The Magnaphone |
Gallery opened 29 Sept 2024 |
Left: The first page of an article on the Magnaphone: 1912
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Left: The second page of the Magnaphone article: 1912
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Left: The end of the Magnaphone article: 1912
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Left: The Tel-musici music room in Wilmington, Delaware: 1909
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Left: The Tel-musici music room in Wilmington, Delaware: 1909
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Left: Tel-musici installation in a subscriber's home: 1909
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Left: Magnaphone train announcing system: 1913
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OTHER CABLE BROADCAST SYSTEMS
The first audio distribution system was the Theatrophone which was introduced in Paris in 1881.
The Telefon Hírmondo (Telephone Herald) of Budapest began as a cable distributed newspaper in 1893; music was added later. Its technical director, Nándor Szmazsenka, built an initial cable network that divided Budapest into twenty-seven districts. It began with 43 miles (69 km) of cable, expanding to 372 miles (599 km) in 1901, and to 1,100 miles (1,800 km) in 1907. The system did not close until 1944, making it by far the longest-surviving distribution system.
The Budapest system used some sort of electromechanical amplifier in its early days, described as a "patented device that increased the sound". Similar devices seem to have been used in the Newark, New Jersey distribution system.