soundboxes did have aluminium diaphragms, and often work quite well, though I don't think much scientific design went into them. Have you seen this video? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mK1bGhanqf4.htmlsi=yzP4a-GsKCo2rXAB Thanks 😀 👍
I liked the comparison! Worth it? Depends how much a new replica costs - and if it can beat the feeling, to put too much effort in a replica... Planning to clean little in my collection, so I think I take some 5-6 original horn gramophones up for sale during the spring. All of them with cleaned, greased motors - some with new spring, but all of them with new sound box gaskets. Price range 160-350, I suppose. So, again - how much do people normal pay for their "crapophones"?
I'm not sure what currency you are working in, but these fake machines are at least 80GBP and often much more. They are commonly seen in antique shops at well over 100GBP. Here in the UK where I am, real external horn machines are rarely found and therefore tend to be very expensive. Thanks 😀 👍
The lightest was actually the original fake one. The Selectaphone one was the middle weight, but did the best, speed wise, and had quite a mellow tone, I think 🤔. Thanks 😀 👍
soundboxes are expensive so the only cheap to get them is from my friend, he has alot of hmv and exhibition soundboxes, but they are too expensive, the cheapest he could sell me is $120, but is still expensive! So I just asked him for his cheap ones like the slivertone soundbox you see in my videos or shorts and it cost about $50. I hope I can upgrade it to the hmv soundboxes soon when I have the money, and also your selecta soundbox might be really good as it is not the standard 130 grams instead is 80 grams, so you can play a record a few more times than the other soundboxes! But it is most likely expensive in my opinion ):
It was actually the original fake one which was the lightest. The Selectaphone one was still around 130g but seemed to work well. I don't know what it was from, but probably a cheap gramophone. The HMV soundboxes are very good, but can be quite heavy, and the Exhibition has a small diaphragm compared to later ones, like the No.4, so may be quieter. Also the Exhibition is not designed for electrically recorded records. If you can get one, an all brass HMV No.4 will do you well, though I understand it may not be cheap. I think, though, that the soundboxes you have perform quite well, so upgrading maybe isn't so urgent. Thanks 😀 👍
Two things. I’m not sure all the soundboxes were at 60 degrees? Would this have made a difference to anything , I’m not sure. Also , in the video at the beginning I thought the leather pressure pad was almost off the governor pressure plate or flywheel. You may get better constant speed if you adjust this. Always interesting. Thanks.
My personal experience with these pressure pads is they do often work best on the edge of the plate. Not sure why, but I had one like that, and moved it in a bit and it was awful! So if it works OK probably best left maybe.
I did ponder whether to keep all the angles the same, or whether to line the needles up to track to the centre and I think in the end I did the latter. It's a good point though to consider for the next similar test. 🤔 The pad I did adjust to try to get the motor to run at a reasonable speed. The motor still is very influenced by the needle pressure. I ought to have another look at the motor! 😅. Thanks 😀 👍
Yes, the fakes aren't great, though fun to play with. I have a real one too: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Fy8kV0HLhS0.html Thanks 👍 😀
@mrrgstuff Whilst I like the old machines, I'm interested in what the machines play, rather than their looks. That and the fact it's mechanical. Looks come last.
I dont see the point of comparing a fake reproducer and 2 genuine ones but with shattered mica diaphragm and/or dry and hard as rock rubber gaskets. For very little money, they can be refurbished as new and THEN the quality of sound will be way improved.
It's a good point, although I was more looking as to whether just using a random vintage soundbox would provide any obvious improvement. They will of course be better once rebuilt. However, not everyone is going to do that work up front. Thanks 😀 👍
