The playback of music is a memorizing thing and it seems that we have a lot of turntable enthusiasts amongst our new Planet Hi-Fi community – so I thought the evolution of turntables was fitting.
1857
The phonautograph was created in France by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville. It recorded sound waves in a line, rising and falling traced on smoke blackened paper or glass. It was only meant to be used as a tool to study acoustics in a laboratory. The phonautograph measured frequency of musical pitch and the waveforms of speech. It never actually played back sound, only recorded it.
1877
The phonograph came to be, invented by Thomas Edison. It was later known as the gramophone.
Edison took the model of Edouard-Leon’s phonautograph and changed the design to have a sturdy stylus that would record sounds onto a thick tinfoil wrapped cylinder. Within a few years Alexander Graham Bell (telephone inventor) Came up with the Graphophone, which replaced the tin foil with a wax. This resulted b higher quality sound reproduction.
1887
Ten years later a patent from Emil Berliner for the Gramophone came out, it used a needle to trace spiral groves onto a cylinder and later those cylinders were replaced by flat discs. The discs were first made from zinc (proto-records), then a rubber-based compound called vulcanite, which was then replaced by shellac. These discs or “records”
were being mass-produced coming into the 1900’s. The gramophones design had been tweaked to become more functional in homes.
1920's
The wind-up players started being replaced by their electric powered family, there was an increasing demand for the bigger, superior turntable systems – why wouldn’t there be? With a built-in amplification and speakers. RCA Victor was only a new company but they were selling 331/2 RPM records, conquering any competition. They also brought out the “Duo Jr.” the first turntable that could be plugged into a radio speaker.
1940's
During WWII the Royal Navy had invented a wider frequency recording to track enemy submarines (16” 33 RPM). Peter Goldmark was making 12” 33.3 RPM with microgrooves, he also created a lightweight tone arm and sapphire needle for turntables which lead to much better sound quality.
1950's
Most households that liked music had an all-in-one system at this time, amp, speakers and record player all together. But there were hobbyists forming around this – “audiophiles” who were building component systems separate to their record player. This led to a culture of kit – building and interchanging parts and pieces to get a custom piece. (Such as a Garrard table and Grado cartridge). New and improved phono cartridges were uprising. Idler-driven technologies was soon to be replaced by belt-driven turntables. Thus far into the ever-improving evolution on the turntable the term “high fidelity” or “hi-fi” was born. It described equipment that could offer the best quality of sound.
1960's
Panasonic launched Technics in 1965 and the SP-10 was launched. The first turntable to use a direct drive instead of a belt. There was a changing of seasons!
1970's
Technics was making advancements and released the SL-1100 & SL-1200. They were tough decks that could handle the disco scene. They became popular with DJ' and later the Hip-Hop community. The 1200MK2 arrived in'79 and was advertised as "tough enough to take the disco beat". This MK2 could handle more bounce and had features like faster start up speed and had better pitch control. They were made for clubbin'.
1987
There was a new era rising and the CD rose and turntables started to fall at home. But the music industry and clubs were still rolling with the good vibrations of turntables. Phono cartridge companies started to arise as the pioneers and audiophiles were looking for the best cartridge and needle combo.
1997
Laser turntables started to pop up – with two lasers that read the grooves of the vinyl without any wear and tear, this was a wave into the future, but it didn’t really stick.
Present Day
Digital music was on the rise and hi-fidelity popularity started to dip. The 2000’s turntables started being manufactured with USB ports and were now “CD Turntables” The production of the SL-1200 and SL-1210 stopped in 2010.
What a trip and how far we have come in the development of playback. It is so amazing to see such passion in a community of people who constantly strive to find the best sound. This evolution was a necessity to culture and the world around us today.
Thanks for the read! Leave a comment if you have any facts or a favorite turntable you couldn't live without!
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