Phonograph Records

Low Fidelity.

Sales of phonographs and records decreased during the early years of the 1920s after reaching a peak in 1920. The chief cause of the decline was the radio craze, but the poor sound quality of the recordings and the phonographs impeded the growth of the industry. The recordings were made by the acoustical or mechanical system, which did not use amplifiers or micro-phones. These records did not reproduce the overtones of the sound, and the players used a large horn to magnify the sound. The result was scratchy and failed to provide a realistic sound reproduction. Most phonographs had to be hand-cranked every three or four records. In 1925 the wind-up cabinet-model Victrolas were priced from $110 to $250.

Victor.

The industry was stimulated by the development in 1925 of an electrical recording process by Western Electric Company, which also developed the all-electric Orthophonic phonograph with a...

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