As a break from worrying about my listening room acoustics, I had a play
with the 1920s acoustic gramophone I recently got down from my loft.

This has a Swiss Paillard turntable, but there are no other manufacturer's
marks on the box, except for ALBA on the pick-up.

It runs well to speed, and the arm is rather remarkable for its build
quality. The horizontal bearing has no perceptible play or friction, and the
vertical articulation seems fluid damped. Rather lovely. Note the three
boxes of needles. The green Pyramid contains "soft-tone" needles whilst the
two HMV boxes are of "half-tone" No idea what the difference is.

Here are some pics:-

http://audiopages.googlepages.com/Gr...phone-full.jpg

http://audiopages.googlepages.com/gr...oseup-full.jpg

http://audiopages.googlepages.com/gr...e-arm-full.jpg

http://audiopages.googlepages.com/gr...ck-up-full.jpg

So what does it sound like?

Here are a couple of recordings:

http://audiopages.googlepages.com/gr...ightandday.mp3

The song is Night and Day by Cole Porter, sung by the Comedy Harmonists.

http://audiopages.googlepages.com/gramophoneGuilty.mp3

The song is Guilty by Kahn, Akst, Whiting and sung by Steve Conway with Jack
Byfield & his Orchestra.

Both records were rescued from the dump, so are of unknown condition, but
were both cleaned with the RCM. They were played with the HMV needles, which
have to be changed for each side played.


I think we have come a long way since 1920.

S.