On a recent trip to NYC, Frank (the guy who suspends a broomstick from a piece of fishing line and calls it a tonearm) brought me a very special gift from the Pfanstiehl Chemical Company of Waukegan, Illinois. Inside this box is to date the earliest sample I have seen of a strain gauge phono cartridge and matching power supply.
For one year in 1946 Capehart used a Pfanstiehl strain gauge cartridge in one of their high end 78 record changers before switching to a GE variable reluctance cartridge.
Since the phan-Tone is a flip-over cartridge (with two individual gauges) that can play both 78's and 33/45's it must date a few years after the Capehart misfire so there still may be earlier ones out there. This one is still a very cool vintage mono cartridge with a sapphire stylus on either side that tracks at a mere 7 grams and I want to thank my brother for the wonderful gift.
Vienna 🎼
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Following its restoration, the Casino Baumgarten control room is almost
exactly as it was in the late '60s, with its WSW console (top left ),
Stud...
15 hours ago
Thanks for posting. Did the preamp have different inputs for 78s or microgroove?
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