Bruce, the only reason that I discount the 1A from being the best
cylinder player is because of its inferior motor. The straight-cut spur
gears of the 1A are decidedly noisier than the Opera motor of the 1B and the
III. When I first got my 1A, it sounded like and electric drill whenever I
ran it. The noise comes mostly from the high speed governor gears, and the
only fix for it is to replace these gears with nearly perfect new ones. Try
to find those anywhere! I got lucky and swapped a fellow collector some
items for a set of nearly new gears which quieted my 1A down to the point
where it is enjoyable, but still not as quiet as my 1B. The other big
problem with the 1A is that it doesn't have the mechanical flutter filter
and flywheel that Edison added to some of his later motors such as the
Opera, Amberola V, and all the late amberolas. The lack of a sufficient
flywheel coupled with the belt drive of the 1A virtually ensures that you'll
get flutter and wow that is just an essential aspect of this design.
Acoustically, the 1A is the same as the 1B, but the motor spoils the total
experience a little.
However, since the 1A motor is no worse than any found on any other 2
minute cylinder machine, the superior horn of the 1A makes it the best
overall 2 minute machine in my estimation. AND it has the added benefit
that you can play 2 minute celluloid records with the Diamond A reproducer
which is truly the best 2 minute experience that you can get in a
commercially made machine. I like my 1A just fine, but I prefer to hear 4
minute celluloids on my 1B or my III.
I don't include the Opera among the very best sounding machines because
I haven't heard ANY commercially made outside horns on cylinder machines
that are the sonic equal to the horns in the Amberola 1s and III. I
mentioned on the OTV board that I have a mechanical engineer friend who
decided to make his own large genuine cygnet shaped exponential outside
horn. He has fitted it to an Amberola 50 motor which he has put into a
custom tabletop cabinet. The horn is suspended over the carriage by a
clever, original design double crane pantographic system that works much
better than any original design. He calls his machine the "Ediphonic" and
has even put an Edison-style logo on it with that name. The reproducer is a
modified Diamond B which has a custom diaphragm in it similar to the ones
that I make. The entire project is very well-done, tidy, and authentic
looking. I can tell you with "first-ear" assurance that this is the BEST
sounding acoustic 4 minute cylinder player I have EVER heard. The
exponential horn works wonderfully well with the Diamond B, and the results
from playing the early directly recorded BA records (not the dubs) is some
of the best sounding acoustic reproduction you will ever hear.
Greg Bogantz
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <phono-l at oldcrank.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Greg Bogantz)
> Greg,
>
> I'd be interested to know more about why an Amberola 1A would not sound
> equally as good as the 1B for 4 min wax or blue amberols assuming the
> correct reproducer is used, (the M for 4 min wax and the diamond A for
> blue amberols)?
>
> Thanks,
> Bruce
>
> Bruce Johnson
> Pod Valem II, 870
> 252 43 Pruhonice
> Czech Republic
>
>
> Tel: (CZ) + 420 602 362 473
> Tel: (US) + 1 612 605 5242
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "phono-l-request at oldcrank.org" <phono-l-request at oldcrank.org>
> To: phono-l at oldcrank.org
> Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 8:00:05 PM
> Subject: Phono-L Digest, Vol 5, Issue 288
>
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>
> 1. Re: Loss To Phono Collector Community (Zonophone2006 at aol.com)
> 2. Re: Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Michael F. Khanchalian)
> 3. Re: Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Steven Medved)
> 4. Re: Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Greg Bogantz)
> 5. Re: Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Rich)
> 6. Re: Phono-L Digest, Vol 5, Issue 287 (RROCRREC at aol.com)
> 7. Dave Boruff (Mark Dawson)
> 8. Re: Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Steven Medved)
> 9. Re: Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Greg Bogantz)
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