The talkies (1930)

134 THE TALKIES however, is in that case not on the look out for it — a rather subtle matter of psychology. Although there are two schools of thought as to the relative merits of horn and moving coil loudspeakers and their position, there is a strong tendency, not only to use horns, but to bunch them together even more closely than they were before. The experience of the most successful Talkie projector installation concern, the Western Electric Company, cannot be ignored. There was at one time, however, a tendency to go over to the moving-coil type, and the Radio Corporation of America still uses them, it being argued that while the moving-coil type requires a little more attention, it is far more easy to design a speaker ot this kind for given conditions than one of the horn type ; moreover, the horn is itself expensive to make if it is to give adequate results, and it is also very bulky. This is a serious consideration if the speakers are placed behind the screen, on a stage which is required between films for variety or vaudeville turns, or for one of those picturesque prologues which are nowadays staged before a big film. The lift manufacturers in America have been busy designing loudspeaker elevators, one of which is shown, which enable the stage manager to whisk them up into the roof or move them on