ResonantLive Sound Archive

Equipment file · Passive acoustic horn

Acoustic gramophone horn

Victor / HMV · 1904–late 1920s

Evidence status · documented

Identity and core specifications are documented; some historical fields remain unavailable.

Acoustic gramophones used a mica or aluminium diaphragm soundbox coupled to a flared horn, such as HMV's 'Morning Glory' horn from 1904, to make record grooves audible. External-horn models continued into the late 1920s before cabinet machines and electrical amplification replaced them.

Introduced
1904–late 1920s
Category
Passive acoustic horn
Intended use
Acoustic playback of gramophone records
Production
The Gramophone Company (HMV) and Victor Talking Machine Company

Equipment photographs · 1

EMG Mark Xb handmade gramophone, c 1934. (9660572765)

1 / 1 · EMG Mark Xb handmade gramophone, c 1934. (9660572765)

EMG Mark Xb handmade gramophone, c 1934. (9660572765)·Science Museum London / Science and Society Picture Library·CC BY-SA 2.0

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    For three decades it was the main way recorded sound filled a room, and its horn-loading principles carried into electric horn loudspeakers.

  2. 02

    Its loudness limits motivated the [[auxetophone|Auxetophone]] and electric loudspeakers.

Engineering record

Soundbox
A thin mica or later aluminium diaphragm driven by the needle passed vibration into the horn[1]
Morning Glory horn
Used by HMV from 1904 until its last acoustic horn gramophones in the late 1920s[2]

Original pricing

No reliable period price located

2026 equivalent

Not calculated without a reliable original price.

Public price evidence was not sufficient to publish a defensible original figure.

Use in the field

No named deployment could be tied to this exact item by a checked source yet. Know of one? Suggest it on the contribute page.

Manuals & original documents

No authoritative manual or original document has been located for this profile.

Sources

  1. 1Basics of the Acoustic PhonographThe Victor-Victrola Page · reference
  2. 2Horn Gramophone 32, HMVRadiomuseum.org · reference

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