phonograph, turntable?

2 Comments

1. Rosco Z says:

   July 31, 2009 at 7:17 pm

   Huh? A phonograph turntable is one item. It is a turntable that plays phonograph records.

   Dictionary definition of "turntable":
   - a circular horizontal platform that rotates a phonograph record while it is being played
   - a rotating stand used in sculpture, metalwork, and ceramics
   - a circular horizontal rotating platform equipped with a railway track, used for turning locomotives, as in a roundhouse
   - a rotating platform or disk, such as a lazy Susan

   Dictionary definition of "phonograph":
   - any sound-reproducing machine using records in the form of cylinders or discs.
   [Origin: 1825–35 in sense “phonogram”; 1877 for the “talking phonograph” invented by T. A. Edison; phono- + -graph]

   If just say DJ turntable, you could be talking about a CD turntable, or phonograph turntable.

   Technics SL-1210M5G Pro Turntable (plays records)
   http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/buy_technics_sl1210m5g_pro_turntable?full_sku=102063013

   Technics SL-DZ1200 Digital Turntable (plays CDs)
   http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/buy_technics_sldz1200_digital_turntable?full_sku=102582459

   A phonograph stereo being called a phonograph & a phonograph turntable being called a turntable is pretty commonly accepted.

   Also if you’re talking about antique wind up phonograph cylinder players & wind up 78 rpm phonograph record players, you would say phonograph.

   So I guess the best answer would be a phonograph is the whole system that produces sound from a record & a turntable is specifically the component that plays the record in a system that produces sound from a record.
2. ron w says:

   July 31, 2009 at 7:17 pm

   I think phonographs are turntables with an amplifier built-in. Like a stereo receiver is a tuner plus an amplifier.