Philip Nasadowski wrote:

In article ,
Tony Miklos wrote:


Maybe I got all the dud Rock-Ola's? Or maybe you got one of the few
good ones? Who knows.


The newer ones aren't that bad. The 30's 40's 50's? YUCK. I've never
heard a good sounding Rock-Ola, though IMHO, the Seeburg A is the worst
of the era. The Rock-Olas just seem to always be missing something,
though.


As far as the sound, well a juke that old may
not sound as good as one much newer, but IMHO, put a 1985 Wurlitzer next
to a 1985 Rock-Ola, and the wurlitzer wins hands down. Actually, that
goes for most any year jukes, the Wurlitzers were almost always on top
with sound quality.


Put a 2204 next to an AMI F I have, the AMI blows the Wurlitzer out
of the basement, easily. Though I might have a bad Cobra

Does the Wurly sound real tinny? Way to much treble? Lot's of the new
ones come like that and you have to customize them for good sound. Also
there are a lot of old "bad" ones that if the needle isn't worn can be
fixed. Holding it upside down you should see some white stuff between
the cartridge housing and the metal part connected to the needle. It is
to dampen the movement in there. In the newer ones I think the "white
stuff" is just white lube. In the original ones it seems it was some
type of spongy stuff? I've cleaned out many and added a heavier grease
in there and they sound great. Still it's trial and error. To much
treble and you need more, or heavier grease, loss of treble and you have
too much or too heavy. If you are where the temperature really
fluctuates, use a synthetic grease. I have some but haven't tried it
yet. I also got a big medical syringe to shoot the grease in there more
easily.


I'd put the AMI F and G near the top of the list, though Wurlitzer and
Seeburg had some nice ones too. I've heard that the V is amazing, some
of the early stereo Seeburgs are real nice. Seeburg, AMI and some
Wurlitzers used magnetic pickups, Rock-Ola and other Wurlitzers used the
less good ceramic types.

I don't know if it's my ears or wurlitzers amps make up for the ceramic
cartridges, but even comparing some of the ceramic cartridge wurlitzers
to others with a magnetic cartridge, I still say the Wurlitzer usually
comes out ahead.

By the way, I did have my hearing tested not long ago and it's holding
up pretty well! :-) Like I said the the other post, we all don't hear
the same, so sometimes it comes down to a matter of personal preference.

--
Tony