Edison William and Mary on eBay.

[Benjamin_L]

I have a serious opportunity to bid on this, and I've messaged back and forth with the seller as he's offering to deliver it if I win. But the one down side is that the Diamond needs replacing.

So I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on it. ( The grill is missing a few pieces too. )

Thanks.

( http://www.ebay.com/itm/252578679430?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT )

[Curt A]

Benjamin,

I sold an upright William and Mary last week for $275 with a good needle, walnut cabinet and in good condition, but no records... I think $400 for a console model that needs a new diamond is a bit high, since the diamond is $100 and installation is extra. The records, unless late DDs with great titles are more in the range of $2-$5 each. The console models are not as desirable because of the floor space they take up. Unless he is willing to come down several hundred dollars, I would wait for a better deal. Just my $.02

Where are you located and what other types of machines are you looking for?

[Benjamin_L]

Benjamin,

I sold an upright William and Mary last week for $275 with a good needle, walnut cabinet and in good condition, but no records... I think $400 for a console model that needs a new diamond is a bit high, since the diamond is $100 and installation is extra. The records, unless late DDs with great titles are more in the range of $2-$5 each. The console models are not as desirable because of the floor space they take up. Unless he is willing to come down several hundred dollars, I would wait for a better deal. Just my $.02

Where are you located and what other types of machines are you looking for?

Well, I'm a little confident that I could get away with the $100 bid because he's listed it before and it hasn't sold.( But the people watching it is another story. )

I'm in lower middle Tennessee and right now I'm either interested in an Edison or a Cheney right now, but the bid of this one just stuck out for me.

(I appreciate any $0.02 cents, because I know very little about Edisons machines to be honest.)

[Curt A]

If you can get it for the initial bid of $100, then you would be OK, as long as you have the space for it. I would put in the initial bid of $100 now and wait until the last 5 seconds of the auction and pop in my bid at $150. That way, you either get it for the listing price or somewhere in between up to a max of $150 and avoid losing it for a last minute bid of slightly more than $100... just a little cushion to try to prevent that from happening. If someone bids higher than $150 (or whatever you are comfortable with as a max bid), they get it, but not without paying more than you were willing to bid.

[PeterF]

...right now I'm either interested in an Edison or a Cheney right now...

Ok, great, but we want to know what you are interested in RIGHT NOW.

But seriously, let's talk briefly about the Cheney. They are really interesting and kinda goofy, and the hardware is really attractive. There is a bunch of lovely marketing material that talks about how great they sound, based on a raft of fake science, and how like a Stradivarius violin the sound will improve with age. So by now they must sound fantastic!

But, actually, no.

Really most of that comes down to the use of a gutta-percha diaphragm on the soundboxes, an organic material that is now wholly petrified. My late great buddy Bob Waltrip spent 'way too many long hours trying to make our pal RJ Wakeman's Cheney sound passable, and...no dice. Another factor is the just-totally-wrong stepped tonearm and sound passage they used, putting a large number of sharp edges in the way of the sound waves. Whee.

So: nice to have as an amusement, but not so nice to use.

Edison diamond disc phonos, on the other hand, are amongst the best-sounding acoustic phonos, although the selection of listening materials can be a bit thin. They turn up around here quite frequently at cheap prices, and with intact stylii. Nobody needs to buy a new diamond for a hundred bucks when one can get a perfectly good one as part of a complete usable reproducer on ebay for that same money, so don't let that stop you. Of course you can also get a lateral adapter for Edison to use it to play needle records as well.

The console models generally aren't as sought-after, so you won't have much competition on this one. The veneer on the grille won't be hard to deal with, and the rest of the machine looks pretty nice. This is a 250-size horn model, which will thus have the fullest sound. So if you have the space and like how it looks, I say go for it.

A couple of questions - do you see this is a brand new eBayer with zero feedback? Be careful. Also, how did you and the seller ascertain the diamond needs replacement? An unknowledgeable operator may easily assume this...through something as simple as trying to play a lateral record on it.

[52089]

For $100 or so, you'll do fine, but don't pay much more than that. This is the type of machine that shows up on Craigslist fairly frequently for not much more than $100 or so anyway.

Personally, I would suggest a Chippendale C250/C19 which will take up a lot less floor space.

[EarlH]

A Chippendale or any of the upright machines will sound better as well since the horn is up higher. It's also easier to operate the diamond disk machines that are a little closer to eye level. Those low machines can be kind of hard to play records on and wind up I think. I had one of those long-play low Edison's when I was young and even in those days I felt like I was laying down to wind it up. At least the low William and Mary machine is kind of nice looking. Holy cow I think that low Chippendale thing is awful.

[Benjamin_L]

Ok, great, but we want to know what you are interested in RIGHT NOW.

But seriously, let's talk briefly about the Cheney. They are really interesting and kinda goofy, and the hardware is really attractive. There is a bunch of lovely marketing material that talks about how great they sound, based on a raft of fake science, and how like a Stradivarius violin the sound will improve with age. So by now they must sound fantastic!

But, actually, no.

Really most of that comes down to the use of a gutta-percha diaphragm on the soundboxes, an organic material that is now wholly petrified. My late great buddy Bob Waltrip spent 'way too many long hours trying to make our pal RJ Wakeman's Cheney sound passable, and...no dice. Another factor is the just-totally-wrong stepped tonearm and sound passage they used, putting a large number of sharp edges in the way of the sound waves. Whee.

So: nice to have as an amusement, but not so nice to use.

Edison diamond disc phonos, on the other hand, are amongst the best-sounding acoustic phonos, although the selection of listening materials can be a bit thin. They turn up around here quite frequently at cheap prices, and with intact stylii. Nobody needs to buy a new diamond for a hundred bucks when one can get a perfectly good one as part of a complete usable reproducer on ebay for that same money, so don't let that stop you. Of course you can also get a lateral adapter for Edison to use it to play needle records as well.

The console models generally aren't as sought-after, so you won't have much competition on this one. The veneer on the grille won't be hard to deal with, and the rest of the machine looks pretty nice. This is a 250-size horn model, which will thus have the fullest sound. So if you have the space and like how it looks, I say go for it.

A couple of questions - do you see this is a brand new eBayer with zero feedback? Be careful. Also, how did you and the seller ascertain the diamond needs replacement? An unknowledgeable operator may easily assume this...through something as simple as trying to play a lateral record on it.

I'm going to say it and I may regret it, but! I really like off-brands, especially ones with a neat History like Cheney with an interesting mechanical design, even though it may not be very practical. I'm an Off-brand fan, they just really attract me and fascinate me. And if I had the option I'd probably go with a Cheney over an Edison if the circumstances were right.

But Diamond discs are my favorite Label. So I've been wanting to get an Edison for awhile, I'm also pretty interested in an Edison. So that's what I'm pretty split on getting it at the moment. But everyone is right that this console is fairly large, and I'm not sure I have the space for it.( So I am pretty uncertain.) Like I said on a different topic I would like a smaller upright model such as an S-19.

The seller is only about thirty minutes away from me, so I am being a little "friendly", but you're right I should be cautious none the less. I've had a few eBay messages with him and he seems incredibly nice and was helpful. He said he tried playing a few DDs on it and couldn't get it to sound right, and also was scared he was damaging the records.

(I really appreciate everyone's feedback, because I know next to nothing about Edions. And any advice is really helpful! I do have four days, so I'm going to think about it.)

Being from the somewhat deep south it is harder finding certain machines and people that want a reasonable offer, they don't come up much and when they do they want a very large amount. So I'm just thinking I may be missing an opportunity, which may be another reason why I posted.

[PeterF]

Well, I spent a lot of time earlier about the Cheney so I won't repeat myself.

If you want to listen to music, get a Diamond Disc machine. If you want to look at something and be amused by it, get a Cheney. There really is no comparison. If your space and/or funds are limited and you can only choose one machine, get the Edison, assuming you intend to listen to music.

The goofy Cheney marketing is indeed extremely interesting, but it is smoke and mirrors and does not reflect reality. This stuff is just what they came up with to avoid patent infringement lawsuits, and the violin-shaped horn opening and the ziggurat-shaped tonearm are just accidentally attractive.

I have a Cheney. I love the design, and the clever needle thingie, and the ads in the Cheney albums. Just don't make me listen to it!