What is a Transcription Turntable

Thanks Rushton that is an excellent piece of history. Much appreciated

Glad it was helpful - my father did work for radio stations for many years, and I remember seeing these big rigs when I got to travel with him (all sitting idle by that time in the early 1960s). Here's a picture of an old RCA transcription turntable:

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Rushton...Good info. Some audiophiles used to use transcription tables, and one reason was the longer arm which supposedly made for better tracking. At 33 rpm I would have expected a 16 inch disc to give play time longer than 15 minutes. Also, I think that large format discs were also made at 16 rpm for even longer play time.

Just going from recollection on the playing time, Eldartford. Longer may well be true, and my recollection may be for 16" 78s. The speed issue was also all over the map from 16 rpm to 90 rpm, and playback allowed for all of that variance. Interestingly to me, KAB still manufactures a "transcription" turntable that will manage those 16" discs and allow for infinitely adjustable speed control throughout this range.
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