Opinion: Pooley VTLA, Love it, Hate it, Don’t Really Care

[Django]

I’ve heard and read some negative opinions of the Pooley-Victrolas. I’ve always thought that they looked like a music box perched on top of a matching base. I find them attractive and elegant, but there is no accounting for taste, and I make no claim of having good taste, so I am throwing it out there. The most appealing part for me is the unique trademark.

I brought one home recently and I have grown more attracted to it the more that I work on it. Someone had made a liquor cabinet out of it and instead of removing a few screws, the broke the horn free and threw it out, (the early VTLA has a very small casting and a nearly all wood horn). I had an old Columbia horn that I was able to dismantle and recut to fit. I am still seeking the early three spring motor, (bevel gears), but I got lucky and found the original slotted crank inside the back.

Mine is S/N 844, so fairly early. It has the front of the needle drawer, but never had one. According to the Victor Victrola page, this machine should be from the first batch of 500 machines that Pooley produced for Victor. I hope that others will share pictures and details of their machines along with honest opinions.

I think that the music box and base in the second and third images, one a similar one probably inspired the design, (that is just my guess).

[outune]

Me? I like them!! After those flat-tops, for most of the next 15+ years, upright Victrolas all had the same basic shape. The Pooley VTLA was at the very beginning of the internal horn period. It was the "pioneer" if you will. They are a bit awkward with such a deep bedplate and had a fairly simplistic sound chamber, but were well made. the start of the new "technology."
I give a positive vote!

Brad Abell

[Roaring20s]

... I’ve always thought that they looked like a music box perched on top of a matching base. ...

That's my reason for not liking it so much.

It has a rightful place in any collection.
I don't see it as the pinnacle of design.

James.

[52089]

This is a case where I appreciate the history, but am not fond of the machine. If I were offered one I don't think I'd take it, even at a bargain price.

[Henry]

Thumbs down on the Pooley design.

[VanEpsFan1914]

I think it's a visually interesting machine, and I never thought about it being designed to resemble a music box.

I think I like the traditional Victrola shape best. The VV-X or XI would be more my style, but it's not like the Pooley VTLA is inferior or ugly. It's just unique.

My favorite upright Victrola is the second model XIV. Not as big as the XVI, not as severe as the early Queen Anne model, storage is lousy but it's what I have and I really enjoy it.

[Django]

I think it's a visually interesting machine, and I never thought about it being designed to resemble a music box.

I think I like the traditional Victrola shape best. The VV-X or XI would be more my style, but it's not like the Pooley VTLA is inferior or ugly. It's just unique.

My favorite upright Victrola is the second model XIV. Not as big as the XVI, not as severe as the early Queen Anne model, storage is lousy but it's what I have and I really enjoy it.

That second XIV is one of my favorites as well. I use two large Pooley ejector cabinets for most of my regularly played records, so storage doesn’t concern me. The second XIV seems pretty scarce.

[Jerry B.]

My goal, as a collector, is to have as interesting a collection as possible and Victrolas are included. So I appreciate and look for ones with special finishes such as Vernis Martin, Circassian Walnut, Asian painted finishes, Period models, and very early Victrola models. Yes, the Pooley flat top VTLA is a machine I love because it's from the very beginning of the Victrola.

Jerry B.

[epigramophone]

To my eye the Pooley's G&T/HMV contemporary, the Gramophone Grand, is a far more elegant design :

[audiophile102]

To my eye the Pooley's G&T/HMV contemporary, the Gramophone Grand, is a far more elegant design :

I like the VTLA, but I have to agree that the Gramophone Grand cabinet is way better looking.