Featured Phonograph № 23

[MordEth]

Adam,

Thanks for sharing our first featured portable at our new home! I know that we had a couple of portables featured at our previous home on ProBoards, but lately it seems that the Edison machines get the most attention (as Paul noted previously).

I agree wholeheartedly with Larry that this is a particularly handsome machine, and the photos that you and B.B.B shared showcase it quite well.

Is the turntable fabric original?

— MordEth

[beaumonde]

Yes, David, original velvet is very well-preserved, indicating that this didn't get very much use in its time. The seller (from the Union show) said he bought it from the proverbial little old lady (in her 90s).

[MordEth]

Yes, David, original velvet is very well-preserved, indicating that this didn't get very much use in its time. The seller (from the Union show) said he bought it from the proverbial little old lady (in her 90s).

Adam,

I thought that this was the case (since you hadn’t mentioned replacing it), but I figured that I’d ask. It looks quite attractive against the black and the wood grain. And I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that it belonged to a little old lady.

I imagine that some of the better-preserved machines probably had similar ownership.

Thanks again for sharing it with us.

— MordEth

[B.B.B]

I think Columbia put more effort and ingenuity into their portables than into their regular line. It's as if they knew that they weren't really going to compete with the Orthophonic line so they offered portables with a LOT more style than Victor's. The reproducers might not be as good as Victor but I think the Viva-Tonal recordings were balanced to compensate.

Unfortunately in the UK they ended up putting the trademark on rebranded HMV machines.

I think you are right. Victor/HMV really killed of all competition. And to be honest, from all that I've read & seen, Columbia just couldn't match Victor/HMV Orthophonic machines.
So I think they did a wise choice & concentrated on the portable market, that just seemed to explode in the late 20s.

Come to think of it, pretty much like when mp3-player sales exploded on the market a few years back.

[beaumonde]

N.B. the additional photos I added to my intitial post.

After having the reproducer rebuilt, I can more accurately judge the sound. It is generally full and bright, but there is an annoying horn resonance which tends to vibrate on low frequencies. I had a similar problem in all of my HMV 102 (and I believe 101) phonographs, which I resolved by placing a sheet of bubble wrap under the horn. In this Columbia, it is not so simple. Only the center of the motorboard (under the turntable) can be removed, not the horn, which is fixed. I have so far wedged one or more pieces of wadded felt under the edges of the horn, but have not resolved the resonance (and when more than one piece was wedged there actually made it worse)...I will continue to experiment with placing a single wedge of felt under various sections of the horn, but this is painstaking, especially as replacing the motorboard after each trial is very finicky (one must correctly place the extension that fits under the speed control, and that which fits over the crank, and make sure the turntable spindle isn't one degree off center, and that the nickel plate fits just right over the screw holes in the motorboard....)

Does anyone have any other suggestions how to dampen the horn resonance?

[B.B.B]

Does anyone have any other suggestions how to dampen the horn resonance?

Well, my machine isn't exactly like yours, but they do resemble a lot.
I didn't have any problem w/ resonance, no matter how loud a played.
Until after I took it apart for painting & general cleaning.
I painstakingly put it together just like it was before, but upon first playing it was a annoying buzzing noice.
I've dabbled a whole lot with this issue, & first of all, make sure all small screws, washer & small pieces of wood that holds the horn are tight.
Then I put felt between the horn & the motorboard, didn't help much. Then I did what you did, put felt around the horn on the sides, like you wrote, too much only makes it worse.
Actually I do not have a good answer, it doesn't make that noise anymore, but it is both time-consuming & irritating to solve. I think the answer simply is, try & try again, tight the screws, move the felt around, and so on.
I've learned a lesson here, I won't take a another Columbia portable apart wholly, unless it's really necessary. Seems that they weren't made for that...

Another thing is that on my machine, they must have put the "extended" tone-arm in & after that soldered the horn shut, because you can't remove it without breaking the horn (or melt the solder) & I won't go there!!
Top it off with a pot-metal tonearm, & you have a disaster waiting. Lovely machines, but not very friendly to take apart.
I can clearly see why Victors are so popular amongst collectors...

I think if you keep trying, you'll find the Magic Position of all parts, that takes away the resonace.
Good luck!

[MordEth]

Does anyone have any other suggestions how to dampen the horn resonance?

Adam,

I’m not sure if your 160 is behaving like John’s 163, but you might want to see if the upright metal plates [if there‘s a better term, I apologize for not knowing it] on either side of the horn are not causing the resonance. On John’s 163, one of them was slightly loose (the left one, I believe), and at certain frequencies it resulted in buzzing.

You should be able to test to see if this is the problem by playing something that results in resonance and then try to dampen those with your hand.

— MordEth

[Victrolaman]

Whats the general Value of this model in perfect working order and clean?