The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Inigo wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:28 am I once found three of them in Madrid, which I acquired for a London friend collector of opera 78s. They were big and heavy! Never saw another one, though...
Pathé records sound very well and clear. Sometimes I play my small box of them in the only machine I can play them, an Aeolian Vocalion consolette, and I'm marveled how natural some of them sound, specially the opera ones.

They vary a bit, but on the whole they sound far better than they have any right to, considering they were all mechanically dubbed from big master cylinders. Some of them are amazingly good, and occasionally they can be loud beyond belief. Funny thing about this machine: it can be loud, yes, but what I notice more is that the sound it emits is rich and rounded, more often than not with a lot of what the hifi crowd would call "presence." I'm counting myself really lucky to have it.

Thanks to one and all for the kind words!

By the way, several forum members have offered advice and insights all along the lengthy road leading me to this machine. Many thanks to all for that, too!

Hoodoo wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:13 am Beautiful machine. From reproducer to the mouth of the horn looks to be four feet or more.

You got me curious, so I broke out a tape measure tonight and came up with about 66 inches--5 and a half feet.

That is an AMAZING machine (and horn). Would love to see a video of it playing.

Scott

Wonderful machine David. I am glad you were able to get it.

Cheers,

David

drh wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:06 am
Thanks for the warning. I wonder if the cygnet-style horn might be a good choice in that regard, as it would balance the weight more down in the center than twisting around an axis at the rear?

One of my machines, a Pathé 18, came with a tube connecting the horn to the supporting arm. I believe this is how it was originally fitted (the horn is the one made to fit this machine). The inner tube reduces the stress over the sides of the fitting, as it sits on the bottom. I keep my fingers crossed though, these balls are known to burst expontaneously!

CarlosV wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 6:28 am One of my machines, a Pathé 18, came with a tube connecting the horn to the supporting arm. I believe this is how it was originally fitted (the horn is the one made to fit this machine). The inner tube reduces the stress over the sides of the fitting, as it sits on the bottom. I keep my fingers crossed though, these balls are known to burst expontaneously!

Interesting--my horn also has an extension tube. I haven't tried to remove it from the horn, and in fact it may be soldered on. Not nickeled, like yours, and in contrast to your setup the horn fits inside the tube rather than having the tube fit inside the horn, but I wonder if it might have been appended to whatever horn was on the machine originally and then transplanted to this one. That might explain why it doesn't quite raise the current horn by enough to clear the tip of the back bracket.

Congratulations on this great find. It is a beatutiful machine, and also the interface of the horn, the ball is intact! As Carlos suggested, they easily break under the weight of the horn, like my Pathéphone No 12, as shown in this thread, had this exact problem: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=47149&hilit=Pathé&start=80

nostalgia wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:33 am Congratulations on this great find. It is a beatutiful machine, and also the interface of the horn, the ball is intact! As Carlos suggested, they easily break under the weight of the horn, like my Pathéphone No 12, as shown in this thread, had this exact problem: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=47149&hilit=Pathé&start=80

Thanks! I've given it quite a workout since bringing it home, and I am happier with it every time I play it. The more I think about how it's set up, the more I think maybe that cygnet-style horn is a good choice for the fragile ball mount. To be sure, it's heavy, but because it swoops off so far in the rear, its center of gravity is closer to centered over the ball than in a more conventional design, reducing the amount of "twist" inflicted on the ball from what would happen with a straight-out horn design.

Your no. 12, by the way, is also a handsome machine. Pathé really did have a knack for beautiful cases for its external horn models. Its US domestic machines, by contrast, tended to be riffs on the same very plain-Jane upright cabinet design.

nice