The Edison phonograph monthly (Dec 1914-Dec 1915)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY, APRIL, 1915 THE NEW CYLINDER MODEL AMBEROLA 30 Price £30 THIS new instrument embodies certain points of distinct operating and selling advantage, among them the following: (1) Marked advance in tonal quality. (2) Longer playing time. (3) Simplified mechanism, somewhat similar to that of the Amberola V, which has given such general satisfaction. (4) Decreased number of parts. The advanatge of this will be more obvious with the announcement that this mechanism is to be standard for the Diamond Amberola line. (5) Gear Drive — helical gears — insuring smooth, quiet operation. (6) Accessibility of parts for repair. Governor is above top plate instead of below as on previous models. (7) Automatic cabinet stay arm; one-piece winding crank; one-piece and movable horn. (8) Improved cabinet. The new cabinet, which will be furnished in Golden Oak finish, is more symmetrical and attractive in outline than its predecessor and the silk covered grill adds to its more pleasing effect. This new Amberola 30 is the smallest of our cylinder models, the case measuring 12x14 inches square, and 12^2 inches high. Finished in oak it presents a compact, chaste appearance and is the instrument which will prove a great favorite for all outdoor, or summer uses, in camps, in cottages, or yachts and in lawn use. It will also be the instrument that will prove popular with those whose space is limited to small apartments or who wish to expend a moderate price for a thoroughly dependable phonograph of the cylinder type. Foremost among its unique features is the suspended, swinging horn — a device so simple and desirable that it is strange it was not adopted long ago. The value of this feature is that the' horn is practically one piece without a joint save where the reproducer connects to it. It insures a tighter, more sound-proof connection, at the same time obviating mechanical joints found necessary where the horn is stationary. There is now but one joint between diaphragm and the mouth of the horn — the one connecting reproducer and horn; and this joint is so close fitting and has such a very small movement as the record plays, that it affords practically an uninterrupted passage of the sound from the cradle where it is born — the reproducer — to the amplifying horn where it is projected into space. We have always contended that the more breaks or loose joints in a horn, or the more angles to be turned, the less resonance was left in the tone when finally ejected from the mouth of the horn. In this new model we have reduced these joints to just one, the Reproducer itself, and have so constructed the horn that it gradually tapers larger and larger from the very moment the sound leaves the reproducer— two highly important features. As the record plays the horn automatically rocks so as to permit the tone arm to travel the distance of the Blue Amberol record. In making the connection of Reproducer and horn this Model has adopted a very direct method, keeping the connection horizontal and avoiding any angle save that of the curve in the amplifying horn itself. This enables us to fulfill an important acoustical condition, and enables the sound to be projected direct from the diaphragm out through the horn into the open. The result is clearly apparent in the qualitv of the tone — it is brilliant, clear, non-metallic, and absolutely without a suggestion of rattle, so often caused by poor joints. Another decided improvement is the permanent position of the Reproducer. Heretofore when a new Record was played, it became necessary to raise the Reproducer off its guide and thus detach it from the thread arm. In the new Model the Reproducer arm rests and glides upon two supports, and is propelled by a third arm or feed bar, corresponding to the former feed bar, only smaller and located directly under the record. A verv simple device in lever form is used to raise the diamond point when a new record is being inserted. With these devices the playing of the record is steadier, truer and always uniform in operation. A speed indicator, when once set, regulates the time to a nicety. This is a simple thumb-screw conveniently placed. There is an arrangement that automatically releases or disengages the tone arm when a record is finished and thus insures the life of the record and the diamond point. No belt is employed in this Model, it being a direct-drive movement. There is a tension spring hidden in the mandrel that removes all liability of rattle as the record plays. The operation of this tension spring is automatic, and exceedingly sensitive, so that all unevenness due either to operation of the gears or the surface of the record is entirely eliminated. The Amberola 30 employs a Diamond "C" Reproducer— a new model which will probably be made standard for all Amberola types. Our stock of Amberola X of all models is entirely depleted and we shall not again manufacture that tvpe, which has been supplanted bv the new Amberola 30. The Summer season is at hand. Here is the model that must prove a tremendous hit. Everybody will want one the moment he sees it.