Kolster vs Victor

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gunnarthefeisty
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Kolster vs Victor

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

I've been wondering, how do the Columbia Kolster electric phonos compare to the Victor Electrolas and Brunswick Panatropes of the time?
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Gunnar Anderson

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Skihawx
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Re: Kolster vs Victor

Post by Skihawx »

Comparison is the thief of joy.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Kolster vs Victor

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Kolster machines are harder to find, for one. Columbia at this point was sinking a lot of effort into radio, and didn't realize that acoustic records were wholly dead in the water after 1925-1926. The new Columbia studio, built at great expense for making acoustical records, was obsolete from the word go (and that's why a lot of Harmony & Diva brand 78s, Columbia budget labels, are acoustically done as late as c. 1930. They are some great-sounding records.)

So between the studio-building and radio broadcasting (CBS?) and making great 78s in electric and acoustic varieties--Columbia was spread mighty thin.

1928 was when Columbia & the Kolster Radio Corporation got together to make these--but Kolster had folded by 1930 and was in receivership. So any Columbia-Kolster Grafonola is going to be hard to get & made for a short time. Remember in 1929 Victor was still making the redoubtable Credenza and offering the fantastic new Victor Electrolas--which were heavily advertised. The RE-45 of 1929 sold 108,000 units (or so they say. I have got No. 109,XXX sitting in my apartment. One of the "last of the Mohicans.") And the Radio Electrolas were so good that Consumer Reports magazine was saying in 1939 that the RE-45 was a top value in used radio-phono sets, ten years after its release, after the shortwave boom and the mass adoption of the superheterodyne circuit. And of course Brunswick Balke Collender was turning out Panatropes in all sizes from suitcase portables to truly majestic upright. Did I say Majestic? I did. Majestic Radio, the complicated, overbuilt, hard-to-service "Mighty Monarch of the Air" had hit the market in 1927 and by around 1930 had huge, beautiful electric radio-phono units hitting the market, powered by some seriously industrial-looking motors. So our friends at Columbia faced tough competition indeed.

If you can get a Kolster machine get it for its historical value--that alone is pretty darn cool. For sound quality--get your RE-57 fired up so you got something vintage to listen to while you're collecting more early electrics.

I'm really glad to see people reviving interest in 1920s electric phonographs. They're kind of an endangered species--the radio people don't always collect them, and they're too difficult for a lot of us phonograph nuts to service, but they sure are cool.

gunnarthefeisty
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Re: Kolster vs Victor

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

I think that that RE-57 (or rather, General Electric H-71) will be top priority, but I think I'll seek one of those tabletop Kolster machines. Love how small those are!

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