Greg is correct on his points about the IA. I've had mine for almost 20 years and it has followed me around England, then to Boston with a couple moves in town, then to Chicago with a couple of moves. Of the 50 or so machines I own or have owned,(not to mention the 1,000s I've handled professionally) it is by far my favourite. If I could only keep one it would be the one. Yes, wax Amberols may sound better on a III and Blue Amberols better on an Opera, but only the IA plays all three as well as non-Edison celluloids. And you get storage for your 100 fave cylinders.
And given a choice, the Lyre grille is the best. Long live the Amberola IA!!! Best to all, George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Bogantz" <gbogan...@charter.net> To: "Antique Phonograph List" <phono-l at oldcrank.org> Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 5:48 PM Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Research: Amberolas 1A and 1B (Greg Bogantz) > 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: <valecnik57-purc at yahoo.com> > 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 >> >> Send Phono-L mailing list submissions to >> phono-l at oldcrank.org >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> http://oldcrank.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/phono-l >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> phono-l-request at oldcrank.org >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> phono-l-owner at oldcrank.org >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of Phono-L digest..." >> If you reply, please change your subject line and don't include this >> entire digest in your message.Today's Topics: >> >> 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) >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org >
