The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Very interesting, Sean, how our experiences are similar. I started off with a Standard D for waxes and an Amberola 30 for plastics (which I then traded up for an Amberola 50, plus $ of course). That was the situation at the beginning of this year, when I had the bright idea of getting a good combination wax machine that would be convertible to plastic use as well. So I traded in the Amberola 50 and the Standard D for a Triumph D-1 (very early as it has the 3-weight governor, not 4-weight). THEN I had to send the Triumph off to the Victrola Repair Service in Vermont to have the springs replaced, the machinery cleaned, and the decals restored. In order to optimize it I replaced the forward-facing reproducer bracket with the top-facing one (larger hole) and got rid of my model C and H reproducers in favor of a model O for the waxes and Diamond B for the plastics. Oh, I also sold my straight horn for a reproduction Cygnet (from Mr. Wyatt). WHEW!!! What an ordeal. But it's all been worth it. Saved a bit of space, and the Triumph is kept limber as it's now my only cylinder player.

For disks I just have my Granada and Edison S-19 (former for laterals and latter for Edisons), plus my Pathé Actuelle paper cone machine (that one I will eventually sell).

I've got quite a few Edison cylinder machines. I agree with you guys that the last one to go will be a large carriage Triumph, either my B or my E. I've got properly rebult O and Diamond B reproducers to go with both.

The E model currently shares a place in the living room with my A250 for Diamond Discs and Victor V for 78's.

Valecnik, so cool you have a Triumph B and E. Do you have a straight horn on the B and a Music Master horn on the E? You have such nice machines, with correct appointments, that I bet you do.

Ralph