Comments on: What is a record player?

By: Steven C. Barr

Steven C. Barr — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:25:19 +0000

Until c.1990, sound was preserved ONLY in analog form, on “records”…discs (in a few cases, cylinders) which contained a single groove, in the form of a spiral, which
started at the outside (or rarely the inside) of the “record” and carried information in the form of minute variations of the groove path relative to a perfect spiral. The “tone arm” of a
“record player” contained a cartridge in turn containing a
“needle” designed to fit perfectly into the “groove” of a
“record.” This cartridge transformed any movement of its needle
into a small electric voltage (one volt or less for ctystal or
ceramic cartridges…a few thousandths of a volt for modern
magnetic “hi-fi”/stereo cartridges. This tiny signal is then electronically amplified to a level which can drive speakers!

For the most part, the term “record player” was common from c.1940 until the sixties. It referred to small table-top machines capable of playing any of the then-common forms of
“records”…polyvinyl “45’s” and “LP’s” (33.3 rpm) which used
“microgrooves (<.001″) or, to a decreasing degree, “78’s”
(which played at 78.26 rpm, with grooves c. .003″ in width).

These machines could once be acquired VERY cheaply (including
by beating the “garbage truck” to a discarded example…?!) but,
sadly, are now becoming expensive/rare “antiques” as us Baby-
Boomers age and increase our incomes and thus our “spendin’ cash!!

FEH!!!

Steven C. Barr
(who currently owns almost 57,000 old “78’s”…?!)

By: Ted Kneebone

Ted Kneebone — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:41:08 +0000

I am 75. Phonographs were just about the only way we could enjoy music…except radios and player pianos. Phonographs played records, and records were usually either 10″ or 12″. Most records played at 78 rpm. There were other sizes and speeds, but these were the most common. I have to be careful today when I mention “records” — I have to say “something like a CD.” Some old people, like me, still have records — and phonographs to play them on. Those records only played 3 or 4 minutes, then you had to turn them over and play the other side. Some people had “record changers” — devices that could play a whole stack of records. People who like classical music got tired of getting up to change records, so someone invented the LP or long playing record. Those played for 20 to 30 minutes on a side. But that’s a whole ‘nother story. They were called “records”, too!

By: CarDesigner2020

CarDesigner2020 — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:04:50 +0000

Are you kidding? You can not seriously be joking…

By: crazyg8trofflorida

crazyg8trofflorida — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:04:50 +0000

a record player is kind of like a cd player….except it is larger and instead of playing cds…it plays records! hope i helped!

By: sandra

sandra — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:04:50 +0000

are you serious? what year were you born in?

this is a record player:
http://www.djtracker.com/advertimages/articles/192_record%20player.jpg