What one machine would you want if you could have it?

[1926CredenzaOwner]

!

[larryh]

Interesting this post is still moving along. Its also an eye opener as to how fickle we collectors can be. I got my William and Mary Console, restored it nicely and gave it the premier location in my living room on the wall it will fit on. Now after being in place for three months or more I have grown unhappy with it sitting there. First although it had a nostalgic draw being my first Edison Machine I ever purchased one like way back, but the sound to my surprise is only fair and seems a bit less than I recalled. The biggest problem in the present set us is my listening area is made of two opening into each other rooms. The console will not fit on the end wall where the sound can develop and carry well though the home. Now its only really satisfying to listen to it if I am seated across from it in the room which is rather narrow. Currently I am toying with moving either of the two upright models I have stored next door back on the wall where they sound the best. So as usual, what I want seems to change, usually with having found it!

This might not be as crucial a issue with location and sound if your more of a "owner collector" where having the item is the most important feature, rather than one who enjoys the sound equally and really it trumps the cabinet in my book.

Larry

[schweg]

Larry, just get rid of your furniture and you can put the machine anywhere you'd like!!

oh and for listening, I like the 10-50.

Steve

[larryh]

Yes that is part of the problem. I do tend to like a machine to look as it would have been without competition from six others around the walls, so I usually restrict it to one machine which in this small house is about the only choice. The issue in the living room is that the wall between the door and window and side walls are all narrow and an upright barely can be squeezed in as it is. the only decent long walls in the living room run the wrong way for sound to carry well, thus the dissatisfaction with the current set up.

Larry

[gramophone78]

I have been asked this question a few times over the years.The answer I always give is " Any machine that you have that I don't and want"

[Zeppy]

I had to give this some thought. Intially I thought it would be an Auxtetophone...then someone mentioned the Keenophone...hmmm...that would be nice too....and although not in the same price range, I have always wanted a Pooley flat top VTLA (so I suppose that is the attainable goal). But then I thought of some of the Victor period Victrolas that I've only seen in their advertising materials....

I guess it comes down to what you mean "what one machine would you want if you could have it." If it's the golden ticket to any machine ever made, I think it would be one of the Victor period Victrolas (I believe I saw a picture of a Louis XV that caught my fancy). If it was, a you can only have one machine in your collection....that may be a different answer. I may be a little more "common" and go with the Pooley flat top or the Keenophone.

[larryh]

I think the answer turns out to be the machine you haven't yet tried, rather than which one is sitting in the room at present. Being collectors I know that I always am enthused by nearly any new "toy" I may obtain, then its off to the next one. I have managed to keep the upright Brunswick though thick an thin for at least 35 years, so it must be a keeper at least.

That Keenophone your talking about, does someone have some photos of it? I saw a machine this weekend that I couldn't find a name on but have seen before somewhere. It was a sort of an upright desk with the turntable in the opening where the desk would be and above that the horn was built into a top portion above the turntable. What is that?

Larry

[Tinkerbell]

Being very green to collecting, and not having enough education yet to truly make an informed choice, I can only narrow it down to the three basic requirements...

1) Mint condition with well-maintained, fully functional parts
2) Looks and sounds truly beautiful
3) Magically appears in my house without me having to move it, clean it, or pay for it!! (Wow, now that I think about it, this could also apply to spouse/mate selection.)

[frenchmarky]

There is a lot of fiction out there about the "hazards" of using the early record changers... The fact is that most of the very earliest designs were actually not that bad at record handling. The early Victors as used in the 10-50 (I call them Type I) and the later design in the 10-35 (Type II) look scary when you first watch them. But they really don't damage records if they are adjusted correctly.

I've logged maybe close to a thousand record sides on my 10-50, and the only two records that got broken were from me dropping one and over-zealously cleaning the other. I even stupidly had the 'drop' drawer pulled out a few times while it was playing, yet the records still survived smashing into the bottom of the cabinet : \ As far as any damage caused by the records aliding against each other when dropped (especially the more records there are already stacked in the drawer), there must be some wear there that you wouldn't get with a modern drop-type changer, but I don't worry about it.

Since I already have my dream Victrola 10-50, my only other machine I would really drool over having would be the top-of-the-line HMV automatic with the largest horn, I forget the model #. And perhaps whichever Edison machine has the best range and volume, but I'd really prefer to stick with lateral records.

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

A Victor VI. Any external horn would be nice, but I'd like the nicest of the nice. Good conversation/demo piece.