Re: [ARSCLIST] Early Polydor electrics, the depression, etc

[Roger and Allison Kulp <thorenstd124@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have seen those old Harmony 78s,but I was never sure
about thier connection with Columbia.Also,while I have
heard incredibly good sounding pre-1930 tubes,used in
later equipment,I have not heard any early electrical
phonos,I particularly liked.Now,once you get into the
40s,that's a different story...

However,I can tell you there are certain pieces of
equipment,from the late 20s/early 30s,that will make
audiophiles(audiophools?) swoon.The most obvious
example,is the Loftin-White Amplifier,which I have not
had the pleasure of hearing.
http://www.mindspring.com/~mjh850830/loftin-white/
                                    Roger Kulp

--- "Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steven Smolian" <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
> > I have no documentation to prove it but feel
> certain that the reason 
> > Columbia made paralell recordings acoustically to
> their electrics, the 
> > former issued on Harmony, was to cater to the old
> wind-up market.
> >
> I had always thought...and I believe research has
> confirmed this...
> that Columbia had spent a fair amount improving
> their acoustic
> recording in 1924, after UK Columbia  took over US
> Columbia and
> financial problems eased. Figuring that many record
> buyers still
> had acoustic players, they tried to squeeze a few
> more dollars
> out of their acoustic hardware by using it to record
> their
> cheap records!
>  
> > I can't say I've been impressed with the sound of
> early electrical players- 
> > the acoustic orthophonics sound better to me.  It
> took into the carly 
> > mid-1930s before the nominally affordable
> electrical players apeared, by 
> > which time the depression had bitten deeply,
> delaying futher the broader 
> > casting of the newer technology.  Radio and movies
> gave more satisfactory 
> > "new" sound for less outlay.  This factor has
> never been given the weight it 
> > deserves in sifting through the factors that make
> so many depression-period 
> > records so scarce, particularly in good condition.
>  The multi-ounce pressure 
> > from normal electrical playback heads was bad
> enough.  Not replacing the 
> > needles regularly (people spent money on food)
> accounts for the wretched 
> > condition of so many records issued at that time,
> particularly those for the 
> > black and country markets.
> > 
> It was probably c.1935 before it occured to RCA
> Victor that one could
> build players with piezo-electric cartridges (which
> were also much
> lighter than the horseshoe-magnet electric
> reproducers first used)
> and plug them into RCA radios (or have your "radio
> man" install a
> jack feeding the audio circuit of your existing
> radio set)...
> 
> Steven C. Barr 
> 


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