DOWNLOAD: LarryScully_BertWhyte_Interview_AUDIO_1169

As longtime PS dot com readers know, we are based in Bridgeport CT,  former home of Scully.  Scully was America’s leading manufacturer of Lathes for cutting LP masters; only Neumann lathes offered any real competition in terms of quality. Starting in 1962, with the aid of former PRESTO engineers, Scully also began manufacturing high-quality tape machines in a variety of formats.  I had a Scully 1″ 8-track machine recently and it was a marvel of engineering; the sound quality was absolutely astonishing.  In this article, L Scully describes his father’s start at Columbia Records (also based in Bridgeport in the early 20th century), their movement the manufacture of professional tape machines, ETC.   Great piece of history.

There is a plethora of Scully, Columbia/Bridgeport, and Bert Whyte material elsewhere on this site; just use the search box. 

DOWNLOAD: Terminal_Radio_1949_Catalog

Products covered, with text, some specs, and photos, include: Brush Magnetic tape recorders BK414, 710B, 810, and 808 Twin-trak; hi-fi tube amps from Brooks (10C3, 12A3), Meissner 9-1093 tuner amp and  9-1091C, RJ-12A tuners; tuners from Browning, Many Stephens Tru-sonic speaker systems and drivers including P-63HF, P-52A, P-52LX, P-52HF; Hi fi amps including Scott 210-A, Fisher SA-1, Altec Lansing 323B, Newcomb HLP-14A, Bogen PX-15, Thordarson 31W10AX; Bell 2122, Masco MA-12EZand Rauland 1825; FM tuners from Espey, Meissner, Craftsmen, Howard; Customode hi-fi furniture and cabinetry; Altec drivers including the 603B, 600B, 400B; Jensen drivers incl. JRP40, HNP-51, JAP-60; Cinaudagraph speakers CIN-12A, 15B, 15C; and so, so, so much more.

Follow the link below to READ-ON,,,,

Altec 323B amplifier circa 1949

As I write this I am listening to a Roger Eno record on stereo Altec 323 clone that I built earlier this year.  I’ve been kinda into this early hi-fi gear lately; postwar mono tube equipment.  It’s still relatively plentiful and inexpensive; the very early electrical sound gear (1920s and 30s) is/has been collectible and expensive for some time now, and the stereo tube amps that were popular in the brief period between the popularization of stereo recordings and the popularization of transistors (let’s say approx 1957 – 1967) are / have been v valuable because, well, stereo.  But I still manage to find several great mono tube amps circa 1945 – 1955 every year for cheap.  Easy to restore, great to look at, and then WTF to do with them?

Terminal was an interesting outfit; I wonder who bought them out?  I can’t find much record of them past the early 50s, and this catalog itself was pretty tough to track down.   They def seem focused on the mid-to-high end; there is none of the really cheap stuff that you will find in the ‘BIG’ catalogs of the era like Allied and Lafayette.  A few themes to note: Dynamic noise suppression – many of the higher-end amplifiers on offer here feature this.  A ‘downward expander’ to create near-total-silence in tacit passages, as well as to expand dynamic range that was compressed in the mastering process, was REALLY popular for a brief period in the late 40s (even the RCA receiving tube manuals offered this circuit, IIRC), and then again in the early 70s (think all those useless DBX wood-sided expanders that still litter thrift shops to-this-day).

While on the subject of noise-supressors: the above SCOTT unit is fascinating by virtue of it’s power supply (IE, lack thereof). It comes with an octal adapter that intercepts both B+ and filament voltages from an octal power tube in your power amp (presumably the ground came via the audio-jack-ground).  Given that most every American amp of that era used 6V6 or 6L6 tubes, this made the unit suitable for use by most consumers. This is a great idea to potentially use in designing, for instance, an add-on tube reverb or tremolo unit for a guitar amp.  Gonna put  that one on file,,,

Gigantic speakers? Check. When trying to make big low-frequency sound from scant watts (most of the amps on offer here are 10-30w), there’s ‘no replacement for displacement’ and yr gonna need a big box.  Man, I cannot tell you how many of these giants I’ve hacked up over the years to salvage the drivers (some of which I have been able to sell, many still line my shelves), but who has the room?  I recently got a very very nice BOZAK circa 1950 three-way coaxial system that I restored and saved, but I just can’t imagine ever having enough space for a pair of these things in the house.  Recording was at in interesting moment.  Simultaneously on offer are: wire, disc, and tape recorders.  We know which of these technologies won out in the end.  You can probably still buy a new cassette tape recorder of some stripe on Amazon, but a wire recorder?  Portable mini-lathe? Unlikely.  This catalog features disc recorders from Presto and Rek O Cut; Presto would soon move into the magnetic tape field, and Scully would eventually poach a top Presto engineer to develop their iconic (and excellent-sounding) 280 series machines. Curiously, this catalog does not include the Magnecord PT6, which may have been just slightly outside the pricing point that Terminal was at.  The PT6 was sold by most other big retailers by 1949, and would become one of the most widely-used tape recorders of the 1950s.

Good old GE 1201 D.  Maybe it’s because we were a GE Town, but these things pop up all the time around here, and so far they all still work!  And sound good.

103-S Transcription arm (tonearm) from Gray, another (semi) local maker of the era (Hartford).  Not east to find, and many are quite valuable.

Astatic EA2 phono preamp/EQ. Similar to many other higher-end preamps of the era, this allowed the user to tailor playback response to the particular record; this was necessary in the era before the standardization of the RIAA encode/decode curve.   Many ‘better’ integrated amps of this era had similar facilities, but not quite as extensive and versatile as this three-knob system.

Finally: Thordarson 31W10AX hi-fi amp.  Many transformer companies offered amplifiers, in kit and/or assembled form, in the era 1930 – 1960.  I have never encountered one of these Thordarsons, though.  Anyone?

DOWNLOAD: Gotham_Audio_1979

Products mentioned, with text + photos, include: Telefunken M 12A, M 15A, and M15A Multitrack (32 tracks!) tape machines; Telcom C4 noise reduction system, TTM universal noise reduction frame, Neumann microphones including U89, KMR 82, USM 69; Neuman VMS 80 Disc mastering system, SP 79C Disk Cutting Console, MT 80 preview  playback tape deck, SAL 74 Cutter Drive Logic (600 watts per channel!!!!), and SX 74 cutter head; EMT 240, 250, 140, and 244 reverbs; EMT 424 and 422 flutter analyzer, and EMT 950 turntable; K+H 0-92 and Model OY speaker; the EFP Phonograph plating plant (!!!!), NTP console modules 179-120 compressor, 177-520 oscilloscope, and a range of meters; plus a bunch of other related bits+bobs from the end-of-the-line of crazy-hi-end analog studio infrastructure.   Just be glad you didn’t buy a new Swedish-built LP plating plant in 1980, ‘aight?  Re: bits+ bytes are just ’round the corner….

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For our earlier scan of the 1972 Gotham Audio catalog, click here.  Astute commentators are encouraged to reflect on what had changed significantly between ’72 and ’78.  And sage speculation on what might change between today and 2019 is equally encouraged.

DOWNLOAD: Cybersonics_DM_2002

At 3’x1′, and 250lbs, perhaps ‘mini’ is not a totally accurate description…   Somewhere between a ‘disc recorder’ and a full-fledged Scully or Neumann Lathe and designed for ease-of-use, the DM-2002 was intended to allow recording studios to make high-fidelity ‘test records’ as well as production masters.  These things apparently used an Ortofon cutterhead and were made in very small numbers.  Hoe fkkn sweet would it be to have one these around.  Mixtape? How about mix record?

Emery Cook – Test Records brochure

Emery Cook – Series 10LP test record sleeve

Emery Cook – Series 10LP data sheet

Emery Cook – Series 10 Test Record Technical Bulletin

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I have a small collection of Test LPs myself, but I know nothing about the history and development of this type of product. T.F. graciously provided some background in the comments section, and I have reproduced that text here to facilitate easier reading:

“The way I understand the history (of test records), both RCA and Columbia produced microgroove test records when they developed their microgroove formats (45RPM 7″ disk for RCA, 12″ and 10” 33 RPM disks for Columbia). But these test disks were for professional mastering places, playback equipment designers and manufacturers, etc.

The Cook record seems to have been aimed at both professionals and serious hobbyists who were building and/or setting up phono playback equipment. Cook was also clever with marketing, this record proved the quality of his cutting equipment. In the early days of the microgroove, I don’t think there were very many other options for the hobbyist beyond the Cook record.

In 1954, when the industry adopted the RIAA curve, a bunch of semi-professional “test and demo” records came along, sometimes including calibrated test tones and sometimes just including “tracking challenge” music and sound effects. There was another bevvy of “test record” releases when the stereo LP debuted in 1958. In the 70s, we had more.

From the early days of the stereo LP, the CBS Labs test records were the standard device for designing and building playback equipment.  The Command Stereo Test Record was made at Fine Recording. It includes calibrated tones to set level and check frequency response, as well as a phase test and a silent groove to test for rumble. Side two is a narrated tour of some Command pop tunes pointing out what to listen for, to determine if the cartridge is tracking correctly.

The most recent calibrated test record is from Analogue Productions. Its levels test out to be accurately described and it is well calibrated to the RIAA curve, so it’s quite useful for setting levels, balance and testing the frequency response of a cartridge. It’s also got a useful test for wow and flutter and a speed-check tone (which shows that many of the modern lower-priced belt-drive turntables don’t hold 33.3RPM due to cheap motors and cheap platter bearings). The Analogue Productions record is very well manufactured, on quite and pretty much tick-free vinyl.

One big thing that test records have shown me is how many cartridges have uneven channel-to-channel levels and sometimes uneven frequency response. In the lower priced world, you can’t beat the Denon DL-110, it’s super-flat and nearly identical channel-to-channel (3 different units tested, manufactured over a 10-year period).“

DOWNLOAD: High_Fidelity-5612-Scully_Sm

At left: Larry Scully circa 1956.  Thanks to reader TF for this very interesting piece.  As I have mentioned before, I drive by the old Scully factory nearly every day on my way to work at Gold Coast Recorders.  I had been hoping to uncover some history of this once-great Bridgeport institution and this article certainly sheds some light.  Some interesting bits from the article: in the 30s, Scully briefly ventured into the manufacture of P.A. equipment.  And beer coolers.  Also of note: the price of a Scully lathe in today’s dollars?  $72,000.

Previous Scully Coverage on P S dot com:

The Plant

The Model 601 Lathe

Some very neglected Scully 280s

]]> https://www.preservationsound.com/excellent-article-on-larry-scully-and-the-variable-pitch-lathe-c-1956/feed/ 4 https://www.preservationsound.com/bridgeport-ct-circa-1964/ https://www.preservationsound.com/bridgeport-ct-circa-1964/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:25:02 +0000 http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=5357 Today: From “Easy Guide To Stereo HiFi,” 1964, ed. Robert Mayfield: a short pictorial on the subject of ‘How a record is made.’  Nothing too exciting here; I am reproducing this primarily because the plant shown in the article is none other than the Bridgeport, CT Columbia Records plant.  As I’ve mentioned before, this building is still standing; it is now ‘loft condos.’  The BPT Columbia plant was, AFAIK, the first facility in the world to manufacture 33rpm LP records;  SCULLY, America’s top  manufacturer of LP cutting lathes, was located a dozen blocks away, along the same train tracks that today still serve  commuters, dotted with idled freight cars resting on derelict short-ends of tracks strewn throughout the East End.

Last weekend I stopped by 305 Knowlton, a gallery/artist-studio-building nearby my studio Gold Coast Recorders; there was a flea-market/craft-fair event happening at 305.  My friend J and  I bought some records from MT (who is in all likelihood the first person I ever bought a used record from, some twenty-plus years ago…): I picked up Obscured By Clouds, Booker T and The MG’s ‘Uptight’ soundtrack, and a Ma Rainey Comp.  I asked J if he wanted to take a ride to see some local history, and within a minute we pulled up next to this impressive but nondescript building.  “What’s this?” asked J.  My response: ‘those old records in your lap – they were most likely created using machines designed and built in this very building.’

This is the Walter Street address once occupied by the Scully Recording Instruments Corporation (h.f. SRIC).  As far as I can tell, SRIC dominated the US vinyl lathe market for most of the 20th century.  Not much has been documented about the history of this important company, but we can conjecture a few reasons why they may have sprouted in this unlikely spot.  East Bridgeport was developed and built by PT Barnum (yup, the Circus-impresario) largely to support the mid-19th century sewing machine industry, especially the works of Elias Howe.  Howe’s tale is a long and complex one, but his company was responsible for drawing a huge number of skilled mechanical craftsmen (or Mechanics, as they were then known) to East Bridgeport in the mid 19th century.  This in turn led to the reputation of Bridgeport as one of the machine-making capitals of the world.

Above, another view of the former SRIC address on Walter street.  At some point in the 1960s, the SRIC moved a few blocks away to the intersection of Crescent and Bunnell.

The parking-lot shown above is situated at 480 Bunnell, which is indicated as the late-60’s address of the SRIC.   I’ve had various audio-related enterprises based in East Bridgeport for seven years now; in addition to GCR, my modest audio-electronics shop is located just a few minutes from Bunnell street on Connecticut ave; my old recording studio was also once based in that space.  I don’t know why it never occurred to me until now to investigate the previous neighborhood connections.  Bridgeport has several other notable audio-historical connections which I will be documenting soon, starting with Columbia Records.  Stay tuned…