Why did this reproducer go for so much on ebay?

[miker2001]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-VINTAGE-BR ... true&rt=nc

Over $400! What is it?

Added a couple more pictures.

[Jerry B.]

? Jerry B.

[brianu]

Probably the artful photos and enticing description.

[Phonolair]

Completely a guess on my part but it may be a one off proto type that someone recognized. It doesn't look like it was ever plated still show the solder joints of construction. And that needle bar balance spring is something I don't remember seeing before.

Best Regards, Larry

[Steve]

Probably the artful photos and enticing description.

That must be it!

Mind you if it was anywhere but US Ebay you'd get just the one dimly lit out of focus picture and no one would have the foggiest notion what they were actually looking at.

I also like it when I see comments like "would clean up nice but you might want to leave it untouched to retain the patina of age" etc. Since when have talking machines been highly prized coins or great works of art. If the thing is dirty and grimey, for pete's sake clean it! These things are closer to vintage cars than works of art or valuable precious coins. You don't see many classic car enthusiasts driving around in rusty, dirty cars with all the paint falling off.

[FloridaClay]

Probably the artful photos and enticing description.

That must be it!

Mind you if it was anywhere but US Ebay you'd get just the one dimly lit out of focus picture and no one would have the foggiest notion what they were actually looking at.

I also like it when I see comments like "would clean up nice but you might want to leave it untouched to retain the patina of age" etc. Since when have talking machines been highly prized coins or great works of art. If the thing is dirty and grimey, for pete's sake clean it! These things are closer to vintage cars than works of art or valuable precious coins. You don't see many classic car enthusiasts driving around in rusty, dirty cars with all the paint falling off.

Actually, there is a growing segment of car collectors who do, and such vehicles now show up in prestigious auto shows in the (fairly) new "preservation class."

Whether to restore or leave as-found is an eternal debate among collectors that will likely never be resolved, with partisans on both sides.

Clay

[GeorgeDixon]

Completely a guess on my part but it may be a one off proto type that someone recognized. It doesn't look like it was ever plated still show the solder joints of construction. And that needle bar balance spring is something I don't remember seeing before.

Best Regards, Larry

All brass and aluminium. Unique construction. Must be heavy. Prototype of some sort.

[gramophone78]

I think the main reason it sold for so much is the fact the seller can have it "shipped fast and securely". How many can say that about USPS... .

[kumbo1899]

Project completed. The main body was machined out of one large piece of brass then the next "ring" also machined brass finally reaching the horn mount portion. As can be seen in attached scans, the center of the body was quite different than I have seen in reproducers I have restored in the past. Bettini had his "spider" idea, this craftsman used a four hole passageway for the sound to travel after it picks up the vibrations from the diaphragm. The aluminum diaphragm is much thicker than those I use on Ortho reproducers. It is very sturdy and looks like it was machine turned as opposed to someone simply cutting from flat stock. It appears to have been mounted and then rotated for a perfect circle with no markings. Removal of the age dirt brings out a beautiful shine.

The brass parts polished up very well and it is very obvious that this is a piece that required some fairly sophisticated machine work to produce. The needle arm assembly is of brass soldered to the brass base fitting. There is a steel rod that passes through the brass casing at the lower part of the needle assembly. The steel rod is held in place by a thin rubber tube insert to avoid steel/brass contact which would affect the sound.

Now the sound test. The first thing I noticed when I received the part was its weight. Heavy body in brass means much more "point of contact" at the needle tip. Using my office postage meter, the weight of this reproducer is about 1.75 times more than a Victor Exhibition reproducer. So, downside is record wear for sure. Now that said, I ran a series of tests using a Victor Exhibition, Victor #2 and several Columbia types, long throat and Berliner Concert. Using a 78 in excellent condition but not one of any value, most all of the other reproducer types were about the same in sound. Of course the earlier models such as the Berliner Concert and early Columbia were not comparable as the reproducer world at that time was being improved daily. The Exhibition and #2 produced nice clear and loud sound (using a loud version steel needle) and when compared to the restored reproducer I would say about comparable in volume.

Now the interesting part. While the sound was about the same in volume, the brass reproducer had a certain softness or fullness that although the instruments in the record were blasting which we have sort of grown used to, the brass reproducer clipped those treble notes and softened them bringing out with great clarity the bass and lower range band instruments. (Record was Glenn Miller foxtrot so full range of instruments and vocal).

This was a pleasant surprise. A well rounded sound almost like you could control the bass and treble on a new stereo system. To sum up it was a sound I would not have expected in such a mechanical metal playback format.

Happy to share any comments and would be very interested if a fellow collector has seen or might have information on this reproducer.

Sorry for the long read but thought it might be of interest as in my 56 years of collecting I have never seen one like this.

[miker2001]

There was also another collector (the under-bidder) who realized it was something special.

Pretty amazing.