Ah, perhaps I should have been more specific. I was only thinking of the Orthophonics that initiated the inquiry. Those gaskets don't play any roll in diaphragm compliance AFAIK.
When I replace EX tubing, I get the needle bar to just make a scratch sound on the back to front stroke of the needle end and no sound on the front to back stroke. However that does not address the tension on the balance springs. Once can crank them down and still get the position as described above. I try to make them just tight enough to hold the needle bar securely on the knife edge. Ron L -----Original Message----- From: phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org [mailto:phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org] On Behalf Of Steven Medved Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 1:45 PM To: Phono-l Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Orthophonic Reproducer Gaskets question... Ron, I think the ideal gasket would be one of soft natural rubber but they begin to harden. I spoke with a man that developed a gel gasket and it really improved the bass, unfortunately they did not last. The hard rubber we use today is a compromise, you sacrifice sound quality for gasket longevity. Ron D told me this is why Edison went to cork in 1924 because the soft natural rubber began to harden in as little as six months. Today we have the soft rubber white tubing that works well for the Victor sound boxes. I remember when all we had was the hard stuff that barely improved sound. Here is where Andrew or Tom would do well to explain but in my limited understanding the softer the gasket the more it allows the diaphragm to move in response to the grooves. More response equals better sound. Is that what compliance is? That is why in this case just tightening the compression ring when the reproducer is air tight would work best. Different sound boxes are affected in different ways. The Exhibition No 2 and 4 are affected so much more by stiff gaskets than the Edison reproducers. Just changing gaskets alone is a waste of time on Edison reproducers. I recently worked on a diamond A reproducer that had new gaskets and sounded horrible. Why? The stylus was broken, the stylus bar did not move freely and the hinge block was also frozen but some hero had installed new gaskets. Back in 1985 I was one of these heroes. I changed all my gaskets and wondered why this did not help the sound on my Edisons. Then I wrote to EJ Goodall and learned you had to tune the reproducer as well. He also taught me the importance of soft gaskets. He worked on disc reproducers including the EMG where gaskets are important. Now I restore movement on Edisons and adjust needle bar tension on Victors after the reproducer is back together. Victor said to have the bar barely touch the mica, I have gotten best results when the bar is perhaps .003 away from the mica. Steve > > In theory, they only make an air seal, rather than playing a part in > compliance/flexibility, right? > > Ron L > > _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
