Pics of Turntables, Tone Arms, Cartridges, Needles & Grooves

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On 2/5/2020 at 4:04 AM, Fokus said:

 Nice, a Michell Gyrodeck SE. I used to have one of those. Sold it in a weak moment. Wish every day that I hadn’t! Great record deck. But I don’t recognize the motor. Is it from the Michell Orb? Also, your suspension towers are not stock either (unless, in the ensuing years, JA Michell changed from springs to rubber bands). Mine had the Jelco SA-750 arm and the Grado Reference Signature cartridge. Best record deck ever. Don’t ever sell yours! You’ll regret it. 

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On 2/5/2020 at 12:44 PM, Solstice380 said:

Saw these at the lighthouse museum on Whitefish Point, MI (Lake Superior).  At least the lighthouse keepers had good tunes!

 

Edison Standard Phonograph ca. 1901 and RCA AR-812 Radiola Super Heterodyne radio ca. 1924 both in mint condition (sorry for iPhone pics).

 

Wow! That’s the earliest superhet I’ve ever encountered. I wondered why the receiver had only two dials. Most radios, from that era, are TRF, and have multiple, interactive tuning dials. One for each RF amplifier stage. TRF made it a nightmare to tune in a station! I like the speaker too. Good “tone”, I expect!🙂

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1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

I had a neighbor who had one of these. It was interesting because the thing was unflappable. Even on rough roads, it simply wouldn’t skip! The records, IIRC (I was a kid at the time) were slightly larger than a 45 single, but were smaller than a 10 inch LP or 78. The problem was that long before my neighbor was ready to trade-in his DeSoto for a newer model, Chrysler stopped making the discs (seemed to me that there were never very many available in the first place). Anyway, they were mono - but in a car, that was never a big problem. A bigger problem was that they didn’t sound any different than the AM radio that they played through. I don’t think that at 16 and 2/3 RPM (half the speed of an LP), they had any frequency response higher than 5 to maybe 7.5 KHz!

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1 hour ago, SJK said:

 

That's true if you buy or play albums in poor condition which is too often the case.  I recently sold a solid rock collection from the late 60's to late 70's, about 1,200 titles.  All were in VG+ or NM condition.  Once recorded digitally and run through a simple crackle filter the sound is excellent.  

 

If I hear snap, crackle and pop from any album it comes off the turntable right away - unless it's something I can't find any other way.  My father's 10" LPs from the 40's and 50's were like that, but you just can't find the music in any other format. 

 

But, I do tend to agree with you - if buying LPs from your favorite record store make sure they can be returned if unplayable or in poor condition. 

 

You can do a visual check to good effect.  Where I get fooled is on classical titles from the 50's or 60's that were played on a console stereo with one of those 33/45 flipover cartridges or the older needle type.  Man, do those things do a lot of damage.

Yes, those old console stereos (called “brown goods” in the appliance business), were fitted with cheap record changers sporting 2-pole motors, cast aluminum “tone arms” that tracked the fitted crystal or ceramic cartridges (usually, with Osmium or sapphire styluses) at more than 10 grams! If you bought a really good one, you might luck out and get one with a British made BSR “Monarch” record changer (which at least had a 4-pole motor, and could be bought new from places like Allied Radio, Lafayette Radio, or the old Boston-based Radio Shack mail-order  houses for less than 20 bucks!). Junk like that could chew an LP up in just a few plays. Good thing LPs were cheap in those days. $3.98 for a mono LP and $4.98 for stereo.

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56 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

speaking of nuts...  I recall using nylon nuts to attach cartridge to headshell - they were supplied and claimed to reduce mass.

 

That Chrysler tonearm must have had a lot of mass, or a spring to keep it on the disc.

I seem to recall it used a spring to apply downward pressure. I don’t know the tracking weight, but I suspect it was very high - maybe as much as an ounce!