The Edison / Victor debate is never going to be over. It's been going on for over 100 years now, and a little thread on the TMF certainly isn't going to end it! I imagine our great-grandkids will still be yelling at each other over the fence about it in another hundred years... assuming they even know of, or have access to these machines in a hundred years.
As for the sound of the Actuelle, are they really that bad in person? Moo's seems to sound great to me, and that's considering the loss of fidelity through YouTube. It's one of the odd-ball machines I wouldn't mind having.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEHDzzolIIk[/youtube]
Well, I'll finally chime in here. I've owned two Actuelles over the years. Both were great and didn't kill records at all. I kept the bigger and fancier of the two and honestly, it's quite a machine. Great sound and nice to records, both lateral and vertical, no wear, no grey grooves, nothing. I've seen here that there are springs in the needle assembly that can "go south" which can cause rapid damage. I can't say I've seen that with the two I owned and honestly, they're very nice sounding machines IMHO.
Edit: Mine is the same one as the video above, only Mahogany.
Even as a Victor man, I have to admit that a phonograph collection is incomplete without at least one Edison. I'm even willing to trade my XVI L-Door for a DD machine. You know where to reach me
The nice thing about Diamond Disc phonographs being under appreciated is they don't sell as fast as a Victor machines. About five years ago I was tempted at a local mall by a S19 in grey oak. Fumed? Excellent condition and the price was a reasonable $295. It was odd in that it had what appeared to be a pull down record door. But it actually swung out to the side and had the vertical slats for storage. Maybe an example of Edison's frugality? Well that machine haunted me for about a year and I didn't really need it as a I have a C200 & C250. But it was tempting.
As for the Victor vs Edison debate I have both, so really I have the best of both worlds. And a Sonora for Pathé records.
If I were restricted to one machine (and some friends who have seen the clutter think that might be a good idea), I would probably just keep my Credenza or my VV-XVI for all the reasons others have voiced in this thread; the chief being the huge variety of music available to play on them. Thank goodness, though, that is not the case. I love to explore the twists and turns and oddities of phonograph history. I love my Victors, Edisons, Columbias, and even my lowly Pathé 75 for their own characters. And yes I would love to have to find a way to squeeze in a really nice Actuelle someday. Are they the ultimate in acoustic machine sound quality, no. Are they about the coolest thing going as an interesting design experiment? You bet!
Clay
Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume's Laws of Collecting
1. Space will expand to accommodate an infinite number of possessions, regardless of their size.
2. Shortage of finance, however dire, will never prevent the acquisition of a desired object, however improbable its cost.
This is the beauty of diversity. Imagine if there was only one brand of machine, be it whatever. This would be a boring hobby, if you could even call it that. I've always had a preference for the Edison machines, but that never stopped me from acquiring ones from other makers as well. Room constraints are always my biggest issue. Now, if something is going to come in, something has to go and that is usually not an easy choice to make.
A friend has a restored Actuelle. I have heard many different types of records on it and I think it sounds quite good on all types of records and I have heard no complaints from him about record wear or any other problems. I would rather like to have one, but there's no room here for another floor model machine until I get the basement finished. In other words, probably quite a while.
Testamonies for Pathé Actuelles (above) duly noted. I too was intrigued by the You Tube videos but have been disappointed with the machine I obtained. I've heard from more than one person now that adjustments/repairs to the needle bar spring might be helpful. I may yet get to that--right now my available hooby funds are still going ito Edison stuff (Long Play records and adapter kits).
"You must serve music, because music is so enormous and can envelop you into such a state of perpetual anxiety and torture--but it is our first and main duty"
-- Maria Callas, 1968 interview.
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