The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

And what a nice collection of period Maxfield Parrish prints (with original frames too) on your wall to add to the visual effect! Many phono collectors have other collections too--part of 'the collecting gene'! Yet another topic (I believe done before?).

James, thanks for reviving thread. It is a great pick me up during this time. I have also been doing yard work lately and the phonospace is similar. Unfortunately, I have not made time to listen to some records. I love your art work!!! Steve L.

I haven't got a proper phonospace right now but I really love that one you made, Roaring20s with the appropriate art & furniture for your listening! And when I hear someone saying they wanted to listen to blues, I picture the ugliness of a modern electric turntable: nope, not here, just a nice Victor on a regular old-fashioned record cabinet (Is that the Arts & Crafts style for that cabinet?). Perfection

Same goes to Steve Levi with that amazing backdrop of nice wallpaper, classic pictures, a tastefully understated lamp, and a well-preserved Victor. Great combo.

Closest thing I have to a phonospace now (I love that word by the way) is having a couple machines set up in the study and an old table radio. Yes, the lighting is terrible and it is crazy dark in there. I do not burn the celling light much.

Victor VII -
Thanks, before having a home with some floor space, we had wall space! Art, was and is our wallpaper.
There is a thread for the “other” passions here…
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4780
It is in the Parlor section, so you need to log-in first.

Steve -
That print is perfect for your space. I’ll echo what Victor VII & VanEpsFan1914 expressed. Besides experiencing the sound, having contemporary objects broadens and unifies greater feeling. PS: I’d like to see a better photo of that deco print. Please PM one if you have a chance.

VanEpsFan1914 -
Our first home was small and we liked a lot of stuff, so it was packed! I had a VV-50 that lived behind a chair. It only came out on special occasions. Later on an Edison Standard came along. Things needed to be re-arranged to make a tiny phonospace and appease the phono gods. Your space is looking good! Nice decoration on that horn, too.
There are many good blues records of all sorts available. I do stop using the Vic III after the late 40's and start using a CD player.
The cabinet is a Brown's Disc Record Cabinet
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd ... e-0088.pdf

James.

VanEpsFan1914, thanks for compliment. Your flowered horn makes your phonospace Pop!
James, I'll be sending you a PM!
Steve L.

Just from the point of sheer volume, Charles McCarn's collection in North Carolina is like the hoarder's show and these pictures only represent a portion of what he has... Posted for posterity's sake... The first pic is his parlor, but doesn't give a hint to the amount of really good stuff in the rest of his house. The other three are a special built huge steel building crammed to the ceiling with machines, horns, parts, boxes of records, etc. and not pictured is his "special room", which is filled with glass cabinets full of unusual and rare reproducers, paper, pictures, etc. Additionally, there are several other buildings full of various parts, Model Ts and parts, cabinets and whatever... It's what you might call over the top collecting... maybe even OCD collecting. If you are a stereoview collector, you may download and print these images on card stock for your own personal use...

As far as I remember, he only lives about 4-5 hours away from me. I need to go see his collection sometime

The photos are all great! I only have about 2 dozen machines, but most of them are large. I do have an Edison C19, two Sonoras, a Vitaphone, a Victor S-405, and a Granada X (along with a couple of smaller machines) up on the finished third floor of our 1895 house, there are more in the living room, dining room, parlor, and entry hall on the first floor. Right now there are 3 Credenzas in the dining room and entry hall together with a Sonora Philharmonic and a Victor XVI B. The parlor has a VTLA and a Columbia DeLuxe. I can’t imagine carrying all or most of those machines up two flights using the back stairs (even if the staircase is larger than many around here). I I did get 4 machines up to our daughter’s former bedroom on the second floor using the main staircase, but they aren’t quite as large or heavy as some of the ones downstairs.

Bill

BillH_NJ wrote: I can’t imagine carrying all or most of those machines up two flights using the back stairs (even if the staircase is larger than many around here).

Bill

My "phonospace" is on the 3rd floor of our 1892 house (pictures posted on the 1st page of this thread), and I hear you. A friend and I carried everything up there 16 years ago, and it wiped us out. I will NOT be the one carrying all that stuff downstairs when the time comes!

George P.

I’ve only been seriously collecting since 2016, so I don’t have much. Some of the collection is at 2 different houses. And I don’t only just collect acoustic phonos either. So much of what would be a nice phono space is filled with Sterilite containers full of vinyl, videotapes, laserdiscs, CED discs, cassette tapes, 8-track tapes, radios, and other A/V equipment so it’s pretty cluttered and disorganized.