Brunswick 109 Portable

[AmberolaAndy]

Well, since I had money left over from buying the Credenza... I’ve decided to buy my first and probably my only Brunswick machine. A panatrope portable model 109. It’s coming later this week from eBay and I’m really crossing my fingers it shows up in one piece unlike the VV 2-55 I bought from eBay last year.

So does anybody have this particular model Brunswick? What do I need to look out for on these models? I don’t really see very many threads on this machine to begin with. As usual, fellow TMF members, I await your advice. Thanks.

[CharliePhono]

Hey there. I had one for awhile, but traded it recently. They are well-built and engineered portables. Easily as heavy or heavier than the VV 2-55, but sound great when properly serviced. They have a fine, long metal horn as well as a robust 2-spring motor. On the exterior, they can suffer from shrinkage of the outer covering, but seemed possibly a little sturdier to me on that score. I don't exactly recall at this moment if the 109 reproducer had pot-metal composition; the reproducer on mine was pretty solid, and following the advice of LarryH on the forum regarding lightly lubricating the bearing points, mine sounded fantastic. I recall seeing a YouTube video from some time back by MicaMonster, featuring a 109. I agree with everything he said about the machine. Congrats on the purchase!

link to LarryH's thread on his 109: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=16118

[AmberolaAndy]

Anyway here’s what it looks like. Decent enough shape with a few scrapes. FedEx isn’t packing it and it’s only coming one state away. So it should be fine.

[AmberolaAndy]

What this? I bought a machine from eBay and it shows up in ONE PIECE?

I have a VV 2-55, and now a Panatrope! All I need is a Viva-Tonal portable and I’ll have the trifecta of late 1920s (American) portables! Very slim chance I’ll find an Edison one...

YouTube Video later.

[AmberolaAndy]

Well here it is, all up and working. It plays ok but I think the soundbox is a little on the buzzy side. I don’t know what that click-click-click is about when I start the machine.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=XbTvPkAcRxA

I’ve decided to use a record that I’ve never seen posted on YouTube for this demonstration. I thought I cranked it up enough but the speed slows down a bit near the end.

What do you think?

[AmberolaAndy]

Hey there. I had one for awhile, but traded it recently. They are well-built and engineered portables. Easily as heavy or heavier than the VV 2-55, but sound great when properly serviced. They have a fine, long metal horn as well as a robust 2-spring motor. On the exterior, they can suffer from shrinkage of the outer covering, but seemed possibly a little sturdier to me on that score. I don't exactly recall at this moment if the 109 reproducer had pot-metal composition; the reproducer on mine was pretty solid, and following the advice of LarryH on the forum regarding lightly lubricating the bearing points, mine sounded fantastic. I recall seeing a YouTube video from some time back by MicaMonster, featuring a 109. I agree with everything he said about the machine. Congrats on the purchase!

link to LarryH's thread on his 109: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=16118

Thank you! I’ve read the thread and oiled the ball bearings in the soundbox and it definitely helped! The audio doesn’t buzz as bad as it did yesterday. I even filmed a video for YouTube of it playing much better.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=ybPQk4tGFgI

[CharliePhono]

Hey there. I had one for awhile, but traded it recently. They are well-built and engineered portables. Easily as heavy or heavier than the VV 2-55, but sound great when properly serviced. They have a fine, long metal horn as well as a robust 2-spring motor. On the exterior, they can suffer from shrinkage of the outer covering, but seemed possibly a little sturdier to me on that score. I don't exactly recall at this moment if the 109 reproducer had pot-metal composition; the reproducer on mine was pretty solid, and following the advice of LarryH on the forum regarding lightly lubricating the bearing points, mine sounded fantastic. I recall seeing a YouTube video from some time back by MicaMonster, featuring a 109. I agree with everything he said about the machine. Congrats on the purchase!

link to LarryH's thread on his 109: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=16118

Thank you! I’ve read the thread and oiled the ball bearings in the soundbox and it definitely helped! The audio doesn’t buzz as bad as it did yesterday. I even filmed a video for YouTube of it playing much better.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=ybPQk4tGFgI

Happy to hear it, Andy!

[AmberolaAndy]

Sigh... Murphy’s law strikes again. I had finished playing a record and didn’t take the tonearm off the record when I stopped it. And while I was doing something, my cat decided to jump to the counter the Brunswick was on, knocking the lid down right on top of the reproducer that was still on the end of the record, therefore damaging the Panatrope reproducer and knocking the ball bearings out of it. So therefore only owning it for a few days, something just HAD to happen to put it out of commission for the near future. OF COURSE this happens when I am out of money so I can’t get it sent to be fixed or purchase another one from the Yankee Trader anytime soon. SMH, It was just too good to be true. Oh well, hopefully rebuilding my first Diamond Disc reproducer will put me in a better mood, and hopefully no mishaps will happen there.

[AZ*]

This is disappointing. My sympathies. After our previous cat jumped on the lid of one of my Victrolas and scratched it, I took defensive measures. The most valuable and interesting items were placed in rooms where the cat was not allowed to enter. I had 9 machines in the living room, for example, which was protected by a cat alarm assembled from Radio Shack components -- an invisible beam at cat level activates a loud horn when the beam is broken. After a few interactions with the noise and being chased out, the cat generally stayed away. This has worked well for over 20 years with 2 different cats, although I am surprised that the Radio Shack items have lasted this long!