The Victor Orthophonic Victrola, released in1925 by Victor Talking Machine Company, was the first consumer phonograph designed specifically to play electrically recorded phonograph records. The combination was recognized as a major step forward in sound reproduction.
Electrical recording was developed by , although a primitive electrical process was developed by OrlandoR. Marsh, owner and founder of . WesternElectric demonstrated their process to the two leading recording companies, Victor and Columbia, who were initially unwilling to adopt it because they thought it would make their entire existing record catalogs obsolete. However, parched revenues in the record industry caused by the mushrooming new medium of radio soon forced both Victor and Columbia to begin experimental electrical recording.
The design of the Orthophonic was informed by progress in telephony and theory. It was developed by two WesternElectric researchers, Joseph Maxfield and H.Harrison. Early electrical recordings sounded harsh when played on the acoustic phonographs of the day, which had been designed by trial-and-error, had highly "" frequency response, and emphasized higher frequencies. The researchers invented the , and, on realizing that it needed to be long to reproduce the lowest frequencies on the new discs, designed a method for "folding" the horn into a cabinet of practicalsize. The design was released by Victor as the "Orthophonic" Victrola in the autumn of1925.
Its first public demonstration was news in , which reported that:
A Wanamaker's ad from October31, 1925 invited people to come to "Wanamaker's Salonof Music" and "join the throngs" who were "HEARING the new Victor Orthophonic Victrola.... imagining performers present.... blinking unbelieving eyes" and promising "you will never forget it if you live to be onehundred!"
A historian comments that:
As part of a publicity blitz, Victor designated November2, 1925 as "VictorDay" and, within days, was "swamped with orders exceeding $20million."
List prices ranged from $95 to $300 depending on cabinetry. $375 "Victrolas with Radiola" incorporated a " Radiola tuned radio frequency receiver with orthophonic reproduction." A$650 "Victrola-Electrola" incorporated a allowing both "Orthophonic as well as electrical reproduction", while the $1,000 "Orthophonic VictrolaâÂÂRadiola andElectrola" had it all, including an Radiola .
Dance music enthusiasts were not initially impressed; it was classical music that "sold" the new device.
The Orthophonic became recognized as a status symbol. Liberace's father, for example, though unemployed, maintained his as an artiste by "own[ing] the best record player available, a 'veryspecial Orthophonic Victrola'".
In the early 1950s, the memory of the Orthophonic was fresh enough for to introduce the name "NewOrthophonic" for its improved recording process and line of records, and "Stereo-Orthophonic" was applied to RCAVictor's celebrated recordings issued later in the decade.