EXPERT Ensign. 1932

The EXPERT Cadet was first advertised in The Gramophone, December 1932. It had a 12” Horn but was soon replaced with an 18” horn and by April 1933 was marketed as the EXPERT Ensign. There seem to be several variation of this model. In the early advertisements and in the first two pictures, it is illustrated with a flat lid hinged at a diagonal at the horn corner. The third picture is of one with a flat split lid, followed by the more common split box lid. There is an article in The Gramophone dated January 1933, "Mr E. M. Ginn has decided to use the same horn for the Cadet as is supplied with the Expert Junior". This would have toppled it over. By the time it became the Ensign, it had reverted to the 18" horn.

A regressive model and may have been made to fill a gap in the market for an affordable EXPERT. There is no external conduit, instead the horn is mounted on the top of the body with the tonearm inverted below it. On this machine the lid stay is an incorrect replacement, so the horn needs to be moved out of the way to open the lid. Tom Barnard kindly send me pictures of his Ensign with the correct lid stay. On both of these Ensign machines, the horn is threaded on the inside and does not create an airtight seal onto the unthreaded mounting. Presumably, this horn fitted with a threaded shaft would have also been used on the EXPERT Minor.

Pictured next to an EXPERT Senior.