What were your best sounding portable record players?

[Edward Huggins]

Well, I would like to offer up just three:

1: Hacker GP42 (1969): Just about everyone's favourite, 2 x ECL86s in push-pull. A big clear sound, distortion free with a forward, but rather hard bass, ideally needed a tweeter, that Celestion 10" x 6" speaker just did not have the treble range.

2: Decca Deccalian (1963): A 5 valver with EL84s in push-pull (10 watt), only let down by that relatively small 8" x 5" speaker. It also had a 4" tweeter. A great, accurate sounding player.

3: Philco Duet (1957): A rare one this from 1957, with ECL82s in push-pull and a 10" x 6" speaker with a rather nasty electrostatic tweeter in a uniquely designed ported cabinet giving a rather wolly, resonant, "triodey" bass...

Guess which is my favourite from all of this?

So before I reveal, do nominate yours.

[Audio1950]

Without hesitation, I'd go for the Hacker GP42 out of those three. My personal favourite, though is the earlier Hacker GP 15, simply because one of the optional decks was the Garrard AT6, which in my humble opinion was a far better thing altogether than the 2025TC fitted to the GP42.

Barry

[unitaudio]

One portable record player I used to have with surprisingly good sound was a Bush SRP51. I thought it was superb for what it was.

I recently gave some friends an Alba 432 portable record player as I'd acquired it but had no use for it. It's not one of the posher models by any means (I've seen it in a 1975 catalogue at £26) but it gives a much better account of itself than it has any right to! It has a plastic cabinet, a 3 watt amp and a 8"x5" speaker. Not the most promising recipe but well executed and rather more pleasant to listen to than you'd willingly credit.

Regards,
Paul

[RojDW48]

Decca Deccalian from 1946-ish (with a multi-speed deck substituted). What a great amp and match with the old Celestion driver! And the Murphy A851G I have just restored is pretty damn good - but I am not sure it counts as a 'portable' - it's not much bigger than the average portable but there is no handle.

[david freeman]

The best sounding portable (just) was without any doubt the Decca Deccalian 4, with its 10 X 6 speaker and tweeter, the Deram cartridge and Garrard AT 6 turntable. It had a rare combination of deep bass and crisp, detailed treble, unsurpassed by any other record player, I've ever heard.

[Edward Huggins]

Originally Posted by Audio1950

Without hesitation, I'd go for the Hacker GP42 out of those three. My personal favourite, though is the earlier Hacker GP 15, simply because one of the optional decks was the Garrard AT6, which in my humble opinion was a far better thing altogether than the 2025TC fitted to the GP42.

I agree about the Hacker GP42 being fitted with an AT6, but if you were lucky some versions did have fitted the very nice Garrard Model 3000 - better than the 2025TC.

[unitaudio]

...And if you're really lucky you just might find a GP 42 fitted with an SP 25. That's the one I'd want.

Regards,
Paul

[mhennessy]

I had a s/h Bush SRP51 when I was a kid - it was what started me in the world of audio electronics. Obviously, I wrecked it, but a few years back I picked up a nice example, and was seriously impressed by it. It has no right to sound as good as it does.

Though I have a modest (!) collection of Hacker radios, I don't have the GP42, and haven't heard one working since I was at school. I will say that I'm surprised at how good the Goodmans loudspeaker sounds in the Mayflower - which doesn't lack HF at all - so if the Celestion in the GP42 is worse, that seems illogical - not the sort of thing the Hacker brothers would have done. Thinking objectively, you can have too much HF, which doesn't exactly flatter worn records. And expectations were different back then - as was the programme material. So I expect it sounded fine at the time - when we all had younger ears - and perhaps only sounds dull today because we have slightly different expectations.

I have a GP45 awaiting restoration, but from a quick listen when it arrived, it was capable of sounding rather too bright. Painfully sharp, in fact. Rather like the Sovereign III family. All these machines have Baxandall tone controls that can provide an awful lot of lift. Most Hacker things prior to this had simpler networks (as does the Bush) with a more subtle effect. During the '70s, hi-fi was more widespread, and then (as now) a lot of people equate "treble" with "good", and things did generally get a lot brighter as a result. Obviously the '80s brought synthesisers and drum machines, and CD players and metal-dome tweeters.

So historical context matters when assessing sound quality today. And there's nothing stopping folk discretely adding networks to slightly alter the tone if needed.

[Nickthedentist]

What do folk think of the GP15 (Cavalier)? It's very similar to the GP42 in many respects.
http://www.graham-ophones.co.uk/hack...p15/4579840773

[kirstyd]

I have two gondoliers and while they both sound good i would love to have a bit more treble on them

[electrogram]

What about the EAR triple -four ? This is a super quality player. Push pull ecl82 with an ef86 preamp stage, four Speakers with with proper crossover - the only portable with an inductor in the crossover? Hear a double bass played through one of these. The mid range and bass Speakers are mounted in the ends off the cabinet, two forward facing tweeters. Possibly not quite enough trble but definitely better than a Gondolier. There is something fundamentally wrong with the Gondolier. I once owned a Cavalier which was much better than Gondolier. It had an (erc?) CRYSTAL cartridge, did this make the difference? Ceramic carts often need more comprehensive equalisation than crystal carts. Another excellent sounding player I have is an Alba( model unknown) ucl83 heaters in series with rc121 mk2 motor, might sound even better if i get the electrostatic tweeter working. Had a mk 4 deccalian, - not portable version, sounded excellent. Dansette Regina, again not portable - no carrying handle - is there a portable version? Transistor amp! But simple enough circuit even I can understand and repair it. Best transistor record player I have heard

[Ekcoman]

Have to go with the Hacker GP42, lacks treble but bass no issue.
Love the BUSH SRP31 range too as well built and good all round sound and not as heavy as the Hackers to move about.
Must include one of The Pye Black Box original shape but as to which variant I'm not sure.

[mhennessy]

Purely out of interest, could someone tell me how the GP42 sounds compared to a Sovereign II or Hunter? Just to give me an idea of how lacking in HF the GP42 might be?

Unfortunately, I didn't pick one up when prices were sane

[Edward Huggins]

I don't think the lack of HF in the GP42 is down to poor amplifier design. That 10" x 6" Celestion loudspeaker Hacker fitted could really have done with a tweeter/whizzer cone as it really rolls off at about 7kHz.
I don't think any UK speaker maker ever produced a twin-cone 10" x 6" unit? Frustratingly, there were twin-cone variants for just about every other chassis size.

[mhennessy]

Did anyone criticise the amplifier design? I didn't notice if they (or I) did.

The Goodmans unit in the Mayflower is the same size, and sounds pretty amazing, all things considered. It does not have a "whizzer" - just a conventional dust cap. It looks exactly like the 5" by 8" Goodmans used in many of their radios, just scaled up.

Interestingly, the smaller unit fitted to the Sovereign/Herald radios really does lack HF, and basically needs the treble control turned to maximum - and still there is an early roll-off with an upper-midrange/low treble peak. I've no idea how the ostensibly very similar unit in the Mayflower manages to be so extended and smooth. Bear in mind the Mayflower amplifier has no EQ built in. Indeed, its amplifier is very, very similar to the GP42. I note that the GP42 amplifier only offers bass boost and treble cut - though we can't predict how the cartridge loading will affect the response.

The later Celestion fitted to the GP45 also does not have a "whizzer", yet is very extended. There are many factors in drive unit design - most of them are invisible

Of course, there are many other variables in a record player. I think I'd like to measure the bare loudspeaker before concluding that it is the problem. It may very well be. But I'm sure I've read comments on here from people who have modified their Mayflower by fitting the Celestion unit from a GP42. As I keep saying, I've not had a chance to evaluate that unit, but if it improved the (already excellent) sound of a Mayflower, then perhaps the speaker isn't entirely to blame for a lack of HF in the GP42?

If anyone is able to lend me a bare drive unit, I can measure it acoustically, and compare it to the Goodmans in the Mayflower. I think it would be fascinating. But then, I'm a bit strange

[kirstyd]

I have two of these .removed from a wrecked B&o radiogram trouble is they are only 4 ohms .The one on the right is from a gondolier

[mhennessy]

Interesting - the Goodmans looks a lot like the Mayflower speaker. The Mayflower uses a 15 ohm speaker, but I have an identical looking one up in the attic from a Dynatron record player that is 3 or 4 ohms IIRC (certainly less than 15). I don't recognise the other one - it doesn't look like a Celestion to me. Perhaps it's the B&O original?

[kalee20]

What about the Clarke & Smith GP7?

Solidly built, Garrard SP20 deck, ECL82 push-pull amplifier, bass and treble controls, Elac elliptical loudspeaker (10" X 6" I think, but open to correction!), microphone socket for use as a rather basic PA system.

[electrogram]

Yes an excellent player, I had one which i regret selling

[Nickthedentist]

The C&S GP7 has a superbly-built amp that is a joy to work on, and I like its oak-veneered cabinet.

But in spite of it big 10x6" Elac LS, the sound is rather nasal compared with the Hackers. I suspect this is because of the rather more compact cabinet. OTOH, a large number of these machines would have been connected to an array of external speakers, which C&S also supplied.

Mine is also let down by a very rumbly TA MkII deck.

Pic here, from Terry Martini's site: http://www.ferrographworld.com/images/CSGP7.jpg

They still crop up on eBay for sub-£50, which is refreshing.

Nick